This week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. slowly started to give us some answers rather than more questions; but it came at a huge price as our heroes suffer multiple losses – metaphorically and literally. So let’s take a closer look at the “Devils You Know”.

The “Devils You Know” – Trust Issues & Villains Amass:

In case you didn’t know, the episode title “Devils You Know” is a reference to the old saying “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t”. It’s pretty self explanatory and basically says its better to work with the evil you know rather than be surprised – and this episode played with both sides of that in a very interesting way.On the S.H.I.E.L.D. side, Coulson is forced to work with the ACTU in order to face larger threats and yet they don’t really know much about each other. Though with the discovery that Lash can transform this changes things. Anyone on the ACTU team could actually be Lash in hiding – thus making the devil they thought they knew into a devil they possibly don’t.

Who’s side are you on Hunter? Oh yah, your own.

Although betrayals and ‘devils they thought they knew’ aren’t just reserved for SHIELD externally, but also internally as Hunter goes rogue. This entire episode showed how dead set he was on avenging Bobbie before she was back on the field and by rushing this he not only got himself into very dangerous situation; but also caused the death of May’s ex-husband Andrew. May knew Hunter was reckless; but she didn’t think he was that reckless. And now Hunter not only failed in his mission; but also cost May her husband’s life. If he was afraid of May “getting him back” before then he’s really going to get it after this. – Reason #54 I’m still really suspect about a Hunter/Bobbie focused spin-off.

Bobbie & The Fitz/Simmons Dilemma:

If you are just observing the Bobbie situation as part of Hunter’s vendetta mission, then you are actually missing out on the most important aspect of it. Bobbie’s rehabilitation and concern is actually a mirror for what Fitz and Simmons are going through now and have been through to an extent. We already discussed how Jemma is now the one needing to get back to normal – like Fitz was last season – but it is Bobbie who’s the better match. Bobbie’s slow rehabilitation and refraining from field work feels so much like Fitz last season and even mirrors what Jemma is going through now. But what about present Fitz? Well, Bobbie’s got that too.

She is worried about Hunter who has good intentions but is keeping things so close to himself that all she can do is worry. That is almost exactly what Fitz is going through right now with Simmons. Think about it: Fitz (Bobbie) is worried about Simmons (Hunter) who only told Bobbie (May) about their real intentions. It very clever of the writers to merge the stories like this, and in a sense (attempts to) give some credibility to what Hunter is doing. Then again, what if this isn’t to make Hunter more appealing since he’s being equated with Simmons; but rather to show how bad Simmons is going to get. We’ll find out more about this next week when we travel back to see what happened to her. Though I’m willing to bet we’ll still like Simmons more than Hunter in the end.

Excelsior – Easter Eggs, References & Other Notables:

• Alicia is back and seems to be on friendlier terms with SHIELD
• We got a Level 7 joke from Fitz, an Easter Egg from Season 1, Episode 1 when Ward first learned Coulson was still alive.
• The minute Andrew told May he’d make up for it and meet her “after class tomorrow” we knew he wasn’t going to show. We just didn’t know how badly 😦
• We now know that Lash doesn’t see what he’s doing as mercy; but rather necessary extermination. He doesn’t even seem to care about the Afterlife Inhumans.
• Omega Point was the name of a Hydra base in the comics. Location was Northern Italy
• Nemesis is also the name of a Hydra base in the comics, this one specializing in docking. Location was Indonesia
• There was a strange focus on Ward getting shot in the shoulder. Was this to show Hunter didn’t get a clean hit or to preface something for Ward? QUICK, let’s looks up all marvel villains famously shot in the shoulder… actually, that’ll take too long.
• This is the first episode we hear Daisy referred to as Agent Johnson – her last name – which suggests the ACTU might also know about her father.

Things on Agents of SHIELD are about to get a lot more dire next week when we learn what happened to Simmons. From the sound of it, things might get A LOT darker than first imaged. Guess we’ll find out soon; but more and more I’m seeing signs of Agents of SHIELD might be the show you binge and not the one you wait for week to week.