“Best Laid Plans” is episode nine of season five of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the previous episode, “The Last Day”, things got a little complex due to time travel. It appears that Coulson and the others may have it back into the past from the future, prior to the Earth being ripped apart. And then tried to build the time travel device to bring them to the future. Although that hasn’t happened yet (except, from one point of view, it has – time travel is confusing for tenses). The people on the surface, led by Voss (who, it seems, killed Deke’s father), tried to kill Daisy in order to prevent this, which does make sense, except the proof they had that Daisy shattered the Earth is… dubious to say the least. The only proof is that Daisy was last seen leaving for somewhere prior to the quakes. Which does not prove that she caused them at all. Daisy still might have done it, but there isn’t any definite evidence. Although those on the surface failed to kill Daisy, one did kill Robin to prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from knowing how to return to the past, but Robin still managed to tell May – who it seems was Robin’s adoptive mother in Robin’s past – before she died. It seems that Flint is the key to saving the world.
The episode opens in the Lighthouse with two armed Kree patrolling the corridors. They get lured into a trap and killed as the humans, thanks to Fitz leaving a cache in “Rewind”, have weapons. Mack, Yo-yo and Flint, who stayed behind on the Lighthouse in “Together or Not At All”, are leading the resistance against the Kree. Kasius, who is currently having his ship loaded to leave, is really not happy. He also has a new ‘acquisition’ that he wants to send to the humans. To show he is not their enemy, but their god.
The messenger to Mack and the others is Tess, who was killed in “Fun & Games” by the Kree. She has got better, thanks to the Kree again. Tess says that if they do not give in to Kasius’ demands, he will kill all the humans on the Lighthouse. Giving in to Kasius is not a popular idea, but nor is everyone dying. So, they need a cunning plan.
On the surface, Enoch is warning Coulson about an oncoming gravity storm, saying they need to evacuate to the caves. Coulson is planning to leave instead in Zephyr One. They are trying to get it ready to fly, so they can outrun the storm and get to the Lighthouse, but it’s been essentially crashed for 80 years. Furthermore, Zephyr One appears to have undergone extensive changes – changes made by Fitz and Simmons. The pair discover more gravitonium on the plane, just as they discovered on the Lighthouse in “Fun & Games”, gravitonium that was giving the Lighthouse gravity. Fitz says that this explains how the fractured remnant of the Earth still has gravity and air, which did not make sense otherwise. It seems that Fitz and Simmons designed this in the past after seeing it in the future, which Fitz says is proof that the past cannot be changed.
Daisy is uncertain as to whether her regaining her powers is a good idea, if she’s supposed to have destroyed the Earth. Sinara is on the surface hunting for them, although they don’t know that. Voss is trying to convince Deke to turn on Coulson and the others; given Deke’s behaviour previously, it will be interesting to see what he does when push comes to shove.