The team had some robot fun in 1982, Deke’s Band The Deke Squad was on its way to being Deke’s favorite Band, and Mack dealt with his parents deaths. But now it appears that the real drama begins as the ship’s jump drive is malfunctioning. They have little time to fix it before they are lost in time forever. The solution may be Yo-Yo’s powers, if she can get them back. These are the things the team must deal with in Before and After.
The Time Pond
The story starts with a recap of when Deke and Mack were left in 1982. The reason the Zephyr jumped so quickly after arriving was because it had been more damaged in the missile attack than they had realized. In fact, it was jumping on its own, like a stone skipping across a pond. With each jump, the distance covered (time wise) gets shorter, until it just sinks. Metaphorically speaking.
The problem was that to access the part needed, it required someone with extraordinary speed. That someone could bypass the field pulsing over the drive. Unfortunately, the person who might have resolved this dilemma has her own. Yo-Yo still cannot access her powers.
The Rebuilding of Coulson
As the team discusses their options, Coulson is at the S.H.I.E.L.D. “body shop” getting a new body. The machine looks similar to the one used by Aida to create her body. Before the process is complete, they activate Coulson to get his input. But it is Daisy, still healing from her encounter with Nathaniel, who recommends that Yo-Yo goes to see Jiaying.
Seeking Jiaying
Of course, fans of the show know in Season Two, aJiaying was Daisy’s Mother. She met with an unfortunate end at the hands of Daisy’s Dad. But in 1983, she was still alive and at Afterlife. If anyone could help Yo-Yo, it was her. In addition, this was before Daniel Whitehall and Hydra had gotten their hands (and scalpels) on her, so she might be amenable to assist. May and Yo Yo took the QuinJet to seek her help.
But while this decision was made, the Zephyr was still skipping across the time pond. Jemma, Deke, Mack and Enoch were still trying anything and everything to fix the issue. Just in case Jiaying was unable or unwilling to help Elena.
May’s Empathic Range Increases
While this is going on, Yo Yo and May are on their way to Afterlife. YoYo expresses her concern that Jiaying might not be able to help her. May is picking up on her anxiety as she has now begun to sense what people are feeling from a distance. Unfortunately for Elena, that included her reunion with Mack. She felt both embarrassed and somewhat violated but that was the least of their concerns.
After landing the QuinJet, they walked toward Afterlife and ran into a confrontation between a young girl and two men. One was the younger version of Gordon, the sightless Inhuman who could teleport to different locations and take others with him. They were chasing the girl (Cora) who didn’t want to go back to the compound. As they lead her back, they noticed Yo-Yo and May and asked them why they were there. Yo-Yo raised her hands and asked to see Jiaying. They are taken by Gordon and soon are face to face with Jiaying.
The Diviner Test
Yo-Yo introduces herself and tells Jiaying that she is an Inhuman and needs her help. Her security officer Lee doesn’t believe her. He asks her to show them her power. When Elena explains that is why she has come. She cannot use her gift. He scoffs at this. May talks to Jiaying in her language and tells her that she knows that Jiaying wants to believe her. So they decide to test Elena by showing her the diviner. This was the device that only Inhumans could safely touch. Elena picked up the device without hesitation. Nothing happened. She had forgotten that her arms were prosthetic. She rested the device against her face and it lit up as it does when in contact with an Inhuman. Jiaying accepted her story and said she would help.
Spa Treatment
They start with an acupuncture therapy to help break down the poisons in Elena’s body. While Elena doesn’t believe this will help but she is willing to try anything. As they proceed, May tells Lee that he can stop fretting. Once Elena is cured they will be on their way and it will be like they were never there. Lee tells her he decides when or if they can leave. She asks him if it is his habit to hold people hostage…like the girl they saw. He tells May that the girl is not her concern. He then materializes a knife. May immediately goes on the defensive and forces his blade back toward him. The blade disappears and another one appears in his other hand. Elena tried to intervene but she still could not access her powers. Lee tells May he was trying to see if Elena had made any progress. Apparently not.
