Agents of SHIELD Season 5 Episode 1 Review

The last time we saw our friends over at SHIELD, they had just escaped the Framework and defeated Madame Hydra, but someone still had to take the fall for creating the Life Model Decoys in the first place. They all decided to face the problem as a team and they allowed themselves to be arrested in a diner. However, the next thing they knew they were in space! It was an interesting twist and a great cliffhanger to keep fans eagerly awaiting the next season. Space is a new frontier for Agents of SHIELD and Mack (Henry Simmons) perfectly described the situation by saying, "Yeah, that makes sense. It's the one thing we haven't done yet!"

The intro to this episode really surprised me! I thought we were being introduced to a new villain, but I wasn't too sure what to expect. Next thing I know there was a pile of human skin on a bench and an eerie silhouette in the shower! The same man then headed to a warehouse and grouped up with some soldiers in a disguised van. The soldiers headed to Rae's Restaurant and prepared for an ambush. Next thing we knew, the agents of SHIELD appeared to be frozen in time and were loaded into the van, except for one unknown character. Right after our heroes awaken, they realized they are in the presence of an alien (Kree) stone that resembles the teleporting Monolith from previous seasons. The stone collapsed and teleported Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team into space.

Coulson wakes up in space without his team only to discover another team of men, led by Virgil, who are trying to kill and escape from creatures known as Vrellnexians, or "roaches". The Vrellnexians can surf gravity storms, allowing them to breach into the station Coulson is currently in. Virgil said he has been waiting for Coulson and he is a "true believer". Mack sees Virgil and knocks him out because he thought Virgil was a threat. Mack and Coulson meet up with Yo-Yo (Natalia  Cordova-Buckley) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) only to discover a group of dead bodies that have been drained by aliens.

One of my favorite things about Agents of Shield is their unique gadgets and use of special effects. They have some amazing visuals for a TV show budget and they make sure to use visuals without taking too much away from the story. I loved when a man was using a tablet to change the design on the side of a van, it's something I've never seen before! This episode also gives off a creepy Alien vibe that works surprisingly well for the show.

We get our first glimpse at May (Ming-Na Wen) and she has teleported so her leg was caught in a metal pipe. While freeing herself, she meets Deve. Deve cuts out a strange device called a Metric out of a dead body. He forcefully cuts open May's arm to put the device inside of her.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team (minus Daisy and Fitz) awakened Virgil for answers, only to watch him die at the hands of a Vrellnexian. All they were able to get out of Virgil is he was expecting the team, knew their names and backgrounds, expected them to save humanity, and said Fitz wasn't teleported with them. While the team runs from the Vrellnexian, Daisy (Chloe Bennet showed up just in time to destroy the creature with her powers.

While exploring the ship, Coulson's team is captured by Kree aliens. Daisy, Coulson, and Simmons are thrown in jail while Yo-Yo and Mack are sent to be killed for attacking the Kree. After torturing the Yo-Yo and Mack, the Kree decided to spare Mack's life so they could earn "points" by fighting in something called the Crater as a gift for someone names Kasius. It doesn't make sense now, but I'm sure it will be explained in future episodes. Unfortunately, Yo-Yo was not so lucky and the Kree prepare to kill her.

While Coulson's group is in prison, they are visited by May, Deke, and a Kree guard. Deke tells the guard that the team had their Metrics removed by Virgil, who is now dead. With an explanation and a bribe from Deke, the Kree guard decided to let them go.

Deke informs the group there is a ship on board called the Trawler. In the hopes they can use the ship to send a message back to Earth, Simmons and May go to find the Trawler. On the way, they discovered the ship they are on is much bigger than they thought.

It was hard for me to believe the ship was as huge as it was supposed to be. The show did a poor job of showing the scope of the ship and it always felt very small and enclosed. That worked well for the scenes before when the audience was supposed to feel trapped and uneasy, but it didn't work well for the reveal of how big the ship was.

Simmons and May make it to the ship and it's all too convenient May can fly an alien ship, but oh well. While flying around, the two see the Earth has been completely destroyed. Meanwhile, the rest of the team finds out the strange new Monolith didn't teleport them through space, but through time. Mack discovers Fitz is stuck in the past and is working to bring them home.

This was a clever twist I didn't see coming at all, even when the clues were hidden throughout the episode. I can assume once Fitz figured out they were sent to the future, he began to spread stories about the team so the future people on the ship could expect them and hopefully help them figure out their situation. Hopefully, we get to see more of Fitz and how he is handling bringing the team back and dealing with traumatic experiences from the Framework.

This episode had a lot of setups in it, but I think it will be worth it for the rest of the season. It was tiresome listening to theory after theory about where the team was, so I'm glad we now have a somewhat definite answer.

As always, the chemistry between the characters is fantastic and has lots of charm. This has always been a strength for Agents of SHIELD. Normally I am not a fan of using humor to lessen the effect of tense scenes, but Agents of SHIELD has a perfect mix. Seeing the characters back together and using sarcasm and humor worked wonders in this episode. It was a wonderful mix of tension and comedic relief throughout the entire episode. My favorite was when Yo-Yo brought up the fact that they could be in the Framework again and they all freak out.

Another thing I like about Agents of SHIELD is how self-aware the show is. They pull this off without taking the audience away from the world. Agents of SHIELD found its footing and perfected it way before season 5, but it's reassuring to know they still have the talent.

Overall, this was a pretty solid episode. The pacing felt very slow at times, but as I said before, I think the payoff will be worth it. I'm definitely excited for future episodes so I can see what creative ways the writers have to get the agents of SHIELD out of the future!

I would give this episode 8/10 stars.