One thing I love about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is that sometimes, even when a episode doesn’t feel that big, it still has moments that give you special feelings. Shock, Surprise, Fear and Humor. While “Inside Voices” wasn’t one of the best episodes of the season, it still delivers on those feeling mentioned below while making you wonder what will happen next.
A bunch of balls are up in the air for our team of Agents as we get closer and closer to the prophecy of “The Destroyer of Worlds” coming true. So let’s talk about some feelings “the invincible three” give us in ‘Inside Voices” – Shock and Surprise…..especially from the least likely person we expected to get them from: Jemma Simmons.
THE INVINCIBLE THREE
No doubt that what Jemma and Yo-Yo pulled on Mack tonight would in most circumstances be crossing that line. Betrayal? Perhaps so. But in times like this, when things have been pushed to their almost breaking point, can you blame Jemma for coming up with the wild plan that she uses against Mack to free Fitz?
Unlike Arrow which has characters act completely out of character and make no sense in THE SAME EPISODE, Jemma pulling this “trick” on Mack made a ton of sense when you think about Jemma Simmons and her growth of her character through the years. No longer is she the naive, shy innocent nerd she was in season 1. Through all the shit she has endured and overcome, she now understands that not everything is black and white. She has that edge to her and when she feels that she needs to protect the ones she loves, she will do whatever it takes.
Earlier in the episode , Jemma and Yo-Yo talk about how they both feel invincible now after their recent discoveries of the future. They want to track down Hale’s sought after Hydra tech but Mack is not to keen on letting Fitz out after “The Doctor incident”. I understand his thinking here but I disagree with it. Fitz’s method of getting Daisy’s powers back was wrong but the end result wasn’t. Times like these, the results are starting to matter more than how they are being accomplished.
So the method Jemma and Yo-Yo use to free Fitz is very much like you would see in a old Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode. To show that she truly is invincible, she has four glasses filled. Three have water in them and the fourth is filled with acid in it. After a little shuffling, Jemma drinks the first two glasses just fine in front of a horrified Mack and a scared Fitz. The third glass ends up looking like it poisoned her but it’s just a trick to get Mack to free Fitz and put him in there thanks to some super speed by Yo-Yo. Mack tries to talk to Jemma and Yo-Yo but their minds are made up. Fitz’s dumbfounded/slightly horrified look as Jemma reveals that the last glass actually had me shook.
Maybe fighting for the future of her future daughter, her husband and her grandson has made Jemma Simmons invincible. If there is anyone who can break the time loop, my money is on her.
THE ODD TRIO
When we last left Coulson, General Hale had decided to lock him up to get him to tell the whereabouts of one “Destroyer of Worlds” Daisy Johnson. Take away a man’s Captain Crunch cereal and there’s going to be hell to pay. And hell rode up to Coulson in the form of Crusher Carl Creel.
Why’s Creel helping a good guy? Well after a attempted submerging with some gravitonium , he got flashes of a old season 1 nemesis Dr. Franklin Hall being engulfed by the goo. (As we see at the end of the episode with a special appearance from a old nemesis: RAINA! Miss seeing Ruth Negga on here). At this point, Creel decides whatever Hale has planned for him isn’t worth it. So after telling Phil whats really happening with Talbot (torture), they beat and destroy some guards to go rescue Talbot.
Talbot isn’t in the best of shape as he looks and sounds like I do after having to listen to my brother snore for hours on end: disheveled and rambling to his self. After a little bit more fighting, The Three Amigos end up cornered by evil little Ruby who is not in any mood to be messed with. We get a wonderful Creel/Ruby fight here as Coulson and Talbot use the Chitauri device to transport themselves away from Hale and her goons to somewhere nice and sunny and relaxing….Only kidding, they are transported to some woods full of snow and cold. Which also looks like the place in season 1 where the hidden SHIELD base was. Remember, the one where Daisy found out the guy she was having a big crush on was actually HYDRA?? Oh good times. Speaking of Daisy, what’s she up to? Well she’s run into some old friends as well….
Daisy and May pick up their old/young child pal Robin and her mom to find out she hasn’t drawn anything since drawing her death as a old lady. Seeing May changes this though as she calls her “Mom” which has to hurt her real mom just a little bit. To be honest I’ve never been a fan of the Robin stuff, just not my cup of tea I suppose. The positives of it however are seeing a softer side of May in her scenes with Robin. It allows us a glimpse of what could have been for Melinda May if she hadn’t become “The Calvary” instead.
After being comforted by future mom, Robin is able to draw again!! Her drawing, which is pretty much Coulson and Talbot in the snow with three mountain peaks behind them. While helpful, could it have hurt Robin to draw a road sign somewhere in there as well?
So another episode and our heroes get more closer to getting together and reuniting against Hale, Ruby and their evil squadron. But while Hale is confident, Ruby isn’t in her leadership. After a talk with young Von Strucker, she’s sounding more and more like she’s ready to start a mutiny. So each side is have infighting within and they are on a collision course with each other. Add onto that the whole trying to prevent the earth from being split in half and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is building up to one exciting and frightening season finale.
QUICK THOUGHTS:
- Simmons and Fitz’s reactions to Yo-Yo apologizing about Deke being their grandson was perfect. Simmons : “What? He’s perfect!!” Fitz: “thank you.”
- Sorry for not having much on the Ruby/Von Strucker scenes but I could give two f*cks about the love connections these psychopaths are making.
- I think this was the first time we saw General Hale in anything but her military attire and HOT DAMN.
- Can we stop being mean to Mack please? Poor guy’s gotten betrayed by friends, shot in the leg and now Yo-Yo does this? This is just going to make him mad. And you won’t like Mack when he’s angry.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D airs on Friday Nights on ABC at 9 pm eastern.