STANDOUT EPISODE | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (S05E14)
There’s no turning back in this brutal and damaging instalment of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
We should have known that with the warm and fuzzies still lingering from Fitz and Simmons’ glitch-free wedding a few weeks back, that the writers would be itching to put our two star-crossed lovers through the wringer. And boy oh boy, did this week’s episode hurt.
Last week, the team secured the gravitonium they needed to close the rift from hell; and this week in ‘The Devil Complex’, Fitz and Simmons came face-to-face with one of their greatest fears manifested.
SPOILER ALERT!
The episode kicks off with yet another fear dimension phantom. In a call-back to season three, an apparition of Will Daniels (the astronaut that Simmons shacked up with while stranded on Maveth) manifests somewhere on the lower levels of the Lighthouse. Simmons is able to shoot the anomaly to death in short order, but in retrospect, a vision of the astronaut who threw a wrench in Fitzsimmons’ relationship should have been more than enough warning for the newlyweds (and fans) of the events that would unfold.
Fitz is in the control room stressing out over his inability to come up with a solution to the fear dimension breach. And it’s just one thing after another, as two lower level security cameras suddenly short out. When Daisy goes to check them out, Fitz finds himself face-to-face with his Framework counterpart, who declares: “I’m here to do what you are unwilling to do” – that doesn’t sound good.
With the ever-present possibility of some anomaly leaking in from the fear dimension, it’s not all that surprising when The Doctor from the Framework manifests into reality. Turns out, he’s come up with a solution of his own to close the breach, and it involves Daisy. He believes her powers are the missing key to controlling the gravitonium, so he sends one of Hale’s reprogrammed robots to abduct her. He also knocks out Deke and sends another robot to keep the rest of the team occupied, injuring Mack in the process.
The Doctor now has Daisy strapped down and prepped on an operating table for a non-elective surgery, to remove the power inhibitor from her neck. Fitz, on the verge of a mental breakdown, pleads with the Doctor not to hurt Daisy and the two Fitz’s debate back and forth… until Daisy asks Fitz who he’s talking to. Once Simmons bursts in, the truth is revealed and it’s one that delivers a rock-solid gut punch.
There is no Doctor, and there never was. It’s not Framework Fitz. It’s not a manifestation of Fitz’s worst nightmare. It’s Fitz himself. With his old brain injury, his experiences within the Framework, and the weight of the world on his shoulders; Fitz has finally snapped. He needs a dark edge to do what he thinks is necessary to close the rift, and he finds that dark edge in his HYDRA persona. And the moment Simmons walks in to find Fitz talking to himself, with Daisy hysterical and bleeding, is brutal.
Fitz, ignoring the tearful pleas of Simmons and Daisy, channels his inner Doctor and removes Daisy’s inhibitor from her neck in a move that could permanently paralyse her. Daisy makes it clear that she’ll never forgive him; and when he doesn’t paralyse her, Fitz shoots her up with adrenaline to reactive her powers straight away. Daisy manages to manipulate the gravitonium to successfully close the rift; and once his plan is complete, Fitz kneels down and puts his hands behind his head, surrendering to arrest – but the damage has already been done.
Simmons tries to talk to Fitz in custody, but he refuses to accept her forgiveness, and admits that he doesn’t really know where they go from here. Understandably, Simmons is distraught but the faint silver lining to this is Deke. Through a beautifully-acted and touching sequence, he decides to break the cardinal rule of time travel and reveals that he’s their grandson. And while it does reassure Simmons that things will be okay in the end, even just for a moment, her only reaction is to throw up.
With everything else that’s going on, it’s easy to forget about this week’s B story. To find out more about General Hale’s plan, Coulson and May decide to go straight to the source. With the help of Piper, the pair manage to get her into custody but Hale reveals that it’s a trap. She’s working with Anton Ivanov (from Season 4), and her driver is actually Carl Creel in disguise – who just so happens to have an explosive strapped to himself. Hale has the upper hand, and with no other choice, Coulson strikes a deal to keep the rest of his team safe and goes with her as a captive.
In the episode’s stinger scene, Hale reports to her shadowy superiors who hand her a vial of odium. There’s no explicit comic connection so it’s still unclear who she’s working for, but they refer to themselves as the “the confederacy”, before chanting the all too familiar: “Hail Hydra”. ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ really won’t let HYDRA die, huh?
Nevertheless, ‘The Devil Complex’ easily takes its place as one of the series’ best.
The explosion of trust between Fitz and Daisy, and not to mention Fitz and Simmons, is a bitter pill to swallow, and you can’t help but wonder what the show is going to do with Fitz, and his relationships with the rest of the team, moving forward. Fitz’s greatest fear has made itself known in the most traumatising way possible and the toll of his psychological split isn’t just tearing his mind apart, it’s ripping his identity in two.
If Fitz is in fact suffering from a personality disorder, let's hope the show acknowledges and handles it like they handled his cerebral hypoxia.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Iain De Caestecker is phenomenal. ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ has pulled a few secret weapons out of its ensemble cast over the series, but none more easily or more consistently than De Caestecker. He’s been playing a haunted and damaged version of Fitz ever since the character was trapped at the bottom of the ocean, and continues to leave viewers speechless. After delivering some of his best performances on the show last season, he does his best work of the series here, playing a dual Fitz and breaking our hearts.
To nit-pick such a strong episode would be greedy, but it has to be said that the Hale B story just felt unnecessary. Not to undermine its own twists, because if it was any other week, they could have made for a solid episode; however, coupled with Fitz’s game-changing twist, everything else just fell short in comparison.
After tonight’s episode, the team are more broken than ever: Fitz is locked up, Yo-Yo and Mack are injured, Daisy is traumatised, Coulson is being held captive, Simmons is questioning her marriage, and May hasn’t been getting any screen time (I had to say it).
‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ isn’t pulling any punches with its most explosive and creative season to date; and with only eight episodes until the season finale, fans are waiting with bated breath to see where the show will take our dear agents next.
New episodes of ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ are updated weekly on Amazon Prime Video.
