Putting Coulson and Talbot on a mission together with high stakes felt like the setup for a comedic episode.  Talbot has been a “threat” to Coulson in the past, but never on a level that has felt genuine.  There’s always something lacking in the portrayal of Talbot; frankly, that ridiculous mustache might be the biggest indicator.  On a show increasingly trying to maintain gravitas, Talbot seems to stand out as a bit of a joke.

 

 

Thankfully, there’s enough to Talbot in this episode to make up a bit for the overall lack.  In particular, the idea that Absorbing Man would reform and act as Talbot’s personal bodyguard indirectly adds some dimension.  That layer of ridiculousness is still there (that outfit Talbot wears couldn’t fit in any less flattering a manner), but when combined with a mission to uncover a Hydra spy, it more or less works.  Especially when it turns out that Talbot is, in fact, the “inside man”, with his son being held hostage by Malick.

 

Accept or reject the notion that Creel would ever “go legit”, he still manages to save Hunter’s life and make amends on some level.  And throughout the various action scenes (all of which are very nicely done), there is the undercurrent of fighting a losing battle, given that Talbot is making deals that will ultimately hurt the Inhumans and make things easier for Hydra.  The world is scared of the potential threat that the Inhumans pose, and even if this isn’t explicitly mentioned during the philosophical debates underpinning Captain America: Civil War, it feeds into the mindset that some controls need to be in place.

 

 

Meanwhile, since the Inhumans are effectively the MCU stand-ins for mutants and the X-Men, it was almost inevitable that someone would come up with the idea of a “cure” for terrigenesis.  While getting closer and closer to a love connection, Daisy and Lincoln discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a potential “cure” for being an Inhuman.  It’s well-trodden ground, to be sure, but having the basis of the cure be Creel’s blood is a nice way to meld the plot threads together.

 

Back in Hydra’s secret lair, Ward/Hive is growing stronger.  It’s interesting to see how Hive’s evolution takes place, if only to see what kind of threat he actually poses.  As it turns out, he has the potential to be fairly terrifying, which is a good thing on the whole.  There are a lot of unanswered questions about Hive’s origins and full ability set, but there’s time to explore that further.  For now, it’s enough to know that Hive will ultimately be calling the shots (because of course he will), and Coulson is smart enough to know someone or something is standing above Malick in the Hydra food chain.

 

 

There wasn’t much in terms of the FitzSimmons lovefest in this episode, but it should be noted that there was an unusual reference.  The Watchdogs were noted as a hate group, and they actually were introduced back in the late 1980s in a Captain America storyline in which they eventually killed the parents of Cap’s temporary replacement, John Walker (aka, USAgent).  They were white-supremacist, anti-mutant types, and it’s easy to see how they could be repurposed as an anti-Inhuman movement.  I doubt that reference was a complete throwaway.