Simmons is back and there’s gonna be trouble… Well, clearly there already was.
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
While the title for “A Wanted (Inhu)man” referred to Lincoln, and his story was solid, the episode’s most notable content dealt with Simmons, as she was back, but hardly back to her usual self.
Elizabeth Henstridge was terrific here, as Simmons seemed on edge and often almost in pain from being around, well, nearly everything. Mundane things like a cell phone ringing got under her skin and Henstridge did an excellent job showing her trying to put on the best face she could, but struggling so much underneath. It was touching seeing Fitz trying so hard (yes, I it was “Aww”-worthy how he had held that restaurant reservation for them, hoping she’d return), but he just couldn’t help her – at least not yet.
Regarding where she was and what happened to her, that reminded a mystery, except for the reference to her being “hunted.” But Simmons saying she had to go back at the end was a nice curveball. Is it because she feels so out of sorts back home? Or is there something that happened there that she needs to finish – that is important enough to risk herself to go back? Maybe, say, someone she met there who she wants to rescue? We shall see…
As for Lincoln, it was a nice touch learning Mack had put a tracker in him during their brief encounter in the season premiere – and having him reach out to a good friend (Lost’s Daniel Roebuck) he had met while in AA was an efficient way to add some shading to Lincoln and his past… Though it was a bit silly (and cliché) to do the “close confident sees news report about friend and freaks out without trying to get explanation” route. However, the fact that Roebuck’s character actually died from his heart attack, despite Lincoln trying to use his powers as a defibrillator – and that Lincoln didn’t redeem himself to his friend or anyone else by saving him – was effective.
We want to hear it.
Also surprising (and amusing) was Lincoln not being brought in by SHIELD again. He sure isn’t going along with the “go with the team and become a Secret Warrior” playbook so far. OF course, he and Daisy did sneak in a kiss, so there’s that… though I really don’t feel much chemistry there.
As for the episode’s third big plotline, it was a lot of fun seeing Hunter and May teamed up and on their own, trying to get Hunter infiltrated with Hydra. As a big Spartacus fan, I loved seeing Dan Feuerriegel as Hunter’s kinda/sorta buddy, “Spud”, they needed to cozy up to in order to get close to Hydra – prong Arrow and The Flash haven’t’ locked down the Spartacus alum guest roles! A comic highlight of both the episode and the show in general was when Hunter and Spud got drunk and their slurred, thick accented dialogue – that May was struggling with – was subtitled (suffice to say, at the NYCC screening of this episode last week, this bit went over huge).
May giving away just how formidable this “tiny little Asian woman” was was a crowd-pleaser as well, on the heels of a rather dark turn of events that found three men attempting to sexually assault her – Even though it’s a big gamble for her to bet on none of them talking. Honestly, I thought she might kill them to ensure their silence…
…Though perhaps that might be too much killing, as Hunter’s story took its own tragic turn and he got his in with Hydra by fighting dirty and accidently killing Spud – even if Spud seemed like he would have killed him too. Still, having both Lincoln and Hunter basically have to process being responsible for deaths of people in their lives was quite a parallel storyline.
Meanwhile, despite their differences, we got some more amusing banter between Coulson and Rosalind (them I feel chemistry between) and her “eyes up here!” as he eyeballed her car was a very funny bit.
“A Wanted (Inhu)man” did a good job juggling three different notable storylines. While Lincoln still remains a pretty bland presence, there are baby steps being made to add more nuance to him, and I appreciate how they aren’t just throwing him onto the team like we’d expect. Meanwhile, Hunter and May is a cool and interesting pairing and the Simmons story is a heartbreaker that continues to give Iain De Caestecker and now Elizabeth Henstridge excellent material to work with that they are absolutely nailing. Remember when Fitz and Simmons were annoying and distracting back in Season 1?
