Not that Talbot was acting especially "heroic" even when he was still mostly helping the good guys. His signature move of crushing people into compact cubes remains gruesome and cold, whether we're seeing it done to the aliens of the Confederacy or the ill-fated General Hale. (R.I.C.) He thinks he's doing it all to help save Earth from Thanos (hello, crossover synergy), but the speed at which he latched onto that mission tells you all need to know. He's taking the word of some duplicitous aliens (one in particular revealed as the ancestor of early season villain Kasius), he's never seen Thanos in the flesh, and he knows nothing of the Titan's plans, but he's eager and ready to pack some fleshy boxes.
It's his failure to understand Coulson's reluctance that's the problem. Of course, Talbot doesn't have the benefit of a trip to the future to have seen where this road leads. This leaves Coulson (and May and Daisy) playing a deadly verbal game of Operation, where they have to be careful not to touch the sides that represent Talbot's wrath as they try to talk him down from global annihilation. Two horrifying threats in a 24-hour period. Not a good day for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Although this episode was heavy on narrative as we sprint to the end of the season, there were a few moments sprinkled in for conflict among the characters. Mack and Fitz was a particularly effective clash, an argument between the most noble hero on the show right now and the most pragmatic. In a testament to how well both characters' journeys have played this season, I really don't know who to side with there -- though it was definitely Mack who got in the most cutting dialogue. (Maybe I shouldn't be siding with Fitz, though. There are certainly shades of Thanos in his "sacrifice some for the good of the rest" viewpoint.)
We also got a taste of an all-out fight between Daisy and Yo-Yo. It was perhaps unsatisfying to have it cut short by May, but the idea that they would come to (super-powered) blows at all illustrates just how fractured that relationship is. And why wouldn't it be? Yo-Yo thinks Daisy bailed on them in a crisis to do the one thing that will explicitly lead to the end of the world. Daisy thinks Yo-Yo has a bailed on them all in spirit by refusing to help save Coulson's life. Another good conflict where you can understand both sides. (Though if you take Future Yo-Yo at her word, it's hard to side with Daisy on this one. And if you judge by Yo-Yo's unconsidered and ineffective methods, you wind up feeling for Daisy.)
Two episodes left, and it appears the show isn't shying away from tying into the events of Infinity war. What's that going to make the season (series?) finale look like? We shall see. As for this installment, I give it a B.
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