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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
“Prepare yourself. Most people don’t like the ending.” Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s tenth episode of its final season is titled “Stolen;” its story is by Mark Linehan Bruner, its teleplay is written by George Kitson and Mark Leitner, and is directed by Garry A. Brown (Prison Break).
Some spoilers ahead for those who are not up-to-date with the series or not caught up with this episode. If you haven’t done either, get to that now, then return to this article!
Brown has directed several grand episodes of the series, including this week’s, which is fast-paced in terms of its story. The plot sees Nathaniel Malick (Thomas E. Sullivan) recruits a young John Garrett — portrayed by the late Bill Paxton (original Garrett actor)’s son James Paxton — into his evil “anarchist” group. Inhumans Jiaying (Dichen Lachman) and Gordon (Fin Argus) join the SHIELD team at their headquarters, the Lighthouse, as they wait for their plan to progress. However, all goes awry when Hydra and the Chronicoms gain the upper hand.
Malick, Garrett, and Kora (Dianne Doan) — with the aid of the Chronicoms — wreak havoc on the SHIELD team’s original timeline, exposing themselves to their futures and imminent demises. Using the time stream that started with Malick’s father, everything is set in order ahead of time. Malick tells Garrett, “Everything I bring [with me] has been saved from a tragic end and given a new beginning.” This is just the tip of the iceberg for the antagonists. Malick claims his side of history and those who follow him are anarchists when he says:
Kora and I are champions of the people like Robin Hood, stealing from the high and mighty and giving to those more deserving … Mercy comes in many forms … Goodbye to all that [history, rules, hierarchy]. Say hello to anarchy. You’d be surprised how tempting that is to some people.
To this, Chronicom Life Model Decoy Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) argues that the bad group confuses this for evil. By definition, Malick is correct. He and Garrett stray away from the societies that control them (i.e. SHIELD and Hydra) while Kora deviates from her mother and the Inhumans — but not only them; she departs from their tradition. Kora says, “When you were raised in [tradition], you didn’t know any better.” Malick and his group seek to destroy these societies and organizations, resisting the violence and power of these states. In this episode so far, they only kill under certain circumstances. Kora is threatened by her fellow Inhuman, and Malick is later about to be attacked by Jiaying. They seek to abolish the controlling states. We can say that this trio and their followers have given themselves superpowers transferred to them by the Inhumans they drained, thus turning themselves into new weapons. In theory, Malick’s claims of he and his group being anarchists (extrapolated as anarchist terrorists) could fit perfectly, although this would need to be subject to analysis.
Meanwhile, Daisy Johnson/ Quake (Chloe Bennet) reunites with her mother and learns she had a sister who was killed before her time. They discuss motherhood and the absence of a mother or of a daughter that they had to endure, respectively. Johnson says, “That must be hard, being so close to someone and not being able to reach them.” Jiaying replies, “Sometimes, trying to do the right thing comes out all wrong.” The two women develop the most as characters and also pass the Bechdel Test.
“Stolen” is an interesting episode of the Marvel series that raises the stakes for the season, killing off more allies and bringing back the team’s “greatest hits.” The episode makes a tricky stance on anarchy, perceiving the practice as one for evil, but the antagonists’ intention is to deviate from the ruling past antagonists that appeared earlier throughout the series, that is, Freddy Malick, Jiaying, and future John Garrett. As younger Garrett says, “Good challenge makes life worth living.” The storyline for the latter half of this season may be reminiscent of what occurred in the X-Men film franchise. In this episode, the Inhumans are captured and later rescued, whereas the oppressed establish themselves as liberated from the violent societies of control. From here, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sheds light on anarchism, but like all other programs in the medium, it is given a bad reputation.
With three episodes left in the series, the writers room needs to be cautious as to how they end matters.
8.5/10
What do you think? Have you seen this series? If not, do you plan to binge it sometime in the near future? Let us know! For more Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., action, science-fiction, and Marvel-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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