#not sure but might be a bit anti-deke even if i do like him | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

saltyaos · 6 years ago

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a loooong meta about lots of things I hated about 5x14 and what happened next, starting with the speech Deke gave Jemma, and while I did appreciate the grandson trying to comfort the grandmother, in the context of this tvshow, of the couple, to me it was incredibly toxic so keep in mind this is anti-fitzsimmons, anti what they did to Fitz lately, anti what they did to Jemma in s5 too, anti Deke and Fitz’s relationship

@whistlingwindtree asked me to confront Deke’s speech to Jemma and his talk with Fitz in the next episode, but there is so much I hate that I extended it. But because it literally turned into a giant of 5000+ words I’m going to cut it in 3 different posts and then probably not being able to write for like three days because it took me hours, but at least I vented a lot (because like I said before, this reminds me of personal life issues and I couldn’t get out of that mindset)

these are points I want to touch, in bold are the ones in this post

-the speech itself (post 1) -Jemma can never break for the rest of her life (post 1) -all her friends are more Fitz's friends than hers except maybe Daisy who was in the middle (post 1) -Fitz and Deke and the grandparent grandson stereotype -Deke's speech to Fitz -what happened after that: mental breakdown or bad friendship because the husband comes first? (post 1) -Jemma and Fitz were supposed to reverse gender stereotypes but if I look at s4 and s5 all I see is gender stereotypes, tv stereotypes and not much of their fundamental traits and quirks left (will be in my third post)

part 1 post/180449275812/a-loooong-meta-about-lots-of-things-i-hated-about

[this is part 2]

[part 3 will be linked here]

disclaimer: this is how I interpreted things, I’m not claiming it to be the Truth. I also wrote what I think the reasons behind their actions are. Reasons, not justifications. They didn’t happen out of nowhere.

part 3 will probably be posted tomorrow, it needs revising.

Fitz and Deke and the grandparents-grandson stereotype

this is more in reference to my previous post, I want to put my context before I go to the speech. whistlingwindtree feel free to jump to the next point.

now here’s the thing. I like Deke as a character, but if Fitz had been framed as hating him because protective of Daisy, if they had fought about it, it would have been fine by me, obviously. (a much better fight than the canon ones too:

Fitz accusing him of selling Daisy out,

Deke pointing out that given that they now know Kasius had bombs everywhere, if Daisy had marched in and taken Jemma away, Kasius would have anticipated his plan of demanding people back or blowing the lighthouse up, and they wouldn’t have been ready back then because they had just arrived and humanity would have died,

and Fitz pointing out that she could have quaked Kasius into pieces, killed all the Krees with her powers without having to get anywhere near them

and Deke retorting that 1) he didn’t know Daisy back then as anything but the destroyed of world and he had no reason to believe she’d care for the people there at all, just for her friends, since she didn’t listen to his attempts to explain how things worked there, and 2) Kasius’ brother and the other krees would have destroyed everything later. They only had the chance to win when at the very end they found a way to make humans escape on a spaceship.

And then Fitz telling him he couldn’t have predicted they’d ever make it out anyway and he should just own he did something horrible to Daisy and there is no justification for it. He can’t stand behind near a man who gives up and wants to keep status quo like that

Deke pointing out he regretted it so much he was ready to die to give them a chance to go home because now he knows Daisy would have fought for his people too but he’s not a mind-reader and when he tried to tell her people would immediately die she ignored him. And so on.

See that? a legit reason to fight and disagree, and less dickery

and after 5x14 Deke asking Fitz if he still feels like judging him that much since he seems to have adopted the: sacrifice one for many frame of mind too, and them fighting over THAT)

