The Plot Thickens in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “A Life Earned”

“A Life Earned” Plot Summary:

While Daisy (Chloe Bennet) does her best to protect her friends from the Kree, Coulson (Clark Gregg) investigates a forbidden section of the space station and Mack becomes an enforcer.

After Deke (Jeff Ward) betrayed Daisy to Kasius (Dominic Rains) last week, I thought he was an opportunistic snake. But that’s already changed with this week’s episode. Even though he literally sold Daisy out, he was also looking out for all the innocent humans. Deke also has a fairly sympathetic backstory. Still, I wouldn’t trust him, and he’s advertantly helping Kasius get rid of everyone.

It feels like nothing big has happened in the past couple episodes, but we keep learning stuff that makes us hate the Kree more. They apparently sterilize the station’s humans through the food and create new humans in a lab. The Kree have no redeeming qualities in the MCU. I wonder what they’re like in the comics. Keep in mind that having black-and-white sides isn’t bad. Sometimes you just want a villain you can hate. Kasius and the Kree have been that more than perhaps any other villain in the Cinematic Universe.

Mack’s escapade isn’t particularly interesting until it intersects with Coulson’s discovery of the infant on the 35th floor. This leads us to his guilt over his time in the Framework. It’s nice that the show isn’t glossing over the trauma. It’s both sad and intriguing that Mack misses his Framework daughter more than his real daughter and is upset about it. But it makes sense. It’s taken awhile, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has developed Mack into one of its best characters.

The rest of “A Life Earned” has some alright moments. I’m not too worried about Daisy and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) right now. I knew they would make it out of the interrogation unscathed. However, I’m less sure about May (Ming-Wen), who’s staring death in the face the last time we see her. Is May dead? Probably not. She’s too important a character to die off-screen.

Even if it drags at times, this is still the best opening arc a season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had, by far. Whether or not it will encompass the entire season remains to be seen. For now, I just want to know what our friend Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) has been up to. Good to have you back, buddy.

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Great)