Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. received the unofficial approval from the President. Coulson's former nemesis, General Glen Talbot, has been appointed the new head of the ACTU (Advanced Threat Containment Unit). Grant Ward's body is transforming into something else with HYDRA.

Warning: Spoilers for season 3, episode 12 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., "Inside Man," will be discussed below.

Grant Ward is Transforming into The Hive

Grant Ward died on Maveth. The ancient alien entity, the Hive, trapped on the alien planet took control of Ward's dead body. Found by Gideon Malick, he is now recuperating and catching up on what the human race is up to. Malick is gathering Inhumans for Hive, and we see the most recent arrival's powers don't work on him. When asked if he needed a new body, Hive mentions he can't inhabit an Inhuman body. He requests five humans and unleashes his powers on them in order to feed. Eventually Ward's body appears to be healed. Hive is getting stronger.

Creel Returns and is Working for Talbot

The agents are surprised to see the return of Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man. Through some creative teamwork, they managed to subdue him only to find he's working with General Talbot as his bodyguard. The others, especially Hunter, are outraged because he killed some former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (in Season 2, Episode 1). Talbot fully trusts him and says Creel was brainwashed before.

Creel's Blood Could Stop the Inhuman Terrigenesis

We find out a little more about Creel. His powers came from an experiment. Examining his blood, they apply it to an old sample of Daisy's blood from before she changed. The blood can actually prevent Terrigenesis from happening. The possible vaccine won't work on Inhumans that have already transformed, but it could prevent it from happening in others.

Talbot is the "Inside Man" for Malick

Coulson and Talbot had a difference of opinions before, but they were able to work together at some level. They attend a conference dealing with the surge of aliens/Inhumans alongside leaders from other nations. When the time comes to vote on a plan of action, Talbot calls it off and orders Coulson to be arrested. Malick shows up and tells everyone Coulson is actually the director of HYDRA.

Coulson knew someone there was a traitor and is surprised to discover it was Talbot. Talbot's son is an Inhuman, and Malick has him in custody. Talbot was being blackmailed as soon as he was appointed the head of the ACTU. Coulson and his agents are able to rescue Talbot's son.

Daisy and Lincoln Take Things to the Next Level

With the possibility of a vaccine against Terrigenesis through Creel's blood, Daisy and Lincoln had a huge argument. Lincoln believes not everyone that can change, should. He feels they should be selective and give only some a choice. Daisy doesn't agree, and things get pretty heated.

Later, things heat up in another way. Daisy apologizes to Lincoln. They start kissing and take things further.

Thoughts

The episode delivers twists and action while taking the story further. Coulson and Talbot managed to work together up until Talbot's betrayal. With Malick's hold over him taken care of, they can move forward with a new take on their working relationship. Talbot has a new level of respect for Coulson now. Coulson being alive after he was killed by Loki in The Avengers could start to become public knowledge. No one in the movies, besides Nick Fury and Maria Hill, knows he's still alive.

Daisy and Lincoln's relationship still feels weird. They were almost like brother and sister when she first discovered she was an Inhuman. We've already seen them have a big disagreement. Moving to another level in their personal relationship could cause problems when out in the field.

Creel's blood as a vaccine provides an interesting twist. It feels like the groundwork for a Civil War type situation in the show. This could have added another component to the upcoming movie. Unfortunately, Inhumans will not be a factor in the plot of the movie.

Gallery

Hive's transformation is making him a creepier character. It was interesting to see the Inhuman's ability failed to work on Hive. Does this mean he's immune to all Inhumans' powers or just this one? Could Daisy or Lincoln use their powers against Hive? The end scene with Hive and all the goo is something people will be talking about. At a set visit last week, it was a topic that kept getting brought up. You can find details on the visit coming up this week on Comic Vine.

There was also a name drop for Manifold when Bobbi read the file inside the safe it had his name, Eden Fesi.

Ward/Hive is the best villain on the show. great episode !

So if you're gonna do all of this why not review it?

That aside I really enjoyed the episode fun seeing Coulson and Talbot on friendlier terms. Absorbing Man was good and pretty much confirms that they'll be by passing Stonewall and just using him for Secret Warriors.