As they rest in their room, Elena is pacing back and forth. She was supposed to be resting. As she paces, she tells May that she doesn’t believe these “Spa” treatments are doing anything. As they are talking they hear a commotion outside. It is the young girl, Cora again. They are leading her back to her room. Jiaying apologizes for disturbing them and tells Elena she should be getting some rest. As she leads them back to their room she tells Elena she believes she knows what her problem is. They should know in the morning if what she surmises to is actually the case. Jiaying leaves and locks their door. Elena tells May that if she doesn’t have an answer for her, they should leave. May agrees and reminds her that what ever is happening with Cora, it is not their concern.
Do I look like a Neanderthal?
Back at the Zephyr, they attempt to bypass the drive. Deke asks Sousa to back up, warning of the dangers of electricity. Sousa looks at Deke with frustration, telling Deke he KNOWS electricity is dangerous. He asks Deke if he looks like a Neanderthal to him? Leave it to Enoch. He tells them both he has spent time with Neanderthals and Sousa doesn’t resemble them. He lacks the characteristic brow ridges. They both look at him incredulously. He wasn’t wrong. Sousa DOESN’T look like a Neanderthal. They trigger the bypass and it doesn’t work. Sousa tells Mack he will get things ready to abandon ship.
As the morning dawns at Afterlife, Jiaying comes to their room and tells Elena that her problem is not physical, it is mental. Elena scoffs at the idea telling her that her problems are real. Jiaying agrees saying that just because her problem is mental, doesn’t make it any less real. Elena turns to leave but Jiaying tells them that may be a source to help her, due to her empathic abilities. She could be an emotional guide for Elena. May immediately tells her that it would be a bad idea. Sharing emotions is not her thing. Elena agrees. However, Jiaying believes they should be willing to try. So it’s meditation time with Melinda and Elena.
May’s Worst Nightmare
They sit on the floor face to face with their hands resting on each other’s legs. May looks like she wants nothing more than to escape. What they are trying to do is May’s worst nightmare. Jiaying enters giving Elena a tea to help her. She gulps it down. May looks at her and asks Jiaying if it is whiskey. If so, she wants a lot of it. But sadly, it is nothing but “herbs and some dirt” as Elena describes it. They attempt it again but after a few heavy sighs, Jiaying admits that her presence is making them self conscience. She will leave so they can focus. They sit there for about a minute and Elena admits this isn’t working. All May feels from her is embarrassment. She tells Elena if contact will open her up, she has an idea.
It should be no surprise that May’s idea involved sparring. Elena and May face off on the mat, with May asking Elena to try to use her powers to evade her attack. While she tries, she gets hit, and with each hit, Elena remembers a tragic event. The Shrike invading her body, the hanging of Tess, the death of Ruby. This was a particularly powerful memory as Elena was the one who killed Ruby. May continues their sparring and as she flips her to the ground, Elena remembers something else…from her childhood.
Not in the Best Shape
Back at the Zephyr, the team has exhausted their efforts. They needed to wait and see if YoYo could help them. Jemma tells Daisy she should be back in the healing chamber. She tells Coulson that his body is being restored as fast as they can. As Sousa goes by telling them he is preparing for abandoning ship, Daisy reminds Jemma that she can’t save everyone. Jemma considers this and replies that she can certainly try. She picks up a metal case and follows Sousa. After she leaves, Daisy tells a Coulson that the team is not in their best shape. He agrees. He then tells her that during his time in the TV, for over a year and a half, he was really thirsty. But he had no way to drink. However, he was happy to see her healing. He wondered how many 1’s and 0’s were required to approximate that feeling. Daisy said that she was lucky that Sousa was there to bring her home. She was glad he was there. Coulson tells her “that makes him happy, too.”
