TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 16: "AFTERLIFE"

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Season 2 of AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D has now reached the point where episodes seem to be almost-entirely made up on plot points and comic/movie-universe references, which means it's all very exciting but we probably won't know if it adds up to anything until the finale on May 19th (or sooner, since it's looking more and more likely that some of this is going to tie into AGE OF ULTRON, which hits on May 1st.

This makes appraisal of quality fairly difficult, because there's no real way to tell (for example) whether the presence of the season's first "Oh, come ON!" plot twist is head-scratchingly dumb or makes some kind of sense. Frustrating, but entertaining. For more (including SPOILERS) hit the jump:


So Jaiying, aka Skye's Mom, is actually alive. Alright, then.

Seriously. How this is supposed to work is lost on me. Fine, we already knew she had super-longevity, and in Marvel Science that usually means an off-the-charts healing factor a'la Wolverine so it's not outside the realm of possibility that she could've come back even from being dissected by Daniel Whitehall. What doesn't work for me is where this revelation is meant to fit in dramatically: Her death (and the brutality of it) was the main thing making Mr. Hyde (Calvin, aka Skye's Dad) vaugely sympathetic as a character and driving the bulk of his actions in the plot. So the idea that she's not only alive but that Calvin has (apparently) known this the whole time seems to render his characterization thus far completely nonsensical - are we now back to square one in terms of who this guy is, what he wants, etc? Because at some point that's one mystery two many for a season that only has 6 episode left.

But okay. To recap this part of what is now a two-story narrative: Skye is actually an Inhuman (still not yet named as such in the series), a race of people genetically descended from early humans who were experimented on by Kree alien interlopers who develop superpowers and/or monstrous appearances when exposed to chemical mists from Terrigen Crystals. Her real name is Daisy Johnson, her mother (Dichen Lachman) is a near-immortal Inhuman named Jaiying, her father (Kyle McLachlan) is technically human but is also known as "Mr. Hyde" because he augments his strength to superhuman levels with chemical experiments. She (Skye) has been spirited away to "Afterlife," an isolated retreat for potential/recently-transformed Inhumans seemingly located in the Himalayas a'la Shangri-La. Also onhand is Raina, the super-power obsessed female villain from Season 1 whose Inhuman transformation has left her looking like a human porcupine.

The idea is that Skye is here so that Jaiying, Gordon (the Inhuman teleporter who serves as the only way in or out of Afterlife) and a sexy guy with electricity-powers named Lincoln are going to help her "transition," i.e. wax-on, wax-off her way to mastering her Inhuman super-vibration powers (in the comics, Daisy Johnson's superhero name is "Quake;") but there are murkier issues afoot: Calvin is being held captive(?) somewhere nearby, Jaiying elects not to tell Skye who she is (or that she's keeping company with Calvin) and there's a troubling tinge of elitism to how The Inhumans (or this arrangement of them, see below) conduct business: Most denizens of Afterlife are still "normal" people who come there to be evaluated by unseen elders who have final say over who actually gets to go through Terrigenesis. Hm...

Back in the "main" story, Coulson and Hunter are still running their two-man (or now three, since Deathlok get's a triumphant reveal as Coulson's newest ace in the hole) war against "Real S.H.I.E.L.D," whose director Agent Gonzales (Edward James Olmos) is holding everyone else in soft-captivity trying to get them onboard with his program. I bemoaned last week the possibility of the show dragging out the tension-less question of whether or not status-quo busting fuddy-duddies in a comic book storyline were going to turn out to be evil, so I was pretty giddy that Gonzales is wasting no time tipping his "bad guy" hand by referring to Skye as "that thing."

The rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D vs S.H.I.E.L.D story continues to be a mixed bag, but mostly because it's plot turns are telegraphed too early, too often. I can't imagine that anyone didn't see it coming re: Fitz/Simmons pretending they disagreed about opening The Toolbox in order to let Fitz "quit" and get out into the wild with the real one (though points if it turns out that Simmons actually pulled some sort of double-cross with a tracking-device or something, her established bias against superhumans having driven her fully to Gonzales' side) but it's hard to dislike that bit because the actors play it so charmingly. Likewise, there's not much in the way of story-momentum with Coulson and Hunter hanging out at the Hulk Cabin to get over on Other S.H.I.E.L.D, but the character's play off of eachother well.

