The agents are still haunted by what could be the end of the world. They were sent to the future, then brought back trying to figure out how to stop it. Their fear of the future, and confusion over who or what causes it, is tearing the group apart.

Now they have to come together as aliens invade the Lighthouse to get the gravitonium. However, some of it winds up in a very unusual place….or actually someone.

SPOILERS BELOW THE IMAGE

SPOILERS BELOW

The agents’ fear of the future dominates the episode.  Elena spends much of it trying to justify her decision to kill Ruby Hale, who tried to absorb the gravitonium before it killed her, last week. She admits it was a terrible thing, but a tough choice she had to make. It affects her relationship with Mack, who is upset that her fear of the future is driving her insane. This really shows how desperate Elena is to justify killing Ruby. May calms her down by saying that making unpopular decisions can make people look at her differently, but she has to make peace with it.

Elena also learns Daisy is meeting with Tony Caine (Jake Busey) about how to keep Coulson alive, which causes Elena to finally tell everyone about what her clone said. While Coulson is willing to die, May refuses to give up.
This part of the storyline is getting confusing. Elena-Clone says Coulson has to die, yet Robin says he can “put all the pieces together”, which might mean the Earth or the events that could stop the catastrophe. It may keep fans on their toes, but it’s starting to get tedious. The fear over who destroys the world or who has to die is its own time loop.

Meanwhile, the agents hope to get the Zephyr space-ready and shoot the gravitonium into the sun. That could stop the time loop, if they get that far. Fitz and Simmons put it into a container, and trust it with Deke (Jeff Ward), who doesn’t handle it very carefully. Also, Deke suspects he may be from a different universe instead of the future, and maybe he can stay in our present somehow. He wants to enjoy tacos, and also see Orlando for some reason. All Simmons knows is that as long as Deke is still with them, things are fine. That may hint Deke could disappear suddenly, but maybe it’ll be temporary.

Soon, the attention shifts to the sudden appearance of an alien spaceship, run by Qovas (Peter Mensah). He demands the agents hand over the gravitonium or else. He send some Remorah aliens, who affect electricity and kill their victims in the dark. All SHIELD has is a pre-programmed defense system guided by a hologram of a guy named Stoner (Patrick Warburton), but also run on a computer that’s less powerful than a iPhone 4. On top of that, Coulson chooses the wrong option, number two for a nuclear attack instead of option three for an alien attack. Because of that, they’re locked in for 15 years. Coulson trying to explain what happened reminded us of Mal’s “we might explode” speech early in Serenity.

It doesn’t matter. The aliens have a transporter machine that gets them inside the Lighthouse. It isn’t long before the aliens kill several agents, while Coulson and his crew try to find a way out.

All this time, General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) is trying to find a way to complete the mission or at least “fix it”. As the episode starts, he mumbles numbers which is actually their location, which is how the aliens found them. Afterwards, he keep trying to find a way to redeem himself. Soon, he finds himself next to the chamber that Ruby tried to use. It still has a little gravitonium inside.

In a shocking move, he knocks out Simmons as the aliens get closer. He jumps into the chamber, and what’s left of the gravitonium is injected inside him.

It looks like the agents are doomed as the aliens get closer, even as Coulson gets to use Mack’s Axe Gun. Suddenly, Talbot arrives, and he’s changed. He has the body of Brian Bosworth but his face is the same. The aliens approach him, and he makes them float. Then, as Ruby did with Werner last week, Talbot implodes the aliens’ bodies. The agents are stunned at what has happened.

However, it gets worse. Qovas decides to beam Talbot and Coulson aboard his ship, while Stoner’s hologram says the earth is safe again. Well, maybe not.

Daisy does meet Caine, and briefly talk about “crazy things in New York”. TV Line was suggesting maybe this is happening while Infinity War is going on, but she says he’d rather skip the news. He gives her one of John Garrett’s Centipede Serum vials. It helped Garrett heal from injuries, but that’s the only vial left. He also notes the serum includes a key ingredient that he couldn’t find.

Daisy locates it. It’s in a grave… her mother’s grave.

It’s a reminder Daniel Whitehall stayed young by taking parts of Jaiying’s flesh and putting it in a serum. Now Daisy has to do the same thing. She hates this, but a world without Phil Coulson is even worse.

The episode featured people making hard decisions, or explaining them. They result in relationships getting in trouble, people doing unpleasant acts, and heroism that may make things worse.

Still, they’re no closer to finding a way to stop the cracking of the world, and they have to find a way before they run out of time. Now, it looks like Talbot will be the destroyer of worlds, which was hinted by Robin’s picture from last week. Even Qovas will have a lot of problems with this, according to the trailer for next week.