Agents of SHIELD: Force of Gravity
Wayland Smith / June 16, 2018
You CAN'T tell me you're surprised by this…
The Agents of SHIELD are almost at the end of their season, but thankfully not the series, as they deal with "The Force of Gravity." Daisy comes to in one of those weird dark spaces the aliens seem to enjoy so much. She's not alone, as Taryan of House Kasius makes a pitch for her joining him. They argue about terminology, and Taryan makes a sweeping statement about her friends that doesn't sit well with her.
Coulson and May are in a holding cell, and Coulson is not impressed by the aliens. Qovas mocks them for their weapons and primitive technology, and May makes him an offer he doesn't take them up on. Talbot keeps assuring everyone he knows what he's doing, but no one is buying that at this point. Coulson tells Qovas he might know a way to help him with his mission.
Fitz and Simmons are doing their best to put off working with the corpse Daisy brought them. I get Fitz being squeamish about that, but Simmons, as a doctor, shouldn't feel the same way. They talk about the hoped-for cure for Coulson and Yo-Yo's dire warnings about the future. They decide to go forward and do their best to break the time loop.
Waiting aboard the Zephyr, Davis recounts the story of his becoming-legendary encounter with Aida. Deke is amazed. Story time gets broken up when Talbot shows up to steal the ship, killing an agent. Davis and Deke manage to take cover. Deke warns the Lighthouse Talbot is on the move, and they hear about Thanos' attack. Mack and Yo-Yo debate what the power signature from the ship means and if they can reach Talbot through his madness.
Coulson muses on prison cells being the same all over as he and May probe for a way out. May also tries to convince him that what happened with Talbot wasn't his fault, but, like many heroes, Coulson as an over-developed guilt complex. They swap memories of their time with Talbot and debate his current actions. Reflecting on people changing and not being able to save everyone, Coulson shows another cool function of his artificial hand.
Back on the ground, Talbot goes to see Creel, his former bodyguard. They talk about Talbot's alien makeover and mutual experience in hospital beds and with mental issues. Talbot makes Creel an offer that I'm sure Creel would like but sounds kind of ominous.
Speaking of head games, Taryan keeps trying to persuade Daisy to his side. He's very dismissive of humans in general, which isn't exactly winning Daisy over. Daisy tries to blast him and gets a surprise reveal about what's really going on with her recruitment. Fitz and Simmons work on their cure and bring Mack up to speed when he wanders in. He and Fitz are still tense with each other, and Mack tells them about Talbot's body count. Fitz and Simmons now have another new, high-stakes project to work on.
May and Coulson are ready to enact their plan to escape when Deke shows up in one of his rare fits of usefulness. Deke then babbles about how hard the aliens are to beat up, and gives Coulson and May an update on Talbot. The man himself is still with Creel, and his "cure" is a bit more drastic than Creel hoped for. That poor guy can't catch a break, and Talbot is not kind to his former guard.
Mack and Yo-Yo are sickened when they learn what happened and talk about their interactions with Creel. Yo-Yo talks about Mack's capacity to forgive, probably with some self-serving motives. They also talk about the growing body count and what they need to do.
Taryan of Kasius continues to taunt Daisy with the ways he's going to break her. He cockily claims to know her future, and she talks about having seen the future herself. Daisy then pulls a great trick, although I'm not quite sure how it worked, and derails Taryan's plan. Fitz and Simmons ruminate on ways to negate Talbot, and come up with the beginnings of a plan.
May, Coulson, and Deke creep around the alien vessel and argue about Deke's fluency in the alien languages. They follow Deke's lead right into more aliens, which is when a well-timed reunion happens as Daisy turns up. They share information and worry about Qovas' contingency plan for keeping them under control.
Mack and Yo-Yo try and figure out where Talbot is going next, and come up with a good answer. After being captive so long, Talbot wants to check in on his family. Talbot shows off his powers, at first impressing his son. Then, he starts showing all the tells of an abusive husband, which is new and disappointing. Talbot keeps trying to make things better by more or less trying to bribe his son and comparing himself to the Avengers.
The away team tears through the alien ship, and May starts barking out orders. Coulson brings out my favorite trick with his artificial hand, and then he and May do something a lot of us have been waiting for a while now.
The Talbot family reunion keeps going downhill, and then SHIELD shows up which makes nothing better. Talbot and Mack argue, and Talbot shows his new powers far outclass anything SHIELD has on hand at the moment. Deke and May make it to the bridge and May has a new sneaky plan.
Talbot does some more self-justification, shows how important gravity is to Yo-Yo's powers, and then ends up leaving in a huff after his son tells him off. Coulson and Daisy meet up with Davis and fight off more aliens. Coulson gets a bit injured in the process, but they take off. May and Deke have some communication difficulties about the alien language, and then Qovas shows up. He and May have a huge fight and Deke actually helps some.
Coulson and Daisy take off, with jokes about May having the time of her life. This cuts back to her and Qovas fighting. May has been largely buying Deke time, and she reveals what they did just after it's too late for Qovas to change it. I hope Talbot wasn't too fond of "his" ship. Everyone agrees that Talbot is out of control, and Coulson shows he's hurt worse than they thought.
The last two scenes are Coulson in medbay looking a lot worse off and the team facing a really nasty choice. Talbot is with the aliens, and has brought along a special guest. Talbot demands information that his "friend" doesn't want to share. It's a big setup for the season finale next time.
What I liked: The banter among the characters is always fun. Talbot is going nuts, but they've done a great job of it making sense and being understandable from a certain perspective. Deke was more than just comic relief. May's trick near the end was pretty slick. Coulson and May's scene was long overdue. I really like that they tied in with the Avengers movie; it's been a while since they did that.
What I didn't: Mack is still up on his high horse, and it's affecting the team. I feel bad for Talbot and for Creel. Simmons is getting more and more pressure put on her, and I wonder if she's going to snap (Fitz already did).
I thought this was a really good episode. I'll give it a 4 out of 5. I'm wondering how they are going to leave things at the season finale, and glad they are getting a final season, even if it's a short one.
June 16, 2018 in Marvel, TV Shows. Tags: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Force of Gravity, Graviton, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, marvel comics, Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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