On the other hand, Coulson's big sign-off about the one nuclear option he has to go to for help being... "Grant Ward" was a groaner moment of near self-parody. I get that we need to slam these storylines back together at some point, but that was pretty clumsy. Surely there are other people he could turn to for help first that aren't quite so dangerous - what about Peter MacNicol's undercover-Asgardian from Season 1? That guy at least had super-strength to offer...


PARTING THOUGHTS:

• So does Jaiying tolerate Cal/Hyde's actions because of history, or is she also not on the up-and-up? There's a sense that things aren't as lovey-dovey in Afterlife as they seem, which one imagines could be a setup for a "See? Told you we've got to put these people down!" moment from Gonzales etc.
• Since I've already seen people speculating: No, I don't think Afterlife is Attilan and I don't think any of the Inhumans we've met so far are really big-guns like Black Bolt etc incognito. The "Crunchy New-Agey X-Mansion" angle is fine for TV, but I doubt this relatively low-tech vision of the Inhuman's world will be the foundation for the eventual movie - more likely, we'll discover that this is only one of many Inhuman "operations" worldwide and that the marquee names will wait for the feature film.
• It's weird that after two "this will be important!" super-clunky shout-outs last time, we don't hear any more about the supposedly all-important cargo The Iliad (Gonzale's S.H.I.E.L.D carrier) had and presumably still has onboard. I have a feeling it relates to next week's Agent May origin-flashback, though (see below)
• It occurs to me that Gordon (eyeless teleporter guy) is filling the same basic role that Lockjaw does for the Inhumans of the comics - I hope this doesn't mean they've already decided that a giant teleporting bulldog is too weird for the movies.
• Let's get this on the table right now: Is it an "accident" that "transitioning" is the big central buzzword for The Inhumans re: discovering/nurturing their powers? These are supposed to be the MCU's expy-XMen, remember, and that franchise has always been at least partially about metaphors for various Civil Rights issues (racial-segregation in the 60s comics, gay rights in the 2000s movies, etc); so are they going with transgender-rights as the driving metaphor of THE INHUMANS?
• FWIW, the transgender metaphor would dovetail nicely with the seeming elitism of Afterlife's transitioning-model; as the question of the morality of the tools for transition only being available to those who can financially afford them is a big ongoing topic of discussion in and around that community.
• By that same token, a prediction: The season finale (or maybe before?) will partially involve a deus ex machina that somehow "activates" nascent-Inhumans worldwide, which would potentially create the hundreds of thousands (millions) of super-powered individuals in a short span of time necessary for this to become the X-Men/Mutants replacement Marvel Studios intends it to be.
• The lone un-killed HYDRA figure Coulson talks about tracking down (with Ward's help, for whatever reason) is Dr. List, whom you may recall was the guy helping Baron Strucker use Loki's Scepter to experiment on Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver in a post-credits scene from WINTER SOLDIER. Is this going to be our AGE OF ULTRON tie-in?
• Do we really need to dive back into Ward's story, though? I liked his mini-adventure with Agent 33 in "Love In The Time of Hydra," but I can't help remembering how little I care about his storyline every time he shows up.

NEXT WEEK: "Melinda" promises a flashback-heavy episode finally revealing the details behind the violent encounter with a yet-unnamed superhuman (Winter Ave Zoli as "Eva Belyakov," the trailers suggest) that earned Agent May the nickname "The Cavalry" but also left her to exit field duty for several years.

Easy prediction: This is mainly setting up an eventual confrontation between May and Jaiying, who are too-perfect mirrors of one-another as mother figures for Skye.

Not-so-crazy speculation: "Eva Belyakov," eh? Name is similar to Eva Bell, the civilian handle of time-manipulating recent X-Men addition named Tempus. So there's that.

Totally crazy speculation: Belyakov? Sounds Eastern-European. Wonder if she had any kids?


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Gearing Up For Full Frame 2015

Tomorrow, the 18th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will kick off at the Carolina Theatre, and the Marriott Convention Center, in downtown Durham, N.C., so I�m gearing up for the next four days of non-fiction fun.

Click here for schedule and ticket info.

