Agents of SHIELD Review: Many Heads, One Tale (Season 3 Episode 8)

Agents of SHIELD is, as usual, a mixed bag of good and bad. Character moments carry the episode again, amidst flash and bang storytelling. Most of this episode hinges upon whether or not Roslind Price, leader of the ATCU, is knowingly working with Hydra.

Spoiler alert: she isn’t! Constance Zimmer gives a fantastic performance as Roslind in “Many Heads, One Tale” as she keeps Coulson and the audience guessing as to whether she’s a hero or villain. Her easy banter with Coulson is fun to watch and her clever comebacks to his quips and questions, make her a delightful counterpoint to the SHIELD director.

Coulson’s team infiltrates the ATCU facilities to find the truth while he confronts Rosalind. At first it’s unclear, because for all we know, she’s still lying to Coulson. However, when he reveals the information that Bobbi found at the ATCU–that they’re transforming as many Inhumans as they can, building up an army–her reaction of shock and confusion is genuine. After Rosalind realizes she’s been played by someone she’d considered a friend (Ward’s Hydra contact, Gideon Malick), she shares her information with Coulson and the team, which dovetails nicely into what FitzSimmons discover about Will and why he was really sent to the mysterious planet.

Hydra is older than everyone expected, dating back before WWII with Captain America and Red Skull. Apparently, the ancient hate-group is involved with the Monolith and the Inhumans because nothing is sacred. Ward finds Malick in an old Hydra vault where the older man rewards his dedication with a history lesson. He also reveals that they have a smaller version of the monolith, still functioning and contained. Malick tells Ward of an Inhuman, the original perhaps, that was supposed to be a mighty ruler, but it was feared by others and sent through the monolith.  Ever since, Hydra has been sending people through in sacrifice. Will and his crew were just a few of the many victims of Hydra’s attempts to contact the Inhuman. 

Malick: Hydra was founded with the sole purpose of engineering it’s return.

The men of Hydra have always been foolishly obsessed with power and control. They’re using the Inhumans they’ve got in stasis as an army to give their all powerful leader in the hope that they’ll be allowed to rule alongside him. This plan will most likely backfire, as most plans do for villains that put themselves on a pedestal. There is no cure for Inhumans, they aren’t being saved, and Hydra doesn’t care how many innocent lives they destroy in the process of creating their new army. The label on Andrew’s containment unit indicates that he’s their next sacrificial lamb–once they figure out how to manipulate his powers, they’ll send him through the Monolith.

Now, this latest plot twist has made Hydra’s story line at least a little more interesting, but it’s absolutely disgusting in nature and sometimes hard to watch. I hope Hydra in general is resolved and brought to an end by the end of the season because while they’re an easy villain to hate, giving them almost as much screen time as SHIELD and our heroes, is not only unappealing but a little disconcerting as to what kind of message Agents of SHIELD is trying to send.

On a much happier note FITZ AND SIMMONS FINALLY KISS! I wish FitzSimmons were happening more in the foreground of the show, rather than in small beats sprinkled here and there, but they finally kiss and discuss their feelings and frustrations in “Many Heads, One Tale.” Their attempts at being completely nice and civil in their search for how to find Will come to a breaking point when they finally voice how magnificently unfair their circumstances are:

Fitz: You think I’m not angry? I’m sick to stomach–I’m furious, but not at you, because we’re cursed! The bloody cosmos wants us to be apart!

Jemma reveals that she does love Will, and Fitz counters with how he can’t blame her because he did everything right. It’s evident that she loves Fitz too though when she shoots back with how he jumped through a hole in the universe to save her. This entire conversation just makes these two characters more interesting and compelling for how kind and honest and real they are. I hope that their relationship continues to move forward and that they get more screen time in the future. In a perfect world we’d get to see Agents of SHIELD further explore the subject of polyamory, but I’m going to try not to get my hopes up. 

Other thoughts:

• I still don’t like Lincoln. I still hope he leaves.
• I really, really hate Ward. Tonight he puts an entire plane of civilian lives at risk and then goes about torturing Andrew. If the endgame for his storyline isn’t Melinda or Daisy getting to kill him, I’ll be genuinely disappointed.
• Is the “it” that plagued Will and Jemma on the other planet the all powerful being that Malick spoke of, or is it just another Hydra agent that had been sent through before.
• Where is SHIELD getting all of their money, who’s paying for Zephyr One, and all the fancy new tech?
• It’s great to see Daisy using her hacker skills, not just her super skills.
• Bobbi Morse is amazing, that is all.

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What did you think of this week’s Agents of SHIELD? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Agents of SHIELD airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

Samantha Coley

Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.