The episode also further explores other recurring guests, including Gabriel Luna's Robbie Reyes and Natalia Cordova-Buckley's Elena Rodriguez, and sees S.H.I.E.L.D.

In Los Angeles, Robbie Reyes and Daisy Johnson, the vigilantes Ghost Rider and Quake, plan to visit the former's uncle in prison to talk to him about his past working at Momentum Energy labs, which they are investigating.

agents Phil Coulson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, and Leo Fitz arrive to find a group of armed men holding the bachelorette party at gun point, searching for an Inhuman.

ally Holden Radcliffe are able to save agent Melinda May from a mysterious illness by killing her and then restarting her heart (which is mildly delayed by another blackout).

being announced as a legitimate organization again, after working in secret since the end of the series' first season, executive producer Jed Whedon said that the reaction to this would be mixed, as "there are people who, as we see with the senator, are outspoken against Inhumans and will be against any form of protection for them.

I think that face you see is one of—not fear, but definitely concern that the one person who knows that Robbie Reyes is Ghost Rider is now back out there running around, doing whatever she has to do.

"[7] Whedon called Gabe asking Johnson to leave Robbie "another blow to Daisy and her emotional makeup" as she "has been trying to operate alone, because she doesn't want to be a danger to anyone else.

Executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen added that May's dying "will impact her life in ways that you may not expect at this point in time.

[10] Marvel also confirmed to appear in the episode main cast members Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, and John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe.

[6] In addition to Nagra, guest stars for the episode include Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, Jason O'Mara as the Director, Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes, Mallory Jansen as Aida, Alexander Wraith as Agent Anderson, Lorenzo James Henrie as Gabe Reyes, Patrick Cavanaugh as Burrows, Ricky Saenz as pistol punk, Devon Libran as slugger punk, Valery Ortiz as Maria, Derek Hughes as The Amazing Mertz, Preston Flagg as Darryl, Stephanie Maura Sanchez as bridesmaid #1, Jen Kuo Sung as Chen, Dale Pavinski as Briggs, Michael Cory Davis as agitator, Aaron Gaffrey as mystery figure and Adriana Diaz as hostage.

[1] Cordova-Buckley, O'Mara, Luna, Jansen, Wraith, Henrie, and Sung reprise their roles from earlier in the series.

[14] Cordova-Buckley, who began appearing on the show during the third season, was surprised to find the writers' characterization of Rodriguez in the episode to closely mirror her own life.

[15] "Uprising" was first screened at New York Comic Con on October 7, 2016, where Gregg, Bennet and Luna promoted the series.

[23] IGN's Terri Schwartz gave the episode a "good" 7.8 out of 10, calling the blackout plot "fairly throwaway" but a backdrop to "tell far more interesting stories", with Luna's Reyes continuing to be the strongest new element of the season.

Schwartz criticized the episode's killing and resurrection of May as "one of the weaker storytelling tricks in an otherwise solid episode—and as expected, May came back and is just fine.

"[24] Writing for Nerdist, Joseph McCabe had mixed feelings about the episode's political angle and the use of Inhumans as a stand-in for minorities, but praised the chemistry between Coulson, Mack, and Fitz, and the further exploration of Jeffrey Mace.

McCabe was highly critical of guest star Lorenzo James Henrie, calling him "no more charismatic here than he was in Fear the Walking Dead, and his character is every bit as unsympathetic as his misguided rebel was on that show, wheelchair or no.

[26] Several critics felt that events in the episode—particularly the terrorist-caused blackouts in major cities around the world, and the public relegitimization of S.H.I.E.L.D.—were problematic due to the series' connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Meslow felt it was questionable for the series to feature a crisis such as the blackouts, given they "would surely attract the attention of at least one Avenger".