S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ATCU begin their wary alliance by investigating an Inhuman targeting and killing other Inhumans. Hunter gets reckless in his mission to kill Ward, with the risk carrying massive liability for S.H.I.E.L.D. Bobbi, Fitz, and Simmons deal with the changes in their situations.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: We don't see the face (or skin color) of the dead body in the store, and Werner's reaction after it blows up could be taken as either shock at killing someone for the first time or fear that he got away. Also, Werner's the only HYDRA goon seen escaping the store.
- Berserk Button: Ward is visibly trying to avoid letting his emotions get the better of him after Hunter brings up the time he accidentally killed Kara.
- Blessed with Suck: Frye's power is to break out into an uncontrollable rash when Inhumans get within a few feet of him, and their mere existence causes him severe migraines.
- The Bus Came Back: Alisha returns to assist S.H.I.E.L.D. with recruiting Inhumans to work with them, which also makes this a Heel–Face Turn.
- Call-Back:
- When asked what his plan is to get back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward initially says that's "Level 7" information, then says he's kidding and mocks S.H.I.E.L.D. for its bureaucracy.
- Hunter brings up how Ward killed Kara back in "S.O.S. Part 2" to taunt him.
- Chekhov's Gun: Early on, we see Ward slinging a couple of gas cans around. Later, one of the thugs threatening Andrew's life is seen carrying one of these gas cans.
- Classified Information: Played for Laughs with Ward mocking S.H.I.E.L.D. for its insistence on using this, whereas he lets any of his men know anything they need to know if they just ask.
- Death Glare: May gives one to Hunter, when Andrew is attacked. He is understandably feeling skittish.
- Didn't Think This Through: As May lampshades, Hunter's plan to get to Ward is poorly thought-out. He basically delivered the new HYDRA a whole lot of weapons and hoped for the best, which ended with him being stuffed in a trunk and brought straight to Ward. He's forced to improvise from there, which results in Ward escaping with a bullet wound and Andrew apparently dead. The only plus is that Hunter kept him from taking the guns.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: A humorous example when Simmons is explaining to Bobbi that she agrees with Fitz regarding the organization of evidence bags and as she's speaking realizing that yes, it actually would drive Bobbi up the wall having to deal with it.
- Finger Firearms: Coulson tells Fry that he has a laser built into one of the fingers of his artificial hand. Since he doesn't end up having to use it, it may have been a bluff but the truth is classified.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Alisha doesn't immediately produce half a dozen clones to fight Lash, cluing you in to the fact that he's fighting one of her clones.
- Humanshifting: Daisy sees Lash's shadow leaving the site of the ambush and changing to human size, which causes her to believe that he can take human form to escape pursuit and explain how someone who stands out as much as he does can appear and disappear without being seen.
- I Have Your Wife: Ward threatens to have Werner and his men kill Andrew if May doesn't back down and let him escape. May was considering backing down when Hunter reopened fire, so Werner apparently killed Andrew and torched the pharmacy he was at for good measure.
- Insult Backfire: Happens when Ward tries to taunt Hunter.Ward: Come on, Hunter. You weren't actually dumb enough to come here all cowboy, were you?
Hunter: Sorry, this coming from the guy who shot his own girlfriend by mistake? - Internal Reveal: S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ATCU learn the name of the Inhuman killer they're hunting: Lash.
- Oh, Crap!: Ward's face says it all when he hears Hunter's voice. It's followed by an even better example when he sees May.
- Mercy Kill: Fry claims this is why Lash is hunting down and killing Inhumans, but given that this is the only way for Fry himself to get relief for his powers and that Lash's words don't support the claim, it's ambiguous if he was being honest.
- Neck Lift: When Frye tries to bolt while being interrogated by Coulson and Rosalind, Coulson quickly seizes him by the neck and politely warns against trying that again.
- Never Found the Body: Andrew is attacked and blown up by Werner, but it's conspicuously shot to avoid showing his face even though there's a corpse.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hunter's poor judgement leads to Ward escaping and Andrew being possibly killed.
- Punk in the Trunk: Hunter gets stuffed in the trunk of a car for his trip to Ward's hideout.
- Revenge Before Reason: Hunter's over-eagerness to settle the score with Ward leads to the latter escaping... and May's ex-husband (maybe) being killed.
- Revenge by Proxy: Ward is putting Andrew Garner in the line of fire in retaliation for May tricking him into killing Kara.
- Shout-Out:
- Dwight Frye shares his name with an actor from the 1930s who's best known for playing Renfield opposite Bela Lugosi's Dracula, another sidekick to a multiple murderer.
- There is a Marvel Comics character named Dwight Frye, a.k.a. Bazooka, but since he's black, has energy-projection powers, and only ever existed in The New Universe, this probably wasn't intended as a Mythology Gag.
- This exchange:Mac: [Lash] is like a great white shark. Built to eat, sleep—
Daisy: And kill.
Mac: I was going to say "make little baby sharks", but then Jaws was probably twenty years before you were born.note - A laser finger (albeit mounted in a glove) was one of OG Nick Fury's more memorable spy gadgets back in the Swinging Steranko super-spy days.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Hunter and Ward engage in one, while also being in a shootout no less.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Neither S.H.I.E.L.D. nor the ATCU truly trust each other. S.H.I.E.L.D. is still hiding the extent of the Terrigen event and the nature of the Inhumans, while the ATCU is still too willing to go for the violent option, to the point that Daisy seriously considers that Lash might be working for them.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Daisy accuses Coulson of this in regards to Rosalind due to the former's use of First-Name Basis, and why Coulson is so willing to work with her. She's not wrong.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Lash sees what he does as a necessity, though for what reason is not revealed.
