Agents of SHIELD season 6, episode 8 review: Collision Course – Part I

A “Collision Course” charted for the Agents of SHIELD in the latest episode.

While Peter Parker has to fight off the Elementals in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Agents of SHIELD has plenty of danger for its own characters to handle in “Collision Course – Part I.”

Last week in “Toldja,” Sarge (Clark Gregg) and his crew gained control of the Lighthouse after shrike nearly killed Yo-Yo Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley).

Meanwhile in space, Enoch (Joel Stoffer) leaves his best friend in order to start a new mission of finding a homeland for what’s left of the Chronicons.

FitzSimmons (Iain De Caesticker and Elizabeth Henstridge) were nearly killed by guillotine after traveling back to the Kitson casino, only to be saved and recruited by a mysterious pink-haired woman named Izel (Karolina Wydra) to steal back artifacts that have been taken from her.

These artifacts just happen to be the Monoliths.

Road trip, anyone?

In exchange for providing the information to kill the shrike, Sarge demands his freedom and his semi. Mack compromises by allowing him to select one member of his team and May (Ming-Na Wen) and Daisy (Chloe Bennet). After their shrike repellent radio device malfunctions, FitzSimmons’ grandson Deke (Jeff Ward) is drafted into coming along, too.

Snowflake (Brooke Williams) takes quite a liking to Deke, which disgusts their fellow road trippers on the mission, which is traveling to some random field in the middle of nowhere where the shrike are building what looks like a recreation of the Eiffel Tower that could spell certain doom for Earth if it’s completed.

Home sweet homeward bound

FitzSimmons is traveling back to Earth with Izel, and Fitz is still not over this whole altered timeline thing, and feeling inadequate and guilty about it. Simmons tries to calm him down, hoping that they can go back to fixing the communications equipment instead, as that would be more helpful.

That kind of thinking also led Samara Simmons during their time in the mind prison in “Inescapable” but, for now, it seems like a solid strategy.

https://twitter.com/AgentsofSHIELD/status/1147300016890900480

While they’re working on that project, Izel explains how she knows what Sarge is, which is why he hates her. She then zombiefies the rest of the crew while they’re busy.

Grudges, grudges everywhere

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Sarge, meanwhile, hates Izel because she killed his family a long time ago, which is all the information Daisy can coax out of him before he locks our SHIELD agents (and Snowflake) inside the semi and turns on the autopilot, citing his back-up plan of a massive bomb if his first plan – running Izell through with a magical sword – doesn’t work.

Dr. Benson’s research indicates that Izel was a demon creature from folklore, causing destruction wherever she goes.

Mack and Yo-Yo have to work together to try to keep things running smoothly on the Zephyr, while the imprisoned Pax (Matt O’Leary) and Jaco (Winston James Francis) work together to escape custody, squabbling all the while.

Enoch contacts a fellow Chronicon anthropologist, described as “cautious” to his “reckless ways,” in order to start a plan in motion for rebuilding their race somewhere else.

Where things currently stand

At the same time, the Chronicon bounty hunter who kidnapped Fitz the first time, Malachai (Christopher James Baker), is still out there, and he has his sights set on FItzSimmons. Apparently finding their bodies isn’t a problem, as their minds are already there, thanks to the mind prison. That doesn’t bode well.

Meanwhile on Earth, Sarge portaled onto the Zephyr One, as Deke finds the location of the bomb while the semi hurtles towards its destination.

As the first of a two-part episode, “Collision Course – Part I” did well in deepening the stakes and building towards a big set piece two-thirds of the way through the season.

SHIELD shrapnel

• “You guys are doomsday magnets!” an exasperated Deke yells just before Mack blackmails him into a 10 percent share in his tech company.
• Sarge had a lot of good quotes tonight. “I think I liked it better when you were killing them,” he sighs after Snowflake dotes excessively over Deke.
• “Not familiar with miles, but if that’s [200 miles] a lot, then yeah, that kind of bomb,” Sarge nods in answer to May’s question about how big this bomb is.
• Really surprised Snowflake hasn’t seduced someone before this. Not sure we needed to see it, but everyone’s disgust was a good touch.
• Shrike look a little like tiny dragons up close.
• “Why doesn’t Sarge ever tell me the plan?!” Pax demands to know. “Because you’re a terrible secret keeper!” Jaco snaps back.
• It might be my TV’s settings, but this season feels especially near-blackout in the lighting choices. That’s getting old, though it likely helped the budget.

Agents of SHIELD will return on Friday, July 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC with season six episode nine brings this chapter to a close in “Collision Course – Part II.”