Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Past Life (5x10)

Well... alrighty, then!

Cons:

I will admit to a sense of frustration about a lot of the side characters we've met so far this season. Obviously I don't know yet if we'll see them again - time travel makes everything very confusing. But Enoch and Deke are both dead, and Tess and Flint are left to pick up the pieces of a world that's still in dire straits, even if they hope our heroes will change it back in their own time. It all feels a little bit fruitless. Enoch especially - I get the sense that I'm meant to feel some sort of an emotional reaction to his death, but I didn't know enough about him to care. In the last few episodes especially, he's been reduced to this weird watered-down version of Spock or Data or something. It's just not working for me in the slightest. And if that's really all we get of Deke, then he's a bit of a disappointment as well. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop about his parentage.

On that same note, I've complained in the past about how all of this stuff in the future feels hard to connect to - the Kree family drama, the new characters, etc. While I liked certain elements quite a bit, I still ultimately find this entire scenario to be... well... fleeting. If our heroes succeed in their mission, which I believe they will, then none of this stuff even matters. For some reason, I felt a much stronger connection to the Framework story, because of the psychological elements for our core cast of characters. Here, it's a bit more difficult.

Pros:

I hate sounding negative though, because I've actually greatly enjoyed this half of the season, and this episode had some absolutely wild and amazing moments.

Let's start with Yo-Yo - the scene where Elena talks to herself was absolutely heartbreaking and intense. Poor, poor broken Elena, without arms, having been killed and resurrected so many times... and then we have to watch Mack watch Elena die, and... ouch. Those two are such an amazing couple, and I root for them so hard. We keep getting these devastating hints that Mack is going to die, and I really hope that they manage to save the day and prevent this horrifying future from coming to pass. I was really impressed with the acting from Natalia Cordova-Buckley.

Then you've got Flint being a total bad-ass. The moment when he bursts through the window with all of the rocks and kills the Kree? Completely amazing. If we never see Flint again, I'd be okay with imagining him and Tess kicking it in the lighthouse - continuing to help people and save the world now that Kasius is out of the way. We got some good feels between him, Yo-Yo, and Mack as well. They really did make a cute little family.

And let's talk about Kasius' death - technically speaking, Mack gets the final blow on him. At this point, he believes that Elena is dead, and it's cathartic to watch him defeat his foe. But the kicker is this: Simmons is the one who actually causes his demise. She gets comeuppance for the horrible way she was treated by putting one of those ear worms in Kasius and silencing him just in time for his death. That was enormously satisfying to watch.

While I've had some issues with Deke's character throughout the season, the moment of his death did actually elicit an emotional response. I think it had something to do with the mundane nature of this loss. We don't get some long drawn out final moments, we don't get to hear Deke say goodbye to anybody... we just know that it's coming, and then it happens. For such an underutilized character, I did really admire the performance, and I hope that we do somehow get to see him again.

So... there are two big crazy things that happen in this episode. One is that Daisy decides to stay, and Coulson literally shoots her unconscious and forces her to come back with him. The other is that Coulson is apparently dying, and according to future!Elena, the only way to break the cycle is if they don't save him, and just let him die. It's stuff like this that makes me think this whole future plot is actually going to be a great idea. I hope they can pull this off, but it sounds like even though they're back in the past, the whole thrust of their motivation is going to be focused on making sure they don't repeat the loop once more. And if that means letting Coulson die... can they do that? Also, will Daisy forgive Coulson for bringing her back against her will? These are really interesting questions, and I for one am very excited to see how it all shakes out!

8/10