A Life Spent

## Marvel Cinematic Universe

*"A life spent is a life earned. That's how it works."*
―Tess to Alphonso Mackenzie
***A Life Spent*** is the third episode of the fifth season of *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*

## Synopsis

Daisy decides she will rescue Simmons, even if it means risking everything to do it.

## Plot

Having enslaved Jemma Simmons, Kasius, following advice from Sinara, orders her to help a young Inhuman, Abby, to master her newly found powers. Simmons meets the girl, who is suffering frequent seizures. Simmons manages to calm her down and tries to help her controlling her density manipulation powers, learning more about the life in the Lighthouse in the process. Abby makes encouraging progresses under Simmons' supervision, but before they can work further, Kasius comes back and reclaims Abby for her to be taken to demonstrate her powers immediately for Lady Basha.

Abby is taken in front of one of Basha's fighters, The Beast. At first, she is easily overpowered and violently beaten by the ferocious warrior who nearly kills her, but after exchanging looks with Simmons, Abby finally masters her powers and resists the Beast's attacks, eventually killing him. Thrilled by the performance, Basha decides to buy Abby at a high price.

Phil Coulson, Alphonso Mackenzie and Yo-Yo Rodriguez have been recruited by Grill, who makes them work hard. They discover that Grill keeps an advanced technological Kree scroll in his office and decide to steal it. When Melinda May and Tess returns from a flight with the Trawler, Grill sends Coulson and Mackenzie for another mission. He also orders Zev to go with them. After Daisy Johnson discovers that all her friends are missing and meets Deke Shaw, requiring his help to locate them, she makes her way to Rodriguez and is told about the situation.

Once in space, the Trawler is taken to coordinates indicated in Virgil's journal. The team discovers that Virgil was using a radio to communicate with someone but before further investigation, they are spotted by Zev, who tries to stop them before being knocked down by Mackenzie, much to Tess' dismay. They eventually receive a transmission and discover that the signal is coming from the surface of the destroyed Earth. Tess and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents begin to argue, as Tess wants to kill Zev and drop his body into space, making it sound like an accident, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents refuse. They are forced to head back to the Lighthouse as Zev sabotaged the fuel supply.

At the Lighthouse, Rodriguez manages to trick Grill into thinking that her Metric does not work properly. Once Grill takes it off, she uses his powers to break into his office, and steals the scroll and hands it over to Johnson. Johnson intends to use it to access upper levels of the Lighthouse. Deke finds her and advises her against it, telling her to envisage long-term consequences. However, Johnson refuses to listen and makes her way without him. She succeeds, getting rid of two Kree guards in the process, but she is eventually trapped an arrested by Kasius, who had been told of her plan by Deke.

When they return, Grill confronts Coulson and the others about their expedition. Fearing that Grill will kill them all, Rodriguez plants a gun in Zev's jacket to distract Grill. The plan works and Grill sends Zev onto the surface on the Earth to be devoured by Vrellnexians.

## Cast

**Main Cast:**

* Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
* Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
* Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson/Quake
* Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz (credit only)
* Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
* Henry Simmons as Alphonso Mackenzie
* Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Yo-Yo Rodriguez

**Guest Stars:**

* Jeff Ward as Deke Shaw
* Eve Harlow as Tess
* Dominic Rains as Kasius
* Florence Faivre as Sinara
* Ciara Bravo as Abby
* Kaleti Williams as Zev
* Rya Kihlstedt as Basha
* Coy Stewart as Flint
* Pruitt Taylor Vince as Grill
* Max E. Williams as Tye
* Tunisha Hubbard as Ava
* Doug Simpson as Emissary
* Mark Casimir Dyniewicz as Shoe Guy (uncredited)
* Dave Reaves as Beast (uncredited)

## Appearances

### Locations

* Earth (ruins)
	+ Lighthouse
* Fragment 616
* Chicago (mentioned)
* Hala (mentioned)
* Basha's Homeworld (mentioned)
* Multiverse (mentioned)

### Events

* Inhuman Trial Ceremony
* Capture of Quake
* Destruction of Earth (mentioned)
* Renewal (mentioned)

### Items

* Phil Coulson's Prosthetic Hand
* Metrics
* Kree Battle Axe
* Kree Spheres
* Silencing Implant
* Framework (mentioned)
* Terrigen Mist (mentioned)

### Vehicles

* Trawler
* Basha's Ship (mentioned)

### Sentient Species

* Humans
* Inhumans
* Kree

### Creatures

* Vrellnexians
* Hippos (mentioned)
* Squirrels (mentioned)

### Organizations

* S.H.I.E.L.D.
* Kree Watch
* HYDRA (Framework; mentioned)

### Mentioned

* Virgil
* Terrigenesis
* Sherlock Holmes

## Trivia

* Alphonso Mackenzie comments that he does not want to die where no one can hear him scream. This is a reference to the tagline of the 1978 film *Alien*: *"In space, no one can hear you scream."*

## External Links

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to **A Life Spent**.
* A Life Spent on IMDb
* A Life Spent on Disney+
* A Life Spent on Marvel Database