Project Insight? Ooooh.
Cons:
Seriously, did they just like - forget to tell us Fitz wasn't going to be in the season or something? I'm getting frustrated by his lack of presence or mentions. Very briefly, Deke asked Simmons about it, Simmons said she didn't know anything, and then we moved on. I'm annoyed.
I'm not going to repeat the whole rant from last week's episode, but I'm annoyed with the way that Sousa's life has been stolen from him. I think it's clear that the MCU doesn't really respect its TV properties as part of the continuity. All of Agent Carter was disrespected enormously by the end of Avengers: Endgame. And Sousa is the character who is arguably the most screwed over, in terms of the movie canon just... ignoring his whole existence and erasing him entirely. I guess I'm still very glad to see him around in the show, and hope he sticks around for a lot longer. But... dude, it's really annoying to me that he was supposed to just... die. And now he's been pulled out of his own time? That doesn't feel remotely fair to him, and I just wanted to reiterate that.
Pros:
God, this is the most fun I've had watching this show in years, though. Not this episode in specific, but the whole season - just in terms of the time jumps, I feel like the writers and actors are having so much fun really immersing themselves in each new decade. You've got Daisy and everyone else in their new digs, you've got Sousa reacting to "modern music"... I don't know, it's all just so much fun and adds such a new level of atmosphere to each episode.
Also, Simmons... what is going on with her? We see that she has something... implanted? In her neck? And she talks to Enoch and we basically learn that she's hiding stuff from the team. She can't remember what she's supposed to know and what she's not. She's being so evasive about the jumps through time and how much control they really have. Stopping the Chronicoms from messing with history is the obvious goal, but it seems like Simmons has more going on than she's letting on!
Enoch is a delight in every possible way. "Come with me if you want to continue to exist" is the perfect line, and then when he talked about the safety and reliability of his sensible car... he's the absolute best. This actor continues to impress me with playing a non-human character in a way that's distinct and memorable, but not distracting.
Both May and Yo-Yo are struggling with their continued issues. May is emotionless except for the emotions she picks up from others (leading to a really funny moment when she gets second-hand drunk), and Elena still can't do her super-speed thing. Mack tells her that she's called "Yo-Yo" because she always bounces back, and that her power doesn't define her in his eyes. I love it!
Deke still refers to Fitzsimmons with cutesy little grandparent names, which is darling. He's also doing some physical combat training, which I love as part of his journey in becoming the best agent he can be. Deke has become a stealth fave of mine for sure.
Circling back to Sousa - while I'm annoyed at the disservice done to his character and his overall place in the canon, I can't deny that it's fun to have him along for the ride, here. He's baffled by the trappings of the 1970's, but he handles it like a pro. He's frustrated about being removed from his life and thrown in to this crazy situation, but he does his best to be helpful and defers to the experts when he knows his own information isn't going to be enough. I loved the moment when he yelled at Simmons - they jump forward another three years into the future in time to see the launching of Project Insight, and Daniel is furious that the team is messing with time travel without fully understanding it. I loved that, and I loved that Deke pointed out that they've all been pulled from their lives in order to stop the Chronicoms. Daniel isn't the only one who's lost something.
The biggest news of this episode is that... it looks like the Chronicoms are indeed changing the past! Project Insight is supposed to happen in the 2010's, and is the subject of one of my favorite Marvel movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Now, it's happening in the '70s, and several familiar names are on the kill list - including Bruce Banner.
That's where I'll stop. I wish there had been a more graceful way to incorporate Fitz this season. I definitely miss him a lot. But I'm really intrigued by literally everything going on here - so many of our agents are in questionable personal difficulty - Simmons, Elena, May - and others are trying to find their place in this world and in the team - LMD Coulson, Mack, Deke... there's a lot going on here, and I'm ready to stick around and see where it's all leading!
9/10
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