This year�s roster includes a Tribute to New Jersey film maker, and POV alum, Marshall Curry; and a thematic program, involving the ethics of representation in documentary filmmaking, curated by director/producer, Jennifer Baichwal, but I�m sensing a different kind of theme happening in that docs about the long-running political magazine �The Nation,� the Ohio indie rock band The National, and the comedy publication and production company National Lampoon will be shown. Yay, nationality! I guess.

As a preview, I thought I�d highlight several of the docs I�m looking forward to this festival:

IRIS (Dir. Albert Maysles)

This profile of fashion icon Iris Apfel is the last completed film by the late, great Albert Maysles, who passed away last month at the age of 88. It screens on Thursday morning at 10:30 am, at Fletcher Hall.

KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK

(Dir. Brett Morgen)

With hope, this authorized and much buzzed about film rock doc will be the definitive biodoc of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The trailer does look promising, but I'm not sure how I feel about the animated bits. Screens at 10 pm, Thursday, February 9th, at Cinema 1.

THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION (Dir. Stanley Nelson)

Master documentarian Stanley Nelson, who has made many solid docs focusing on the modern history of African Americans for PBS's �American Experience� series, may have his most incendiary subject yet in this film examing the radical Black Panther Party. Screening at 7:30 pm, Saturday, February 11th, at Fletcher Hall.

MAVIS! (Dir. Jessica Edwards)

This biodoc of the gospel legend Mavis Staples looks like a winner as well. It screens at 1:30 pm, Satuday, February 11th, at Fletcher Hall.

Finally, one of the few docs I've seen already that will be showcased this weekend at Full Frame:



HARRY & SNOWMAN (Dir. Ron Davis)

This is the incredibly touching tale of how Harry de Leyer, a Long Island, New York, riding instructor trained a horse he bought for $80 to become a world famous Champion show jumper in the late '50s and early '60s. Ultimately a story of a great friendship between man and animal, the narrative is a neatly put together essay of photos, new interviews, and, best of all, footage of Snowman's jaw-dropping jumps. Highly recommended. Screens at 4:30 pm, Saturday afternoon at Fletcher Hall.

There are lots more that I'd like to highlight, but many don't have trailers yet. Please visit back over the next several days for my coverage of the films above and many more at Full Frame 2015.

Again, click here for ticket info.

More later...

Really That Good: GHOSTBUSTERS (Now With Text!)

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Pitch Me, Mr. B

I'm a big believer in the "use it or lose it" school of creative aptitude, and that concerns me as I find myself (or, at least, feel like I've found myself) with less and less time for creative experimentation when it comes to writing.

Sure, my movie reviews (back again!), REALLY THAT GOOD, the re-launch of GAME OVERTHINKER (coming soon!) and a few other projects that can't be announced yet are all keeping me sharp in terms of analysis and critical-thinking, but I'm feeling like I stand to put in more practice-time on fiction, particularly screenwriting. On the other hand, it's not like I feel comfortable putting effort into "just for kicks" experiments when I should be busting ass (relatively speaking) here and elsewhere on behalf of my exceptionally generous Patreon backers, who expect (and should expect!) some entertainment and interaction.

So! Here's how I'm going to combine the two for a bit:

Okay, here's the basic idea:

This post from awhile back, laying out a hypothetical Hollywood pitch for a (proper) live-action SUPER MARIO BROS* movie, turned out to be pretty popular. Since I'm always thinking about this kind of stuff anyway (and since this is the age where we're officially making movies out of fucking anything) I've since worked out the basic outlines of a few other "if I had to pitch _____" scenarios on similar lines as thought experiments. I'm going to list four of them below, and ask anyone who wants to to vote in the comments (Blogger has no good option for putting polls into posts) either for which one they'd like to see an actual full pitch for OR rank all four (1 being highest, 4 being lowest) on a scale of most to least want to see pitched. I'll keep the poll open for a week (so you've got until 4/10 at 11:59pm) and then I'll start posting the actual pitches in the order decided by the votes (schedule yet to be determined as consensus emerges)


The four possible pitches are:

MEGA MAN

X-MEN (hypothetical near-future Marvel Cinematic Universe version)

CAPTAIN PLANET

CARE BEARS

Okay. Get down into the comments and get to voting. You're also welcome to toss out other ideas as well, but these four are going first no matter what. Yes, even if like 300 people all demand STREET SHARKS.


