Happy 100th Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.! The past five years have been filled with lots of action, laughs, tears, and love. This episode is no different. We pick up after the explosion of the beacon.
Coulson (Clark Gregg) has a condition that is causing him to die. Elena/YoYo (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) knows about it, but she hasn’t told anyone yet. Now she’s in a hospital bed after having her arms cut off. The team is hurt, but they may not be able to bounce back from this one. What was “The Real Deal” that Coulson made with the Ghost Rider?
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Don’t Go In The Basement
The team sent drones down to the basement to assess the damage. As the drone flies through, it records everything, including Lash. Lash hits the drone out of the air and it goes offline.
Despite being close to the explosion, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) is okay. He shows Coulson and May (Ming-Na Wen) that one drone stopped on level 27. That level has some kind of forest on it, but it’s 150 feet below sea level. He also found a tear in their dimension in the basement. His theory is that when the three monoliths exploded, it caused a tear between dimensions. The good news is that, it appears that Daisy (Chloe Bennet) doesn’t destroy the world. Bad news…the end of the world may have already begun.
Mack (Henry Simmons) and YoYo have a moment. She is still healing from having her arms cut off. Mack is ready to go. He wants to take YoYo out of there and never look back. YoYo knows they can’t leave. Everything that her future self told her is coming true. And it’s all happening really fast. They have to stay and fight.
Deke (Jeff Ward) and Daisy almost have a moment. Deke tells her a story about his childhood. She can’t relate because she was raised in an orphanage. They are interrupted when a Kree warrior comes out of nowhere and attacks them. He pushes Daisy aside and goes after Deke. Daisy grabs a gun and shoots him. As the warrior falls, he dissipates into thin air.
Mind Your Fears
Fitz thinks the tear in the dimension is an opening to a fear dimension that is able to get into their minds. He shows them the footage of Lash. Daisy fears the Kree warrior. May fears Lash. So what about the forest on level 27. Apparently that scares Deke.
Fitz seals off the lower ⅔ of the lighthouse, but the power is growing. He has come up with a potential fix. The applied gravity from Deke’s belt buckle could stitch up the tear. There is one catch. Someone will have to take the buckle to the tear and activate it. They could potentially get sucked into another dimension or die. Coulson says it’s a risk he has to take.
Everyone goes nuts. Coulson can’t go. He’s too valuable. May and Daisy argue about which one of them is going to go while Fitz tries to tell them he can reconfigure the plan. Coulson stops them and says no one is expendable. He’s going alone…end of discussion.
Daisy keeps arguing. He’s the general, he’s not expendable…and she is. Coulson argues that she is needed for the future of SHIELD, but there is no SHIELD. May won’t be 100% maybe ever, Mack wants to quit, YoYo has been cut to pieces, FitzSimmons have been through too much and they need Coulson. Coulson tries to tell her that she has to carry on the symbol. His breathing staggers and he collapses.
Later, Coulson gives Deke instructions to go to the surface to get “the goods.” Deke is unrecognizable because he basically doesn’t exist in this time. Deke tries to give Coulson his condolences, but Coulson says he’ll be there when Deke returns.
The Real Deal
Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) tells everyone that Coulson has injuries to his heart and left lung. It’s not an infection, but the tissue around his heart is dying. There’s no cure and it’s progressing rapidly.
Coulson reveals that he was allowed to be the Ghost Rider to defeat AIDA if he gave up the alien DNA that brought him back to life. His time is almost up. He didn’t anything because he did not want them trying to find a solution. Daisy says they had a solution. The Kree technology that brought back Tess in the future. But Coulson says he didn’t want to have to go through that again.
Daisy gets angry and yells at him for making life and death decisions for them, but he won’t let them do the same. She leaves the room. Simmons is crying. She says she needs to chart his progression to determine how long he has to live. But eventually, his heart will just stop beating. May is hurt and angry, saying he went about this the wrong way. He should have told them.
Coulson tries to console Daisy, saying she has always been capable of more than she could imagine. Daisy says she’s not strong without him. He gave her a home, beliefs and a solid ground to stand on. Coulson is the symbol. There’s no SHIELD without him. There’s nothing without him. Daisy falls into his arms, sobbing.
Preparing for the Worse
YoYo wakes up in pain. Simmons gets ready to give her more morphine, but YoYo asks her not to. She says she needs to stay clear headed to warn Mack. Simmons tells YoYo to spare Mack. He’s suffered enough. They all have. Simmons tries to smother YoYo, but Mack stops her by hitting her in the face. Simmons’ face flies off. She’s a robot! The real Simmons runs in and shoots the robot, making it disappear. The rift is expanding. They have to try to seal it immediately.
Deke leaves to gather the list of things for Coulson and sees that the military has moved in. General Hale (Catherine Dent) got a tip that Daisy Johnson is in the area. She asks to see the security footage from that night that Deke got arrested. She starts asking about Deke. There’s no information about him so she wants to dust his cell for prints.
Deke has to be careful. He makes a phone call, but gets “Fiona’s” voice mail. He gives up on the call when he can’t get a real person on the line. Later he comes out of a local shop and bumps into a man who looks at him strangely.
It looks like ‘Philinda’ is over. Coulson didn’t want May wasting her time on a lost cause. May thinks they can find a way to save him, but Coulson says he made peace with dying. He says it’s time for fresh blood to take over the team. May says it’s more than just a team and they are not giving up on him. Coulson says he’s okay with dying, but he’s in no hurry.
