Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continue their whirlwind adventure through time. Last week was a heartbreaker with the loss of Enoch (Joel Stoffer). The agents fixed the time drive and returned to the timeline. In “Stolen,” the Agents return to 1983 to deal with their Malick problem.
It seems that Nathaniel Malick (Thomas E. Sullivan) and Kora (Dianne Doan) with a K, are up to no good. Nathaniel’s figured out a way to steal Daisy’s (Chloe Bennet) quake powers. Now he has a community of Inhumans and is ready to spread the wealth.
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Malick is building an army, and he finds a new recruit at the bar. The kid is a hotshot pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D. And to convince the young man he’s better off without S.H.I.E.L.D., Malick tells him his future and shows him the quake powers. That young man is John Garrett (James Paxton). John Garrett was once a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent until they abandoned him. He secretly joined HYDRA and was the first subject in the Deathlok project. He’s also the man who turned Agent Ward against his team. Coulson (Clark Gregg) vaporized him.
NEW MISSION
The agents return to the S.H.I.E.L.D. lighthouse where Roxy Glass (Tipper Newton) greets them. She mentions the Triskelion. You know. The S.H.I.E.L.D. base from Captain America: Winter Soldier. Coulson realizes that it’s still 1983 and the Triskelion is not in use yet. It’s ahead of schedule just like Project Insight. Coulson decides it’s time to put the timeline back together. Malick is out there with quake powers and a new base of operations. Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) promised Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) that she would help her fight Malick. That’s their new mission.
The countdown to the next jump never restarted. Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) explains it all… something about the transmission receiver not being able to penetrate space-time so there’s no signal coming through. Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) offers to take Daisy’s bags to the bunkers, and that makes Simmons smile. Sousa doesn’t remember that kiss, but Daisy does. She plays it off like it didn’t happen.
Simmons starts talking about Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), unsure of where he is. Daisy asks what’s the last thing she remembers and Simmons can’t answer. Daisy tells her about the incident when they removed the implant and Simmons remembered something devastating. They are interrupted by Mack (Henry Simmons), requesting their presence in Control.
NOT THE BAD GUYS
Coulson fills in everyone on the new mission, stop Malick and protect Jiaying. Simmons sends their coordinates to Jiaying. Daisy isn’t so sure that it’s a good idea to bring Jiaying to the base, but they have to protect her at all costs. They can’t lose any more parents or risk Daisy never being born. Coulson says they can just not tell Jiaying everything about them or that Daisy is her daughter. May starts to tell Daisy about Kora and Jiaying, and Gordon (Fin Argus) arrives. Malick is hunting them.
Jiaying is very worried about her people, in particular Kora. She’s also upset because she doesn’t know who the agents are or how they knew how to find her. She blames them for Malick’s takeover, saying they led him to her door. Daisy speaks up saying they are not the enemy. They want to save Inhumans, just like Jiaying. She says Malick wants to take their gifts. Jiaying doesn’t think that’s possible, but Daisy assures her that it is.
Yo-Yo (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) thinks she can get the hostages out quickly, but Mack doesn’t want to risk losing her to Malick. Coulson volunteers because he’s recyclable, and Gordon offers to take him to a secure place in Afterlife. Mack says okay, but instructs Coulson to do recon only. Once he finds the prisoners, Mack and Yo-Yo will go in and get them.
Jiaying wants to go, too, but Mack says she’s too valuable. Her people need her to remain safe so she can lead them. Jiaying is very concerned about Kora and thinks she could talk some sense into her. May is afraid Jiaying could provoke Kora, putting everyone at risk. Gordon agrees. Jiaying agrees to stay but asks Coulson to bring her daughter back to her. And that’s how Daisy finds out she has a sister.
WHAT IF…
Daisy confronts May about the fact that Kora is her sister, thinking May tried to keep it from her. They were literally in a time loop during a time storm. When did May have time to tell Daisy about her sister? Plus Kora is volatile and she tried to kill Jiaying. Daisy is confused because Jiaying never mentioned a sister. May says it’s possible that Kora wasn’t alive when Daisy was born. She tells her about Kora trying to kill herself. In the original timeline, Kora succeeded.
Daisy starts thinking that Kora’s death may have led Jiaying to leave Afterlife to do charity work that led to her meeting Daisy’s father. Mack appears and tells Daisy not to go down that rabbit hole. Daisy wants to go with Mack, but he says no. He wants to keep Daisy and Jiaying safe. They promised Jiaying they would save Kora, and they will try.
