Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Episode 17 Review: The Honeymoon
Kathleen Wiedel
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I think I’m starting to see why Earth blew up. There’s protecting your loved ones, and then there’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Episode 17.
It may sound cold to suggest that sacrifices must be made, especially when one’s close friends/favorite characters are at stake, but this is getting slightly absurd.
Look at Fitz’s reasons for fixing the infuser (AKA the “Will Doubtless Lead to Exploding Planet” device). There’s the space-time continuum malarkey (I think most of us agree that time will be changed by season’s end!), but there’s also the underlying “can’t let Simmons die” bit.
Yes, yes, it’s very easy to sit and make a judgment from my armchair. However, I was of the opinion that Hydra = bad. Therefore, doing something to help Hydra is also bad.
Fixing a device that Hydra expressly plans to use to create a being called “Destroyer of Worlds”? That they’re pretty sure destroys the world? That they wanted to blow up to stop precisely that?
That falls under “very bad.” Sure, Fitz and Simmons don't have the full details from Coulson about Hale's scheme, but they are well aware that the thing is Bad News.
In short, this means that Fitz is placing Simmons’ life above the lives of 7.6 billion or so other people. Most of whom have families, and friends, and loved ones. Worse, this isn’t nearly as much of an abstraction for them as it would be for most people. They’ve seen the future after all.
That being said, I rather enjoyed this episode while I was watching it. It had a lot of great moments. But it also required me to accept the characters making some rather poor decisions to move the plot forward.
One significant aspect I enjoyed was May calling out Daisy’s unreadiness to take leadership. And do you know what? May’s absolutely right.
Daisy’s got good intentions, but she’s reckless and doesn’t have nearly the experience she needs to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. Remember, she’s got less than six years under her belt, and leadership is more than jumping headlong into dangerous situations.
For one thing, her well-intentioned phone call for Talbot to his family resulted in him under Hydra compliance. Seriously, she thought that Hydra wouldn’t have possibly accounted for them following his escape with Coulson?
Furthermore, Daisy suffers from the same problem as Fitz does (and May, to an extent): the determination to save those she cares about at any cost.
When does that cost become too high? When the planet explodes?
Love played a key role throughout "The Honeymoon.”
May confessed her love for Coulson, for one, in probably the best moment of the night.
Coulson: Maybe I’m reckless. But if this *is* the end, better to go out doing something that matters.
May: No. You don’t get to make that decision alone. That decision is made with the people who love you!
Coulson: May!
May: And that’s me! *I* love you.
Coulson: [speechless]
May: I thought that would shut you up.
Though I have to admit that Simmons' idea of a good honeymoon made for entertaining casual danger dialogue:
Fitz: I’m sorry you never got the honeymoon you dreamed of.
Simmons: Nonsense! I’m protecting England from evil robots with the man I love.
Deke made a drugged and rambling confession that he really wanted to kiss Daisy (which is sort of weird given that he sold her to the Kree that one time).
And, alas, Hydra got to Talbot because his love for his family made him want to contact them. (Please, please don't kill Talbot in the next episode! Have him throw off the programming and kick Hydra backside!)
Even Ruby revealed that her mother is her weakness, and Ruby is hers. A perverted sort of love, but something strong enough for Ruby to simply lock Hale up instead of mince-meating her.
As this episode clearly demonstrated, love can become toxic and dangerous. Love isn’t about holding onto something or someone forever.
In part, it's about knowing when to let go. Maybe that’s a bit of what Future!Yo-Yo was talking about when she told Present!Yo-Yo to let Coulson die.
Perhaps "The Honeymoon" should be thought of as a case study in when love goes wrong. We'll just have to wait and see how far things go for Team Coulson.
Some final notes before I turn the discussion over to you:
- Fitz wasn’t kidding when he said Simmons has “come a long way.” Remember Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 6, when she jumped out of the Bus?
- ”Killing” Ivanov disabled all the mechs nearby. Maybe they learned their networking technology from the Chitauri (See: The Avengers).
- The infusion chamber looked a lot like the device used to turn Steve Rogers into Captain America. I doubt this is a coincidence.
- There were some great lines in this episode (Talbot and Coulson are The Best); stop by our Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. quotes page for some of them!
- Perhaps Daisy should review Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Episode 16 for a few basic pointers on command.
- Watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. online to relive the action, adventure, and romance.
Be sure to return after Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Episode 18, "All Roads Lead..." airs on Friday, April 20, 2018, at 9/8c on ABC.
In related news (minor spoiler alert), the season finale, ominously titled "The End," has been scheduled for May 18, 2018.
Related: Get CBS All Access via Amazon Channels for Hit Shows, Exclusive Originals & Live TV!
What did you think of "The Honeymoon" and the role love played in the various plotlines? Will the relationships between the characters spell doom for the whole planet?
Join in the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments section below!
