The Seer returns in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5×08, but her hints are not all good tidings for the future.
Keep an eye on the time
This week’s episode, titled “The Last Day,” focuses heavily on the return of Robin Hinton. And like Robin, whose mind has become unmoored in time, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5×08 dips between the past and the future, telling two stories for the price of one.
(Which one will win, though… that remains to be seen.)
But like Robin’s prophesies, don’t expect everything we learn to make perfect sense — at least, not yet. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is running full-tilt into the complexities and consequences of time travel, and “The Last Day” feels like it might just be the opening act.
It’s May’s day
If the past few episodes have left you yearning for more of Agent May, then Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5×08 is just for you. Reunited with the trawler crew, May is not only able to share a few much-needed scenes with Coulson, but also taps into the rarely-seen softer side of her emotional spectrum.
Confronting her physical limitations is the least of it; “The Last Day” also puts a moving bow on (yet another!) plot line that May has struggled with in the past.
Flint steps up
Meanwhile, back in the hellscape of the Lighthouse, Mack, Elena, and Flint are… well, they’re doing about as well as might be expected. (You might call it equal parts badass and screwed.) As the situation deteriorates around them, Mack and Elena are their usual capable selves — the field of development is Flint. Stuck in an unenviable position by his Inhumanity, Flint begins to figure out the tricky equation of putting his powers and selflessness to their best possible use.
Which, given the way this all seems to be going, is a really good thing.
Pieces of the puzzle
As your resident Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seer, I’ll be honest: There are elements of “The Last Day” that might just drive fans a little bit nuts. Packed full of hints of a terrible past and even darker future, the clues left strewn around the episode are literal fragments of objects, dialogue, and ideas.
But in all of its maddening vagaries, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5×08 makes it clear that the stakes are as nose-bleedingly high and as achingly personal as they ever have been.
Bonus hint: What’s in a name?
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5×08, “The Last Day,” airs Friday, Jan. 19 at 9:00 p.m. on ABC.