Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | S05E08
Now the top-rated Marvel show on Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has been going from strength to strength and its latest instalment, ‘The Last Day’, is an emotional tour de force.
'The Last Day' brings back a surprising figure from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s past that may hold the key to preventing the world’s destruction. Bouncing back and forth between two timelines, the episode structure helped audiences understand Robin’s fractured mind and provided some (tiny) insight into the cataclysmic event that resulted in the world’s destruction.
SPOILER ALERT!
We open with a young Robin on the Zephyr and it’s suggested that this is sometime after Daisy supposedly quakes the world apart - it’s clear that this is an alternate timeline. Simmons and May are there too, piloting the plane through a gravity storm, and Robin mentions that there’s something else she needs to remember - cut to an older Robin in the future. As an old woman, Robin is even more confusing than she was as a young girl because her mother isn’t there to act as the middleman anymore.
The rest of the team land (or crash) on the surface, as predicted by Robin decades ago, and reunite with May on the Zephyr. We meet Voss, an old family friend of Deke’s, and he mentions that Deke’s father is out on a mission but will be back in a few days.
Back on the Lighthouse, Kasius demands retribution for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s escape and he cuts the water and power. His actions fuel the Lighthouse’s growing mob mentality and the people that Flint vowed to stay behind and protect, turn on him. Despite the angry crowd, Flint, Mack and Yoyo successfully manage to retrieve the weapons that Fitz hid in ‘Rewind’ but discover that the “Blue Man Group” have sent the roaches to the lower levels as punishment. Mack and Flint are able to corral the roaches into one room and Yoyo takes care of them – in yet another glorious speedster sequence.
Coulson and Co. are eager to get any clues that might help them return to their own time and prevent the Earth’s destruction, but Robin is having difficulty distinguishing between the past, present and future. All she says is that Coulson can bring all the pieces together and that “this is the day it all ends”.
Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons come across the machine that was used to activate the white monolith. Coulson and May also find a piece of the monolith and with this new discovery, they’re hopeful. If they’re able to find more pieces, they might be able to activate the machine and return to their own time. Could this be S.H.I.E.L.D.’s way of getting home?
Deke recognises the monolith piece, which used to belong to his mother, and goes to confront Voss about the true whereabouts of his dad but is knocked out cold. Fitz and Simmons have also been locked inside a room and it’s quickly becoming clear that the True Believers aren’t to be trusted. Voss pulls a knife on Daisy and she’s surrounded by the rest of the True Believers as they try to take her down. It’s a futile attempt and Voss decides that if he can’t stop the team, he has to stop Robin from giving them the answers and stabs her. The multiple timelines were confusing enough before Voss revealed that the team not only make it back to their time but, despite learning what they did in the future, their return is the reason the world implodes.
During her final moments, Robin calls May “mom” before telling her how the team can get back to their time and save the world. But before May relays the information to the rest of the team, she just has one question - “Who’s Flint?”
A lot happened during this week’s episode and while it seemingly answered a few burning questions, it also created a heck of a lot more confusion. I can’t imagine I’m the only one who needs a full timeline breakdown after that episode. With the return of Robin, ‘The Last Day’ seemed like it was going to be the episode that tied everything together but truthfully, it overcomplicated things a bit. Also, I speculated that Deke’s father was going to play a bigger part in the grand scheme of things, or at the very least be someone that we already knew, so it was disappointing that he was killed off-screen already before we even got to meet him.
Scattered throughout the episode were flashbacks to an alternate timeline, specifically the year 2020, that saw our agents living on the Zephyr in space post-world annihilation. We also discover that Fitz was the one who built the monolith machine and that Mack is “gone and he’s never coming back” (that doesn’t bode well). In fact, all of our agents in this doom-and-gloom timeline have lost faith. All except May. To see her be Robin’s maternal figure and act as the beacon of hope during S.H.I.E.L.D.’s darkest timeline is a welcome change from May’s typically stoic portrayal. May is so much more than just a ‘weapon’ and it was a really nice change from her usual characterisation, massive props go to Ming-Na Wen for her performance this episode. It was also really nice to learn that Flint has a hand in saving the world, he’s grown on me and I’m glad to hear that he’s going to be sticking around.
Overall, despite the timey-wimey ball, this was another strong entry of the show and that’s something that I find myself saying a lot this season. ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ continues to hit its stride and it’s a big testament to the team of showrunners and writers. Their ability to keep the show fresh, especially after five seasons on the air, all comes down to its ongoing transformation. This is one of the rare shows that actually increases in quality as the seasons go by rather than the other way around. Time and time again, we hear so much about shows that start out promising only to run out of storylines and dwindle in quality but this is not the case at all with ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ The show’s ability to evolve and learn from its mistakes is the biggest reason it’s at its strongest, creatively and critically, right now.
While ‘The Last Day’ mainly focused on what was happening on the surface, it also set the scene for the show’s next instalment. Next week’s episode, ‘Best Laid Plans’, will see Mack, Yoyo and Flint continue to deal with the fallout on the Lighthouse as they wage a war against the Kree.
New episodes of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ are updated weekly on Amazon Prime Video.
