Agents of SHIELD 'Afterlife' Review- New and Familiar Faces Arrive

Marvel has changed the way they're approaching Agents of SHIELD this season. The first season had the feeling of the show just being happy to be in the MCU, but now it is not only co-existing but changing the shape of the MCU on a weekly basis.

***** SPOILERS for EP 2.16 "Afterlife" to follow *****

"Afterlife," written by by Craig Titley and directed by Kevin Hooks, brings Skye (Chloe Bennet) to the home of the Inhumans while Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) bring in a surprising reinforcement in their battle to regain control of SHIELD.

The episode immediately introduces us to Lincoln, a brand new Inhuman, played by Luke Mitchell. Lincoln has been given the task of helping Skye transition from normal human to becoming an Inhuman and learning to control her powers.

Skye learns a lot of new information during just the first few days of her trip to Afterlife, the base of operation for this group of Inhumans. Among the revelations, the audience and Skye learn just how rare her form of transformation is, that her powers are obviously permanent, and there is a group of unhappy Elders that make decisions for this group.

During a meeting with her "transitioner" Lincoln, Skye figures out that these people are not telling the whole truth either. They have been housing Raina (Ruth Negga) and that brings a near deathly confrontation between the two. Raina's life is only spared when Jiaying (DichenLachman) appears to calm down Skye, who is unaware of their biological connection. 

Meanwhile, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) go full on spy to outsmart their former allies. This involves Simmons creating a replica of Fury's box of secrets and then sending the real box, plus a few sandwiches, along with Fitz as he leaves SHIELD.

Even though we, the viewers, know where Skye is, Coulson is on a frantic hunt to find his protege. Hunter is along for the ride but is not to happy when Coulson alerts the "Real SHIELD" of their location. The two manage their way past the first wave of SHIELD soldiers but fall right into a trap. That is when the biggest surprise of the night happened and Deathlok (J. August Richards) comes blasting back into the picture.

The return of Deathlok means Coulson has one more ally in his fight to regain SHIELD but the information he carries with him means they will be searching for another former member. Deathlok has spent the past few months trailing Dr. List (Henry Goodman) and that HYDRA is also interested in experimenting on people with powers, just like the "Real SHIELD." This brings Coulson to the conclusion that the only way to figure out what both of their foes are up to is to track down the one and only Grant Ward (Brett Dalton).

The episode was one of the strongest episodes of the series as the story kept on moving but also was tasked with handling a lot of major plot points. Inhuman history, the introduction of Lincoln, bringing back Raina, Jiaying, and Cal (Kyle MacLachlan), as well as showing off the new and improved version of Deathlok are four major stories that would have been handled much differently in the beginning of the series. Instead of spending an entire episode on one of these or stringing out the information over the course of multiple episodes, Agents of SHIELD is impacting the MCU heavily and quickly in season 2.

Craig Titley also deserves a lot of credit for bringing back the FitzSimmons dynamic that everyone loved in season 1. The duo was sneaking around, talking smack to the likes of Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Mack (Henry Simmons), knowing what the other is thinking, and genuinely caring about one another. This relationship has not been the same since the end of season 1 and it may never return to full form as it was in the beginning, but these moments throughout a course of an episode and a season are nice reminders to why so many people fell in love with this pair during a shaky start to the series.

Agents of SHIELD returns next week with the origin story of Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) appropriately titled, "Melinda." Check out the promo below!

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