REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "A Life Earned"
And we’re now on episode four where I realize that this will be a full season now. It does absolutely nothing to the story, but it does make me feel strangely exhausted now. Whether it’s because we still have to wade through filler episodes or how many twists we’ll have to watch, I’ll just let viewers decide. This is just what I think about episode four right now.
For the first time in a while, all the characters are put through a somewhat separate plot in this episode. Daisy’s put into the trade system, Simmons is still on handmaid duty, Mack is an enforcer, Elena is bad cop, May fights a Kree and possibly loses, and Coulson is…Coulson. With all that happening at once, it’s not a surprise that the show goes by rather quickly this week, even though not much is moved forward. Okay, a little something is moved forward, but I’ll get to that later.
I’ll give some credit to the tension in this episode. This show has always known how to temper its tension, which is why some episodes just become boring upon learning the ending. This episode will probably be among the latter, but there is still some good pathos in the moments. There’s real fear and concern when Daisy and Simmons are both interrogated with no clear way out. There’s also a desire to reach the point of the Inhuman rising that’s destined to happen once they discover the place is destined to be nuked. Even better, we get our first real romantic scene again with Mack and Elena. Five star scenes in this episode.
Then there’s the downside. If I hear one more reference to the Destroyer of Worlds, I’m going to throw my head against the screen. You can’t pay me money to believe that it’s real, and the fact that we have to keep dragging this idea along makes this season almost laughable. The only saving grace is her probably leading an uprising with her devil-may-care face (not Jessica Jones level but still pretty good). Even then, I might still point and laugh when it happens.
The other downside is probably Ben, the mind-reading Inhuman Daisy meets. Is it because he’s a jerk? No, actually he’s the most decent guy on that ship. Is it because he’s bland and useless? No, he’s actually plenty useful and helps the second he learns that others are in danger. In fact, his clear moral standards are a breath of fresh air in this season. The downside only comes from his destiny to likely die while we still have to deal with Deke.
For his credit, Deke is slightly less obnoxious than he was before, if only because there is a new wrinkle to the story of his father being alive out in the surface. And the fact that he helps the team…after he learns that fact. There’s still the aspect of him selling out Daisy and assuming that he’s in the right. There’s satisfaction in the team recognizing it and refusing to put up with his bull, but it doesn’t look like he’s going away anytime soon.
Probably the best part of the episode is the moment between Mack and Elena near the end. It calls back to their moment from the season four finale which I consider the most decent scene in the episode. Their tenderness is perfectly contrasted with their circumstances that makes it not only nice but needed as well. On the other hand, it also screams something will happen to them or between then before episode ten is out. One step at a time.
Before that, we’ll finally see the return of Fitz which of course puts up several questions. How’d he get there, what’s his plan, why is he cool with Daisy fighting to the death, etc. While it’s not the biggest surprise of the show, there is some joy in the fact that we will definitely get answers as soon as next week. It can’t be that hard to answer them, right? Right?
This episode is honestly spinning its wheels over this week. There isn’t too much learned beyond Fitz being back now. Still, I liked this episode. It’s a shame that only episodes that don’t mean anything in the long run have the better tension and emotional impact. It can’t be that hard.
