So it turns out you can have your sandwich and eat it too. This week is particularly juicy when it comes to spoilers no one expected but my, this was so worth it.
This is my review of 2×16 Afterlife
Again we cover 3 different fronts here so I’ll review them one at a time.
Let’s start with Coulson and Hunter. Not so subtly they steal an off-roader to find out what happened with Skye. I’m going to overlook the whole how long it takes to get where because we mostly have no clue exactly where the action is happening and somehow I doubt the Playground is located in the same place as in the comics.
Going back to the safe house they discover just how awesome Skye / Daisy’s powers are. Those CCTV cameras are quite tough, probably built to withstand the Hulk as well. Speaking of which, when Coulson said he’d called for reinforcements, one specific individual to be precise, all I could think of what the Hulk would turn up and help out, as unlikely as this may sound. Boy was I excited when they brought back Deathlok aka “Agent Peterson” who had been working for Coulson all this time fulfilling missions for him. Yes more secrets but who cares? Deathlok is back!!
Of course that only reinforces Gonzales’ determination to stop Coulson “collecting” powered individuals.
I also enjoyed the nod to Triplett with a bag full of tricks, which kinda worked, but not really. The next stage for Coulson, as we found it in the synopsis for episode 18 is to find ward to seek his help. I’m not sure how that’s gonna work out but listening to Mike, there’s a chance of another showdown with a team of supers in the near future if Dr List has been looking to recruit some of them to Hydra.
Moving on to Skye I take it many of you have enjoyed Luke Mitchell and his portraying of Lincoln Campbell. It seems his power is kinda like Storm’s except it’s limited to electricity and based on that I don’t think he’s a straight out of the comic book world character but one they made up for the show, probably much like Gordon.
I’ll skip over the whole almost killing Raina thing to call attention upon a fact that has been hinted out in the last 2 revealed synopses and character listings: Skye’s mum Jiaying is still alive. Unlike Wolverine she has retained some scarring for some bizzare reason but the fun fact here is that Skye doesn’t know this woman is her mother. She’s bound to find out soon however since she will be the one training her.
We know this is her and not some shape shifter when she goes to hug Cal and confirms Skye is their daughter. Now the question that comes to mind is, how long has Cal known Jiaying was still alive? Did he only find out when he was brought to Afterlife, or has he known for a long time, even helping her ease her regeneration? And if that’s the case why was he so hell-bent on killing Whitehall, besides being bat-shit crazy that is?
The other fun fact is the normal process inhumans go through to undergo terrigenesis. There’s a rigorous process when you have to apply and go through tests and even then there are only one transformation every few years. The whole doing it in a Kree city with no preparation apparently turned them into some kind of celebrity unbeknownst to Skye, which is funny given how many Harry Potter references she’s been making since episode one.
Inhumans want to remain secluded from human society, they don’t want anyone to know about them, yet now that Cal has made a mess and S.H.I.E.L.D. knows about them, it will be much more difficult to achieve, especially if they try to negotiate with the wrong person, assuming they try to negotiate at all.
I wonder when they’ll start making references to the Royal Family, that would be cool!
Finally let’s move back to the Iliad, which is where it’s assume the “real S.H.I.E.L.D. has moved back to”.
As hinted in Adrianne Palicki’s interview, her attitude is conflicted. She wants to open the toolbox but at the same time doesn’t want to see her friends hurt in the process. Mack is also seeing the consequences of his choices when Fitz (seriously who likes to be called “turbo”?) gives him the cold shoulder.
May is probably putting together a strategy in her head after Gonzales’ offer to join their board. One the one hand it would give Coulson a fighting chance when /if they bring him in but on the other it would make her a traitor in the eyes of the others and show a lack of faith in Coulson, which is the one thing that has never faltered. She also probably sees herself as the last protector of agents like Fitz and Simmons.
And speaking of which, the best part is that really clever stratagem Fitzsimmons put together to remove the toolbox from the real S.H.I.E.L.D. possession. The fact that they fooled all of us into thinking that their coming back together last week and early in the episode was just a blip in their deteriorating relationship when Jemma sided with wanting to work on opening the box proves how good the writing on the show can be. And I think we can honestly call it now team #fitzsimmons is back as demonstrated by a tasty sandwich in Fitz’s bag (and the real toolbox). That’s twice now Simmons made her play under Bobbi’s nose without her noticing a thing.
Let me know what you guys were more excited about: Deathlok, Skye’s mum being alive or the rekindling of Fitzsimmons? Or anything else for that matter.
Next week we find out the true story behind the Cavalry so expect lots of flashbacks again. Hopefully that won’t slow down the plot too much.
