Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Other Thing (6x05)

Yeah honestly I'm torn.

Cons:

I feel bad that Yo-Yo's brief relationship was just an excuse to stir up drama between Yo-Yo and Mack. It feels kind of pointless and like it's drama for drama's sake. This episode had so many relationships in it that have been torn asunder. We see flashbacks of Coulson and May, too, and then there's the ongoing Fitzsimmons drama.

The longer this season goes on, the more I'm forced to admit to myself that once again, I'm kind of only here for the Fitzsimmons stuff. I mean, that's essentially been true from the start of the show, in a way. But as we continue to explore the mystery of this Not-Coulson dude, I'm finding myself more and more compelled towards a simple truth: Coulson should have just been dead and stayed dead. His send-off at the end of last season was so beautiful and intense, and any hint that they might be able to get him back just lessens the impact of that sacrifice. Just seeing Clark Gregg in the show makes the loss of Coulson feel less tragic.

Pros:

Melinda May is a wonderfully fascinating character, and while I might have some complaints about seeing the flashbacks with Coulson, I still loved every insight into her character that this episode gave us. Seeing May so soft and loving... it's incredibly powerful, and it makes her quiet strength in the face of her loss all the more admirable. We get to see her loving and goofy and sweet with Coulson, and then hard and cold and angry with the impostor. We get to see her be a bad-ass and fight against one of the possessed people.

I will also say that despite a few complaints, I am for the most part quite interested in the mystery of these visitors and their quest to rid the universe of these strange possession parasite things. It's a somewhat noble quest, but they've clearly lost perspective, and that can be an interesting route for a villain to take.

Obviously all of my favorite stuff about this episode comes in the Fitzsimmons subplot. Enoch continues to be a surprising delight. He basically betrays Fitz by telling the Chronicoms that Fitz will be motivated to help them save their planet if they use Simmons as leverage. It's tricky because Enoch is a very goal-oriented individual, obviously. He understands that the situation is not ideal, but he has a few clear goals - save his planet, and stop Fitz and/or Simmons from being executed. This solution accomplishes both of those tasks. Very straightforward.

And yet, as Fitz says at the end of the episode, the last thing he would ever want would be for Jemma to be in danger. All of the angst with these two.. god, this show really knows how to twist the knife. Jemma and Leo get to see each other, but they can't touch and they can't hear each other, and they're being used to control each other's behaviors. Just awful. I can't wait for next week's episode, obviously! Bring on the angst!

I'm also excited that Daisy, Piper, and Davis are back home, and that May has escaped her imprisonment and is bringing vital intel back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, we have Fitzsimmons in a pocket story of their own, but the rest of the characters are back in one place, united. I hope things ramp up from here!

7/10