but I digress

what I saw in s5 was Fitz being angry at Deke’s childlike interest in the world, and inappropriateness, even though Deke came from a dystopian society where he was a slave himself, and his constant dislike for Deke seemed a bit too much to begin with, but after 5x14 had me go ‘really? you are in no place to say ‘Deke is the worst’. So I was already on the fence about this relationship. I didn’t find anything about it cute. You can say all you want about Fitz being under-stress but it was in a context in which everyone was doing their best to help, Fitz was isolating himself and snapping at the newest arrival, and can you imagine if he had been like that with Hunter in s2? Come on. It didn’t feel like Fitz anymore and it was on the heels of all the Doctorness. It felt like the typical male character that annoys me. And yes, I put male particularly there because female characters aren’t allowed to be like that without having to go through all kinds of redemption soon after or being ‘put in their places’. Jemma has been mean to people before, and has been demonized for it or it has been written off or gone unnoticed because it didn’t fit the typical bubbly scientist role they try to fit her in nor the sad but a bit cold one misreading of her from s2 either.

(also... why weren’t the gravitonium expert Deke, also a computer genius able to re-program the framework in a world with no books or tech, grandfather and genius grandmother working together on the rift again?? To make Fitz even more of an isolated struggling protagonist?

Again, it reminds me of the (always male) genius who snaps at people and is tormented stereotype that bores me so much and that is SO NOT Fitz. It’s Sherlock. It’s doctor House. it’s Wells. It was never Fitz. I loved Fitz for being different.)

But watching the flashforward when Robin remembered her past in the Lighthouse, and Fitz furious because Robin predicted Jemma’s death, and ripping projects there, and Robin and May stepping back and kinda instinctively protecting each other from his anger adds up to this and gives me horrible vibes. That’s now how Fitz should have been even in the Lighthouse, and yet that is the same Fitz from a universe where yes, 5x14 happened, and then the world ended, and Jemma supposedly supported him and he was the best man their daughter know. He was sweet with his daughter, I’m sure. But damn, if the context isn’t fighting to make me side-eye that too.

It just made me so uncomfortable on many levels. They are all under horrible stress all the time, but Jemma is supposed to be nice about it, and Fitz is the grumpy-mean grandfather who snaps at a grandson who already had a bad relationship with his own dad too? Nice grandma who tries to calm down angry grandpa, and angry grandpa who doesn’t want the grandson there? A negative cliché that I hate.

Deke’s speech to Fitz

Deke’s characterization was all over the place, depending on the writers of the episode. And this takes the cake. Deke was shown so UNCOMFORTABLE and unhappy during 5x14, he was also clinging to the fact that the stories his mother told him were real, he needed to believe that.

Fitz: I don't see it. None of you looks like me. Deke: Well, I don't know what to tell you, Grandpappy. I guess your daughter found a real man. Fitz: Of all people. Why couldn't it be Flint? I liked Flint. Deke: Well, that's a lovely sentiment. That's almost as loving as when you had a robot point a gun to my head. Fitz: I didn't want to hurt anybody. Deke: It's fine. It's the first move you made that actually made me respect you a little bit. It's my kind of move. And this place, 80 years from now, I'd survived on moves like that. 'Cause it was kill or be killed. I know Johnson's still mad at me about the whole "selling her into slavery" thing, but you got to play the long game, or else the whole world is gonna be a vacancy, right? Fitz: Maybe. Deke: And you say you don't see the resemblance?

... WHAT?

here’s what I’m thinking: on one hand 1) Deke had at some point been a believer until he lost everyone 2) he was clearly in awe of his mother and her stories about his hero grandpa 3) his ‘long game’ was keeping humanity alive, and he thought he had to go against Daisy for it, like:

Deke: You are about to walk into a buzzsaw. Daisy: You're just worried it's gonna blow back on you. Deke: This has nothing to do with me! If you pick a fight with the Blues, they are gonna take it out on all of us. Today's Renewal was for three people. Tomorrow could be for 30. Death comes easy here. Daisy: Which is why I need to get to Simmons now. So if I were you, I'd get out of my way. Deke: You already destroyed the world once. I am not gonna let you do it again. (gets quaked into a wall)

and by the last Lighthouse-episode he had seen who they truly were and chose to die to let them go home, in the hope they might save humanity instead, so he had changed his mind.

on the other hand: it’s bad enough that Fitz has done what he did, that the writers had Deke do what he did too, did they need to DRAG DAISY again to write them into another fight? Same show in which Jemma didn’t get to say anything about the time when she got tortured, not about when she was recently enslaved/mistreated/touched/humiliated and used in whatever way Kasius wanted? Same show in which Daisy was also tortured and didn’t get to say a word about it, nor she got to talk about how she was also used by Kasius as a fighting tool, operated on against her will, blackmailed using her friend against her?