Fitz built a chromocon device out of Deke’s gravity belt buckle. The plan is for Coulson to go downstairs, set off the chromocon and get out of there. There will be crazy things down there. Projections of everyone’s fears. Coulson takes a gun to protect himself. Coulson asks Fitz to ‘do that other thing’ they talked about it. People need hope right now. Fitz says okay and Coulson gets in the elevator.
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Facing Phil’s Fears
Daisy checks communications with Coulson, but as soon as he steps in the basement, communication is lost. Coulson cautiously looks around and finds Mike Peterson (J. August Richards). Mike says hello and says it’s time to tell him what’s really going on. He says he’s not there to hurt Coulson. After all, Coulson is the one making all of this up. Coulson removes his gas mask.
Mike tells Coulson, it’s time to face facts. He’s never been to Tahiti, Malta, the Framework, or the future. He’s on an operating table, dying. Loki has just stabbed him with his scepter and they are trying to save him. Mike has an explanation for everything that Coulson has experienced. There are electrodes on his head that makes his head feels like his skull is on fire. He thinks he was a history teacher in the Framework because his father was a history teacher. Mike says he’s reliving the mementos of his life mixed in with dreams he wished had come true.
Coulson says its fear. He thought he had come to terms with death. But this is his fear of death manifesting because it harder to let go than he thought it would be. Mike agrees that he’s having trouble letting go. He has admitted that he’s dying, so what’s the hardest part? Coulson says it’s the life he has yet to live.
Mike says that’s why his mind created this story…to do all the things he never got a chance to do. To travel, to have his own team, a family, his students, a daughter he never had…and a chance to be a hero. Those people mean a lot to Coulson. They are a reflection of Coulson.
That’s What Friends Are For
Meanwhile the team argues if they should go downstairs to save him. An alert goes off. An aircraft is approaching. Simmons is afraid that Deke got caught. Deke calls them and asks for permission to land. Daisy and May go to meet the quinjet. Deke emerges with many of their friends, including the real Mike Peterson.
Fake Mike tries to convince Coulson that the rift is the light. He’s ready to walk into it. Coulson almost gives in, but stops. He tells Mike that he doesn’t believe him. Mike grabs Coulson and saying he’ll take him anyway. The real Mike aka Deathlok shoots Fake Mike and he disappears.
Lash appears with the roaches from the future. They all attack Coulson and Deathlok trying to stop them from destroying the rift. Coulson is able to activate the chromocon and throw it at the rift. It explodes, and starts pulling Coulson and Deathlok in. Hive appears to bring them both in to the rift. Coulson hits Hive and Deathlok shoots him. The rift goes away.
Hale’s people haven’t been able to find any record of Deke Shaw. They are getting calls from the lakefront with more Daisy Johnson sightings. Hale says pack up. Daisy is either on her way to Canada or this is a smoke screen.
Coulson gets into an elevator with Fitz and Deke. Fitz reports that the gravity field is keeping the rift contained, but they need a more permanent solution. Deke is the one who called around to get people to report the Daisy Johnson sightings. He got everything on the checklist except the Haag. He brought Zima instead. Being in the field scared Deke, but he managed to survive it.
Fitz says Deathlok’s arrival was perfect timing. Coulson says he will stay for the festivities, but he works alone. He’s been helping agents on the run and those who needed medical help. Fitz asks what they are up against. Coulson asks if he’s stalling. The elevator stopped a while ago. The door opens on level 27…the forest.
Leopold and Jemma Say ‘I Do’
Everyone is waiting for them to arrive. Leo sees Jemma in a wedding dress with a bouquet of flowers in her hands. They briefly discuss how they were able to get everything they needed, but the kilt. Coulson starts the ceremony.
Jemma and Leo exchange vows. Of course there is some science in Jemma’s vows. She express how much they’ve been through and how they love one another. Their love with get them through anything. Leo says words aren’t enough. Jemma is perfect and he knows he doesn’t deserve her. He says he’s the luckiest man on any planet.
While the ceremony is going on, Deke and Mike are chatting. Deke says he got both the rings. Jemma’s ring resembles a ring that his mother used to wear. He said he thought it was his grandma’s.
At the police station, Hale’s assistant thought Deke might be an LMD. She a genetic profile. She found two matches…Jemma and Leo Fitz.
Coulson pronounces Leo and Jemma man and wife!
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Thoughts
If Agents of SHIELD wanted to bring out how everyone feels about this show, this was the episode to do it. We finally find out why Coulson is dying and how all of the agents feel about him. He knew that, but he obviously thinks that what he did…the deal he made…was so they could live.
I wonder if the team can really let Phil die. Future YoYo said they have to let him, but present YoYo hasn’t told them anything about the future. The sooner this happens the better.
It was awesome to see Deathlok! I wish he had been a part of this team all along. J. August Richards is one of my favorite actors. We don’t get to see enough of him.
FITZSIMMONS!!!! That really is the moment that we’ve been waiting five years to see! I don’t think I’ve ever cried that much at a real wedding.
AND DEKE!! I KNEW IT!! The writers have been leaving clues throughout season five. He fixed the Framework. His dad completed Fitz’s work on the time travel device. Deke’s mom had a piece of the monolith. And she was really smart, so I assume Deke’s mom is FitzSimmons’ daughter. Now they just need to figure it out for themselves!
Well, it’s been a great 100 episodes. I’m hoping for 100 more.
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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