On Next Week’s ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, The Team Seeks The Aid Of Jiaying(!?)

Twenty months have passed since the Zephyr left Mack (Henry Simmons) and Deke (Jeff Ward) in 1982. Presumably, those months passed for the team unstuck in time as well. But as this preview for next week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reveals, Simmons’s (Elizabeth Henstridge) control of the time drive is failing. Meanwhile, the time has come to deal with the loss of Yo-Yo’s (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) abilities … and since they’re still in the 1980s, the Inhuman refuge run by Daisy’s (Chloe Bennet) mother Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) may be a good place to start.

But considering Nathaniel Malick (Thomas E. Sullivan) survived his encounter with Daisy and Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) back in 1976, his tendril of Hydra will no doubt be looking for some payback. And now that he has access to the Chronicom timeline reader, he may even be able to prevent the Marvel Age of Heroes from happening. Wouldn’t that be a shame?
We kid, of course, but we love the way the show has been playing with Marvel Cinematic Universe history and using the era we know from the films as the thing most in jeopardy. Will it play into their endgame? Who knows? But if it allows for more episodes like last night’s, we’ll enjoy the ride.
Speaking of the most recent episode, the extended Chopping Mall homage was exactly the right choice. Sure, we also appreciated the references to WarGames, Knight Rider/Battlestar Galactica, and Commando, but using the cheesy killbot antics of Jim Wynorski‘s low budget classic as the throughline balanced with Mack’s grief magnificently. In fact, we would have appreciate more cheesiness — and that’s considering Deke stealing the hits of the 80s, all the wacky smash zooms, and Coulson (Clark Gregg) appearing with a Max Headroom background on the television screen. Then again, maybe full silliness may have been too much.
Nevertheless, we appreciate the focus on something more culty like Chopping Mall than a well-known ’80s signpost like, say, Return of the Jedi.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Wednesdays on ABC.