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| Image Courtesy www.comcbook.com |
At some point, I will
probably have to stop saying that the most recent episode of Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. is the best one (or one of the best) yet. But that day still has not come. “Afterlife” (2x16) continued every plot line
I’ve been looking for and did so very well.
I did not feel as though things were disconnected through the
episode. And perhaps most importantly, I
think I finally have a good idea of how the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
tie-in with The Avengers: Age of Ultron is going to work. I will touch on that briefly in my review,
but if you want the full idea, come back on Friday.
The episode picks up
where the last episode (“One Door Closes”) ended: Hunter and Coulson off on their own trying to
pick up the pieces. Over the course of
the episode, Hunter and Coulson upgrade their transportation and their team,
and they also give us some further insight into both of their characters. They start off by stealing a jeep; they end
the episode in a quinjet. They start as
just the two of them and experience a setback when they discover from
surveillance camera footage that Gordon teleported Skye away; they end the
episode with Mike Peterson, aka Deathlok, making a reappearance and helping
them escape from Gonzales’ team. That
last bit was my favorite part of that particular subplot. Ever since Skye and Mike had a chat at the
end of “Beginning of the End” (1x22) and Mike disappeared into the darkness, I’ve
been waiting for him to show up again.
He was the first genuine superhero on the show, and all of Season 1
served as his “origin story”: He went
from a confused father to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to a co-opted weapon to a man
trying to atone for his previous actions.
What had he been doing during Season 2?
We find out that he was working for Coulson all along, and as such had
spent the past six months trailing one of the Heads of Hydra (Liszt, “the one
that got away”). We also find out that
he received a few upgrades, including a pretty impressive new wrist-mounted
rocket launcher (better than the one Garrett gave him in Season 1).
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Coulson and Hunter also
had a couple of very interesting conversations.
Hunter is just about ready to throw Bobbi, Mack, and Gonzales under the Iliad
for what they did, especially for their betrayal. Coulson, however, is not so sure. He keeps telling Hunter to “see it from their
perspective.” Bobbi and Mack are good
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; they think they are doing the right thing. Gonzales is a brilliant tactician and a loyal
S.H.I.E.L.D. agent; Coulson suggests that Gonzales may even be right about him
being a danger. This is not enough to
make Coulson deviate from his plans, but he does question whether he is doing
the right thing. The next confrontation
between those two will certainly be a thing to behold.
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I am very curious
about how May will respond to Gonzales offer of a seat on the board. After all, this would put her in an excellent
position to help Coulson in the future, but would she really consider to doing
something so obviously disloyal to Coulson?
Given that next week’s episode is entitled “Melinda,” I suspect we do
not have very long to wait to get those answers.
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| Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/AgentsofShield |
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
From this episode we
learn a Busload of new information about Terrigenesis. Lincoln reveals that the Inhumans have not
used Diviners and Kree temples to effect Terrigenesis in thousands of years—something
that makes sense of everything from “Aftershocks” (2x11) and “Who You Really
Are” (2x12): In “Aftershocks” it is
clear that the Inhumans have been practicing Terrigenesis for many generations;
in “Who You Really Are” it is clear that the Kree can detect the Diviner
activating, and that they have not detected that signal since they left
Earth. How can those two facts be
reconciled? Apparently the Inhumans can
either synthesize the Terrigen Mists or have an alternate supply which they can
use without a Diviner being present.
Lincoln also reveals that the Inhumans have an intense screening process
by which they prepare “descendants” (of the earliest test subjects; in other
words “Inhumans”) to undergo the transformation. Following the transformation, they are assigned
a “Transitioner” who gives a treatment resembling acupuncture which facilitates
the transformation process and helps make it less painful. They also have a “Guide” assigned once their
powers are better understood—someone to help them learn to master their new
gifts. Interestingly, according to
Lincoln only one person every few years undergoes the Terrigenesis
process. I find that to be a little
surprising in a people group with probably numbers in the thousands to millions,
though it might just be so in his experience with the process.
