Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Says Goodbye to Space in “Past Life”

“Past Life” Plot Summary:

As Flint (Coy Stewart) pieces together the monolith, the team settles the score with Kasius (Dominic Rains).

Boy, this episode is full of OMG moments. And here I thought the plot was simply going to be a final showdown between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kasius. But it’s more. It’s so much more.

The episode starts cut and dried enough, but things quickly escalate into an alien slaughterfest. TV censors are fairly strict in how violent a show can be in a single episode. I’d say censors limit most TV-14 shows to one blatantly gory image. But since the Kree are extraterrestrials with blue blood, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can push the envelope. So, if you really hate the Kree, enjoy seeing them shot in the head, decapitated, crushed, and impaled.

This type of send-off is especially fitting for Kasius. After his unexpectedly long run as this arc’s villain, a quick death would’ve felt anticlimactic. Instead, we get a crazy Kasius who openly talks to a dead Sinara (Florence Faivre) and essentially injects himself with steroids. The fact that he shows genuine grief over Sinara’s death makes him more dimensional than the standard villain, though the power-up undercuts this a little by making him another brawler. However, the ear implant/shotgun-ax combo that finishes him off is too clever and cathartic not to love.

Turns out Kasius has been draining the future version of Yo-Yo (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) of her blood. Though future Yo-Yo’s presence doesn’t change the overall plot of the episode, it is disturbing to see her missing limbs and watch Kasius kill her in front of Mack (Henry Simmons). Future Yo-Yo’s more important function is casting doubt on whether our heroes can change the future and revealing that Coulson (Clark Gregg) is dying and a detriment to their efforts.

While I highly doubt that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would end this season and potentially the series with the team failing to save the world, the Coulson reveal shocks me. We could lose him again. Sure, it wouldn’t be as big a blow if it this is the final season, but still. Could the agents have to put Coulson down to save the world?

Two people who do die to save the world are Deke (Jeff Ward) and Enoch (Joel Stoffer). While the series could’ve done more with Enoch, it did feel like it was time to write off Deke. Still, I will miss Deke’s back and forth with Daisy (Chloe Bennet). Oh well, maybe he’ll be alive in a new timeline after all this.

Despite some lulls in the middle, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ends its space adventure with a slam dunk. Now the show needs to win the game in the episodes to come.

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Amazing)