“Just when you think you have the answers, they change the questions,” or for us Doctor Who fans “Wibble, wobbly – Timey-Wimey” stuff happens and leaves us confused as heck.
Now I wouldn’t blame anyone for having even more questions after “The Last Day”. We still don’t know why Quake destroys the planet. Heck, we got flashbacks to the past with the team with young Robin trying to change the past! What’s Flint’s role in what happened to the earth as revealed by May as Robin’s last words to her before dying? I suspect we’ll get these answers soon, but in the meantime lets talk about those flashbacks and just how infuriating they felt.
Rinse, Repeat
So we flashback’d to the past as young Robin is with the team as they try to go back in time in various stages of the future (2018, 2020, 2022 were a few of the years I remember). And much like Fitz was during the next to last flashback, I was angry and tired of them. I get we needed a little background on them and what happened but I would have preferred to keep the mystery alive. Having so many of them felt like something Arrow would do, not Agents of SHIELD.
These flashbacks also gave us so many more questions that I’m not sure will be answered before the team goes back into the past. Are they in a time loop, as it sure sounded like what Fitz described in 2022? How did Jemma die? Where was Coulson? Questions with no answers always leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Sure, “The Last Day” could have been a bit less timey-wimey confusing but thankfully it was more than made up for that by Ming-Na Wen’s performance. She showcased a new side to May in those flashbacks as a May trying to hold everything together while still taking care of a scared little girl. Such fantastic work by Ming in these scenes.
Okay lets shake this off and talk about the present (future…TIMEY WIMEY ARGGGHH).
It's a #Philinda reunion! #AgentsOfSHIELD pic.twitter.com/abtgh7f3bT
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) January 20, 2018
DTA (Don’t Trust Anybody)
So our Agents (and Deke) show up in the Zephyr and after a lovely Philinda hug, we learn more about who rescued May. Headed by a dude named Voss, we learn that he is friends with Deke’s dad and it feels like a happy reunion is in the making! Well until we later found out that Voss killed Deke’s pa for a piece of the Monolith. Congrats to “The Last Day” for accomplishing something that I didn’t expect to happen: I felt terrible for Deke. Even Daisy’s talks with him didn’t have me sarcastically rolling my eyes, but actually feeling sympathy for him. Losing one’s father when there are still things to be said to one another is never a easy thing to live with and now Deke has to find a way to do just that.
Daisy and Coulson are able to stop Voss and his crew from trying to save the past by killing Daisy but not before Robin gets fatally stabbed. As she lays dying, she calls May “MOM” as this references all the previous flashbacks where we see a softer May practically raising young Robin as everyone else gets sick of her and her ability to see death.
(Especially Fitz who Robin tells about Jemma’s death in the FBs constantly. Like, ok Robin stop telling Fitz how his wife dies all the f’in time!!!)
May informs everyone that she has the answer to get back to the past. But she asks “Who is Flint?” Does this mean Flint is going back with them? Or is Flint the cause of what happens in the past? More Questions!!! Thankfully there was one story in this episode that had not questions and maybe not a lot of answers. What it did have though was action and some kick-ass moments for some of our favorite characters.
Leveling Up
The “C Story” also happened to be my favorite part of the episode as Mack, Flint and Yo-Yo went to Level 3 to pick up some of the weapons Fitz had left for them. Besides the return of the Shotgun Axe, we got to see Yo-Yo’s powers again at full strength in another cool sequence.
Also I can’t stress enough how good a addition Flint has been to the team. “The Last Day” sees him continue his journey of heroism as he deals with people who blame him for what is happening. It almost sounds like I’m describing Spider-Man instead aren’t I?
At the end of the episode, May asks Coulson “Who is Flint?”. The answer right now is just a young man trying to do the right thing against overwhelming odds. Sounds like a hero to me.
So it looks like the team might ever closer to returning to the past but as the closing scene showed, Sinara is stalking them and she has orders to show no mercy. After a bit of a slow start, this arc has heated up and once again showcased the best these characters can be.
QUICK THOUGHTS:
- I loved that when FitzSimmons was left alone to work, instead they took that time to kiss and make out.
70 years and well worth the wait. #FitzSimmons #AgentsOfSHIELD pic.twitter.com/UIE5FKfQvr
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) January 20, 2018
- “Doesn’t the axe make it harder to shoot?”
“It makes it easier to chop their heads off with!” - I still think if Deke goes with the team to the past, they’ll push a Deke/Daisy romance if the scenes tonight between the two are any indication.
Agents of SHIELD airs on Fridays at 9/8C on ABC.