AGENTS OF SHIELD Season 5 Episode 5 Review: Rewind

In this week’s episode we took a break from the future, the space, and the aliens (nearly), in order to go back to the present and back to earth. This was the week we found out what happened to Fitz and how he wound in the future with everyone else after being left behind. Interestingly enough, this was probably the best episode of the season so far. Perhaps it was the focus on such a small cast, the singular plot, or maybe it’s because the episode showed that what’s going on in space doesn’t actually matter. 

We start from the end of season four, going back to the diner where everyone wanted pancakes before getting arrested. It’s hard to remember where SHIELD had left off at the end of season four. After the attack on the international summit by the Daisy LMD, the government was ready to bring SHIELD in for good. Fitz was still feeling the affects of his time in the Framework, and we still don’t know what’s going on with Coulson and the Ghost Rider. 

Last time we saw this scene, we saw it from Coulson’s point of view. We saw them freeze, and then disappear into the room with the monolith. This time around, they just disappear into thin air. Fitz is freaked out and has no idea what’s going on. Seconds later, the real cops show up, wondering where everyone else went. Turns out, Fitz knows as much as they do. 

The next bunch of scenes are a series of interrogation scenes where Fitz attempts to convince the government agents that he has zero ideas what’s going on. It was nice to get a few callbacks to older injuries Fitz has incurred, like the brain damage he took at the end of season one. I never thought that the Framework would aggravate those injuries. 

These conversations were positive for the most part though, because the agents allowed Fitz to work with them in order to figure out what happened to the rest of the team. I enjoyed the montage of him going back and forth between working really hard and screaming at a soccer games. 

While all of this was going on, he was also sending these letters to a soccer fan magazine. The agents thought he was crazy, but it turned out he was trying to get in contact with none other than Nick Blood’s Lance Hunter. It was so good to see him back in SHIELD, even if it was only for one episode. Seeing Hunter and Bobby get sent off for a spin-off that never happened was one of the cruelest things SHIELD has done. Thankfully he fit right back in like nothing had ever happened. It was great to see that the first thing the two friends did was immediately start yelling at each other about soccer. 

Hunter wasn’t just there posing as Fitz’s lawyer for fun though. Turns out he had an escape plan in mind. What proceeded was what one might call a Three Stooges escape attempt. Between the helicopter exploding and the RV being their escape vehicle, the episode wasn’t afraid to get a little silly. 

The next half of the episode led Fitz and Hunter to the alien who took Coulson and the rest of the team in the opening episode. What followed was a huge lore dump. We learn Coulson and crew were still tied to this prophecy, but no one actually knows what this prophecy is. The monolith was activated from the other side, meaning that there was someone in the future who brought them in. 

No one really knows what’s going on though. It’s all based on the visions of a little girl who draws them using crayon. Fun fact, this girl is the daughter of an Inhuman from back in season three. The wooden sparrow should be a big hint, but Fitz explains that he was someone who could see a death if he came into contact with another person. It was nice to see that SHIELD has not forgotten their history. 

Fitz encountering this family brought the government on their tail. This forced the group to hide in the lighthouse where Coulson and team disappeared. Though there wasn’t any monolith this time around, oddly enough. I wonder where it went. That said, it was good to see that Fitz and co. had a plan. 

That plan was to use a cryo-pod from the skin suit alien. Fitz would freeze himself for seventy years, until he could wake up and arrive in the same place his friends were. It’s crazy sounding, but at least there wasn’t another time machine lying around somewhere. 

I must shout out the best scene of the episode, as Hunter and Fitz said goodbye to one another. The two reenacted the scene from 'The Empire Strikes Back' when Han Solo goes into carbonite. It was a nice bit of humor over a bittersweet moment. 

My only question now is what Fitz coming to the future does to help anyone out. He doesn’t exactly know anything more than the others do, so it isn’t like he’s coming prepared. That said, our skin suit alien said he came up with a plan, so maybe that’s what will help get them back to the present.

Written by Peter Freeman, AGENTS OF SHIELD Beat Writer

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