FitzSimmons are arriving back on Earth aboard Izel's ship, not knowing that she is the destructive entity who controls the Shrikes that threaten the planet. Meanwhile, Sarge is racing toward the ship's landing site, planning to be there to destroy Izel. But his idea of "acceptable losses" to win that battle doesn't sit well with Mack and the heroes... who also don't know that the ship they're thinking about shooting out of the sky carries their friends.
It's kind of a foundation of drama (and even more, comedy) to have characters hide information from each other. Often, if characters would just reveal all they know to one another, they could untangle the knotted plot easily, leaving no story to tell. The trick of the writer, then, is to make it believable that everyone is withholding from one another -- giving them a reason to keep their secrets. And hopefully, not making anyone look too foolish.
The lack of trust between Sarge and the heroes is playing well enough. Everyone is concealing secrets from one another, in a believable way. The "not making anyone look too foolish" part, though? Well, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been dancing right on that line this season, stepping on one side or the other in different episodes. Here, Mack knows not to trust Sarge, enough to put his agents on the scene and shadow him in the air... but he isn't quite savvy enough to avoid the double cross. Right on the line, I guess. The audience would prefer the guy we've known so long be a bit smarter; but if he were, we wouldn't really have a story.
If the foundation of the story isn't quite rock solid, the adornments at least were super fun. There was nice stunt work this week, with Sarge climbing out on the roof of his vehicle for some thrills with teleporting. (The portal gags have been great every time they've come along, enough to make me wish they'd be an even bigger part of the season.)
The more comedic elements worked for me too. Sarge's psychotic team member Snowflake was just beginning to wear thin for me; adding a new horny dimension to her wild-eyed intensity made for a fun change of pace. (And Deke continues to be a good character for comedy.) Yo-Yo's confrontation with the other two members of Sarge's team made for a fun moment, and Simmons' embarrassed callbacks to her recent alien drug trip were amusing too.
Now that the big conflict of the season has been laid out, it feels like just two big questions remain. Why does Sarge look like Coulson... and who's really the bad guy here: Izel or Sarge? We'll see if next week's episode answers either question. As for this installment? I give it a B.
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