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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Life Spent

"I've earned a night in my own bed."

Well, Deke is a dick, isn't he? Maybe that's even how the writers picked his name.

To be honest, though, Deke had a point. Yes, he sold Daisy out, but she was being very reckless. Deke said over and over that they should be strategic, and Daisy simply wouldn't listen. I do believe Deke is playing the long game and that he hasn't betrayed her. He is just being a better spy than the trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. How about that?

Simmons wouldn't have gotten herself in trouble if she hadn't been so impulsive to begin with. Then you have Daisy being rash to rescue her, and Coulson and co. rushing to get some answers. Guys, it's been less than 24 hours that you were zapped to this new time and place, shouldn't you get the lay of the land first?

Then again, I understand that they haven't slept since they woke up from the Framework – and it's not as if they were resting there either. They have been tossed around from one threat to another, so it's not surprising that they are mentally and physically exhausted and just want to cut to the chase and get things done. But this is also a sign that they should get some rest, pull themselves together and be clever instead of impulsive. I was anxious for them that they simply wouldn't stop and rest a little bit. It was a relief when they finally did it. Taking turns, yes, but that's something. Hopefully, by the time we reach the hundredth episode or the season finale, May will have slept in her own bed.

Elsewhere, this episode continued the world building from the premiere and did it very well. We learned what the Kree have to gain from controlling the remainder of humanity: all 18-year-olds are exposed to the Terrigen mist, and those who are Inhumans and gain significant powers are sold as slaves. Poor Abby thought she would travel the galaxy as ambassador. No such luck.

I loved the way Simmons treated and guided her. It made me think of how Simmons wasn't a fan of Inhumans at first, but now she was to Abby what Jiaying and Gordon were to Daisy: she showed Abby the beauty of her power. Her stars and space analogy was just incredible. She was both motherly and science-y, it was a great moment for Jemma. I mean, have you ever thought of yourself as a field of stars? That's a fascinating concept. At a molecular lever, we are more space than matter. Everything is. And it's a beautiful notion that particles and space work cohesively to form complex things and creatures.

Kasius asked Sinara why she thought Simmons would be able to help Abby. Sinara, who is still my favorite Kree so far, gave a direct and simple answer: compassion. That is a quality the Kree and most of the humans from the Lighthouse are unfamiliar with, and this time it was a leverage to Simmons. She connected with Abby in a way others failed to.

What Kasius put Abby through was horrible, though. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have the graphic violence of Daredevil or The Punisher, but that scene was tough to watch. After all, it was a young, skinny girl being beaten up by an enormous man for the sake of a bargain. For a moment, I thought that Daisy would show up in time to save her, but Daisy had her own problems to deal with and it was up to Abby to save herself. I cheered when she managed to use her powers and inadvertently kill the fighter.

I'm not completely sold on him yet, but Kasius became a more interesting villain. He is the big boss in the Lighthouse, but as far as the Kree Empire goes, he is looked down upon. Lady Basha dismissed the place he lives in and his accomplishments twice, and she didn't even appreciate the gift he gave her. Not that I pity him, I can't wait for him to die. What he does to Simmons and his other servants is terrible. I hope that she is the one who gets to put him down.

While the Inhumans slavery subplot was great, I continue to be more interested in the two bigger mysteries of the season: why were the agents sent to the future and what caused the destruction of the Earth. Deke is sure that Quake, Destroyer of Worlds, was the one who did it. And Kasius also called her by that unwanted nickname. So, what gives? Is Deke right and maybe this is a multiverse situation, the Daisy of this universe destroyed the world? Then, how does Fitz sending a message from the past fit into all of this? It's one thing to pass a postcard through a few generations, it's another to send a postcard to another dimension. Then again, it could be a different Fitz. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Virgil believed that the Earth could be restored, that it could look blue and round again. Fixed. The way Tess said it, it was as if the Earth could be literally put back together. Not change the past to save the future, just change the present. How would that be done? And who was trying to contact Virgil? Whoever it was, they are somewhere else that is not the Lighthouse, but that is Earth. And they probably have the answers that the agents, and the audience, are looking for.

Intel and Assets

- Still no Fitz.

- Yo-Yo was just incredible. She put her powers to very good use and if it weren't for her, Coulson, May and Mack would all have been killed.

