‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Recap: ‘Adapt or Die’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Something that is quite fascinating about the final season of a television series, is that the writers’ room has complete and unfettered freedom with the storytelling with the end in sight. And they are now able try new things as the season rolls along and we’ve seen the fruits of unrestrained labor several times now in the seventh and final season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. since we’ve been privy to unique stories that have brought joy into our hearts. But while it is fun to see a Marvel series let loose and experiment in its farewell year, there is an inherent dark side to this kind of freedom as well. Because it also means that anything goes storytelling wise, and the characters can suffer in ways they never have before and unfortunately for our intrepid agents, that darker side to farewell storytelling took the center stage in last night’s episode of the show.
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Because ‘Adapt or Die’ saw the team be pushed to their limits in 1976, thanks to a concerted effort from the Chronicoms to beat the Agents while they were down and that resulted in some bleak storytelling for certain, the kind that saw Daisy be put out of commission. For she was forced to endure some twisted experiments from Nathaniel Malick, all in the hopes of having her powers transferred into his body. And while Malick’s attempts to obtain Inhuman abilities failed miserably, the damage he did to Daisy’s body and mind are clearly going to be lasting. For she simply wasn’t herself by the end of this tale, since her injuries left her weak and barely conscious and truly, thank heavens that Sousa was at her side. Because he did his best to keep her focused on something other than the pain, something that likely kept her going long enough to make it back to the Zephyr for much needed medical treatment.

But the ugly didn’t end with Daisy’s injuries, for this is an episode that also toyed with the fate of another character. Something that came about by way of Coulson and May’s journey in this tale. For they had to work overtime in getting General Stoner to believe that the base was being infiltrated by the Chronicoms and sadly, it took nearly having his memory and face stolen to bring Stoner around to the right side of thinking. But shortly after his life was saved by this dynamic duo, Coulson decided the time had come to take the fight to the enemy and he boarded the Chronicom vessel and chatted with Sibyl in the virtual environment in order to distract her. That way she wouldn’t notice the explosives that he brought aboard the ship, and he absolutely caught her and the Chronicoms off guard when he detonated the devices. Which means that once again, Phil Coulson has disappeared into the great beyond and while Phil Coulson dying has become a tad cliché, something the character even acknowledged himself, his end is still devastating, since his knowledge offers so much to the team.

Yet while those two storylines should have been enough to leave the fans in a stunned place, since two of the team’s finest agents are now out of commission, the hits simply kept on coming in this particular tale. And really the most heartbreaking disaster of the night involved Mack. Because despite the fact that he risked life and limb to save his parents from the Lighthouse, his efforts were all for naught. For the Chronicoms got to his mom and dad well before he pulled them from their cell, and he was forced to put these doppelgängers down and knowing that he couldn’t save them in time left Mack in quite the ugly place. One that motivated him to step outside the Zephyr once they jumped and that turned out to be a costly decision as well. For shortly after he found solace, and shortly after Deke went out there to console him, something wild happened with the timestream and the Zephyr jumped away. Leaving this duo stranded in an unknown time in an unknown place.

Which is quite the bold way to end this tale. For now, the team is without their strongest fighters, and without a leader and Deke and Mack are stuck trying to figure out their next move and what their future is going to look like, and really in the end, all of these storytelling decisions make this episode downright brilliant to say the least. Because these are the kind of risks that straight up move the audience and keep them guessing, since no one has a clue where the story is going to go from here and what’s truly amazing, is that we are only at the halfway point. Which means things might get even wilder before we’ve reached the all-important series finale and the endless possibilities that await us now, both good and bad, are going to make the wait for next Wednesday’s episode, quite difficult for certain. Until next time.

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