The Geekcap: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Uprising"

In Miami, Florida, Elena celebrates a bachelorette party for her close friend Maria on the roof of a building. They’re interrupted by a call from Mack, whom her friends believe to someone special. Before they can talk, the entire city experiences a blackout with all technology cut off from them. In the distance, a helicopter crashes with no power.

On screens, an unidentified man announces the blackout as part of the Inhuman resistance. He states that unless the government end the registration, his group of Inhumans will shut down more cities. The Director demands to know the source of the attack, but Fitz and Mack are unable to trace the source of the message. Though the Director questions whether an Inhuman is indeed behind the attack, the two believe that the only Inhuman capable, Lincoln, is gone, reducing their investigation to an EMP attack. Still, stopping the blackouts become even more urgent with the reestablishment of SHIELD coming in only a month. In this matter, the Director plans to send Coulson to the area in order to get down to the heart of the matter and bring order.

Prior to the blackout, Coulson and Simmons keep an eye on May’s vitals with Simmons especially apprehensive in learning more details as her health spikes. With the current situation, the Director reveals that he sent May to one of the best CDC facilities in the country in order to calm Coulson’s fears. Unfortunately, those fears increase when one of their last patients dies of shock, leaving May to possibly suffer the same fate. Still, he allows Simmons to tend to her for the agreement that Coulson leave for Miami since he considers Coulson the best agent to handle Inhuman situations. In the meantime, Elena tries to maintain the group on the building despite Maria’s fears for her fiancé.

Elena’s friend: 30 stories in heels?

Elena: That’s why I don’t wear them.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Robbie travel in Los Angeles when Robbie reveals that his uncle Elias Morrow worked at Momentum Labs as an electrical engineer. Through her own research, however, she knows that Eli is also doing time in jail for being convicted of manslaughter, though Robbie believes he was a good man. When they stop by a gas station, they overhear the announcement of Miami’s blackout possibly caused by an Inhuman uprising. Robbie worries that the blackout could spread over to them, threatening his brother in another part of town. Though Daisy is skeptical of the spread, the power then shuts down in Los Angeles.

In addition, Radcliffe puts the finishing touches on his cranial device with the help of AIDA. However, since Simmons is coming to help with May, he finds that he needs to shut AIDA down in order to keep her construction a secret. Simmons rushes May in as they are forced to hold her down and sedate her from her frenzy. With all biological causes emptied, Simmons falls back to Mack’s claim that May was touched by a ghost. Though impossible, Radcliffe uses the cranial device to scan May’s brain for a possible solution with Simmons informing him that they have less than six hours before May eventually dies like the other suspects.

As Coulson, Mack, and Fitz travel to Miami, they watch a news conference with Senator Rota Nader, who argues that they must strike back against the Inhuman threats or else risk human extinction. Though Coulson doubts Inhumans are behind the attack, Mack admits that the four cities currently under blackouts have Inhuman operatives. Fortunately, Fitz believes that the source of the blackouts emerged from an EMP which he can track from the source and eventually disable.

In the meantime, Robbie and Daisy ride their way to his brother Gabe. In the state of the blackout, Daisy refuses to believe the Inhumans, but Robbie understands this is likely because she is an Inhuman herself. Because his charger was built prior to an electrical age, they are still able to drive through the city, though Daisy still has questions about his other abilities as Robbie admits he wants to get rid of them. He also admits that he tried to settle his need for vengeance by going after the people who paralyzed his brother. When that didn’t work, he then went after the man Eli threatened, claiming he ruined Eli’s life. After that, he began going after criminals though he wonders how long he will keep going. The two then find Gabe just as rioters are preparing to fight. Robbie and Daisy fight back with Daisy using her powers and further injuring her arm. Robbie takes his brother, and the three return to his home.

The blackout continues in Miami as Maria plans to go and find her fiancé herself. Elena tries to convince her to stay, but the entrance is blocked by a gathering of men. They claim that they are not rioters and are only searching for an Inhuman among them.

Radcliffe and Simmons manage to use his device to ascertain a hyperactivity within May’s brain, causing her to almost literally die of fear. Simmons believes that if they can shut down the substance causing the activity, they could save May’s life. However, Radcliffe responds that the only way to do that is to shut down fear itself.

Coulson, Mack, and Fitz receive a call from the Director who is even more anxious that the three find the source of the blackout. Curiously, Mack wonders about the EMP since regular ones would only short-circuit electric devices turned on, yet everything in the city appears shut down. Fortunately, they are still able to track down Elena’s phone before they enter the city and promptly have a blackout of their own.

Coulson: Could use a light source, like a guy with a flaming head.

Back on the roof, the men continue to say that they only want to kill the Inhuman and are willing to let the others go. They interrogate various guests who all defend themselves as human. Eventually, one man offers up a guest who was previously seen doing parlor tricks, believing his sleight-of-hand to actually be Inhuman abilities. Without power to any of their devices, including Coulson’s hand, the three are forced to work old-school when entering the city.

At Robbie’s home, he notices Daisy’s arm has gotten worse though Daisy refuses to go to a hospital. At that point, she notices that all of Robbie’s injuries seem to heal with Robbie confirming since he has been sliced and shot as Ghost Rider. Still, he offers her the use of their supplies as they wait out the blackout. He then prepares to check on the garage for any looters, warning Daisy that his brother does not know anything about his work as Ghost Rider before he leaves. Gabe then offers Daisy some food as they wait. She notices a picture of Robbie, Gabe, and their uncle Eli with Gabe noting that Eli practically raised them.

Before the men can shoot the guest, Elena uses her speed to swipe his gun. When the leader pulls out another gun, Elena steals it as well. However, Maria spots this deception and calls her out to the men, forcing the group to turn on her. Fortunately, Coulson, Mack, and Fitz arrive just in time and take out the men before they can do any harm. Elena tries to convince her friend that she is the same despite her powers, but Maria wants nothing to do with her.

