Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. review: 5 biggest reveals from The Other Thing

Sarge might be a good guy and Fitzsimmons are tragically reunited in this week’s solid table setting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

With only 13 episodes this season, it’s been strange watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. split it’s time between two separate narratives. The space-centric search for Fitz and the more Earth-focused fight against Phil Coulson’s doppelganger have divided the show into two separate parts. But the latest episode, titled “The Other Thing,” sets the groundwork for these two storylines to finally start converging with interesting results.

While not a knockout episode, “The Other Thing” still brought the four things every Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode should strive for: the humor, the heart, and the action, while still moving the plot forward. It was a great episode for May as she continued grappling with the whole Sarge business and a pretty solid outing for Benson, the team’s new scientist. All in all, there isn’t much to complain about in this episode, so without further ado, let’s get into the five biggest reveals from this week’s episode.

1. Sarge and his crew may be from this universe after all

From the start of the season, it seemed safe to assume that this version of Coulson was from another dimension. I mean, he clearly wasn’t an LMD and he had the exact same DNA as the OG version without any of the memories, which made it probable that he came from an alternate universe.

Though this episode seems to throw that theory out the window. Sarge says he’s been alive for over 100 years and has made it his mission to stop the Shrike invasion, jumping from world to world, hunting the threat. So, if Sarge is actually from this Universe, what the heck is he?

2. Sarge the hero?

Last week, Team SHIELD assumed Sarge and his merry band of travelers were infecting people with the demon bat creatures, but it’s actually the other way around! Sarge’s team is hunting these things and neutralizing them, calling them the biggest threat in the whole universe. Apparently, these things infect their host and soon destroy whatever world they’re on. So in some ways, Sarge could be seen as some sort of rogue antihero.

This also means that a potential team-up could be in order over the next few episodes. Talk about awkward.

3. Chronicoms want to save their planet with time travel

Speaking of awkward, we met more Chronicoms this week, and they’re just as strange as you’d expect, but also way more deadly. But the Space team’s interaction with the race of synths seemed to connect this storyline with whatever is happening down on Earth. When Enoch’s former supervisor (and weird Chronicom lover?) Atarah says that her planet was destroyed by a mysterious plague, it seems awfully similar to what we just learned about the Shrike.

I was wondering how these two storylines were going to merge as they seemed like two totally unrelated threads, but with a shortened season this year, it was only a matter of time before everyone was fighting against the same threat.

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More interestingly, the Chronicoms are using FitzSimmons to try to save their planet via time travel. At first, the Hunters seemed to be after Fitz because he was a time anomaly and should’ve been dead, but they actually just want him so they could do the same thing he did: go back in time and save the day. Not going to lie, that storyline sounds less interesting than Time Hunters chasing Fitz, but Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash have already dealt with similar storylines, so at least it won’t be treading similar ground.

But the question is, can FitzSimmons solve this problem? And if they can, should the Chronicoms risk going back in time to save their planet? Because that always ends in disaster.

4. The Shrikes have something to do with the monoliths

Whenever the show brings up the monoliths, my brain gets a little fuzzy. They seem to be extremely powerful objects that can always do whatever the plot needs them to. And this week, their mythology expanded even more with the reveal that the Shrikes genetic makeup is very similar to that of the monoliths. Benson, for some reason, assumes that because the first two monoliths deal with space and time, the third monolith could deal with life and death. Weird flex, but OK. Whatever you say Benson. I trust we’ll get more of an explanation next week.

5. Enoch turns on his bestie

Enoch no! How could you do that to your bestie! In order to keep Fitz alive, Enoch tells the Chronicoms that they should put Simmons in danger as that always seems to motivate Fitz to solve any problem. Although this saves their lives, Fitz also tells Enoch that he’d prefer to die 100 deaths if it meant keeping Simmons out of harm’s way and Enoch knew that.

The episode ends with Enoch knocking Fitz out. So yeah, their best friendship is on rocky ground, but I expect a reconciliation soon. Enoch already sacrificed himself once to save his friends in the alternate timeline and we all know how history loves to repeat itself…

What do you think of these big reveals from this week’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Is Sarge a good guy? Will the Shrikes destroy the world? And most importantly, will Enoch and Fitz mend their broken friendship?? Be sure to leave a comment below and we’ll be back next week with another review!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return to Earth next Friday at 8/7 Central on ABC. Catch up on the latest episodes on Hulu.