As the series finale draws closer, more and more questions are being mounted in Agents of Shield. And while none of those questions were honestly answered, “Stolen” did provide a very fun episode compared to some of the recent ones.
The main reason for this was that everything was focused on Nathaniel Mallick, Afterlife, Jiaying, and getting certain pieces for Cybil’s puzzle. It was very interesting to see parts of the past and future come together to make a compelling narrative. Like Cybil being able to predict where Gordon and Coulson would show up, certain other major moves that would be played out, and more.
There were also great character moments, like Coulson being told to take charge again, Jiaying and Daisy connecting like they never got to before, and even the bad guys getting to shine in their own way.
Speaking of which, the return of John Garrett was welcome in more ways than one. Not the least of which is that the person who played the younger version was in fact the late Bill Paxton’s own son, James. How’s that for continuity? And yeah, he did portray his father rather well.
But the real problem here is the problem that has been noted by many over the course of the season: The timeline. Even Sousa noted that “it’s screwed” and tonight’s episode proved it with Jiaying getting killed. Which means Daisy should be erased from the timeline. But she’s not. Also, Gordon died, which if you recall is bad because he played a big role in Season 2, and yet that is now erased. So how is all of this getting corrected, if it can be corrected at all?
I sense a major Deus Ex Machina coming, and that’s not a good thing. Because this feels like an Endgame gag where they just through so much chaos and confusion into things that you don’t really care about “how time travel works” and yet…I care. Because some of the changes make no sense in the grand scale so unless it’s rewritten…what’s the point?
And it appears that finally we’ll be finding out more about Fitz and his “condition” which is good because he’s honestly gotten the shaft this season and I’m not happy about that.
Still, time travel issues aside, “Stolen” was a really good episode, and I hope it continues as we enter the final episodes.
4.5 out of 5 nerds
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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