Meanwhile, May’s condition worsens as time begins to run out for Simmons and Radcliffe. However, Radcliffe offers one desperate solution: killing Agent May.

Coulson then interrogates the men and promptly shoots the leader. Though Mack considers that rash, the leader is revealed to be wearing battle gear. Unlike rioters, these men were members of the Watchdogs equipped with advanced technology to hunt Inhumans. With this in mind, Coulson believes that the Watchdogs, not the Inhumans, were behind the blackouts.

On one of the men, Mack discovers a list of names and city locations matching the blackout spots. Coulson recognizes the list as the registration which changes every time an Inhuman is relocated. Somehow, the Watchdogs got a hold of the registration list and used it to hunt down Inhumans using a blackout. With the registration spread out across agencies as well as any nation that signed the Accords, Coulson fears his worst nightmare came true with no way of learning the origin. Fortunately, after noticing the reverberations of the EMP device, Fitz believes he can discover its location by constructing a compass.

At the lab, Simmons and Radcliffe calculate that they have approximately seven minutes after May’s death to restart her heart before doing permanent damage. However, the reboot should clear her system of the entity that is causing the panic. Though Simmons is unsure about killing her friend, she still injects May to induce her death. They wait out the proper time to revive her, but when the time comes, their city as well experiences a blackout.

As the power outages increase, the Director is forced into a corner by the president who demands actions. A new total of seven cities now have no power with the threat of more on the way. The Director manages to convince the president to give Coulson one more hour before deploying troops into the blackout zones to stop the threat themselves. Luckily for him, Fitz is able to locate the Miami EMP with the help of Mack, Coulson, and Elena monitoring compasses.

Coulson: Ready when you are, slide rule!

Without any power, Simmons is reduced to try and resuscitate May herself, but the odds are looking slim without an electric charge. Despite his work, Radcliffe sacrifices the battery power in AIDA to start up the machine, though he does not tell Simmons what he was using it for in the emergency. With the battery providing magnetic shielding, it is able to jumpstart the AED defibrillator to restart May’s heart. The process is successful as May wakes up back to normal.

Coulson, Fitz, Mack, and Elena successfully find the EMP only to see it surrounded by armed guards. Taking advantage of the darkness, Elena speeds the guns away from the guards, allowing the others to take down the men themselves. Fitz then deactivates the EMP, restoring power to the city. After investigating the men, Coulson finds passports on every member, revealing the Watchdog movement to be spreading past its domestic origins. He then informs the Director about their win.

Back in Los Angeles, Gabe talks to Daisy about the blackout in Los Angeles with Daisy claiming that she does not know anything about the Inhuman uprising. He then asks about her broken arm, which she claims to have gotten from a car crash with the power preventing her from using a hospital. Likewise, he admits that he was paralyzed for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the power is then restored to the city. Nevertheless, he considers himself a guide for Robbie who needs his help just like he needs Robbie. With that in mind, he reveals that he knows Daisy is Quake, recognizing her abilities on the streets. Though he does not consider her a threat, he tells her to leave, believing her to be nothing but trouble for Robbie.

At the base, Coulson explains that the Watchdog organization rather than the Inhumans was responsible for the blackouts. From an unknown backer, they appear to be growing stronger in offense and have promised to declare war. With this threat, Coulson advise the Director that perhaps it is time to reveal SHIELD to the world. Although the proper reveal is weeks away, Coulson admits that, as a director, he learned that sometimes it’s best to throw out plans.

Mack and Elena finally speak alone in the kitchen as she grabs a beer. Finally alone, Mack confronts Elena about helping Daisy behind his back even though they were trying to track her. Elena argues that she’s only been helping Daisy when she contacts her. Otherwise, she couldn’t help track her. Regardless, he argues that he needs to know more about Daisy considering her interaction with the man with the flaming skull. Elena admits she knew about this as well, showing Mack the photo Daisy gave her. He once again fires back at her for keeping secrets between them, but Elena reminds him that there is nothing going on between them in the first place.

Coulson then enters to inquire about the Ghost Rider in Elena’s photo. Elena claims that he is a folklore legend, but Mack and Fitz admits that they’ve seen him. However, they still question what he could have to do with Momentum Labs. In the middle of this, Coulson turns on a screen to watch the Director’s announcement to the public following the blackouts. He assures the public that the blackouts have been taken care of with the Watchdogs responsible for the attacks instead of the Inhumans. To further his stance on the matter, he reintroduces SHIELD to the public, assuring their dedication to protecting others. May calls back to Coulson, reassuring him of her safety, though feeling that he deserves to be the one making the announcement.

Robbie then returns to his home, carrying additional medicine for Daisy’s arm. However, he is surprised to see her gone with Gabe stating that she left as he slept. Meanwhile, Daisy overhears the SHIELD announcement alone in her van.

Following the announcement, Senator Nadeer argues against the Director’s announcement, reminding the public that SHIELD was previously a puppet of Hydra. Now, they are only a puppet for the Inhumans. The senator watches this discussion on television when she receives a call from the same unidentified voice that threatened the attacks. He tells her that while the plan was unsuccessful, they killed approximately seventeen Inhumans within the chaos. For now, she tells him that she is waiting for a ride over at her brother’s home. Moving past a pile of unopen letters, she exits the house, moving past a Terrigenesis cocoon.

N.O.T.E.S.

• Ironically, this episode calls back to one of Ghost Rider's villains Blackout.
• This is the first reference to Robbie Reyes' uncle Eli Morrow. Though he appears to be an electrical engineer in this version, Daisy implies that there may be something darker to him than we've seen.

Photo Credit: ABC/Marvel