Jemma goes down to where Sousa is lining up the parachutes. He used to be a paratrooper. Because of this, he likes to be prepared. He then asks her if she had ever jumped out of an airplane before. She replies that she had done it twice. Once even with a parachute. She then opens the case and shows him a new prosthetic leg. She tells him that she made it for him after they had taken him aboard. As he looks at it with admiration, he tells her that he was unfair to her back in 1973. She tells him she understood. They had taken him from his time. He reiterated that it was no excuse to talk to her like that. But, they are all in the same boat now. She thanked him but she now had another task to accomplish. Just as the Zephyr once again jumps.
The Death of her Uncle
At Afterlife, May asks Elena about what had happened with her Uncle. She 10 or 11 and was staying with an Uncle because her father had gotten involved with some bad men. Unfortunately, one of these men had come to her Uncle to demand payment for his brothers debts. Elena and her cousin hid in a closet. When the man alluded to taking her Grandmothers cross necklace, Elena decided to not let it happen. When the man laid it on a table, she waited for his back to turn and she snuck out and grabbed it. As the man turned back, he noticed the necklace missing. He knew someone else was in the house. Her Uncle tried to prevent him from looking and struggled against him with the gun. A shot rang out and her Uncle fell to the floor. The man left in a panic and Elena and her cousin went to her Uncle. He had died that day. Elena said it was her fault. She should have stayed put. Maybe it wouldn’t have happened. May tells her that she believes that point of the entire exercise was for Elena to forgive herself.
Cora’s Lack of Control
At that moment, they once again heard a commotion in the hallway. Once again it involves the mysterious girl, Cora. May follows Lee and Jiaying and finds them in a room that has been blasted. May asks what had happened here and what did it have to do with Cora. Jiaying tells her that Corammmas responsible. Ever since she had gained her powers, she has been unable to control them. When she tries to hold her powers in, it cause her extreme pain. It was hoped that whatever had caused Elena’s powers to be taken from her might work on Cora. But since Elena’s issues are mental in nature, they would not be of any use to Cora. They hear a stirring and find a man buried in the rubble. He is alive but his gun is missing. Lee worries what Cora will do now that she’s armed. Jiaying thinks that Cora is afraid of Lee. May tells her that is not what she is afraid of.
Nathaniel’s Offer
Cora is walking away from the compound and stops to kill herself with her newly captured gun. As she prepares to shoot, the gun begins shake itself apart. Just as if Daisy had been there. But it was not Daisy. Nathaniel had arrived. He told Cora she didn’t need to die today. When Cora asks him how he knew what she was planning, he told her about Sybil. She had a knack of knowing what would transpire. He then turns toward Afterlife, asking her what she calls it? A commune, a cult…a prison? She replies that it is her home. He considers her answer and tells her that they “really did a number on her.” They want to control her. But she is too powerful for that. She tells him that she is not powerful. She is deadly because she has not learned to control her powers. He inquires why she should? Let them out. All she has to do is go with him and she will never feel trapped again.
Elena is waiting in her room when she see’s a man entering carrying a weapon. He shoots but misses. Elena once again attempts to engage her powers but May enters, kicking the man and taking him out. She asks Elena if she was able to use her powers. Sadly she says that she couldn’t. May picks up the man’s weapon and tosses it to Elena. They needed to get out of there and they were running out of time. They leave with Jiaying and Lee following behind.
A Message for Fitz
Meanwhile, coming off another time skip, Jemma sits at a console to leave a message for Fitz. She tells him of their problem and how they may have to abandon the Zephyr. But, even though she knows it will not be easy, she knows they will be together again sometime. She ends the nmessage by telling Fitz she loves him. Deke, for his part, had heard her message to Fitz. He tells her that the rest of the team is in the command center awaiting Elena and May’s return. Just as another jump occurs.
Back at AfterLife, Nathaniel and his team have taken over the base. May, Elena, Lee and Jiaying come face to face with him and Cora. He tells Jiaying that he will no longer hold Cora hostage. Jiaying tries to talk Cora down. She reminds her of the stories she used to read to her. How she promised to always protect her. Cora tells her that she was going to allow Lee to put a knife through her heart. Jiaying swears that is not true.
