Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Principia (5x13)

I'm so in love with Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, you guys.

Cons:

I'm not really gripped by the bad guys right now. I feel like half way through this episode, I thought to myself - oh, yeah, I have to care about this now? Who are these people, again? I'm not saying it's impossible to turn it around, but at least right now I'm feeling myself pretty apathetic to their whole situation. Brainwashing, memory powers, secret rebellions... eh. Can we just focus on the main gang for a bit?

Pros:

I'm not opposed to the potential buildup they have going on with the bad guys, though, and the majority of this episode was just so damn fun that I'm still extraordinarily pleased with the final result.

First of all, you've got all of the Fitzsimmons love. It was so cute to see them being so giddy and happy with their new status as a married couple. The bit where they can't stop calling each other "husband" and "wife" was honestly too precious for words, and the idea of hyphenating their name as "Simmons-Fitz" was just the kind of fun silliness I was hoping we'd get in a post-wedding episode. We also see that Fitz is being grumpy science man and Jemma is managing his social relationships, which reminds me so much of the early days of the show in a very delightful way.

Deke figures out that Fitzsimmons are his grandparents, and it's actually delightful in a way I wasn't expecting. I've made no secret of the fact that Deke is a bit of a bore to me, and I wasn't sure what to think of him taking on a bit of a "comic relief" role in recent episodes. But this episode did something really cool with him. He was still the wacky fish-out-of-water character, but his innocent enthusiasm flips on its head when Fitz starts getting really dismissive, and Deke yells at him that it's not exactly his fault that where he grew up, there were no oceans or outdoor areas or any of this stuff. If he's acting like a little kid in a candy shop, maybe it's because this is all brand new to him! This makes perfect sense, and I love the fact that it was actually Deke's way of thinking about gravity that helped them to find the flying ship and the gravitonium. He has value, even if his intelligence can't be measured in the same way as Fitz's.

And when he finds out that Fitzsimmons are his grandparents, he's just so... adorably excited about it. He's innocently and sincerely happy, and the look on his face is like he's just fallen in love. He can't stop staring at them, he's so intrigued by what he can learn from them, so excited to have family again, even in this weird way. I can't wait for the truth to come out for all parties involved.

Elena and Mack are just breaking my heart. Mack is so protective and concerned, and Yo-Yo is just trying her best to move forward and accept her new reality. While everybody else is focusing on some of the other big problems they're facing, Mack just wants to get the materials necessary to make Yo-Yo new arms. The moment when Simmons finds Elena on the floor and she says she had forgotten she didn't have arms... just... ouch. I feel so bad for her but also so intrigued as to where the story is going to go from here. And by the end, Elena is making puns about her situation: "I don't know, I'm stumped!" and Mack is giving her the gift of arms in the form of a broken robot. Like when will your OTP ever. I love them so much.

We also have the continued angst of the Coulson situation, with May and Daisy continually insisting that they won't let Coulson die. Of course, as Elena knows, trying to save Coulson is what inadvertently leads to the world being torn apart. I'm always a little hesitant when it comes to time travel stories, because I wonder how they're going to reconcile all of the paradoxes. I don't need actual science, but I need internal consistency. Thus far, I'm pretty happy with what they're doing here. We know what they shouldn't be doing, but we also understand how they can't avoid doing it. Even if Elena were to tell the rest of the group what the other-Elena told her, I'm not sure they'd be able to listen. It makes sense that the pattern would repeat itself, because these people are family, and they want to protect each other at all costs.

And... there you have it. I wish I could guess where this show is going to take us next, but at the same time I feel they've earned my trust enough that I can go with the flow and take it as it comes. And that promo for next week... is Fitz going to have to deal with the Framework trauma? Yes please!

8.5/10