When fans see Sarge, they struggle to remind themselves he is not Phil Coulson, despite the fact that he looks like Phil, has the same DNA as Phil, and talks like Phil.
So what is Sarge, exactly?
That is finally revealed this week in a shocking confrontation between Daisy and Sarge.
Meanwhile, Izel finally reveals her plans to release the power of the monoliths, and there’s a big surprise at the end.

SPOILERS BELOW

Let’s start with deciding who Sarge is. May tries to get him to admit that maybe, somehow, he is Coulson. He just winds up making a huge dent on a desk with his hand. Daisy wonders if May is holding back because she thinks it’s Coulson, and doesn’t want to go too far. Daisy thinks the real force is whatever is in Sarge. She wants him to release it, but he accuses her of rage issues.
That’s when the episode make an interesting move by showing her reading Coulson’s farewell letter to her. We don’t know what’s in it, maybe because we don’t want to say goodbye to him either. Her reactions are enough for us, though. It also convinces her Sarge isn’t Coulson.
Then she asks Sarge if his memories came into focus after he was shot. He admits he saw Daisy’s face, but that doesn’t mean anything…maybe. She still insists he show his real form. He’s apparently got seismic powers like her, and she gets a big jolt from them.

Meanwhile, Izel (Karolina Wydra) is still in her basic mode: declaring her intentions, and saying SHIELD can’t stop her. Too bad she’s less interesting as herself than she is imitating Mack and Elena.
She finally becomes menacing when she reveals the power within the monoliths (Di’Allis). The strongest is the Creation monolith, which can recreate anything. She uses that against Marcus Benson (Barry Shabaka Henley) when she tries to get him to reveal the temple she needs for her ritual. She brings back the image of his husband Thomas (Robb Derringer), who tells Marcus that he heard Marcus’ decision to end his life after the fatal car crash. Izel tops it off by killing Fake Thomas, and telling Marcus it’s his fault. It doesn’t matter the Creation Di’Allis may have gotten the information from Marcus’ brain. It still forced him to tell her what she wanted.

Back at the base, Fitz, Simmons and Deke figure out that Izel takes over people through harmonic frequencies. It’s how those knives can kill the Shrike (and didn’t Daisy do the same thing two weeks ago?). If they disrupt her that way, they may have a chance.

Daisy, though, decides to get Sarge to reveal what he knows about Izel, or he’ll be stabbed to death.
Then he does something surprising: after saying how it’s important to save one’s own skin, he tells Daisy to kill him to save everyone from whatever is in him.
He even calls Daisy “Skye”
That’s right, “Skye”.
He was willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, just like Coulson would.
This stuns Daisy, and she winds up hugging him, Sarge has a piece of Coulson in him, and whatever is in him could be enough to stop Izel.
One thing: he remembers being “created” with three statues in the background thanks to the Di’Allis. So, whose brain was used to provide the memory of Coulson to “recreate” him…if that’s what happened?

At the temple, Izel is ready for her ritual to open the way to her world. It seems to include singing according to Sarge. She hopes to get Mack and Elena to help her recreate the monoliths by using their brains. They tell her they are not scared of her, and will not be exploited like Marcus.
However, she has a plan B: she brings in an Inhuman…from the future…named Flint (Coy Stewart). He’s the guy who can recreate rocks and reassemble monoliths, He’s very confused why he’s in the past (he’s from 2091, remember?).

The episode ends with Altarah and Malachi, two of the Chromicoms, arguing on whether they can use time travel to save their world and just take over a new one. Malachi wins the argument by killing her, but this doesn’t have much of an impact. This plot line has been an after-thought lately, but maybe they’ll get involved with Izel since she destroyed their planet. Enoch wasn’t seen, but he may have something in mind.

Except for the Chromicoms scene, this was a great episode where the SHIELD crew get the feeling that somehow Coulson is back. There were also a good scene between Mack and Elena working on their relationship, and knowing they also have to do their duty as agents. The best part was Daisy settling her issues over missing Coulson, and realizing that maybe she hasn’t lost him at all.

Next week: it could be the end of everything unless SHIELD can stop Izel, but will the Chromicoms also play a role?