Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 episode 3 review: A Life Spent

This review contains spoilers.

5.3 A Life Spent

The world-building is hot and heavy this week as Agents Of SHIELD continues to expand the Marvel cosmos. There’s lots of stuff going on with our time and space-tossed agents.

Let’s start with Simmons, who was taken prisoner last episode by the new Kree big bad Kasius. This week, Simmons befriends a newly introduced young Inhuman girl named Abby who has the power to alter her density (think Vision). And yes folks, in five minutes of screen time, the new Inhuman Abby gets more character development than any of the Inhumans Royal Family characters did in that series. And yes indeedy, Abby even got to use her powers unlike a certain red-headed Inhuman queen I could mention.

Anywho, Kasius promises to train Abby as a warrior and sell her to a newly introduced white-skinned Kree aristocrat named Basha. Through Abby, we get to see the human/Kree/Inhuman dynamic at work in the future. Simmons Yodas the girl up and teaches her how to master her powers, but poor Abby must fight some Bane-looking Kree gladiator dude to prove to Basha that Abby is worthy of sale.

I really dig the use of the Inhumans as a Kree slave race just to show how much has changed in this horrific future. I mean, it’s ironic that now humans and Inhumans are on equal footing as they are both slaves to the Kree. And seriously, yikes Agents Of SHIELD.

Abby is beaten by the Kree bruiser for minutes before she phases her hand through his chest and pops his heart. It really is all very hard to watch. I mean talk about child endangerment.

But you guys, check out Simmons, doesn’t it feel as if she is taking in every little detail about Kasius so she can use that big Simmons bran of hers to get back at the blue-skinned baddie? It has only been two episodes, but I already am burning to see both Kasius and the iron balled Sinara get their asses kicked. You know there’s a May versus Sinara throw-down coming to see which lady has the biggest balls on Marvel TV. It’s May, you know it’s May (or Jessica Jones).

As for the rest of the Agents, Coulson, May, Mack, and their new space pal Tess connive their way into space to try and figure out who was sending that mysterious signal last week. We get a horrific view of what remains of Earth (I kinda think Canada survived) as Coulson and company must deal with their chaperon sent by their new slavemaster Grill.

Of course, once they take out the chaperon, Tess is all like “We have to kill him,” and Mack is all like, “We can’t, we’re SHIELD and we’re better than that,” and the chaperon is all like, “I’m going to cut their fuel line while they’re arguing,” and I’m all like, “Yeah, don’t kill him but tying him up is out of the question all of a sudden?” Seriously, we need a temporary halt on all killing versus no killing arguments on comic book TV. It’s getting tired.

While all this is going on, Yo Yo manages to awesomely use her powers to mess with Grill while Daisy tries to find a way off the space station. Daisy must also deal with the fact that she seemingly was responsible for popping the Earth like a pimple. Being the destroyer of words can’t be easy to live with. Neither is betrayal, and that’s just what happens this week when Deke reveals himself to be a pawn of Kasius. Oh Deke, we totally trusted you too, what with your handsome face and Star Lord-like mask.

I guess Deke heard about what happened to all Daisy’s other former boyfriends. But now Daisy is captured as well, and considering we now know that there’s an Inhuman fight club, I think we can sense where this is going. But there is hope as Coulson and company are able to get a signal that is seemingly coming from Earth. There are people out there, and as everything seems lost, that faint signal spells a little beacon of salvation for our Agents. If Fitz is down there all old and just waiting for Simmons, I don’t know if my emotions can take it.

So far, Agents Of SHIELD has done a very good job hopping genres and delivering a very unique and fun adventure that is not in any way derivative of anything the series has done so far in five seasons.

Read Marc’s review of the previous episodes, Orientation, here.