Danny Hale reviews the ninth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5…
From the beginning of ‘Best Laid Plans’ it’s clear that Kasius is starting to lose his hold over his captives as Mack, Yo-Yo and Flint have rallied the humans on the Lighthouse into rebellion and while they’re mostly expendable characters that we know nothing about it is the diminishing of Kasius’ dominance over them that bears the most weight.
Mack, Yo-Yo and Flint got some good material this week as their surrounding situation got progressively more dire; Elena has always been hot-headed and a little unforgiving while Mack will always avoid violence if he can so discussions on how best to move against Kasius were the cause of some contention this week. And while Yo-Yo sees herself in Flint, Mack sees a child and even despite their perilous setting, Mack is still pained to see a gun in Flint’s hands. In a surprising turn ‘Best Laid Plans’ saw the return of Tess giving us a nice scene with her and Flint granting us a tangible look at their mostly off-screen relationship. Revived Tess is not the same and the extent of the trauma she has suffered clearly weighs heavy on her shoulder, strengthened by another strong performance from Eve Harlow.
Daisy, Coulson and May had some nice moments this week, mainly centred on May’s as of yet unexplored maternal side. I stated in last week’s review that this side of her is something she most likely squashed after Bahrain but the brief snippets we did get of her with Robin felt right and in line with her character. Daisy and Sinara had their final tussle this week with the Kree warrior meeting her apparent end. I say apparent for two reasons; I have a soft spot for Sinara (and her awesome theme music) and also she’s a Kree who we know are resilient and boast restorative properties. If it is the end for Sinara then I am sad to see her go; theme music aside she provided great moments of action and flair this season and some subtle character choices by Florence Faivre added a little more depth to what easily could have been a soulless sparring partner for Daisy. Their fight took place amid a gravity storm, boasting some impressive CGI for a television show that’s just had its budget cut and spliced with the frantic events on the bridge of the zephyr it made for a fitting and cinematic end for the villain.
Deke is definitely the most interesting I’ve found him yet and seeing his conversation with Voss and his subsequent inability to pull the trigger on the man who killed his father speaks volumes to the kind of person he is. While the show toyed with the notion of him betraying Daisy again I believe this was to further show that he really is on her side and I would be truly surprised if he sells her out to Kasius again. He then helped Daisy take down Sinara by donning the extendable claws used in ‘Together or Not At All’, they have a cool signature look about them so I’m hoping he retains these going forward.
Mack and Yo-Yo’s standoff with Kasius and his guards was a great way scene and while the show glossed over the finer details of locating and repositioning all of Kasius’s bombs the payoff was worth it. Since last week I have been excited to see Yo-Yo and Kasius share the screen and it did not disappoint, Elena’s trademark brazenness at the fore as she insulted and laughed at Kasius despite his God-like status. It also did a great job of building momentum for next week; Kasius wants to see Mack and Yo-Yo suffer and that makes me genuinely worried. The fact he knew who Yo-Yo was also raised a red flag; Kasius would obviously be aware of her abilities and have taken measures to protect himself. Regardless, Yo-Yo’s attempt to meet him head on at least added to their glorified distraction and then taking flight immediately after destroying the only leverage Kasius had against them sends the once pristine ruler into an unbridled rage. His perfect little world and trap have come undone and so it seems has he.
There’s a lot more that could be talked about with such a busy episode like how I had initially assumed the inclusion of gravitonium in ‘Together or Not At All’ was a nice nod to earlier times only to discover this week that the substance seems to be playing a much more important role in this story. Will we see the return of Ian Hart’s Dr. Franklin Hall? Will he emerge as Graviton? We now also know that Enoch is a plastic based life-form but more importantly that his chemistry with May is wonderful. Finally, I fear Kasius’ “seer” is most definitely a member of our team from the other timeline, and I’m further inclined to think it’s Yo-Yo given how he addressed her in the corridor. Either way we’re set up for quite the showdown next week and I’m really, really intrigued to see where in space and time our characters end up once the dust settles.
Danny Hale