- There was a quick Philinda moment.

- One thing I didn't realize in the premiere: the Lighthouse is placed in the larger segment of what used to be Earth, which makes sense since it was conceived as a bunker.

- Science-y nitpick: Although we don't know which year the characters were sent to exactly (we just learned that the Lighthouse was built around 90 years ago), it's safe to say that the Earth has been destroyed for several decades. That larger segment of the Earth should have collapsed on itself already. Also, it is not big enough for the atmosphere to stay put.

- Just like in Guardians of the Galaxy, humans are referred to as Terrans.

- We briefly met a young man named Flint.

- Another hint that this could be a multiverse situation: the number of the segment Coulson and the others traveled to was 616.

- The Kree install some kind of blocker in Inhumans to turn their powers off at command.

- Abby's power was pretty cool. Mind over matter, literally.

Deke: "In my universe, you destroyed the planet. Maybe that just hasn't happened in..."
(Daisy slaps him.)
Daisy: "So what universe did that just happen in?"

Coulson: "Say what you will about our future dystopian horror show, it has a nice view."
May: "Dazzling."

Simmons: "Think of this place. You see a table, this pitcher, and outside, the stars. Millions of them. All of that, every part in the universe is made of the same thing: protons, neutrons, electrons. And you know what's between those tiny particles? Space. Infinite space. Your body is like a field of stars, but you're special. You can control the space between the stars."


Daisy: "I really thought this would work."

Zev: "Squirreling things away."
Mack: "Yeah, like you know what a squirrel is."

A solid, entertaining episode. Three out of four pieces of the Earth.
--
Lamounier

7 comments:

  1. I have to say that this whole thing sounds intriguing. It's making me consider getting back into Agents of SHIELD. I let it go a couple of seasons ago, and now I wish I hadn't.

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    1. Season 4 was incredible! The best season so far, and every episode seemed to be better than the last. Especially in the second half!

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  2. I'd recommend catching up Billie. It's solid genre show goodness. I may not have liked this arc or the previous one that much but you might get a kick out of it. And the show could use the support so it can hopefully satisfy more people in the future (pull a Spike and get us Maria Hill as Director damn it.)

    Mack kind of annoyed me with his talk about "we don't murder people". It kind of felt like something from early Walking Dead where the characters would try to be enlightened and stuff before things went to crap. Still at least in that situation the characters were kind of new to this kind of situation whereas the AOS crew have been through a dystopia before. Also given that that dude died anyway it's kind of like...well there you go. And this is the second time this kind of thing has happened this season.

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  3. I really do like it better than any of the other shows. It is solid Sci Fi and I want it to go on forever. The characters are interesting, believable, and very likeable and the actors are the best. I want them all to be there every week, even though I think they do really dumb things sometimes. But usually it is needed to have a story - if they did everything right there wouldn't be a story, right? I agree this show is incredible. No one could be happier than me each year that it is renewed.

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  4. Yes, definitely one of my favorite show - you should catch up! This past season was amazing. And of course Deke betrayed Daisy (and of course, the hilarious irony of this betrayer's real last name being WARD - the show cannot get rid of Ward no matter how many times Brett Dalton's character is killed). But I do believe Deke was really trying to do the right thing. Daisy should have stopped at least when the device broke, if not before. She was crashing through the only home humans had left as if she was still in the Framework and nothing was real.

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  5. Phyllis, what a lovely thing to say about the series. :)

    Billie, I echo everyone's sentiment. Season 4 has androids and virtual reality, season 5 has space and time travel, I think it's your cup of tea.

    televisionandotherrantings, I was going to address Mack's moral lesson on the review, but I was kind of torn between being annoyed by it and understanding his perspective. You certainly have a point.

    yodudeyo100, yes, season four just kept getting better and better.

    She was crashing through the only home humans had left as if she was still in the Framework and nothing was real.

    Good point, Katie. Curiously, Daisy was more cautious in the Framework.

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  6. Mack is definately annoying with his morals, which of course don;t extend to aliens. He axed that Kree like there was no tommorow in the premiere.

    Jemma's turn as an Avox (but she can't hear not speak like the servants in the Hunger Games) is the most interesting. I always thought the 100 did not show enough life on the Ark so I'm getting my fill of dystopian space station life here.

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