Deke (Jeff Ward) (remember him?) stayed on the Zephyr to figure out how to fix the time drive. He wants to know why it’s not talking to Fitz. Simmons checks on him, and when he mentions Fitz, she tears up. Simmons is afraid the time drive wasn’t communicating with Fitz to begin with. It’s possible that they pre-programmed the time drive to follow the Chronicoms.
Deke doesn’t understand why Fitz isn’t helping them get home. Simmons starts to cry and says it may be too painful to remember. Deke gets scared, refusing to believe that his BoBo isn’t out there. He thinks everything is happening for a reason. They are going to fix the time drive and get back to Fitz. Simmons takes a deep breath and says okay. When she walks away, she looks very worried.
STOLEN
Malick takes Garrett to Afterlife and shows him what they are doing. He has a scientist who works on the time stream and has perfected the transfusion process. Garrett goes inside the time stream to meet Sybil (Tamara Taylor). Later, Malick shows Garrett how they extract Inhuman powers. They are transferring Lee’s (Byron Mann) powers to Malick’s man Durant (Gabriel Sousa). Malick also introduces Garrett to Kora, saying they are champions of the people like Robin Hood. They take power from the high and mighty and give it to the more deserving.
Malick instructs Kora to kill Lee when the transfusion is complete. Kora is hesitant at first, but then Lee says he should have killed her long ago. Kora’s attitude changes and she fries his head. Garrett is impressed by Kora’s power, but Malick has other plans for Garrett.
PAST, FUTURE EXPERIENCE
The quinjet lands and Gordon takes Coulson. They land in a hallway in the temple and someone shoots Gordon in the back. Coulson turns to see who it was and comes face to face with Malick. Malick says he was waiting for Coulson. Malick’s guys take Gordon away and Coulson surrenders his gun. Coulson figures out that if Malick knew they were coming that means he has the time stream.
Coulson tries to reason with Malick, saying Sybil is using him to take over the planet for the Chronicoms. Malick doesn’t really buy it. He’s not interested in what S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA are doing. He’s interested in anarchy. Malick takes Coulson to the transfusion room where Gordon is hooked up to Garrett. Coulson doesn’t recognize Garrett, but Garrett knows exactly who he is. He’s the guy who vaporizes him in the future. That triggers Coulson’s memory. Garrett also got to see the many ways Coulson has died. His favorite was when the long haired dude stabbed in the back with a pointy staff. Ha! Loki. Enough catching up, it’s time for Garrett to earn his powers.
SECOND CHANCES
Sousa and Daisy have a heart to heart about Jiaying. He’s interested in learning more about them because Daisy mentioned her name after Malick stole her powers. Daisy tells him about how HYDRA did the same thing to Jiaying and how she has the power to heal herself. Sousa is even more interested when Daisy says Jiaying is her mother. She doesn’t really want to talk about it though. Sousa suggests that Daisy take this opportunity to get to Jiaying. Daisy can’t tell Jiaying who she is because of the timeline, but Sousa says the timeline is screwed so go for it. He even offers to sit in on their conversation. If Daisy needs help, he’ll be there. Daisy thinks that’s square.
Yo-Yo tries to contact Coulson, but there’s no answer. She gets ready to run in, but Mack won’t risk it. He goes in instead saying if they caught Gordon, they don’t know what they’re walking into. When he finds Coulson, he’ll call for her.
Garrett asks if he gets to keep his eyes after the transfusion is done. Malick doesn’t really know. Coulson tries to reason with them saying Garrett will be far too dangerous with powers. Garrett starts to freak out enough to teleport out of the transfusion machine. That hypes him and Malick up. They have one more target to get, so Garrett teleports them away, while Coulson watches in horror.
MOMMY DEAREST
Daisy finds Jiaying in the control room and she’s afraid that something went wrong. Daisy assures her that they are not the enemy because Afterlife is important to them. That confuses Jiaying, because they’ve never been there. Sousa says Daisy has been there and encourages her to share her powers.
Daisy makes a glass shake and Jiaying asks where she learned it. Daisy admits she learned it from Jiaying in about 30 years. She also admits that they are from the future. Jiaying figures out that Malick took Daisy’s power. He has access to information from the future and that’s how he was able to turn Kora.
