Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Nothing Personal

"Who or what is a Man-Thing?"

Episode 20 of 22; not far from the finishing line now and, while it`s all very exciting what with Ward and HYDRA and no SHIELD, I have no idea what things are going to look like when the music stops.

We start with Maria Hill on the phone to Pepper Potts; there is no SHIELD any more so she intends to work in the private sector for Tony Stark, an initial hint that this episode may feature her selling out. She just has time for a quick chat with the recently AWOL Agent May before she is arrested as part of a crackdown against those associated with SHIELD. This does not bode well for Coulson and Co.

 Still, Coulson and his team are no fools, soon realising that Ward is a baddie, Skye is with him, Garrett must still be at large and Hand must be dead. Fitz`s reaction is one of absolute denial, and his later insistence on Simmons telling him outright that she isn`t HYDRA. He loves her, and yet he`s such a big kid that one can`t help but think of this as just a crush. Things seem to get very pear-shaped as sellout Hill arrives with a load of US soldiers, but Coulson ultimtely persuades her to see sense.

 Skye, doing the decoding for Ward and knowing he`s HYDRA, has a plan to get him arrested.  It`s a good plan and nearly succeds but for Deathlok. Mike Peterson is a truly tragic character, a good man forced against his will to do bad things, although it`s fun to see him stop Ward`s heart for a bit. Nothing personal. The highlight of this whol sub-plot, though, is the conversation between Skye and Ward; he still likes her; she despises him as a Nazi and a traitor. What he did was "nothing personal", apparently. And yet... my wife has a theory. Could Ward in fact be a double agent?

We end with an exciting sequence with a flying Lola and some crap CGI. As Hill says to Coulson, there is no back-up, no SHIELD. They are alone and homeless.

And then, just when we think it`s over, May returns with a bombshell; the person ultimately running the TAHITI project was none other than Coulson himself...