Kora Volunteers For The Team In A Preview Of The Penultimate ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
by Erik Amaya
It would seem Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a new recruit: Kora (Dianne Doan). But as this preview of the penultimate episode of the series reveals, her ideas for making the future the best it can be will leave a lot of blood spilled. It’s a new idea for the agency, but we doubt she’ll make it through training.
And yes, it seems ABC has decided to broadcast the final two episodes as a two-hour finale, which works fine for us. S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s earned a big send off as it defied the odds, stood its ground, and lasted much longer than any television show Marvel Television brought to the screen (insert your own Inhumans joke here). Oh, and it got really good when compared to those rough early episodes. Remember when Daisy (Chloe Bennet) was an edgy hacker stereotype named Skye?
Speaking of Daisy, it will be interesting to see what Jiaying’s (Dichen Lachman) death will mean for her both psychologically and temporally. We see her attack Kora in the preview, which is understandable under the circumstances. But it is clear Daisy will never be born in the new timeline. Will she start to disappear in a Back to the Future style crossfade? Or will her continued existence prove Deke (Jeff Ward) was right and every ripple creates a tangent timeline, safeguarding their lives even if they have no future to return to?
Come to think of it, Deke’s continued Deke-ness despite the elimination of the timeline he grew up in strongly suggests S.H.I.E.L.D. has always been working with tangents. It’s a great way to excuse all of the inconsistencies with the Marvel Cinematic Universe — they’ve pretty much been in a tangent timeline since Coulson (Clark Gregg) helped Maria Hill find the Hydra base in Sokovia back at the end of Season 2 — and allows the series a way to stay “connected” while telling its own story.
And maybe we’ll some clarity on that as the “greatest hits” portion of the show expands. For instance, if the actor who portrayed the young John Garret seemed a little too perfect an impression of the late Bill Paxton, that’s because he was played by James Paxton — Bill’s son. Sure, he may not look anything like his father did in 1983 (check the opening scene of The Terminator for reference), but he got the persona down pat. That’s a nice little tribute to the actor, who helped S.H.I.E.L.D. find itself in the first season and, ultimately, left us far too soon.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Wednesdays on ABC.
