Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continued its hiatus this week, and with only two episodes left until the series goes on a winter break, things are beginning to heat up for the MCU's premiere bunch of secret agents. The show is set to resume on November 29th with "Deals With Our Devils," which will reveal the fates of Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna) after they seemingly disappeared as a result of Eli Morrow - a.k.a Ghost Rider's uncle - undergoing a god-like transformation allowing him to create and manipulate matter.
Of course, aside from the Uncle Eli issue, S.H.I.E.L.D. are also having to contend with growing unease among the population towards the super-powered Inhumans. Senator Ellen Nadeer (Parminder Nagra) is the most vocal opponent to the Earth's Inhuman contingent and the devious politician has already blackmailed S.H.I.E.L.D. director Jeffrey Mace (Jason O'Mara) into providing his cooperation - despite being an Inhuman himself - and seems to be controlling a terrorist group calling themselves 'The Watchdogs'.
ABC has now unveiled a new teaser clip from the forthcoming episode "Deals With Our Devils" and it appears that, in the midst of Coulson and co.'s disappearance, Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) is in a tricky situation herself. Last time viewers saw the British agent, she had been sent on a secret mission by Director Mace and the clip suggests that the assignment involves studying an Inhuman Terrigen Cocoon. However, rather than the metamorphosis lasting the standard few seconds, this particular specimen has been gestating for seven months.
There's a good chance that Simmons' secret mission is a direct result of Mace's dealings with Senator Nadeer and that the Inhuman she is charged with studying is Nadeer's brother, whose cocoon has already been seen with the politician in previous episode 'Uprising'. Perhaps more importantly, a Terrigen Cocoon undergoing a seven-month transformation is bound to result in a considerably more powerful being than your average Inhuman, and with Eli Morrow also in possession of incredible power, S.H.I.E.L.D. could soon be facing two threats of unimaginable ability.
The fact that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is keeping its Inhuman narrative alive leads nicely into ABC's forthcoming series on the subspecies - simply titled Inhumans - and the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 could directly influence the story of the new series. With the show set to premiere on IMAX, the network clearly has a lot of faith in their new project, and the increased focus on the Inhuman presence in the MCU could have big ramifications for the franchise as a whole.
However, with Inhumans on their books, ABC may prefer Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to focus on other areas of the Marvel universe in order to keep both series unique and relevant. Luckily, season four's addition of Ghost Rider has been a huge hit with fans and unless that character also gets a spin-off series of its own - a project currently in discussion according to actor Gabriel Luna - the man in the black car is likely to play a significant role in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s future.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns November 29th with 'Deals With Our Devils' on ABC.
Source: ABC