Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S05E17 The Honeymoon review

Airing Fridays in the US on ABC
Director: Garry A Brown
Writer: James C Oliver and Sharla Oliver

Essential Plot Points:

• Fitz, Simmons and Yo-yo head to Herefordshire in the UK to steal the weapon Hale is looking for. Meanwhile, Phil Coulson and General Talbot evade their pursuer in the frozen climate they find themselves in.

• Ruby faces off against Daisy and is defeated by her Quake powers. Hale locks her daughter in her cell when they return to the base.
• Strucker breaks Ruby out and the pair go in search of the weapon, capturing Fitz and Simmons in the process.

Review:

There’s some good dust ups in this week’s episode, as S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hale’s Hydra unit continue to jockey for position. Quake versus Ruby should be the best fight, as Coulson’s team comes to his rescue, but it’s understandably cut short before either can do any real damage (we’re still not quite sure how Ruby’s Tron-style weapons are returning to her so accurately, but we’re betting they’re made from the same vibranium as Cap’s shield).

It’s the clever parallels in the writing that lead to the real scrap. Anton Ivanov technically can’t be killed, since he’s a head in a box somewhere controlling his robot form (and there’s always another bot body to replace the one that gets destroyed). Having seen herself in the future, Yo-yo isn’t worried either, and the pair go at it like people who don’t have anything to lose. Yo-yo’s victory actually provides a key bit of intel about Hydra’s mech guards and the way they operate.

Elsewhere, there’s some major fudging as Deke is wounded but the AWOL Fitz and Simmons aren’t around to patch him up. Mack would be our go-to guy for surgery in place of anyone qualified but are we really expected to believe he’s capable of sewing an artery? At least the painkillers allow for a moment of levity, as Deke professes his love for Daisy. Ming-Na Wen’s agent May also gets in on the action, without the need for pharmaceuticals, as she tells Coulson she loves him – after chewing him out for his careless actions, this is May after all.

The biggest problem we’re running into in the second half of this series is that, having returned from the future with knowledge about themselves, three of the team have dubbed themselves “unkillable”. Yet when it comes time to put that to the test at the end of the episode, it appears they’re going to cave to Ruby’s threats: “We never had a choice…”

Really? If Ruby cuts Simmons and lets her bleed out, then there’s no Deke and the future can be changed, contrary to Fitz’s belief. As Joe Pantoliano’s Cypher says in The Matrix, “If Morpheus is right, then there’s no way I can pull this plug. If Neo’s The One, then there’d have to be some kind of a miracle to stop me.” How can he be The One, if he’s dead?” At that moment a miracle happens.

If Fitz truly believes his theory (as apparently proved by the – very literal – acid test last episode, where Simmons dodged the killer drink), he could tell Ruby where to go and she physically wouldn’t be able to kill Simmons. Something, like Tank with that burst of electricity in The Matrix, would stop it. We’re getting close to this show having to decide which one of those things is true.

The Good:  

• For one moment Ruby seemed to have borrowed some of her look from headless biker Celty Sturluson from anime show Durarara!! – she just needs to add the ears to the Kylo Ren facemask she’s sporting instead of a biker helmet.

• The ’80s synth as the breakaway team tries to secure the weapon is a good scene setter.

The Bad:

• Time’s up! The time-twisty conundrum now at the heart of the show – can the future be changed – is becoming a little tired already.

Best Quotes:

Coulson, about to administer first aid to Deke: “Okay, hold him still.”
Deke: “That’s not a good sign!”

Read all of our Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reviews