Wait, is Evil Coulson actually not evil in the latest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Turns out Evil Coulson may not be quite as evil as we’d first thought. Or at least maybe he has some decent motivations for being such a seemingly bad dude.

**SPOILER WARNING! Spoilers ahead for “The Other Thing,” the latest episode of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which aired June 14, 2019.**

Sarge, aka Evil Coulson, ended last episode by capturing May and taking her off in his big rig of doom. It doesn’t take long to find out why — he aims to turn her to his side, by giving her a firsthand look at exactly what his world-hopping team of crazies is doing in our universe. Sarge explains that his team travels from world to world trying to eliminate and stop these batlike creatures called the Shrike, led by a mysterious baddie. Their tech lets them find anything that doesn’t “fit” in a world correctly, which explains why Deke wound up on their radar as an anomaly they tried to eliminate.

Assuming Sarge is telling May the truth, it sounds like his team is at least doing some good. Perhaps they’re not the cause of all these worlds being destroyed, but instead a harbinger of sorts, following the destruction and trying to stop it in their own way. Or maybe he’s just lying; only time will tell. Regardless, we should get some answers next week, as May breaks loose and knocks out (Possibly Not So) Evil Coulson and brings him in to Mack and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Her time as a prisoner also offers up some fleeting glances at the final moments May spent with the real Coulson after the season finale in Tahiti, where he lived out his final days with May chilling on the beautiful beaches to toast his life well lived. It makes for a startling juxtaposition against the gruff Sarge, but still a sweet moment to offer up a few peeks at the Coulson fans know and love.

We also get some meaty questions as to exactly who stole who’s face. Sarge sees Coulson as a doppelgänger who must be a shapeshifter of some sort, while May makes clear she’s seen his baby pictures and met his parents. Coulson was human, born and raised. But Sarge claims he’s lived for more than a century chasing these mysterious world-killers (assuming he’s had the same face all that time). So we’re still left with some mind-boggling questions over exactly how they’re both sporting the Clark Gregg. No clue how the writers plan to answer that one, but it should be good.

Assorted musings

Credit: ABC/Marvel

Turns out the hunters who took Fitz are actually Chronicoms like Enoch, and they’ve come searching for Fitz and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team because they need to figure out time travel to go back and save their world, which was mysteriously destroyed (most likely by the same world-eater Sarge and his team are tracking). When Daisy and the team can’t give a satisfactory answer, Simmons cuts a deal to go along as a prisoner with Fitz, so they can at least be together out lost in space. Enoch seemingly betrays Fitz to pitch that deal, though in his own mind he was likely just looking for the only way he could see to keep his BFF Fitz alive. Regardless, Fitz isn’t happy.

Does anyone else think it’s a bit odd Fitz is now tasked with figuring out time travel, fresh off Avengers: Endgame, where Tony Stark cracked it? Obviously, these two worlds have diverged quite a bit (especially in the wake of Infinity War and Endgame, with the events of S.H.I.E.L.D. now happening in some continuity divergence all its own, since it’s supposedly a year after the snap and it hasn’t been acknowledged). Obviously, this show stands on its own continuity at this point, but just interesting time travel is apparently set to be a key theme in both.

Yo-Yo is clearly, and understandably, still reeling from Keller’s death at her own hand (though he was likely already dead and possessed by an alien bat bomb creature). We can glean that Mack apparently broke things off with her to focus on the job, and they both still have some bitterness about that decision.

So did the Chronicoms take out the entire Confederation to seize their ships, or just a fleet of them? Regardless, the Chronicoms look to now be a mid-tier player in this corner of the galaxy.

So is there a connection between these space bats and the monoliths? Still some head-scratchers there.

Post-credit scene: Fitz is pissed at Enoch, and Enoch doesn’t help matters by gassing Fitz to knock him out and make him work on a time-travel solution.