So what happened here? That speech to Fitz was like him slipping back to asshole because of the bad influence? He was disliked and reacted hiding behind dickery (which doesn’t excuse bringing up so lightly that he sold Daisy out, but this is not the point I’m making here)?

and I’m not saying Deke wasn’t acting like a dick in the first episodes, mind you, but the way he goes from one attitude to another makes me feel like the dick one is a mask to survive and be less hurt, and in this case to be approved by grandpa

What I also mean is that this speech to Fitz takes like twenty terrible turns and I don’t know what the writers were trying to convey anymore, and that I feel it all starts from Fitz.

Were the writers trying to say that Fitz was so horribly wrong that of course the guy who had to ‘kill or be killed’ his whole life and did all kinds of bad things would relate to it and make Fitz feel bad? That they were both right about doing what’s necessary? The end justifies the means? (no, not always, even the 100 knows that)

Or were they willingly writing some toxic masculinity type of ‘grandson who just got physically and emotionally hurt by grandfather tries to make him angrier because that seems to be the only way to be respected by that kind of grandfather, and agrees with his actions to get some approval from him without even realizing it’? which is actually my theory except they didn’t think it’s toxic masculinity just like they didn’t think Alistair was abusive to Fitz? because honestly. Fitz blurting out he wanted Flint to be his grandson and all that has to be hurtful, it WAS hurtful, and when Deke speaks about it being a ‘lovely sentiment’ the sarcastic voice and expression are the same mask/defense mechanism that he used in the Lighthouse. Fitz keeps openly disliking him literally the first time he sees Deke after knocking him out really hard and then keeping a gun aimed at him and keeping him hostage. It’s also why Deke is trying to hurt him back pointing out his mother married a real man (and we know Deke disapproved of his father, it was clear in the way they talked with the other Lighthouse old guy about how the Lighthouse changed people, including his father, he was saying whatever he could to hit back)

hell, Deke switches and calls Daisy ‘Johnson’ like he’s some cool guy who barely knows her even though he’s been calling her Daisy the whole time, just to reach Fitz with that attitude. They are ‘strong men’ in this speech. They don’t let feelings get in the way. Fitz points out he didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I’m sure he didn’t, but he also later refused to let Jemma die even if it meant the end of the world, so he did have limits, and in a way he must know he hurt Daisy that much, so what the hell are they really talking about? I can see how people can interpret it as Deke actually just pretending to be nicer, but since we were shown scenes of Deke being alone or kinda unseen and still being all childlike and/or interested in Daisy, and also because of the change of tone and body language around Fitz, I can only see toxic masculinity spurred on by a grandfather who hates him. Deke already had unhealthy ways to react to begin with.

i can also see Deke trying to show Fitz their resemblance as an attempt to bond because he’s that desperate for grandpa’s approval... or as a punishment for grandpa who dislikes him so much, show him he’s not that different because fuck him.

Of course after that Deke is seen saying whatever he needs to say to his grandma too to get her approval, about Daisy being a hardass and all, and then he apologizes to Daisy for being late and all that and it’s shown Daisy doesn’t know what he’s talking about so maybe instead he was imagining things about Daisy because flustered?

Were the writers maybe trying to make me dislike both men at the same time, while I was already feeling repulsed by the arc they were giving Jemma?

