What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 2, Episode 16 “Afterlife” (B)

The chess pieces are all moving now in a way that doesn’t make it seem like there are so many different operations at work, and it’s becoming ever clearer whose side most of our characters are on. Mike coming in to save the day as Coulson’s backup was a nice surprise, but it’s far less jarring than Coulson’s suggestion of the next possible ally: Ward. What’s good to know is that Fitz and Simmons managed to settle their differences, pretending to go to war over the fact that Simmons was considering helping the new S.H.I.E.L.D. to access the box they found in Coulson’s office only to get away with the box and a sandwich specially made for him by his old friend Simmons. May’s motives were never in question, and so it can’t be long before our friends reclaim their organization. The only question that remains is where Mac and Bobbi end up when it all comes down around them. Gordon has quite the operation going in Tibet or wherever Skye is, leaving Lincoln to help Skye deal with her transition while he manages a very angry Cal and also monitors a spiteful and frightening Reina. I’m excited to see that Dichen Lachman’s Jiaying is still alive, and Skye has a good role model in the form of the mother she has long thought to be dead. People with powers may be cool, but nothing quite compares to Coulson employing the Howling Commandos kit to project a hologram of him and Hunter playing cards to gain the upper hand.