*Since I'm sure plenty of people are wondering, the reason ZELDA isn't among the choices is that the lore there is so rigid yet also so loose mapping it out in detail doesn't hold that much appeal to me. But if you want a quickie: Trilogy of films based loosely on OCARINA but with the "quest" streamlined. PART I: Young Link, end on Master Sword aquisition and time-jump. PART II: Adult Link, Tri-Force quest in ruined "future" Hyrule with Sheik, end on Sheik/Zelda reveal and realization that key past mistakes make victory impossible. PART III: Final battle against Ganon, with time-jumping between kid and adult eras to ensure defeat of evil.

FURIOUS 7: Stunningly Stupid Stunts Frame A Fitting Farewell

Now playing at a multiplex near you:



FURIOUS 7 (Dir. James Wan 2015)

Up until recently, I hadn�t seen any of the FAST AND THE FURIOUS movies. So, not wanting to go in cold, I watched the previous six entries to catch up with the adventures of FBI agent turned outlaw Brian O�Conner (the late Paul Walker) and his ex-con BFF Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) before catching a screening of the latest, FURIOUS 7, which opens today. 



I really wasn�t into the series at first � after the third one, TOYKO DRIFT (a stand-alone installment with different characters than the rest), I was wondering �when do these start getting good?�

But then I found four through six to be enjoyably stupid formula action films filled with ridiculous over-the-top stunts, of course involving cars but also planes, trains, tanks, etc., that are somehow ridiculously in-your-face effective.

Walker, perhaps the lead protagonist of the series, was killed in a tragic automobile accident halfway through filming, but he had completed enough that it�s barely noticeable that they helped flesh out his performance with his brothers (Caleb and Cody) acting as stand-ins with Walker�s face grafted on them via CGI.

As teased, Marvel-style in THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 6, this time Walker, Diesel, and their trusty team made up of Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster face off against Jason Statham as the brother of the previous film�s villain, something they borrowed from the DIE HARD franchise I guess.

Despite the fact that he hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend to promote this movie, Dwayne �The Rock� Johnson sits most of this one out as Statham puts him in the hospital after a brutal fight at the Diplomatic Security Service offices.



Statham also blows up Diesel�s house (yay - explosions!), and the two almost get into an epic brawl, but it's interrupted by a smug, Belgian beer-loving Kurt Russell as a government agent, pretty much the equivalent of the role Harrison Ford played in EXPENDABLES 3.



Russell introduces the film's McGuffin: a program called �God's Eye,� which can simultaneously access every surveillance camera on the planet. The device was developed by a hacker named Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), who's been kidnapped by a terrorist (Djimon Hounsou), and Russell, who calls himself �Mr. Nobody,� wants Diesel to get the gang back together to rescue Ramsey, and retrieve �God's Eye,� which will lead them to the sinister Statham.



This involves the movie's biggest money shot, in which our fearless (well, except for Gibson - he shows fear) team skydive five cars out of a cargo plane in order to hijack a convoy in Azerbaijan. This jaw-dropping sequence climaxes with Walker scrambling to escape a bus before it falls off a cliff, very ITALIAN JOB-esque.



After that we get another scorching set piece that has Walker and Diesel jumping a car between the Etihad Towers complex in Abu Dhabi. Shades of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL and, unfortunately, TOWER HEIST, are inescapable, but the scene is exciting and funny enough to transcend them.



The big finale comes down to Diesel and Statham, who is simply the best villain the series has ever had (take that, Braga!) in brutal one on one combat in a collapsing parking deck, with cutaways to the other characters' own action dilemmas in a chaotic orgy of cars, grenades, drones, and helicopters. Yep, stuff gets blown up real good.



Working from a screenplay by Chris Morgan, who scripted the bulk of the F & F series, James Wan (SAW, THE CONJURING) confidently takes over from Justin Lin (director of installments 3-6), and shows that he's as suited for slick formula action tropes as he is for horror.