I'm more so sad at the thought of the MCU ignoring the show in the future given the great world building they've been doing and how easily they could use some of the villains in the show as background characters in the raft who've been captured or have a quick glimpse with Coulson's crew (Coulson doesn't have to be present) responding to an incident without making it the focus of what's going on.

The dude in the thumbnail is gross.

• Even more convinced my theory about rejuvenated Ward will come true.
• Lincoln and Daisy have very little chemistry, like, none.
• Lincoln's got a spark of madness in him, that's gonna come into play at some point.

Agreed, that's what I hope happens, it has absolutely zero impact on the film or anybody who doesn't watch AoS, but it would really work to tie the two together.

Logistically, they have to have a lot of superhumans populating the Raft, the place is huge; why not have them be villains from AoS?

I like the idea of seeing Coulson's crew, maybe you see them on the monitor behind Ross when he's speaking about the increase of superhuman activity, similar to Iron Man 2 when we saw the event at Culver University from the Incredible Hulk.

The opening scene of season 3 would make the most sense, that was high quality. You could also see the New York Bulletin about 'Daredevil collars Fisk' from the end of Daredevil season 1 etc.

They should start doing these things a bit more.

Did they mention Talbots son being an inhuman? I'm just asking because Phobos.

@sprior93:

He hosting a dead man body.

Also he looks hot again by the end of the episode.

A naked buff man cover in "oil" looking hot is easy job to do it.

True.

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...

What kind of show would people believe shield to be going by this statement?

Nice episode....interesting though to see the inhuman with the eyes moral compass now when he referred to the five humans hive requests as "innocents". Though in the previous episode he had no qualms about his partner shoting a hand cuffed human to "send a message".

@kingks: Well, guess there are ways corrupt cops like him can excuse killing people that rob their transports to stop them from suppressing the people, but not so much for some random people he just kidnapped.

@stahlflamme:

Probably

Seems like he might have the same powers, too. And they mentioned their agents managed to save him. So we might be seeing him in a future episode.

@stahlflamme: I, understand your point. Thanks.

Another great episode! Highlights for me were:

1. Talbot wearing a "dress"
2. Absorbing Man looked really cool in this episode
3. Hunter looking smart for breaking all the rules (what a badass)

It was a good "spy" episode with an interesting mission that went sideways and several cool reveals/name drops.

I just noticed that Zombie Ward had a hand print contusion on his chest this whole time. Thought that was a really cool touch.

I'm not sure why people are calling out Chloe Bennet and Luke Mitchell for not having chemistry. I think they're doing just fine, certainly on the same level as the Agent May/Lash and Hunter/Mockingbird pairings.

The only thing I want more of is combat gear! They changed from their waiter outfits into street clothes, but I wanted to see more cool body armor.

@d9000: It was funny when I watched again with my daughter (I got to watch the episode last week on set). She said she gets stressed when they go undercover. She also pointed out the handprint right when I noticed it as well. I didn't catch it the first time I watched.

Lol, she gets stressed? Imagine how they feel!

Maybe they darkened the makeup on the bruise to make it more prominent? Either way, kudos to them.

Nice, I didn't know that.

Yeah, Lincoln's a very flat character tbh, I hope that changes, they did a huge 180 with Grant, so maybe they can do something similar with Lincoln, but right now he's just bland.

Decent episode.

Anyone know the status of the dude who was absorbed by the gravity goop in season 1? Or any of the tools in the vault? I feel like there are so many loose ends and they don't tie them up.

I'm glad he was right this time. Seems like all he does lately is screw up...

I don't know about ya'll, but I cannot stand Lincoln. Maybe it's cause he's moved in on my woman...

Last we checked the Gravitonium was with Ian Quinn, when he left at the end of season 1 and he didn't show back up since then. The beserker stuff should be buried in that Hydra hideout may collapsed with it in the beginning of the season final. Coulson had that plasma cannon thing when he killed Garret. Thats all I can think of right now.

For real. I thought he'd do better when he went after Ward solo. But that kinda ended poorly for everyone. What I'd looooooove to see is Hunter do some work back in England so we can learn more about his life before Shield. I want more British slang!

Hearing Hunter get all emotional over his lost teammates just reminds of all the dissapointment I felt when Xena got written off the show after one (?) episode.

@pelykan: Yeah, she died at the end of the first episode. She appears in one more episode later on in the flashback, how gonzales and bobbi took over the ship.