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When Skye told Lincoln
that she had heard straight from a Kree that they were originally designed to
be weapons, he did not appear at all phased by the revelation. This tells me that the Inhumans know their
own history very well (unlike in the comic books where Ronan “enlightened”
them); they have just chosen to abandon their original purpose. The Inhumans understand their history but do
not seem to allow it to affect them.
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
I think the Inhumans
storyline was my absolute favorite of this episode. I like the immersive method they are using to
introduce us to the Inhumans: We are
really learning about them through watching Skye learn about them. I also enjoyed the character development in
Skye when she met Raina for the first time after Terrigenesis. Skye blaming Raina for everything, Raina’s
despair and self-loathing after her transformation, and Skye’s attempt to “quake”
Raina apart all changed our views of those characters. That Skye was about to kill Raina was a huge
shock, something that she did not seem capable of up until last week. Now, however, we see that Skye is just as
capable of killing as Raina, and that the two of them have far more in common
than we realized at first. Skye’s
repeated declarations that they are “nothing alike” only serve to highlight the
similarities. Lincoln’s and Jiaying’s
assertions that Raina is “one of us” just like Skye, and that as such she deserves
just as much care as Skye receives helped to hammer home the otherness
of the Inhumans. Skye and Raina are no
longer separated by “sides”; they are united by both being Inhumans.
The revelation that
Jiaying is still alive was surprising—didn’t we see her get vivisected
back in the fall????? Wasn’t Cal crying out
in anguish over her lifeless corpse?????—but definitely made for an
interesting twist. My only guess as to
how she could survive being hacked open and having her organs harvested is that
she must have a Wolverine- or Deadpool-level healing factor. And if that’s the case, did her healing
factor transfer over to Whitehall, who might still be alive? That’s just one of the questions we have
now. The other is: when did Cal discover that she was still
alive? If he’d known all along, then what
does that say about his motives for revenge against Whitehall? He seemed pretty sure that his wife and
daughter were both gone, but his daughter was still alive, and apparently his
wife was, too. I think it is likely that
he knew when Gordon came to take him away; that would explain why he began
primping as soon as Gordon mentioned taking him to someone who would decide his
fate. Ultimately, however, I am excited
to see how it will affect Skye to learn that her mother is still alive—and (presumably)
one of the Inhumans’ Elders.
Overall, I really
enjoyed every aspect of this episode. The
Deathlok reveal was awesome; I didn’t have any complaints about his “Deathlok
1.0” costume, but the “Deathlok 2.0” is a clear improvement over Season 1. I look forward to seeing more of him and his
character development, especially since super humans are starting to become
more of an issue for Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D.
Watching Fitz and Simmons come back together to pull off an incredible
con on Mack and Bobbi was touching, especially the ending with the
sandwich. And I think that even if
the rest of the episode had been bad, the Inhumans scenes would have made it
all worth it.
Looking forward, I want
to see more of Deathlok—and especially his interactions with Ward building off
of last season. I’m expecting a lot more
focus on Skye learning to control her powers over the next episode or two,
building up to her reemergence from Lai Shi, return to Coulson’s team, and
confrontation with Gonzales’ S.H.I.E.L.D.
I’m also expecting more scenes between Jiaying and Skye, eventually
leading to Jiaying revealing that she is Skye’s mother. If I had to guess, Fitz will probably join up
with Coulson next episode, and Simmons will remain in Gonzales’ S.H.I.E.L.D. “undercover.” Lastly, I think we will gain some clarity on
how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will tie-in with Age of Ultron in the
next couple of episodes, especially since there are only 3 episodes left before
Age of Ultron premiers!
So what did you think
of “Afterlife”? Did you see anything that
I missed or didn’t mention? What are you
most looking forward to going forward?
Let me know in the comments!
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One of the best episodes. Enjoyed it. I think next season will explode out the inhumans as they set up civil war between the shields.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the fence about how long the SHIELD Civil War arc will last. It might be resolved this season with a massive gifted-fueled battle. It could also last all through next season and beyond. I am definitely excited to see how it progresses!
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