FURIOUS 7 is an above average assembly line action movie (especially compared to THE EXPENDABLES 3), and will delight fans of the franchise, though the biggest fans of the franchise appear to be Diesel, who co-produced, and his crew themselves. Diesel obviously genuinely means it when he says such lines like �I don't have friends, I got family,� and the concluding tribute montage to Walker reflects that sweetly.



If I didn't know he had died I don't think I would've noticed that the work they did to cover Walker's absence. Whether CGI or his brothers as body doubles, the results are solidly convincing, and the movie stands as a fitting, heartfelt farewell in full.



And yes, I teared up a bit during that closing memorial montage. To steal a line from Phil Hartman's Bill McNeil from the great '90s sitcom Newsradio: �You would have to be a robot not to cry at that movie!�



More later... 

Film Review: FURIOUS 7

Vrrrroooom! Vroom vroom!

TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 15: "ONE DOOR CLOSES"

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I gave less-than-great marks to last week's AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D, largely because it was a "setting things up" episode and not much else beyond it. The good news? This week's episode turns out to be where almost all of that setup starts paying off immediately and without much extraneous padding: The new characters/ideas? Explained as fully as anything on this series gets explained. The worldbuilding? All functional. Subplots? All in motion. Good stuff... though with the unfortunate caveat that it looks like the show is about to take an obligatory swing on a tried-and-true comic-book story idea that almost never works.

That's the non-spoiler version. For SPOILERS, hit the jump:


This is roughly the time last year when AGENTS' first season got to "Turn, Turn, Turn," the episode that happened in conjuction with CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER and enabled the show to finally tip it's hand about the MCU's big HYDRA-infiltration subplot. That reveal (and the narrative re-focusing it allowed) is what mainly rescued the series from its iffy mid-season slump, and laid down the template that the superior Season 2 has largely adhered to. "One Door Closes" doesn't achieve nearly that level of turnaround, but it does move things forward and hint at big things to come - impressive, considering it would've been unsurprising to see the show just rest on it's "yup, we snuck the beginning of THE INHUMANS in right under your nose" laurels.

Last week, we learned that Agents Bobbi and Mac are actually double-agents for a seemingly bigger, better-armed incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D (led by Edward James Olmos' Agent Gonzales) founded by Agents who've rejected Nick Fury's way of doing things and are looking to put a stop to the antics of Coulson's Fury-approved Agency... though they mostly seem preoccupied with Coulson's alien-blood ressurection and the secret index of superhumans. This week plays this rivalry out in a dual narrative: In the present, "Real S.H.I.E.L.D" invades and locks-down Coulson's base; while in extended flashbacks we learn the origins and ideology of the organization.

Short version: They're mainly the surviving crew of a S.H.I.E.L.D aircraft-carrier called The Iliad, who opted to disobey Fury's orders to sink the vessel (regardless of remaining crew) in hopes of keeping an unidentified precious cargo out of HYDRA's hands; instead recapturing the ship, saving hundreds of lives and deciding (somewhat reasonably, you've got to admit) that since Fury's methods didn't do anything to prevent the rise of HYDRA, maybe they should do something else. Hence why they've got a mad-on about Coulson, whom Gonzales sees as little more than a (literal) creation of Fury's built to keep his flawed vision in power (specifically, they're angry about him keeping yet-unknown Enhanced Superhumans and unexplained artificats hidden around the world.)

Meanwhile, Skye is off in what feels like her own separate episode entirely as she staves off cabin fever in the safe-house (it's actually more for keeping people/things outside the cabin safe) Coulson has her hiding out in until fellow Inhuman Gordon (aka The Reader) shows up to talk heart-to-heart. This is the first time this guy has showed up long enough to do anything other than make a cool entrace/exit and a quip, so it's a relief that he comes off as a pretty interesting character - even if all he really does, substantively, is deliver a good(?)-guy version of the "embrace your superiority" speech Skye has already gotten several times from Mr. Hyde (Kyle McLachlan).

For an episode sold primarily on the promise of the plot going somewhere again and the long-awaited May/Mockingbird fight (good, but no May/Agent 33) The flashback business turns out to be the strongest element to the proceedings, giving new insight into the "Other S.H.I.E.L.D" characters (nice move including a sort-of return for Lucy Lawless' presently-deceased Agent Hartley character from the pilot) and taking the best possible shot at the innevitably futile task of trying to make us not regard them (in the present) as the bad guys. Unfortunately, the effort expended there can't really help with what I'm worried is a "baked-in" problem to the "Other S.H.I.E.L.D" storyline. Specifically...

