Is Victoria Hand the Clairvoyant?

On last night's episode of Agents to S.H.I.E.L.D., there were so many misdirects about who the Clairvoyant was that it was hard to keep track. First, it was Thomas Nash, but that seemed just a little too easy. Then, after Ward shot Nash, Coulson thought it could be Ward, or someone Ward was working with. When the team finally discovered Melinda May's encrypted phone line, they thought it could be her or someone she was working with, although May just looked a bit confused. But in the show's final moments, the team's plane was hijacked...and who was behind it but Victoria Hand, who ordered all the passengers but Coulson to be killed on sight.

It's not terribly surprising that the Clairvoyant would be someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. We've even mentioned it, and gone so far as to name Hand as a potential Clairvoyant. It makes sense: she's secretive, morally ambiguous, and she has an extremely high level of clearance within S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus, she doesn't seem to have taken much of a shine to Coulson or his team.

But much like Thomas Nash, this reveal seems a little too easy. To have the Clairvoyant dropped into our laps after all this searching in the wrong direction? Especially someone like Hand, who was already the prime suspect within S.H.I.E.L.D. It would be much more interesting to have someone audiences would have never suspected, like Agent Garrett. Of course, if it's taken S.H.I.E.L.D. agents longer than the audience to realize that the Clairvoyant is in S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe it won't be obvious to them, even if Hand is the Clairvoyant.

Hand certainly seems to be the prime candidate for the Clairvoyant. Still, it seems like the team's journey to find the leader of Project Centipede has been full of wrong turns. At this point, it'll be hard to believe that someone's really the Clairvoyant until they're buddying up with Mike Peterson, who will be wearing a giant, flashing sign that says "I'm with the Clairvoyant!" Or, of course, until the Clairvoyant explains his or her evil plan to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team when they're finally in his or her grasp.

Image: ABC