Cora chooses Sides
Just then Lee, says that she is dangerous and he must act. As he rushes toward Cora, she uses her powers to stop him, burning his face. May, quickly realizing they were in danger, asks Gordon to get them out of there. He uses his powers to transport them to the QuinJet. They offer to take Jiaying and Gordon with them but can make no promises about their safety. Jiaying refuses saying she can’t leave her people…her daughter. May gives her their watch and tells them they will signal her upon their return. She asks if they know of any place they can hide. Gordon believe he knows a few and vanishes with Jiaying. But time is running out for May and Elena. It’s time to go.
They leave in the QuinJet to meet up with the Zephyr. But as the team awaits their return, they realize that if YoYo cannot help them, they will have to leave the ship. With that in mind, Mack readies to give the order to abandon ship. Just then, right after the Zephyr makes a jump, the QuinJet arrives and has just a moment to land the ship before it jumps again. May, being May, gets it done and they go along with the Zephyr when it jumps. Unfortunately, Elena tells them that her trip didn’t fix her problem. She would not be the solution.
Abandon Ship
They race to the QuinJet to try to escape. Elena feels guilty for letting the team down. May tries to get Elena to understand that it is not her fault. That whatever the problem, she would bounce back. It causes Elena to consider about NOT bouncing back. She immediately takes off, her powers returning as she runs in and appears to fix the jump drive. She does this without bouncing back, as she usually does. Mack hugs her and asks her how she didn’t snap back to her starting point. She tells him that she thinks she always had that power. She was just holding herself back.
A brief Respite
With the danger apparently over, for now, Daisy returns to the healing chamber and Sousa returns to his vigilance over her, this time with his new prosthetic leg. Jemma tells Coulson that his new body needs to charge some more. She tells him to think of it as a nap. He asks that he controls it and shuts himself down. Meanwhile, Deke and Enoch are examining the jump drive to see if it can take them home. As they are examining it, the jump drive fires up again and before they can react, they jump once again. But where?
The final scene has Nathaniel in a room with a large number of AfterLife members. He remarks that this is how it should be. He ponders why these people have the powers they have. Did they do anything to earn them? He believes a redistribution is necessary. What the situation requires is Anarchy. Cora appears to agree with his assessment as the episode ends.
Thoughts
This episode was back to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as is the norm. While it was fun to pay homage to the 80’s, it was not the typical S.H.I.E.L.D. episode. This one was. But while there was a large amount of drama involved, it still gave fans another look inside the character of YoYo and her relationship with May. In fact, the whole MayYo dynamic was the best part of the episode. Especially when they were attempting to do their meditation therapy, which broke out into a sparring session. May’s admission of not being the best at sharing her feelings along with her request for whiskey was classic. No doubt this was a showcase for Ming-Na Wen and Natalia Cordova-Buckley.
Jemma makes a case for FitzSimmons
A nice scene where Jemma is leaving the message for Fitz. Deke gets to hear for himself once again how strong the relationship is of his Grandparents. Of course, he has a vested interest in them getting together. Now if the series will cooperate and get them together before this things ends. It has to happen. They need to hurry though.
Nathaniel talks about Earning something?
I find it more than ironic when Nathaniel talks about how he wonders what some of the captured Inhumans did to “earn” their powers. This is coming from the man who literally STOLE Daisy’s powers. What did HE do to earn them? Perhaps…kill his brother? We haven’t seen Gideon since 1973.
What’s Next?
If we go by the preview, the team is caught in a time loop. One that appears to possibly bring about possible deaths of team members. I have learned not to drink the Kool-Aid when it comes to a S.H.I.E.L.D. preview. They like to mislead you. Isn’t that just like a bunch of spies? So we’ll see when “As I have always been” premiers Wednesday.
Have you been following along in Season 7 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Share what you thought about Before and After with us at Geek Vibes Nation.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
