'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: 'A Life Spent'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK... 

When we last left Phil Coulson and his friends/family on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. the situation was most certainly grim. After all, the team had apparently traveled into the future wherein planet Earth had been supposedly destroyed by Daisy, and the last vestiges of mankind lived in squalor and fear and under the iron thumb of the Kree and well, this little twist was an incredible way to kick off season five because it absolutely hooked me and I had to know exactly what would come next for this intrepid group.
 
As it turns out, that next step for the team would involve learning more about the devastated world that they now inhabit because ‘A Life Spent’ took us through the day to day hell that comes with surviving in this dark and dismal place and the first thing we learned about this Earth…is that the Kree really don’t care about the humans that they protect, and a fine example of this came by way of Jemma’s story. Because despite her best efforts to care for a young Inhuman girl and help her develop her powers so that she could impress special guests of the Kree and earn a better life for herself and her family, she was instead sold to the highest bidder and an unknown future since Kasius was more concerned about a profit than her life.
 
As if that wasn’t bad enough, we also learned in this episode that humanity as a whole has lost the sense of brotherhood and unity we usually display in times of need and that was demonstrated to us by way of the ‘every man for himself’ mentality we saw in this particular tale. Everywhere you looked, people were watching out for numero uno and were willing to turn neighbors, friends and trusted confidants over to the Kree if it meant they could see another day, and while this was hinted at in last week’s season premiere, it was nice that the show expanded on this further because it gave Daisy’s mission to save Simmons far more depth and meaning when Deke betrayed her because it’s clear now, that outside of Tess’ support, the Agents are on their own…
 
However, it wasn’t all gloom and doom in this episode, because Coulson’s desire to know more about Virgil and his belief in the team being the saviors of all mankind led to Coulson pouring over every detail of the man’s life, and the investigation eventually took Phil into space to see why a particular number/set of coordinates kept showing up in Virgil’s notes and Coulson came to find that Virgil was talking to other human beings out there and that the signal in question was coming from what was left of the surface of Planet Earth. How exactly there’s still life on the surface is unknown at this point, but it is uplifting and good to know that someone out there is still waiting for Coulson and his team to arrive to hopefully put an end to this dark and dreary chapter in mankind’s history.
 
When all is said and done however, holy cow…what a dark episode this turned out to be. It was just nuts to see that little girl be tossed around by a brutal warrior and it was equally as harrowing to see just how far humanity has fallen and really, the show deserves some serious credit for once again treading in such dark territory. It shows that the Writer’s Room is looking to tell an engaging story above all else and they’re certainly accomplishing that. Either way, it should be interesting to learn more when it comes to the revelation that somewhere on the surface there is life and of course, I think we’re all dying to know the answer to the most important question out there when it comes to this storyline…how the heck are the Agents going to get out of this one? Until next time.  

---