This story never really works.

I'm not sure there are words for it, but "wouldn't normal people eventually get paranoid about superheroes?" belongs to the roster of obvious, easily-answered questions that sound like head-slappingly great angles for this or that genre that generally don't pan out in practice. Fundamentally, what works in a "contained" continuity like WATCHMEN or THE INCREDIBLES usually doesn't every few years or so when some enterprising writer decides to try it in the Marvel or DC Comics Universes (the X-Men being the exception, as this conceit is built into their mythos). The fact is, everybody knows that in the real world superheroes/mutants/inhumans operating like they do in comics wouldn't work out, but everyone also knows that these stories don't take place in the real world.

In this case, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D is inextricably linked to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and viewers/audiences have spent almost a decade being reinforced that the "rules" of said Universe is that superhumans doing their own thing evens out on the "positive" side. So no matter how noble "Other S.H.I.E.L.D's" origins or reasonable their perspective, it's all just so much song and dance before they innevitable wind up as the bad/misguided guys. We already know Skye/Coulson/etc are the good guys, we know THE INHUMANS will likely be the heroes of their own movie, we can guess that some of this will inform CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and that Cap (the moral center of the Marvel Universe) will be on the "leave us alone" side, and frankly just the fact that Other S.H.I.E.L.D is preoccupied with this threat rather than HYDRA is a pretty big red flag in and of itself.

This isn't to say that S.H.I.E.L.D vs S.H.I.E.L.D can't be a fun angle to round out the season (though I have a feeling that, with Nick Fury already popping up in trailers, AGE OF ULTRON is going to blow up the last few episodes the way WINTER SOLDIER did last year, so...) I just hope they don't drag the "maybe they've got a point" business out too long, because no one is going to buy it and that get's frustrating fast.


PARTING THOUGHTS:

• The digital color-grading used to differentiate the flashbacks from the present was effective... maybe too effective, as it immediately made everything look slicker and more cinematic than the CBS police-procedural lighting the series usually uses. Why not break that out more?
• The big obvious question: What the hell is this "cargo" that The Iliad is carrying that was so important Fury was willing to sink it? Well... honestly, at this point the MCU is so broadly-constructed it could be anything from another Obelisk to a tranquilized Fin Fang Foom and it'd make the same amount of sense. FYI, though: "Iliad" is the name of a repurposed S.H.I.E.L.D hellicarrier which, in the comics, currently serves as the base of operations for a Secret Avengers team that includes Maria Hill and Daisy Johnson - aka Skye.
• Two guesses for the Iliad Cargo, none the less: 1. The nascent form of whatever Tony Stark is going to build Ultron out of (in the trailers, it's described as a "reactivated program") 2. Mar-Vell, since The Kree are already part of the show's regular mythos and they've got to start setting up CAPTAIN MARVEL at some point.
• Two questions that I don't think have been asked or answered yet: Can Kree people touch The Obelisk and not die? If so, can Coulson do it because he's full of Kree blood?
• Skye finding the Hulk's fist-print hidden behind the fake "rustic" walls of the cabin was not only a perfect reveal of what's actually going on, it might be the best "Oh, right! The Avengers!" shoutout in the series so far.
• Agent Weaver supposedly fought off an "enhanced" sicced on S.H.I.E.L.D Academy by HYDRA. Any chance we find out who it was? (Probably not - it's a sympathetic backstory detail that exists to give her pledging "Team Lock `Em All Up" a rational basis.)
• Did Bobbi actually see "dickhead Agent" try to shoot Skye with a real bullet against her orders? If so, is this step 1 to ensuring that she winds up defecting from her current allegiance over to "Team Still Gonna Be On The Show Next Season?"

NEXT WEEK:
Gordon BAMFed in to spirit Skye off to The Inhumans' (still officially not named as such) secret space to close out the episode, which means "Afterlife" will probably explain more of that while bringing Cal/Mr. Hyde and Raina back into the story. Luke Mitchell will debut here as "Lincoln," a seemingly-original character who will apparently be pretty important.


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