Inhumans, Inhumans, and more Inhumans, even if Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD doesn’t call them that. Except for Fitz that one time. Plus I’ve got two different awesome cameos that could have worked perfectly in “Afterlife.”
Overarching Questions
1. What’s up with Skye’s mom?
In hindsight, we should have guessed that she was alive…even though they gave us a pretty clear shot of her cut-up body on Whitehall’s table. But if her Inhuman power was not aging, how much of a stretch is it for her to have healing powers as well? I’m drawing parallels between her and Wolverine, and if Inhumans are as close as we’ll get to mutants in the MCU, it wouldn’t surprise me. Anti-aging and super self-healing tend to go hand-in-hand anyway.
Or, the even crazier route, what if her organs in Whitehall’s body regenerated his corpse into her body? That’s more of a ridiculous stretch. Scratch it, let’s move on.
2. Did Cal know she was alive?
How he spun everything to Whitehall and Coulson (and never managed to get around to with Skye) made it sound like Jiaying was dead and gone and all he wanted was to avenge her death and get to the one piece of family left on this planet.
But now that I think about it, he always talked about reuniting his family. We all just assumed it was Skye and no one else. What if he knew the whole time Jiaying was alive?
I have to think that no, he did not know she was alive until Gordon brought him to Afterlife and reintroduced them. That may be one of the reasons why his room was destroyed and he was so over-the-top distraught. Especially since he didn’t know Skye was around yet.
3. What did Gordon mean by Skye’s fate?
“You have not only sealed your fate but the fate of your daughter as well,” Gordon tells Cal, describing his actions with all the Specials and his attitude about it.
I wish I knew what he meant by this, because Cal looks devastated by it. Does it mean he will be keeping Skye away from Cal for the foreseeable future? Possibly–Jiaying did just give her the option to leave in a few days’ time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cal has some master plan about messing up everyone’s plans with Skye at his side as a partner-in-crime once they work through all of their daddy/daughter issues.
4. What cool thing did I discover researching these questions?
A cool bit of dialogue from “The Things We Bury:”
Cal: “I have nothing to lose. I’ve lost everything important to me. And I want to kill those who took it… and finally be reunited with my family.”
Whitehall: “Reunited?”
Cal: “In the afterlife.”
That’s some LOST-level shade there, people.
—
In the scene with fake!SHIELD breaking into Banner’s cabin to find Coulson and Hunter casually playing cards. As the fake!SHIELD agents raise their guns and approach the pair, an arrow flies through the open door and hits the nearest agent, zapping him and knocking him out. The arrows do not cease and within a matter of seconds, every fake!SHIELD agent is on the floor.
“Go fish,” Hunter says as Hawkeye walks through the front door and rolls his eyes at them.
“Really? Go Fish?” he comments.
(The more Coulson kept assuring Hunter that backup was coming, the more I was certain it was going to be Hawkeye. Please tell me I wasn’t the only one.)
—
Fun Theory I’m Making Up Right Now
Side-note: This could have gone in the “Avengers Cameo,” but I decided just to make it a fun theory instead.
Coulson mentions to Hunter that backup is coming, then flashes a deck of cards and asks if he plays. Cue in the scene with fake!SHIELD breaking into Banner’s cabin to find the pair casually playing cards at the coffee table. As the fake!SHIELD agents raise their guns and approach Coulson and Hunter, a stray card flies through the front door, glowing red hot and sticking to the nearest agent’s back before exploding. A flurry of cards follow while Coulson and Hunter take cover and wait for the battering to subside.
Backup is Gambit in all his Cajun glory! How badass (and improbable) would that be?! I wasn’t the only one who thought this when Coulson flashed that deck of cards…
—
“Gordon’s Pizza Adventures.”
Just a montage of him teleporting into the back kitchen of various pizza chains across the metro-Chicago area, startling the workers. “Thank you,” he says casually, slipping them money before he grabs a few pizzas and teleports away. All the workers continue to stare in the aftermath of Gordon’s appearance/disappearance.
—
With the news that there’s a potential spin-off from Agents of SHIELD in the works, a lot of the thing I touch on in this brainstorm could be up for grabs for a solo show. I’d love more Cal and the Inhumans (because what else does Gordon do aside from show up like a badass and also get pizzas?), I’d love to see Bobbi and Mack on their own. And while it doesn’t bode well for Marvel’s Agent Carter getting renewed… I don’t know how to finish that sentence.
Regardless, next week’s episode delves into what makes Melinda May the Cavalry, and I have a feeling it might be one of the most badass episodes of Agents of SHIELD ever.
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