Last week delivered a crazy and drug-induced casino adventure on the planet Kitson as Daisy, Simmons, Piper, and Davis tried to locate Fitz, who was being pursued by some sort of bounty hunter for “tampering with the universe.” One question that has been on some viewers’ mind is: Where the heck is Deke Shaw? This week we find out what he’s been up to the past year.
Warning: There will definitely be spoilers for Season 6, Episode 4 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, “Code Yellow,” below.
(All images courtesy of ABC Studios).
Deke Shaw–Mystery Man Mastermind
Deke is seen running through the halls of a space craft, chased by some Kree soldier. He starts fighting them with some very…stylistic moves and gunfire. He’s greeted by Daisy Johnson, who has eagerly been waiting for his arrival in order to share a steamy kiss. It turns out he was in a virtual reality world he calls The Framework.
Deke is the head of a company working on virtual games along with trying to solve hunger problems with his idea of “mushroom pellets.” He isn’t just about virtual reality. He wants to “change the world in real reality.” He’s seen as a genius and people wonder where he comes up with this stuff.
“Sarge” Is On The Hunt…For Deke
Sarge and his crew find one of their “targets.” He looks like a regular guy trying to get onto a bus. After a little chase, they corner him in an alley and Sarge stabs him, which causes him to grow crystalized spikes to grown out of him. He asks, “Who’s next?”
Deke’s girlfriend, Sequoia, wants to go get Boba Tea. Deke’s informed the investor he has a meeting with is early. It turns out to be Sarge, but Deke thinks it’s Coulson. Deke asks how he got better and assumes Coulson got a memory wipe after being revived once again. After asking how his grandparents, Fitz and Simmons, are doing, Deke starts to get suspicious from Sarge’s replies. Sarge eventually grabs him with a knife in his hand and says he’s not supposed to be there. Deke impales Sarge’s hand with a sharp object and realizes this isn’t Coulson since he doesn’t have a fake hand.
Deke runs out of the conference room but Jaco, Pax, and Snowflake are already in the building. As he tries hiding, his coworker (who he went to a Phish concert with) is actually a SHIELD agent and an extraction has been called in. Deke is surprised to see Mack, May, and others but is a little upset at being referred to as a “code yellow” along with the fact that Daisy isn’t there. He later goes back inside when Sequoia returns with the Boba and is inside the building.
May ends up fighting Snowflake and soon gets the upper hand. She’s caught off guard from behind by Sarge, and they take her away in their truck.
Agent Keller’s Fate After Talking To Mack
Keller decides he needs to come clean with Mack about his relationship with Yo-Yo. Mack cuts him off before he can fully say anything. He says if Keller was involved with a fellow agent, Mack would have to put them on separate teams. Yo-Yo catches the end of this as the two are told to report to Dr. Marcus Benson in the lab to look over a dead body found in the alley.
Benson performs an autopsy, and they’re shocked when it’s opened up. Most of the insides are gone and a bat-like creature is inside, impaled by Sarge’s knife. Benson says the body is filled with a neurotoxin, probably from the creature. It acts like an accelerant and turns the host into a self-destructive zombie. Benson pulls out the knife and the creature is still alive. It escapes through a vent, and the three go after it.
During the hunt, the creature ends up hitting Keller in the face and crawls inside him through the mouth. Benson doesn’t really know what to do. Yo-Yo tells him to cut him open to get to it, but Keller’s body is burning up. He breaks free of the straps on the gurney and starts crystalizing. It seems he’s about to explode when Yo-Yo runs off, grabs the knife from the other body, and stabs Keller in the chest.
Thoughts
Jeff Ward finally makes an appearance on Season 6. Jeff is a funny guy and a great character on the show. (Check out the interview from WonderCon above). What’s interesting is the fact he’s still around. He left the SHIELD base last season before the final battle against General Talbot. He doesn’t know that Fitz “died” and the others are out in space looking for the one that is supposed to be cryogenically frozen to “travel” to the future.
Since the Fitz who married Simmons died, it wasn’t clear whether or not Deke would still exist. Either he’s an anomaly or perhaps the Fitz who was taken by the bounty hunter last episode will fully be reunited with Simmons, and they’ll eventually start a family leading to Deke’s existence. This is the problem with time travel.
The episode continues this season’s direction of taking a slightly different approach. Seeing Deke taking advantage of his future knowledge and what SHIELD’s been doing is typical for him. Seeing showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen play the Instagramming, Boba Tea drinking Sequoia was great. Having the episode end with a series of Insta-stories from her was perfect.
The shortened season could have been part of the reason Agent Keller died so quickly. Now that he’s gone, Yo-Yo will have to deal with the fact that she had to kill him since he couldn’t be saved and other people’s lives were in danger. Will this push her back together with Mack? Will he want to reach out to her in order to comfort her, or will he keep his distance?
We’re also seeing more of Sarge’s plan. It’s still not clear why he looks like Coulson. With all the tricks and twists the showrunners throw at us, there’s no telling what will happen next.
The season is moving along in a great direction. We’re getting more variation and twists along with humor and bizarre situations. You get a sense they are willing to take even bigger risks than they have before. It’s definitely paying off.
What the Heck is going on?!? 