The shadow of the reaper looms long over the human race. As mankind’s oldest foe, death is an opponent not to be taken lightly. And in fear of our very nature, a few terrified souls such as yourself have set out on a desperate search for a way to avoid fate. I could say be careful what you wish for, but I know that’ll fall on deaf ears. With time standing against you and old age eroding everything you wish to save, it’s pretty clear that you’ll take any Faustian bargain which poses a potential solution.

Instead, let me walk you through some of your options–although be warned, most of them have less than pleasant side effects. Here are 4 of the more attainable, if highly questionable, means of cheating death.

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A shockingly common adaptation for life among the stars, body-snatching is a problem that any would-be explorer needs to consider before setting off. Even if the alien being in question doesn’t set its sights on your body directly, it can still be a serious issue that your ship has to deal with; after all, you wouldn’t want to accidentally facilitate some kind of subversive invasion of another planet, slowly occurring behind the scenes, would you? I mean, could you imagine if the planet’s leadership just suddenly went totally nuts for no apparent reason? Like, if they just started making nonsense declarations and lying about things you’d just seen them say and do with your own eyes. It’d be so obvious that something was seriously wrong, and yet no one seems to notice this suspiciously body snatcher-like agenda…

Oh, sorry. Maybe that just happens sometimes? Either way, here are 4 points to consider when dealing with aliens that can steal the appearance and/or minds of another.

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As Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. draws its third season to a close with the promise of a fourth already secured, it’s coming into its own as a quality production within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But there are quite a few people who, these days, might question where SHIELD really is within the MCU at all any more. The stakes are always getting higher, and the question becomes harder to deny than ever before: how are these events not catching the attention of the Avengers?

Let’s take a look at how SHIELD season 3 developed and what it means for the MCU as a whole, and the connection between TV and film projects within it.

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Picking up literally where we left off, the team is forced to run in and stop Fitz from getting himself sucked into the monolith. But he’s going to make it happen one way or another, dagnabbit! We just may need some Asgardian’s help. Unfortunately, it’s not the one you’re hoping to see. Or the other one you’re hoping to see.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back with a little time skip, where Skye has fully embraced her new identity and others have not been so lucky. Where is everyone, anyway? Oh, right…

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In the time of episodic television, the status quo was king. No matter how bad things got, you’d always know that by the end of the episode, things would be back to normal. The rare exceptions were two-parters, but even then, it almost never had a lasting effect on the characters or the world. In sci-fi, this was usually a little more justifiable; when Kirk and company take off, they leave the planet of the week behind, and all the problems along with it. Other shows that didn’t have a starship at their disposal had a much harder time escaping that fact, often to the show’s detriment. And even running away aboard the Enterprise didn’t excuse the lack of character development that, say, Kirk’s infamous trysts should have had on him.

But once in a while, an otherwise episodic TV series would make a bold step, and that changed the show (or sometimes the entire franchise) forever. It might be a profound character moment, or the side effect of a planned retool, or even something as simple as a marked change in tone, but for whatever reason, these episodes took that status quo and shook it up so much that it never was quite the same.

And surprise, surprise, this list includes SPOILERS for the tagged shows, so proceed at your own risk if you aren’t caught up.

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So, we’ve taken our look back at the whole of SHIELD‘s second season. But that’s a very big picture thing, looking at the season as a whole. This week’s Friday Four is going the opposite direction, to showcase 4 of the best moments from season 2. They might be shocking surprises, or awesome camera work, or great character moments, but all four of these scenes stood out in my mind when thinking back on the season. What were they? Let’s find out!

And–do I really need to say it?–this list has SPOILERS for season 2.

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The 2 part season finale has arrived, and it hits a lot of highly anticipated points while still keeping some surprises, even for those of us who had some spoilers. Our endings range from bittersweet to just plain bitter, and everything in between… but the setup for next season! Well, let’s read on for a super-sized review.

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Things take a surprising turn in the wake of Age of Ultron, which saw the series playing a big role without putting movie-only audiences out of the loop. Conflict arises between SHIELD and the Inhumans–and not necessarily from the people we’ve been expecting. And we’ve still got the finale next week!

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Tonight’s episode has the duty to build hype for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and boy does it ever. On top of that, we’ve got a moment that has been in the making all season–the original cast is reunited, and things get ugly fast. Both character moments and show development take front and center, without letting the build-up to The Avengers overshadow it.

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