Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Life Spent (5x03)

Okay, where's Fitz? I'm getting mad.

Cons:

I think the novelty wore off for me a tiny bit with the setup, so the absence of Fitz actually bothered me more. If that makes sense. This felt like basically more of the same from episodes one and two. And, like, the first two episodes were very good. So I’m not going to complain too much about that. Maybe I just want the pacing to speed up?

Pros:

But yeah, this season is shaping up to be very good if I’m being honest. To start with, we get to see a lot of creative uses of powers. The scenes with Yo-Yo in particular were really neat. And Daisy got to pull a few neat Quake moves. Of course, now every time Daisy uses her powers it's loaded with a greater significance, because we wonder how much truth there is to what Deke has told us about the fate of humanity. Could Daisy really be capable of such a thing?? Who knows!

Tess is a fun character. I don't have a ton to say about her, but I like her quite a bit. Her anger and fear are totally understandable, but then at the same time she really does want to help these crazy people. The best scenes of the episode were probably the ones where May, Coulson, Mack, and Tess were going out on an assignment. They had to contend with a supervisor in their midst, and things get bad very quickly. I'm continuing to enjoy the tension between our core cast of characters and those who actually know what the heck is going on. You can see how both sides are justified.

Jemma's subplot was excellent for the character work but also for what it continues to tell us about this new world we're in. The Kree commander guy is such a piece of work. He's got a messy relationship with one of the Kree women, who clearly is jealous of the Kree's attention towards Jemma. You've got the immaculate makeup the humans are forced to wear, and the creepiness of the 'silence' thing. The Kree controls when and what Jemma is allowed to hear, which leads to some great moments of cutting in and out of a sinister silence.

We meet a young Inhuman girl who has the power to manipulate her molecular density, which is pretty cool. Simmons is tasked to help this girl control her powers. Apparently there's a ceremony and if she is successful, her family will be rewarded, while she will get the honor of being an ambassador and going out among the stars. Turns out, of course, this is something of a lie. The young woman is forced to fight someone, gladiator-style, and when she is victorious, she's basically sold to another alien ruler because of her unique powers. Jemma is horrified, but there's nothing she can do to stop it. This was a really interesting way to tie in all of the new crazy world-building with an old and stable concern on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: the issue of the Inhumans and how they should be treated.

I think I'll stop there for the time being - I'm getting really anxious about Fitz, and I definitely want to know what he's up to. I'm worried that his separation from the group is going to end up being contrived and silly, a forced necessity because of the actor's schedule. Hopefully I like whatever they do with his character moving forward! I need him and Jemma to be reunited immediately!

7.5/10