Bouncing Back

"Bouncing Back" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), revolving around the character of Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they investigate the appearance of a new Inhuman. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen, and directed by Ron Underwood.

"Bouncing Back" originally aired on ABC on March 8, 2016, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 3.52 million viewers.

Plot
In Bogotá, Colombia, Elena Rodriguez, an Inhuman with super-speed (but who can only travel a certain distance between heartbeats, before being teleported back to the point from which she started), steals a large amount of weapons from the Colombian police. The next day Daisy, Mack, Morse, Hunter and Joey investigate the thefts, but Mack is abducted by Elena. The team track them down and subdue Elena, but she later explains that the police are corrupt, and she has been using her newfound powers (which she believes to be a gift from God) to stop them from hurting innocents.

Hunter and Morse find her cousin Francisco disposing of the weapons in a river, but the police arrive, including Lucio, an Inhuman with paralytic vision. Lucio immobilises Francisco, who is executed, and Hunter and Morse, who are abducted. Daisy, Mack, Elena and Joey attack the police station and rescue Hunter and Morse, while Lucio is defeated when Joey welds his sunglasses to his face, after which he is abducted by Hydra.

Back in the US, Coulson (now the director of SHIELD again) and May meet with President Ellis at Rosalind Price's abandoned apartment. With Price having vouched for SHIELD before her death, Ellis has decided to let them continue dealing with the Inhuman threat as a 'black ops' unit, and to have the new head of the ATCU answer to Coulson. Elsewhere, Malick has been tending to the ancient Inhuman, who is very weak from the millennia of clinging to life, but is growing stronger, promising that Malick's faith in his capabilities is not misplaced. He also displays one of his powers, to disperse Ward's body into a mass of particles, and vows to 'make a believer' of Giyera. To find Malick, Coulson uses Garrett's mind probe, in conjunction with Lincoln's powers, on a vegetative Werner von Strucker, who awakens long enough to inform them of a location where Malick can be contacted. There Coulson finds a phone, through which he calls Malick, while May traces the call to a number of locations worldwide, where Malick's various companies can be found, though he promptly sells them.

Elena agrees to be a reserve member of the Secret Warriors, but refuses to leave Colombia. She gains the nickname "Yo-Yo" from Mack. Simmons and Fitz address the distance between them since he destroyed Will's body on Maveth, which she does not blame him for because Will was already dead, and they agree to start over. May consoles Coulson over his decision to murder Ward, telling him that he 'joined the Cavalry'.

In an end tag, Ellis informs Coulson that he has appointed Glenn Talbot as the new head of the ATCU.

Starring

 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
 * Brett Dalton as Hive
 * Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson/Quake
 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
 * Nick Blood as Lance Hunter
 * Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse
 * Henry Simmons as Alphonso MacKenzie
 * Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell

Guest Starring

 * Powers Boothe as Gideon Malick
 * Juan Pablo Raba as Joey Gutierrez
 * William Sadler as Matthew Ellis
 * Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena Rodriguez
 * Mark Dacascos as Giyera
 * Spencer Treat Clark as Werner von Strucker
 * Yancey Arias as Victor Ramon
 * Gabriel Salvador as Lucio