REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The One Who Will Save Us All"
How exactly do we approach the Marvel world post-Infinity War? I wouldn’t know since this episode doesn’t answer that. The episode also doesn’t give some much-needed nuance into some radical decisions or much sense into going forward. But it does give us a movie reference. That’s more than what we can ask at this point.
Credit where credit is due once again, the show managed to reference the events of Infinity War and make it unequivocal about what the threat the planet is facing really is. Is it shoe-horned? Yes. Does it matter at all to the overall story? No. I can’t begrudge them too much on it, though, since the timeline in the movie itself is a little vague and can be manipulated for a couple of episodes. If they had to do this tie-in, it’s not impossible is what I’m saying. And they likely did the best with what they were given. Now all we have to do is see if they follow through after the big snap.
Despite the ridiculousness, you also have to give some credit to the show for going not only on the Gravitonium route but going full-on Graviton with Talbot. All it took for us to reach this point was four years and no longer caring. Still, it’s a relative accomplishment that exemplifies the “in for a penny, in for a pound” mindset this arc seems to love so much. Since everything is such a big deal now, why not bring the full image.
Keeping with that topic, the season has now given us our fourth villain with only two episodes left. Before anyone gets on the whole “well the show’s given us surprise villains at the last minute before” side, I would like to remind everyone that it hasn’t happened when we had three other defined villains. Not only that, unlike the other surprise villains, Talbot hardly got any set-up as an antagonistic figure. He gains corrupting power, but there wasn’t a sense or a clear reason for him to turn on the others that could reflect his misguided but ultimately sincere personality. He wants to protect the people, yes, but siding with alien power over the person who need I remind you rescued his son is just illogical. It’s just another thing we have to deal with now.
What’s also been revealed in the third-to-last episode is possibly the theme we were supposed to follow this entire season, and that’s the idea of making difficult choices. I won’t begrudge them for that idea since the team has had to make hard and sometimes questionable choices for the greater good. All superhero shows have tackled this, and it makes for some interesting drama. What makes one choice good and one choice bad? How does one reconcile with himself or herself after doing something that could be wrong? How does one decide if the ends justify the means? These are questions that nuanced characters can use to challenge each other and make interesting.
The season does attempt to do it now that I look back at with this narrative and even more so with this episode. Elena kills a girl who could have been saved to rescue her friends who could have been killed. Fitz and Simmons betray Mack’s trust to give the team a fighting chance. Talbot turns into a supervillain to protect the planet. Finally, Daisy digs up her mother’s grave and risks her own life just to save Coulson. These are concepts weigh questionable actions to achieve goals that may or may not be beneficial and open the door to whether or not they did the right thing.
Unfortunately, the execution fails this concept since we never get the time to consider the nuance of their arguments. The decisions of the characters constantly boil down to the “you were wrong and therefore you are a bad person” line of thinking. From multiple political conversations, I can definitively say there’s no way for us to move forward in an argument when the opposing side thinks you’re not only wrong but immoral. Less time is spent on introspection than yelling. And even if that were true that they’re wrong, how does that endear us to the characters? I doubt considering our characters as irreconcilable jerks is what the writers want us to think.
Now I realize this episode has kicked up the philosopher in me, so I guess it’s not irredeemable. I suppose I can appreciate the diving into complex themes like this even if the end result is a disaster with all the characters I liked ruined in the process. Plus the episode does reach back into that fast-paced and meaningful tension that the show can manage at its best. If the plot itself were good, this would easily have been one of the best in the series.
Where it stands now, it might as well have been the build up to an entirely different show. That makes sense considering all the characters have turned into people I almost can’t route for fighting a threat I still don’t completely understand. Maybe it’s just so I won’t miss the show went it inevitably ends this month. I suppose there are worse ways to go.
