What is worse than battling an enemy?

Battling him and then hoping to be his friend afterwards.

This week’s episode features some hard choices being made to solve two of SHIELD’s bigger problems. It may be a while before we know if they are the right ones.

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***

Once again, SHIELD is clashing with the ATCU and its head, Rosalind Price (Constance Zimmer), over the fate of Inhumans. She’s still determined to capture them before they become a threat. Now, she’s worried that if she doesn’t succeed, her task force is gone. It’s nice to see her panic a bit after her air of confidence from two weeks ago. That’s why she’s trying to grab Lincoln by any means necessary. However, doing this makes him a threat that he wouldn’t have been if the task force wasn’t so aggressive. Rosalind’s ego has made Lincoln an Inhuman version of Richard Kimble, and it’s not right.

Daisy is upset by all of this. She thought she was going to create a group of Inhumans that would help the world, and show they can be our friends. The ATCU, and Rosalind’s need to justify her group, have ruined all that.

Meanwhile, May and Lance go undercover at a pub in Massachusetts, hoping to find their way inside HYDRA and Grant Ward. They meet up with a guy named Spud (Daniel Feuerriegel), who tells them his “boss” is interested in the weapons they claim they have, if they survive their version of “Fight Club”.

Turns out Lance has to fight Spud, and it doesn’t go too well until Lance uses some brass knuckles to knock him out…or maybe kill him. It shows how far they’ll have to go to find Ward and somehow bring him down.

Two other guys, by the way, try to corner May, but she takes care of them without brass knuckles.

At least Lance gets a bit higher in the HYDRA pyramid, especially when he meets Kebo (Daz Crawford), who apparently recovered from his fight last week with Werner.

Lincoln is having a difficult time, being forced to use his electric powers to evade the ATCU army. He turns to a friend named John Donnelly (Daniel Roebuck) in Chicago. However, the fear the task force has generated makes John betray Lincoln, and that forces him to defend himself. However, John suffers a fatal heart attack, which really upsets Lincoln. He’s starting to think he is too dangerous to live.

Daisy does find him, and tries to reassure him. In fact, she points out it was him that made her realize she had a place in this world. Naturally, they kiss, and it kicks off some shipping hashtags like #Laisy, #StaticQuake or #AfterShocks. The show has a third relationship, but whether it lasts is another matter.

Coulson finally meets with Rosalind, and after some more cute banter they try to make a deal. Rosalind has to get someone, and if she can’t have Lincoln, she’ll take Daisy…or else. Lincoln manages to get away,  and it looks like Daisy will be grabbed. Rather than get caught in a remake of Sophie’s Choice, Coulson comes up with a third idea: SHIELD will work with the ATCU.
It’s not ideal, but he’s tired to being challenged by rival groups, whether it’s HYDRA, Talbot or “real SHIELD”. He wants to prove his SHIELD is better. It’s still not a good option, especially if Rosalind gets upset when Coulson gets a bit too good at his job. At least he tells Daisy he doesn’t quite trust Rosalind.

While all of this is happening, Simmons is taking the slow road to recovery after being trapped in that blue planet for so long. The episode does a good job of showing how damaged she is. When she hears her phone vibrate, it sounds louder, and some scenes are overexposed to show she has problems with her eyes. Her hair is tied back, too. Fitz does come up with a solution:  a private dinner at a local restaurant. She’s pleased by the attention, then weeps in relief that she, indeed, is home.

In fact, we see her back in the lab, mostly back to her old self. Bobbi is stunned when she sees her handling what’s left of that monolith, and even more so when Simmons says she has to back to that planet. Why? Good question.

So SHIELD and Lance made some difficult choices to get what they want, and it’ll be some time before we see if those choices are worth it.

However, there’s still a certain creature who is also hunting Inhumans, and he’ll be showing up again next week.