REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Honeymoon"
Ah, “The Honeymoon.” Very few times is it that I get a title like that which is so desperate to be watched based on clickbait alone. For the record, there is no actual honeymoon, so you might as well skip the episode if that’s your kick. However, I wouldn’t recommend that.
That’s right. I am saying this was a pretty good episode. Perhaps this is the turning point of the season, but we are indeed closer to the endgame where these separate plots are starting to converge. We now constrained the time travel plot into a story about people trying to get the thing. It was, dare I say it, fun.
One definite bright side to this episode was the quicker pace and action sequences. Finally, the show got off on the right foot with characters jumping out of a plane as their opening. Combined with another fight sequence and Deke almost dying, I was surprisingly hooked with the plot. It’s a shame that it took so many lackluster twists and barely comprehendible turns to get to that point. The ends have not justified the means, but these are some pretty fun ends.
Sadly, Deke does not die, but his near-death pushes across some exciting threads. Coulson and May had a pointed conversation that included a certain “l” word. There was a particularly entertaining scene involving Mack and Agent Piper trying to save his life. On top of all that, we can finally blame him for directly screwing something up. If he indeed becomes Daisy’s love interest, this is one thing I have to have this now.
From the pure momentum alone, the FitzSimmons and Elena track down the Hydra weapon story becomes more interesting. That is a fantastic development since that plot started in the negative zone by turning their characters insane to move forward. This plot involved the Superior, so that’s basically all you need to know about how downhill this can go. Still, the shootout and fight provide some levity and brief accomplishment before it all falls apart once again. And the Superior is dead again…again. Please let that one last. It was probably Elena’s best fight scene, you can't ruin that.
Another turning point is the villains’ subplot which, let’s face it, mostly centers on the tiny blonde mercenary. As I’ve mentioned before, there is something fascinated to a character like her that has a clear goal in mind and has to deal with obstacles that stop her from achieving it. It just so happens to involve turning into a superweapon since that’s all she knows. Even if the episode doesn’t play the full potential of this character, there is some intrigue in what would happen if she achieves her goal since there is nothing in her life beyond that. Of course, she’s going to die, but that’s still a shock to the system.
Then again, there are a lot of other far less interesting threads to meander through before we return to that. Coulson is still dying. The time travel thing is still an issue. We haven’t heard the Destroyer of Worlds moniker in a while, so that has to come back eventually. Plus, we’re now introduced to the plot of Talbot being a sleeper agent. And I was just beginning to miss his rhythm with the team. Oh well, this won’t last wrong.
Unfortunately, there are also a number of inconsistencies that are already working to tear this story apart as we know it. Elena’s arms can now no longer handle her speed even though she used them perfectly fine to lock Mack up? Coulson hasn’t been updated on everything that has happened yet we will never get a follow-up on that? We still aren’t sure about how to stop the world from being destroyed? No matter how exciting the rest of the season will be, the logic is lost.
Nevertheless, we are on the precipice of the season being interesting again. We’re on the precipice of things being fun to watch and intriguing to continue again. That is worth a lousy contrivance once in a while, barring a contrived ending. I’m crossing my fingers again.
