Everyone knows the old phrase “Be careful what you wish for….” Well for most of this season, our Agents have been wishing for a chance to go back to the present to change the future. “All the Comforts of Home” lets the team return to the present, but instead of changing the future it looks like the future is coming quicker than expected.
One thing I didn’t expect to happen was Yo-Yo losing her arms at the hands of General Hale’s assassin daughter, Ruby. I thought when we saw armless, broken Yo-Yo in the future, that was due to Kasius. I figured there wasn’t a chance in hell they were actually going to do it. Boy oh boy, how wrong I was, and how glad I am that this show is still able to do things and shock audiences in it’s fifth season that a lot of other comic book shows can’t anymore. (Arrow, I’m talking about you.)
Before we go into the circumstances of what happens to Yo-Yo, let dig a little more into two characters – one that makes their debut and one that makes a shocking return.
RUBY BLUES
Let’s be real for one moment. There’s no way in hades that after seeing the previews and how every commercial was like “AND STARRING DOVE CAMERON!” that she wasn’t going to play anything other than the villain. Her first scene with her mother General Hale was something you’d witness in a teen drama, only they are arguing about S.H.I.E.L.D instead of grades.
So when the team goes to stop a old Kree beacon from making it’s light shine in the sky, a mystery villain with her army soldiers show up to capture our team of Agents.
(who are set-up by a returning Agent Piper. Loved seeing her again…till she betrayed them. Though Coulson shows a lot of forgiveness by letting her go with the team when they leave to head back to the Lighthouse. Phil Coulson, a better man than I.)
Instead of angst however, the battle between S.H.I.E.L.D and Ruby’s team of robotic soldiers shows us what she’s really filled with: Viciousness. Ruthlessness. Evil. There’s a few other words I’d use but this is a PG review. Yo-Yo pays the price for this as the battle is won by SHIELD but not without a heavy price paid. As we remember the haunting message that Yo-Yo’s future self told her about not being able to change the future, one more scene between Ruby and Mommy Dearest clears things up.
The leader of the soldiers unmasks as Ruby (I can’t believe the special guest-star is evil! says no one ever) as General Hale has some words for her little girl. Neither is too happy with the other, Hale wants the team alive not maimed. Ruby wants Daisy for some reason. Obsession perhaps? Wouldn’t be the first time a villain has obsessed over Daisy Johnson? In any event, Ruby shows in “Comforts of Home” that she is not only going to be one of the most vicious baddies the team has ever fought, but she also might be the most soulless as well.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
The other major storyarc in the episode was the arrival of Deke into the present time. This was surprising but also it wasn’t? Deke was a main character in the future arc and his story kind of ended there…but also Deke has been pushed a lot as a important character and I still think they are going to do something with him and Daisy. But I want to talk more about Deke’s arrival and what comes next.
Deke shows up in the present and is immediately in love with it. He’s smells the somewhat fresh air and it’s the happiest he’s ever been. So happy, in fact, that he literally becomes a treehugger.
The person who planted this tree probably never knew it was going to be the greatest thing someone had ever seen.
Hug that tree, Deke, hug that tree. #AgentsOfSHIELD pic.twitter.com/n77RclmzIk— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) March 3, 2018
After that emotional moment with wood is over, Deke goes to the local bar. Here he finds out a few more things about modern-day life that we all know: Beer tastes terrible, so he goes the Zima route quickly. Hope ABC got a check from whoever still makes Zimas as this was the most publicity they have gotten in years. Also Deke learned another quick fact: If you try to ‘Dine and Dash’, don’t be drunk while doing so.
This leads to Deke in jail, which also leads him to fall under-the-radar of Daisy who is surfing the web for traces of what’s been happening while the team is on the mission for the beaker.
Why is Daisy not with the team, you ask? She makes up some excuse, but it’s fear. Fear of her future. She’s scared of what is going to possibly happen and when you live like that, you go from a ominous future to a fruitless present. Daisy needs to snap out of it and soon for her friends or instead of armless allies, she might not see them come back at all next time.
So Daisy heads to bust out Deke from the pokey and is obvious to Ruby and what she wants with her. Though to tell the truth, I’m not sure what Ruby wants with her yet either.
As Daisy and Deke arrive back to the new base of operations: The Lighthouse, so does the rest of the team. Well most of the rest of the team. Simmons goes to perform emergency surgery on Yo-Yo as the rest of the team are in shock. My heart breaks for Mack as just before the mission him and Yo-Yo had a touching but too brief heart to heart that just highlighted how great these two are together. With what’s happened, can they survive what comes next?
For anyone who thought the present was going to be a smooth ride for S.H.I.E.L.D, then “Comforts of Home” was a rude wake-up call. Betrayals, amputations and exploding beacons. Oh yeah I almost forgot that as Daisy, Fitz and Noah (just think replacement Enoch) go to put the beacon up after FitzSimmons deactivated it during the mission. Except the beacon is trap and is triggered to explode. Noah tries to launch himself on the blast but we don’t get to see how effective he was.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is the best comic-book show out there right now (not named Legion) and this was just another highlight. 99 episodes in and the show can still shock and surprise you. Here’s to a 100th episode that is filled with heart, wonder, danger and suspense. Also way way better than what Arrow‘s 100th episode was.
QUICK THOUGHTS:
- Yo-Yo’s face when she sees her arms have been chopped off is hard to describe but if I had to, it would be a mix of sadness, shock and resignation. Oh and Heartbreaking was the look on mine when it happened.
- The beacon being in St.Louis was so random but also perfect. Not everything can happen in New York!
- FitzSimmons hug and I get the heart-eyes emoji.
- Coulson is showing the symptoms of his illness and others around him (especially May) are starting to figure something is up.
Agents of SHIELD’s 100th episode airs next week at 9 pm Friday Night on ABC.
