Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Inside Voices (5x16)

This episode contains some real highlights, and also some not-so-good stuff. Let's take a look.

Cons:

The stuff with Hale and Ruby and Creel and all of that suffers because it had no real buildup. I mean, this half-season has had tons of scenes with them, but it still feels like it's coming out of nowhere. Especially Creel. I barely remember what happened the last time we saw Creel, or why I should care about him. And if I can't remember, then I know casual viewers won't either.

In many ways this episode was a filler, in that it was moving things into place for more intense moments later on. That's no problem, especially when it comes to interesting character beats. But for whatever reason, I really felt the "filler" aspect of it during May, Daisy, and Robin's plot thread. They spend basically the whole episode in transit, waiting for Robin to give them a lead on Coulson. Then, she does. And so we're finally one step closer to a reunion. It just felt like a lot of time was spent on very little forward progress in these scenes.

Pros:

That being said, there was something oddly amazing about seeing Creel, Coulson, and Talbot team up for their daring escape. I loved all of their moments together. For all that I can't really remember what the deal is with Creel, I actually felt a great deal of compassion and attachment to him in this episode, for whatever reason. And Ruby is kind of a bad-ass, when I think about it. I'm also glad that Coulson is away from Hale at last!

May and Robin are... adorable, and just so, so, tragic. The scene where Robin refers to May as her mother, and Robin's real mother is sitting right there... it's just so beautiful and sad and perfect. I want to watch episodes and episodes of the two of them bonding. The horror of Robin's situation gets more and more clear whenever we see her. She has drawn pictures of her own final moments, she sees a woman in front of her who she hasn't started to bond with, but who she knows to be her mother... it's just the saddest thing.

I've got to say, though, the real winner of the night was the plot with Yo-Yo, Mack, Fitz, and Simmons. And I'm not just saying that because I love Fitzsimmons. This plot thread really serves only one basic function in the main plot: Fitz gets out of his prison, and he, Simmons, and Yo-Yo leave to go track down a lead. But it's the character stuff in this plot thread that really makes it incredible.

So, Yo-Yo thinks she can't die. But so does Simmons, and honestly? It's brutal. I feel like we're starting to see that knowledge of the future will drive a person mad. We've seen it pretty clearly with poor little Robin, and now we have Simmons playing Russian Roulette with containers of acid, which is just... holy shit. Remember when little Jemma couldn't tell a lie to save her life? Now she's faking her slow and painful death right in front of her husband, who, it turns out, isn't in on the plan.

Obviously the acting in this scene is intensely awesome. You've got Simmons, stone-cold, and Mack, who is bewildered and horrified, and Fitz, who looks like he's about to go out of his mind with worry. I wondered if he was in on the plan and was just acting, but his reaction when he realizes the truth is enough to dispel that theory. I love that he calls her Dame Judi Dench. But even more than the amazing drama and intensity is the more sinister underlying thing going on with Simmons. She thinks she's invincible, and as a consequence she's begun to behave without morality. Trapping Mack, scaring the hell out of Fitz, being willing to drink acid because she's that sure of her safety... that is some dark stuff. And she seems way too willing to forgive Fitz for what he did to Daisy. In fact, she actually seems annoyed at Daisy for keeping Fitz locked up, which is... horrifying. I mean, come on, Simmons. I know you love Fitz, but he tortured Daisy. He violated her.

As I said at the start of this review, I didn't love everything about this episode, but it had some very high moments. Here's to a great rest of the season!

8/10