Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2x16: Afterlife [Recap/Review]

Agents of SHIELD

Season 2, Episode 16

Wednesdays 9|8 EST

Spoilers, obviously

 

 

Half an hour after the episode ended, Mom turned to me and said, "I think we need to watch that one again." (Agents of SHIELD is a female affair in my home; my mom and my sister and I have a regular Wednesday-morning date with it.) My sister Riah and I both agreed heartily. In my opinion, this is quite possibly the best episode Season Two has offered us yet.

 

 

 

Gonzalez and the team have 'captured' Agent May and are holding her in the Bus, Coulson and Hunter have teamed up and are staying in a safehouse, Fitz decides to leave as soon as he's been debriefed and assessed, and Jemma tells Bobbi that she'll open Fury's cube - if that means things can go back to normal.

Me to Gonzalez:

 

 

Meanwhile, Skye wakes up undergoing acupuncture therapy in a room that looks like a very zen spa retreat. Gordon (I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry. I'm Skye/Gordon shipper trash and from now on I shall refer to them as Skordon) assures her that everything's fine and introduces her to Lincoln (Luke Mitchell! John from the Tomorrow People! It's good to see you again, ol' buddy, ol' pal!) and tells her that Lincoln will be her 'transitioner' for the moment.
Lincoln takes Skye on a tour of the facility, which looks to be some kind of Chinese temple, and explains a few things -

 

a) nobody knows where exactly they are, except Gordon

b) nobody can take them in and out of the place, except Gordon

c) she can't have contact with the outside world just yet, but she can ask Gordon

d) Gordon is basically Supernanny

e) everyone at the temple is waiting to be passed through the mist, if they're chosen. According to Lincoln, Skye is the first to have already been changed - and the 'old-school' way, at that. Hence, everyone there looks at her like she's the new kid invading their territory, although Lincoln promises her she'll be safe. There's no one there who will harm her.

 

 

They pass by a small building on the outskirts of the grounds and Lincoln tells her it was just a previous transition room, but later he makes a slip-up and Skye goes running back, blows the doors open, and has a fiery argument with Raina (who is currently undergoing her emo phase).

 

Someone arrives and breaks up the argument - Jiyiang, Skye's mother. Jiyiang knows how Skye is but doesn't let on, instead saying that she'll be Skye's transitional guide, if she wants to stay. Skye agrees to stay for a few days.

 

 

Meanwhile, Hunter and Coulson call in 'the real SHIELD' at their safehouse and trick them with a hologram, but they're captured by 'the real SHIELD's reinforcements. Almost immediately afterward they're saved by a newcomer (I'll admit, my heart jumped into my throat for a second when I thought it was Bucky) - Mike!! It was great to see Mike again. He frees Coulson and Hunter and pilots the ship, although they don't know where they want to head just yet. Coulson tells Hunter they have a bad option that they need to take. They're going to bring in Grant Ward.

 

 

Gonzalez offers May a place on the board, and even backs his offer by giving her a loaded gun and saying if he's not on the level, she can shoot him. We leave her debating whether or not she should.

Gordon escorts Jiyiang to seed Cal, who is still locked in a trashed, mysterious room and is less than enthused with his accommodations (where apparently the mysterious Inhuman 'elders' have decided to keep him for the time being). Cal says, "She's here, isn't she? You found her?" Jiyiang smiles and hugs him, and then Cal asks, hopefully (and for the nine millionth time), "Can I see her?"

"No," says Jiyiang firmly.

Cal:

 

At SHIELD, Jemma and Fitz swap the real cube for a fake one and then Fitz takes his leave, getting into a taxi headed for the airport (but where is he going?) - he opens his pack and sees that Jemma left him a sandwich. His favorite. 

And he finally gets to eat it. 

 

• Hunter's sense of humor in this episode was fantastic. Between his sarcasm and Coulson's dryness, they could make a buddy comedy of the year.

• Despite what they're up to, I still do love Bobbi and Mac, and would still trust them in most circumstances.

• How is Skye's mother still alive? Granted, she has scars; but - didn't Whitehall take her organs? And her blood? Did Skye's mother regenerate them? What??

• Is May going to take a seat on the board, or not? There are pros and cons for both decisions...this is a tough choice.

• Fitz has the cube, and he has a sandwich. He's set to take on the world. What's he up to?

• I don't care what you say - I don't trust Gonzalez at all. Even if he's not out for world domination/destruction, he's got something massive and shady up his sleeve.

• I LOVE GORDON/CAL INTERACTION. (Granted I love Gordon interacting with pretty much everyone, but this is special.) Didn't you just love Gordon teleporting just in time so that Cal punched the ground? I hope he broke his hand.

• Gordon yelled. He raised his voice for the first time, and it was definitely intimidating. Also, he brings pizza for the kids on a weekly basis - how adorable is that? Seriously?

• Lincoln's boyish charm is coming through really well. I'm impressed with Luke's acting, because his character as Lincoln is very similar to his character as John in The Tomorrow People, yet he's managing to put a different spin on it. I look forward to more of him.

• FITZSIMMONS IS PIECING ITSELF BACK TOGETHER AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND I'M SO EXCITED AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

• THEY'RE BRINGING WARD BACK.

I REPEAT:

THEY

ARE

BRINGING

WARD

BACK

TO

THE

A-TEAM

EVERYBODY HOLLA