The S.H.I.E.L.D. team discovers dangerous truths about the ATCU, and Ward's plans to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. take a surprising twist.
The motto that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has always embraced when it comes to its storytelling is that "everything is connected." This is a show that enjoys introducing a lot of different stories, having them play out for a couple of weeks, and then surprise the audience in a big episode that explains how everything is actually connected together. "Many Heads, One Tale" is that episode for the first part of the third season. The episodes this fall have been trying to juggle a lot of plot. It hasn't been successful a lot of the time. This is also a show that loves mystery and suspense. Sometimes that leads to genuine stakes and sometimes that leads to frustrating moments where the characters don't talk with one another. It's a frustrating way to handle a story. It goes big while largely ignoring the minor moments between the characters. Without a question the show's best episode this year was Simmons' trip to the other planet. That episode focused on one thing and was great because of it. The show doesn't believe it can operate like that all the time though. It feels it would lose what it makes it special because of it. And yet, the way that the show reveals how all of its stories are connected has become very annoying and redundant. The show has done it enough times that it's to be unexpected. For a spy show, that's not a good thing at all.This episode does have its moments of greatness - such as Ward's fight at the top of the hour and Bobbi and Hunter going undercover to learn more about the ATCU. But it was all just building up to Gideon giving Ward a history lesson about Hydra that goes back much further than the 1940s. Hydra actually goes back thousands of years. They are the organization that started sending people through the monolith. It was just a way to serve the villainous Inhuman on the other side. Their new big goal is to get their master back to this planet so that he can reign over the rest of humanity. It's a nefarious plot that sets up some big things for the future. But it's also delivered in a purely expositional way. The only reason why this reveal feels relevant and engaging is because Powers Boothe is delivering the dialogue. That's just about it.
It has gotten monotonous that S.H.I.E.L.D. goes up against Hydra over and over again both in the TV show and in the movies. This twist reveals a much grander history for the nefarious organization that could breathe new life into its importance and legitimacy. But it still doesn't feel all that exciting. Nor does it make all the plotting of the prior episodes feel worth it. It has gotten so exhausting trying to keep up with the show's plot. It was building to this grand reveal. That creature menaced Simmons when she was on that planet with Will. But the Inhuman was very deliberately kept vague. He only appeared in sand storms. Simmons and Will never had any contact with it so it was never abundantly clear what it could do. They knew it was lethal and they should avoid it. But that was never the most engaging thing about that story this season. Plus, it means that Will was unsuccessful in killing it during his big confrontation in order to let Simmons go be rescued by Fitz. It can only have importance in the future if it is still alive - which gives more urgency to Fitz and Simmons' rescue mission.
And speaking of Fitz and Simmons, they have a pretty big moment where they talk about a lot of simmering issues between them. It's delivered as a fight between the two that ends with a kiss. It's an explosive moment that signals that things won't be able to go back to what they used to be between them. And yet, the moment also seems very pointed. They are exhausted by all of their research going nowhere. It seems as if the show thinks it has to go big in order to make this moment land. It's rooted in the issue of Fitz being too perfect of a guy and him helping Simmons rescue Will - who she may also be in love with. It's a melodramatic moment that doesn't serve either character particularly well. The kiss is very exciting. The show has earned that moment. But the specifics of getting to that point have been very muddled. The show is pointlessly propping up this love triangle for no reason. It's story meant to create a conflict. It's just not engaging at all. The two characters are both strong in their own right to work through it. But that's not always enough.
The episode also goes for a big melodramatic fight when it comes to Coulson and Rosalind facing off over the truth. Putting two of those kinds of fights in the same episode essentially right after each other really does the show no favors. The team has learned that the ATCU has a much more sinister plot with the Inhumans - essentially, Gideon is creating more and more so that an army can serve Hydra when they reopen the portal to the other planet. So Coulson has that leverage to use against her. And yet, the fight becomes very fixated on whether or not their romantic connection was real or just a sham in order to establish intimacy and false trust. It's all too complicated and hard to actually care about. Plus, it becomes apparent that Rosalind had no idea what was actually going on in her facility. That is suppose to make her endearing. She truly is on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side in this grand conflict. But in reality, it just does nothing to establish her as a character savvy enough to invest in.
Some more thoughts:
- "Many Heads, One Tale" was written by Jed Whedon & DJ Doyle and directed by Garry A. Brown.
- May and Lincoln have a conversation about Andrew. It's an awkward moment where they both apologize to the other - Lincoln for provoking Andrew so he'd turn into Lash and May for not realizing it sooner and thus getting a lot of Lincoln's friends killed. It was a moment the episode was building to but it didn't really land all that well.
- Hunter being a slow typer on the computer almost ruined the conceit of him going undercover to get more intel from the ATCU. That was a completely unnecessary beat for the story. Fortunately, the rest of it was great.
- Bobbi also has some fancy new weapons she can use in combat. She needed them when facing off with a trained Inhuman. But Hunter was the one who was able to handle this new threat for her - simply by sneaking up on him while she kept him distracted in battle.
- It's hard to imagine Andrew willingly working alongside Ward in service of Hydra. That's why the organization likely wants him to shift into his Lash form full-time now.
- Gideon has a tiny monolith that he's hoping can open another portal to the other planet. Though it's hard to see that as being substantial enough to transport any being through it.