Jiaying starts talking about Kora and says she has a good heart. She used to think her greatest gift was her powers, but it was Kora. That makes Daisy tear up and Jiaying notices that she’s sad. Daisy says she didn’t know her mother growing up and when she found her, her mom wasn’t who Daisy hoped she’d be. Jiaying comforts her saying that sometimes doing the right things comes out all wrong.
INFILTRATION
Coulson breaks his handcuffs and gets ready to bust through the door. Gordon is with him and says the room is designed to hold the strongest Inhumans. Coulson is sure he can break down the door, but Gordon teleports them out before he can try. That one teleport takes it all out of Gordon and he dies.
Garrett and Nathaniel arrive at their destination. A storage room full of Deke Squad merchandise. Garrett says he saw them live in concert. They split up to find their target. May finds Garrett in the lighthouse and finds out real quick that he can teleport. And Garrett finds out real quick how tough May is. She knocks him around the room. He has to teleport to escape May. May quickly radios Daisy to let her know that Garrett and Malick are in the base. They have to get Jiaying to safety. Daisy and Jiaying leave the control room and run right into Malick.
Coulson finds the hostages and Mack finds Coulson. They call for Yo-Yo and she arrives before Mack can finish his sentence. Coulson says he will find Kora while they get the hostages back to the quinjet. Mack and Yo-Yo come face to face with Durant. He throws his knife at Yo-Yo but she catches it and stabs him in the leg before he knows what’s going on. Mack runs behind her and knocks out Durant. All of the hostages are in the same room so they start untying them to move them.
QUAKE VS QUAKE
Malick tells Daisy not to start a fight or they could flood the base. Jiaying asks about Kora but he only says she sends her best. Jiaying glares at him and he tells her to stop. He says she still has Daisy, one daughter should be enough. Jiaying realizes everything Daisy said about her mother was about her. Daisy tries to tell her it’s okay, but Jiaying feels remorseful. Malick tells Jiaying about her future. When he gets to the part about trying to kill Daisy, she quakes him to make him shut up. Malick quakes her back, throwing her down the hallway.
Malick walks toward Daisy and when he passes Jiaying, she grabs his neck, draining his life and telling him to leave her daughter alone. He is able to pull away and tells Jiaying to stay back. She goes at him again and he quakes her back, breaking her neck and killing Jiaying.
Daisy gets MAD! Everything begins to quake, the lights flicker and her only target is Nathaniel Malick. May runs up and shoots Malick in the back. He turns and runs and Daisy powers down. She goes to her mother’s lifeless body and cries. May runs after Malick and realizes he wasn’t after Jiaying. Sousa is protecting Simmons and asks who Garrett is. A flash of light appears behind him and Garrett grabs Simmons.
THE REAL TARGET
Coulson finds Kora. He tells her that Malick took all of their people and relocated them, but left her behind. She says she wanted to go with him. He shocks her, knocking her out and takes her back to the quinjet. May fills in the team on what happened with Malick. They radio Mack to let him know everything. She asks where Deke is. Sousa runs into Control and lets them know that Garrett took Simmons.
Malick goes to the Zephyr where Garrett and Simmons are waiting. Deke is still aboard, trying to fix the time drive. May radios Deke, but he has his headphones on and can’t hear her. He realizes something is wrong when the Zephyr takes off. He finally hears May’s call and she tells him that the Zephyr has been hijacked. Deke looks to the cockpit and sees Simmons tied up. The Zephyr flies away with Garrett, Malick, Simmons, and Deke.
EPILOGUE
Garrett is reflecting on his awesome day in the cockpit. Simmons asks Malick why he took her. He says that in every simulation that Sybil runs, they don’t win. There’s one person in the way. Fitz. Malick wants Simmons to take him to Fitz.
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THOUGHTS
That was the most intense episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This whole season has been intense! I knew Malick was gathering the people he needed to carry out a mission. And I knew he’d give them powers that would make his mission easier. But I did not expect Simmons to be the target. It does make sense because she’s the only one who knows where Fitz is.
I’m scared for FitzSimmons. Especially after that scene between Simmons and Deke. Is Fitz dead? I guess if Malick and Sybil are looking for Fitz, that means he’s alive. But is there something wrong with him? Daisy said Simmons was inconsolable. What happened to them!? Can we get a flashback episode to find out!? We have three more episodes. Every episode is better than the last. A lot happens in one episode. I can’t even imagine the emotional roller coaster that we’re in for.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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