Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 episodes 9-10 review - Best Laid Plans/Past Life

Best Laid Plans

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” unless you’re the heroes in this episode.

So, it’s time for an assault on the Lighthouse, but first, team S.H.I.E.L.D. need to get the Zephyr in the air and that requires a lot of work… Whilst what’s his face tries to convince Deke to kill Daisy, so she won’t doom the world. Meanwhile at the Lighthouse Kasius is prepared to show his hand, bringing back Tess to warn them he’ll blow them all up if they don’t co-operate. Mack and Yo-Yo have a tired debate about what they’re going to do as Flint is more and more eager to move in on the Kree.

So, despite the tease of Sinara entering the base pretty early in the finale the fight itself happens around the climax of the episode… and it’s not one their better fights, I liked their fight in the arena better. The gravity storm itself allowed for nice work but it was hard to believe Zeke on the floor tumbling around and struggling to reach something could happen whilst Daisy and Sinara could have a choreographed fight scene. Sinara dies here and I feel that was a waste since her character had only just started to get interesting.

Also, Mack’s begun moral aggrandising again… you know my feelings on this. A guy who could shoot rocks with his bare hands shouldn’t know how to use a gun? For that matter, why does he even need to? Anyway, Mack’s concerned he’s getting a taste for the killing. Most of his allies would kill the Kree in a heartbeat, and none of them have turned evil, well Ward but that was before his time and stemmed from deep psychological issues rather than getting a taste to the killing.

So, rather than storming the Kree, their plan is rather more confusing, take the floor where they’re storing the Kree inhuman breeding sh*t, blackmail them with a bomb on the equipment to get a meeting with Kasius, buying them enough time to relocate the potentially hundreds of bombs down to one floor and moving all the humans above it, cutting the Kree off from them, since the Kree reside on the lower levels. That relies on a lot of factors going perfectly, it’s rather fortunate that they did for our heroes.

Back on the Zephyr, they need to get the bird in flight, which takes up the majority of the episode. Deke has the aforementioned subplot about maybe killing Daisy but not, Daisy has a minor bit of character about maybe keeping the inhibitor on so she can’t become the destroyer of worlds and just being Daisy Johnson: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. again.

And then there’s Fitz and Simmons’ discovery that the artificial gravity in the Zephyr is gravitonium. Poor Franklin Hall, we never do see him become Graviton but he’s all over the place this season. And it confirms the Lighthouse was their design. Not much more to say there, Simmons is at least optimistic about them getting back, although Coulson’s fate is the one I worry about since he wasn’t in the flashbacks.

This was a flawed episode but ultimately still an enjoyable one, we must be coming down to the end now and I frankly can’t wait to see what’s in store

Rating 7.5/10

Past Life

As we’ve come to the end of this arc of the series, I feel my reaction has warmed a little to it, it’s had some engaging characters, good drama, some semblance of a compelling villain, and I’ve warmed to Deke again after his annoying stint. But in spite of all, thank god this is over.

That’s not down to this episode as a whole, which is actually a really good one, just a response to how I feel about this arc overall. It just had a lot of samey feeling scenery and Mack’s morality plays were a little too annoying.

But let’s get to the episode itself. It was a stroke of genius on the writers' part to make Yo-Yo Kasius’ seer. She’s not a seer in a conventional nature, she knows what’s happening because she was a part of it (and yeah, we’re dismissing parallel universe theory, thankfully) and provides only minimal intel to Kasius. But it made for one of the show’s highlights when Yo-Yo confronts her older self.

Natalia Cordova-Buckley shows her acting chops in this episode, playing the older Elena as a mixture of occasional optimism with the sad depression when she realises she’s telling her the exact same things she heard her future self say when she was the younger Yo-yo. Her ultimate demise served less as an interesting character moment but more way of spurring Mack into his final fight against Kasius.

Poor Coulson, I knew there was a reason he wasn’t in any of the flashbacks, it’s trying to save him that apparently starts this whole conflict, his injury is attained in this episode. Of course the events that lead to that choice are going to be the focus of the second half of the season.

So, Daisy not wanting to go back but being forced to by Coulson. She’s right but seems to have forgotten that with May unlikely to be fighting in the near future, even without her powers, she’s the most competent fighter of the group. Also, she’s their only asset when it comes to hacking. What I’m saying is… She brings a lot to the team

Deke and Enoch’s sacrifices are predictable but also sweet, one can hope the little piece of the monolith that their machine uses might’ve sent them back, but I’m not betting on it.

I like that the ending, whilst it’s not an instant reset is an optimistic one, with Flint possibly hinting at being able to piece the globe back together. S.H.I.E.L.D. may be going on a break but we’ll be back when it returns.

Rating 8/10