Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Devil Complex (5x14)

Um... excuse me? Ouch?

Cons:

I'm really trying here, but Hale just isn't interesting to me. And when Creel showed up, I was struggling to remember all of the pieces of the story, and care about how it all connects. So Hale is being controlled by Hydra? Is that what's happening? I guess just wake me up when we get to the climax of this whole thing.

Pros:

I mean... where to even start? Before I get to the part that totally broke my heart and soul, let's look at some of the other little details. While Hale might be uninteresting to me, I do still enjoy Coulson and May partnering up. May is still so hurt about Coulson's lies, but at the same time she's trying to remain professional and get results. There are lots of little moments with them, culminating in their argument in front of the bad guys... I just really hope these two can work it out before... well, I don't know. Before Coulson dies? Before the world ends again?

Yo-Yo and Mack make me so emotional I don't even know how to process it. We see that Mack is coping with his girlfriend's situation by being extremely protective and coddling her, and of course Elena is chafing under Mack's restrictions. This is a pretty predictable way to deal with grief and pain, but it works so well with their characters, and the way it's being acted is just so touching and heart-wrenching. There was this moment when Mack reached out across the table as if he wanted to take Yo-Yo's hand, and it was... ouch. Very subtle, nicely underplayed. The other most tragic moment was when Elena talks about how they know that she's not about to die any time soon, because they saw her in the future, in the Lighthouse. Mack points out that they're actively trying to break the cycle, so they can't guarantee Yo-Yo's safety. And then she points out that if she dies, that will mean they've succeeded in the ultimate goal, because the cycle will have been broken. Just... ouch. There's not really time for the implications of this to sink in, because other plot happens and interrupts the moment. But it's a startling and heartbreaking thing for Yo-Yo to say, and I can't wait to see how they deal with it moving forward.

But let's not waste any more time... let's turn to the Fitz stuff. Because oh my God. Here's the thing about this plot thread: it's not really the plot twist that gets me. I think, all things considered, the "twist" that the Doctor from the Framework wasn't actually there, and it was all just Fitz, isn't actually that hard to figure out. I put it together pretty early on. But it doesn't matter - I'm sure some people guessed it earlier than I did, and others didn't figure it out until the moment Daisy said "who are you talking to?" But no matter when it clicked for you, it's still devastating. What a wonderfully constructed character journey for Fitz.

Ian De Caestecker. Just. Killed it. He's an incredible actor and I've run out of ways to express how amazing I think he is. There are a lot of strong performers on this show, but he elevates things to a whole new level. The moment when I realized that the Framework version of Fitz wasn't real was pretty early on, when he was freaking out and Daisy was trying to comfort him. There was just this frenetic energy to him that made me clue in to the fact that something was seriously wrong. There are too many little moments of his performance that I want to mention. The look on his face when Jemma says that Fitz can figure out what the Doctor wants, a mix of horror and betrayal. The way his stuttering gets worse and worse as the episode goes on, reminding us so painfully of those days back after his brain injury, even as we all slowly start to realize that he's seeing things again, just like he saw Jemma back then.

And speaking of Jemma... we see Fitz and Simmons being all cute and married at the beginning, but as things start to unravel, you can see Jemma flinching back away from Fitz as she remembers the trauma of the Framework. When Fitz mentions the Doctor being his worst fear, Jemma cuts in - "who says he's your fear?" At the end, when the two of them talk, you can hear that Jemma is failing to keep it together. As much as she wants to believe that things can be fixed, she really doesn't see a way out. It's so heartbreaking to watch.

As far as plot consequences go... Daisy has her powers back. Fitz's oh-so-logical reasoning is that only Quake can compress the Gravitonium to stop the rift from opening up further. But in reawakening Daisy's powers, Fitz has given her the tools she needs to rip the world apart. He may have just brought things one step closer to the end of the world. The fact that he weighs the pros and cons, and decides that it was worth it to shoot Mack and traumatize Daisy and hold a gun on Jemma... well, it looks like Fitz is pretty far down the rabbit hole. I'm really pleased we're actually taking a serious look at the effects of the Framework, even though it's a bit devastating to witness.

Finally, there's Deke. The way he's acting around Fitzsimmons is honestly just so heartwarming. He's awestruck by them both, and so worried about their safety, and he so clearly loves them, so immediately. He accepts them as his family without question. The scene at the end, when he tells Jemma, is so perfectly paced and acted by both Deke and Simmons. I hope that Simmons throwing up doesn't mean she's already pregnant, because I want her and Fitz to be in a good place before that happens. But either way, I love the fact that Deke has the utmost faith in his newfound relatives. He knows that Fitz and Simmons will find a way to connect once more and move past this, because he knows what his mother always told him about his parents. But just like with the Yo-Yo and Mack stuff, the more they rely on things being okay because of what they know about the future, the more they are conceding to the fact that they are not breaking the loop. As harsh as it was for Yo-Yo to say it, she has a point when she says that her death would break the loop. It's the same thing here. If Fitz and Simmons never move past this moment and find a way back to each other, then the loop is broken there as well, since Deke knows his grandparents were happy together.

This is some heavy stuff, guys. I'm really excited that we're focusing on all of this trauma and pain with Fitz, because I have faith that the show has a plan, and that we will get a good ending for these characters.

9/10