Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S05E19 Option Two review

Airing Fridays in the US on ABC
Director: Kevin Tancharoen
Writer: Lila Zuckerman and Nora Zuckerman

Essential Plot Points:

• Talbot is seeing space in his dreams. And may have given away the location of the Lighthouse.
• The team bicker about Ruby’s death as they prepare to fire the gravitonium into the sun to destroy it.
• The raiders who have been in contact with Hale show up in their spaceship. Infiltrating the base, things look dark for the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. until one of their number takes a drastic step.

Review:

There’s some good character building this episode, as the fallout from the past few outings causes a further split in the group. Mack and Yo-yo’s dating woes are just a part of that, as their relationship hits the rocks. As Mack focuses on the present, short-term problems and Yo-yo continues to look ahead to try and break the time loop – doing anything necessary to stop the Earth cracking in two! – the pair are diametrically opposed. That filters out into the wider team, as arguments about Yo-yo’s decision to kill Ruby threaten to cause deeper rifts before Coulson takes control.

What we’ve really liked in this series of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the new threats that have been introduced, many of them serious. From the cockroaches in the future to the raiders in this episode, who refuse to fall to a single bullet and have Wolverine-like claws to eviscerate their foes, there are genuine moments of peril here for fans. However, a hero is on the way…

Talbot firing up the machine that creates the Destroyer of Worlds is the act of a madman but we love it. He’s already got one too many voices floating in his head as it is, so the addition of the two warring scientists who are trapped in the gravitonium and come as a package deal with the powers shouldn’t make much difference.

If Ruby was badass at eight per cent exposure to gravitonium, Talbot is utterly kickass when he takes a full 100 per cent. And boy does he know how to use it. The casual way he destroys a room full of raiders, as bones crack viciously, is impressive. The big question now is what he does with that power. Especially as Hydra seems able to make him “comply” when it wants to, following his conditioning by General Hale. Will it be him that needs to be stopped to save humanity? Because that’s a fight we want to see.

The Good:  

• We love Deke’s survival instincts, honed through years of harsh living in the future. Of course he would know a hiding place in the Lighthouse when the raiders attack.
• The Aliens moment as the raiders seek a way in and the majority of the team in the Lighthouse look up to the ceiling.
• The hologram figure who is part of the computer system in the Lighthouse is a great storytelling device. We’re just not sure how often they can get away with using him.

The Bad:

• “Have you seen all this weird stuff happening in New York?” That’s it? That’s all we get about what’s happening in Avengers: Infinity War? Wow. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. used to be a lot closer to the movie action, although at least that explains why no-one comes to blow the raiders’ ship out of the sky.

Best Quotes:

Melinda May chewing out Coulson for choosing the Nuclear Attack option before Alien Invasion comes up as option three:
“You always listen to the whole menu. Always!”

Review by Matt Chapman

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