5.8 The Last Day There’s a whole heck of a lot going on this week, multiple timelines in fact, but really, the episode and possibly the whole fifth season thus far hinges on the heart of one Melina May. This week’s impactful episode goes a long way to prove that May is so much more than a weapon – so much more. She is the heart and soul of the team and this week, the entire survival of the human (and Inhuman) race depends on that heart. Let’s back up. Last week, May was rescued by a group of survivors on the surface of what is left of Earth. She is shocked to find an aged version of the Inhuman precog Robin, a woman that May and the agents knew when she was a mere tyke. No, the episode does not clue us in on the nature of the end of the world (maybe it starts with a government shutdown, ah-hemmmm), but through all the running, through all the loss, through all the horror, May stays by Robin’s side. Even when the others turn against Robin for her constant death premonitions, May stays there. It seems like Robin is redemption for the insane little Inhuman girl that May had to kill so long ago in Bahrain. But whatever the reason, May stays loyal to Robin in the end of the world timeline. Of course our May gets shunted through time and never has a chance to raise Robin, but even in the future, even when Robin is an old woman, May stays by her. Even during Robin’s death. Through the other timeline, we discover that the machine is built by Fitz who loses faith years after he begins the construction. In fact, all the agents we see in that hellish timeline lose faith. We see that Mack has somehow fallen causing Yo Yo to give up the cause and we see that Fitz has no inclination to continue to listen to Robin’s constant death proclamations, especially when the Inhuman precog predicts the death of Simmons. But Robin’s most dire prediction is about Fitz. She says something along the lines of “You gave everything.” Now, that does not sound promising, like at all. Don’t do it, Agents Of SHIELD. Don’t you dare kill Fitz or Simmons! But back to May, when the ragtag bunch turn on Daisy in order to prevent Quake from becoming the Destroyer of Worlds, Robin ends up stabbed. As old Robin lies dying, we are treated to a parallel look at May’s raising of Robin and a promise that she will always be there for the little girl. And she is, even when the girl dies decades later. Robin whispers the secret of fixing time to May, a secret involving the newly introduced Inhuman Flint. So where is savior Flint, you ask? Flint is trying to free Kasius’s human slaves. Things get all H.R. Giger this week as Mack, Yo Yo, and Flint must rescue the remaining human chattel from being eaten by the slavering bug aliens introduced in the season premiere. We get some pretty fun action as Mack is reunited with his shotgun axe (it was almost as moving as Fitz reuniting with Simmons – almost) and Yo Yo using her powers to go all sorts of Ripley on the aliens. Flint doesn’t do much, but he does unite the disparate humans against Kasius. But there are still some pending mysteries. Like, we know that the person sending the messages from Earth is Deke’s father, but how can that be? Could it be that Deke is the child of Hunter and Bobbi Morse? Or maybe Fitz and Simmons? What causes Quake to destroy the Earth in the past, and what is Kasius planning to do now that his human chattel has rebelled and joined Flint? We’ll find out soon, I guess, but whatever happens, it will be a difficult for Agents Of SHIELD to introduce something as moving and note perfect as the tale of May and Robin.
