For the most part, I have a tough time ranking the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons. That’s not the case with season 5, though. Season 5 is a good, solid season of TV, but that doesn’t mean I like it. Because of personal preferences, it’s easily second-to-last on my favorite season rankings for the show.
Mack is utterly hilarious in episode 5×01.
“I didn’t quit hard enough” and “As hard as I possibly could” will forever be two of my favorite Mack lines. His paranoia and skepticism are so valid and relatable, but the best part is how funny they can make him.
Deke really is terrible at the start.
I understand why Deke has the selfish, survivalist demeanor he has in the first half of season 5. He does what he has to in order to survive. But I really did not care for him. He becomes more redeemable as the season progresses—after all, he risks his life so that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team can get back to their original time. But it’s also impossible to ignore how he sold Daisy into slavery to save himself.
Can we talk about Daisy’s chemistry with Ben…?
I’m glad they didn’t make Daisy and Ben a thing despite their potential. I’m not a fan of including romance for romance’s sake. It also would’ve made for a situation that left Daisy even more ridden with guilt and loss, and she already had too much of that to begin with. But I can’t deny how good their chemistry was. And I will be bold enough to say their chemistry was leaps and bounds better than her chemistry with the lone boyfriend she had so far in the show.
Fitz and Hunter have such a great dynamic.
The more I think about it, the more I think Fitz and Hunter are my favorite Fitz duo—sorry, FitzSimmons. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode 5×05: “Rewind” solidified that. How could you not love their bickering over football? It’s a fun episode that highlights how well they work together, their chemistry, and a side of their friendship we never got to really see beforehand. I would honestly love to just see them watch and fight about football!
The tacos bit is so silly but so effective.
Logically, it makes sense that there are no tacos out in the Lighthouse remnants floating in space in 2099. Even if the Kree could supply all the ingredients needed for tacos, there’s no way they’d be preparing them for the humans. And what a shame, because tacos are a delight! Mack’s reaction to Flint’s confusion also just adds some appreciated humor to what’s ultimately a sad situation.
Flint was a great addition to the show.
It’s a shame Flint wasn’t introduced sooner, because he’s easily my favorite character from the future! He’s just so likable, and you immediately feel for him. Part of what makes Flint great is also just the natural charm Coy Stewart brings to the character.
Daisy wanting to stay behind is so sad and complicated.
I get why Daisy wants to stay behind. Her reasons are valid. They make sense. Even so, it’s so obvious that she is acting out of fear and just using biased logic to back up her decision. Because no one *actually* knows with complete certainty that she destroys the Earth. But Daisy knows staying behind is the easy way out. She literally can’t have the chance at becoming the “Destroyer of Worlds” who dooms Earth and causes global harm.
On the surface, it could seem noble, but it’s not. It’s her buying into a narrative others have crafted, acting out of fear and letting trauma guide her decision-making. Does that make it okay for Coulson to have shot her with an I.C.E.R. and forced her to come back to their time? I don’t know. But, if she stays behind, that’s it. There’s no going back. There’s no getting her team back. There’s no chance of her helping to stop that timeline and the Earth’s destruction. There’s only acceptance that she is at fault. And if the Earth is destroyed without her? Then what? She will have given up her team and her life for no good reason.
Simmons becoming an “Inhuman whisperer” is an interesting concept.
Abby getting a better grasp and understanding of her Inhuman powers is great, but it was a surprise to see that Jemma helped her with it. She can be supportive, helpful, and caring, but she just never came off as a nurturing person before. That’s not to say she couldn’t become one, and it’s not like anyone else on the team would’ve been better suited for it necessarily. Jemma’s scientific knowledge was certainly helpful, too.
After everything she had gone through up to that point, it does make sense to see her have a softer side and not always be so scientifically straightforward and logical about things. It was just unexpected to see her in that kind of role. But knowing what’s to come, I do wonder whether it was meant to foreshadow the Deke reveal and highlight what kind of a maternal figure she would be.
Kasius’s hubris is too good.
The more I write about movies and TV, the more I realize how much I enjoy when hubris plays a role in the story. Maybe it’s because it means the bad guy’s downfall is their own fault, and that’s rather enjoyable. Nevertheless, Kasius was always unlikable and whiny. He wasn’t interesting, and he wasn’t compelling as a character, so I have to admit it was great to see him be the reason for his demise.
Episode 5×14 is excellent story-wise, but I *despise* it.
“The Devil Complex” is such a well-done, carefully crafted episode, and Iain De Caestecker’s performance is tremendous. But I hate the episode, I hate what happens in it, and I hate the complete lack of empathy Fitz ultimately has. He can’t recognize that, even though Daisy’s powers will help, it’s not okay to operate on her without her permission, and it’s not okay to not apologize. It’s why I’m not a fan of Fitz in the second half of season 5. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
The way Daisy becomes a punching bag is unsettling.
After Daisy gets her powers back, the team is never the same—and it shouldn’t be. But jeez, the divisiveness is ridiculous. Why is it so difficult for some of the team to understand that Fitz hurt Daisy, should apologize, and is being rightly punished for it? It’s not about Daisy being a hardass director or anything like that. Fitz messed up BIG TIME, and he’s being disciplined for it. The team starts fighting and takes sides. They hurt one another more in the process, and they never apologize. They treat one another poorly, and it all somehow becomes Daisy’s fault for her style of directorship.
Was Daisy the best director? No. Did she always make the best choices? No. She wasn’t ready for that position, but she was shoved into a role she never wanted. It happened right after she was operated on by her friend without permission and found out her father-figure was dying. Nevertheless, it doesn’t make it okay that half the team decides to act on their own and disrespect the other half. None of them needed to like Daisy as director. They are all more than grown enough to be adult and professional about things, though.
But that whole ordeal is also why they all needed to go their own ways in the end. With how close they had all become, it was inevitable that their business and personal relationships would cause conflict. They need space and time away from one another, because they become too codependent.
Season 5 as an ending has never felt right to me.
I’ve already written about this topic somewhat in an article for Bam Smack Pow, but if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended with season 5, it would’ve been a good ending still. I just wouldn’t have liked it as an ultimate conclusion. This is primarily because the team is in such a strange, divisive place in the second half of season 5. Then Mack becomes director, Fitz dies, and suddenly everything is okay?
Fitz’s death was a big deal, and it should have been something that helped them all realize how dumb all the fighting was. But that’s not really what happened. They all just stop fighting, start mourning Fitz, prepare to mourn Coulson, but never apologize about anything. I’m glad they all rally together in the end to save the world. However, the lack of acknowledgement and apologies for things that went wrong or were handled poorly makes the ending of season 5 feel incomplete and rushed for the sake of a content ending.
“So what universe did that just happen in? Mine or yours?” – Daisy Johnson/Quake, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode 5×04: “A Life Earned”
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