Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Roundtable: “Together or Not At All”

A new episode of season five of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired on Friday, finding nearly all of the team being reunited and attempting to escape to the surface in order to find May.

The official tagline for the episode entitled “Together or Not At All” is as follows:

“Just as the team reunites, it becomes prey for an undefeated Kree warrior.”

Please join Karen, Roz and Rueben as they discuss what happened in the episode:

Deke’s allegiance seems to change from episode to episode, depending on how things turn in or out of his favor. Can the team really trust him?

Karen: Probably not, but he may be their only choice right now. I’m not sure he’ll ever be the hero they need but he may be someone that helps them in this case. I’m wondering what will happen once they get to the surface.

Roz: I want to like him more than I do now, but I don’t trust him overmuch. Pragmatic is good, until you don’t have your own thoughts.

Rueben: I want to trust him too, but I just don’t know how long they can currently trust him. Karen has it right, though, that Deke is their only choice right now. Hopefully he can prove himself a bit more trustworthy depending on how things turn out once they reach the surface.

How about that final reveal that it is now an old Robin who saved Enoch and May from those creatures on the surface? Since she has been able to see the future her entire life, she was able to see what to do and how to survive. What do you think she knows about what happens with the team and/or if they can get back to change that disastrous future?

Karen: I cannot wait to see what happens here. I love that they hung that Lantern in the first episode and they’re bringing it back now with Robin. I’ve always loved that character and her tie with Daisy and now we get to see an interaction with her as an adult. I think it might be amazing.

Roz: I’m excited to see it especially since it’s bringing her into the story another way.

Rueben: Until they showed her holding that robin in her hand, I was a little confused as to who she was and then I had that lightbulb moment. I am very curious to see her interaction with Daisy and what she will tell them.

Was it a good idea for Mack and Yoyo to stay back with Flint?

Karen: I’m pretty sure this is only to keep Kasius in the show by putting them in the station. Is it a good idea story wise, no? I always hate it when they break up the team, but I get that they do it in order to keep the auxiliary storylines going.

Roz: That kid needs some help, but I don’t love splitting the team so much.

Rueben: I’m a little torn about the split. Sure, it helps to keep the other B-players in play; but I don’t like it either when the team is separated. I just hope it doesn’t take long to get the entire gang back together for real.

So there are some serious daddy issues with Kasius. What do you think of that as his motivation?

Karen: That’s putting it mildly, right? He’s way messed up. I mean killing his brother and then that whole thing with ball killing girl [aka Sinara]? Looked like maniacal power to me. Crazytown.

Roz: I don’t really care what his motivation is, after all of that he needs to go! Power is great but so is not being a sociopath.

Rueben: Kasius is one mess-up guy! He loves wielding power, but is reduced to a little boy when his overbearing brother is around. But he is also vicious, taking that brother out with a literal back-handed move. That’s some way to eliminate his problem, huh? He obvious wants to come off as the conquering hero to his still-unseen father and be the only one around to take over whatever powerful role his father holds within the Kree.

This season seems big on death and destruction, but I’m not sure if this is good or bad. What say you all?

Karen: Okay so they’re going dystopian I get that. But here’s the deal they’re in the future and they’re trying to change it. So what does that mean for the deaths? It means that they probably won’t happen. So once this is all resolved, everything gets reset. That’s how they’re going to fix all this mayhem. I guess that’s how they justify it. Does it make me feel better about it? Not really. But I get it.

Roz: But, do we know all those who died won’t in a reset. The Butterfly Effect is all reaching, but we could also know that no one on this ship is born later.

Rueben: Yeah, it’s been death heavy on the show. It certainly is a bleak looking future. It’s bad for the humans who have been needless losing their lives, but that being said, I haven’t felt bad for any of the Kree, and that is disturbing in so many ways. I don’t see the death toll lessening any time soon either.

What are your thoughts on Friday night’s episode? Please share them in our comments section below.

The next new episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will air on ABC on Friday, January 19 at 9/8c.