Jemma gets a speech about how she has to keep being the lovely kind understanding wife, Fitz gets a speech about how it’s kill or be killed in this world. Jemma is there to be supportive, Fitz is the one who acts one way or another. He’s supposedly in control enough not to hurt Jemma and she can totally trust that their love will keep him from doing anything to her while also not responsible for his action because mentally ill, but after 5x14 he seemed perfectly fine, as if it was just a temporary window in his life. What?

and the deleted scene where Deke hugs him and Fitz can’t wait to get out of it?

this is not a ‘funny’ grandfather who doesn’t want to admit he likes his grandson moment, this is adult grandson who lost both parents at a very young age and never made up with his dad tried to bond with grandfather who hated him and kept hating him and gave him one last hug in case he died which the grandfather really disliked, and grandson even tried to bond over by acting as if he didn’t care about Daisy, that’s how much he was acting there, it was unnatural, and it was okay to sell her out, after all grandpa is the kind who would point a gun at him and sweet grandma so he can operate on Daisy, who is tied up to a table. Same grandpa who said he didn’t want to hurt anyone but also thought it was the ONLY option and therefore never regretted it.

Why the hell did Fitz look almost upset when Deke commented that meeting his grandparents wasn’t that great after he spent the entire season disgusted by Deke?

So what. What were the writers doing?

I’m supposed to compare these two speeches, the one Deke gave Jemma and the one he gave Fitz, but it’s like they are different people, talking about also different people, two different Fitzes who bring out different sides of Deke.

There is nothing not toxic about this. Deke feeling the need to act all macho to impress Fitz and talking about disgusting things like they are okay, Fitz so openly insulting Deke again and again even after speaking to Jemma about him, their characterizations changing every episode and making people feel like they don’t know what is really going on (Fitz doesn’t want to hurt anyone vs Fitz bringing up that Daisy ‘betrayed’ them too when she is angry at him vs Fitz showing he’s regretful with his facial expressions to Daisy and saying he didn’t have a choice vs Fitz telling Jemma that he still thinks it was the right thing to do vs Fitz looking at Jemma like she’s insane when she says that maybe it was the right thing to do vs him being annoyed about being locked up as if he’s not hallucinating and cutting people open because he thinks it’s the right solution without even trying to talk to them first vs Fitz being unable to look at Jemma in the eyes). The writers writing Jemma in the position of the good wifey through Deke’s speech in a way that means she really spent her life like that.

What is science, by the way, she’s sure as hell not the analytical and weird scientist she was before, not if you listen to these speeches. Deke’s speech to comfort Jemma is about Fitz. Deke’s speech with Fitz is him trying to show to Fitz that they can both do horrible things when they think it’s for the right reason so he shouldn’t be on a high horse.

Everything is horrible.

#anti leo fitz #anti fitz #anti fitzsimmons #not sure but might be a bit anti-deke even if i do like him #certainly anti fitz and deke's relationship #anti aos

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agl03 · 5 years ago

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Deke deserves the "contempt" as you call it that the team is giving him. His actions have shown he's still the selfish person from the future and now he's trying to protect a serial killer.

Hi Anon,

I think you’ve sent me a few asks along the anti Deke lines and I’ve kept deleting them but I’ve had a long week full of a lot of pain and now some of the really good drugs so I’ll respond just this once.

If you are anti Deke feel free to unfollow me right now, because I love his character, love the Fitzsimmons Family, and hope I am right about the arc he/they are on right now.

Has he made mistakes, yes.

Has he made some stupid decisions, yeap.

Has he been thrown into the field with absolutely no training and expected to live up to the bar his grandparents set, yeap.

Will he make more mistakes in the future, absolutely.

But so has every single person on the team. It’s part of the show and part of how they grow.

Deke grew up in a completely different environment than anyone else on the team did. Nearly every moment was focused on survival, literal survival and not being killed over the smallest of things by another Human or a Kree, with few to watch his back.

Had he known what had happened to Fitz, he would have stayed to help. But Jemma was the one who chose not to tell him initially because she wanted him to have a chance to have a normal life and couldn’t see too far past finding Fitz herself.

Alone in a new world Deke quickly figured out what he needed to get ahead and be safe/secure was Money. And very quickly figured out a way to do that. Again, it might not have been the best way of doing it but he was trying to help people too. He was working on solutions like making sure people didn’t go hungry. This to me is similar to Daisy’s work the the Rising Tide. She was outing Shield Secrets and agents from her van when they first found her. She was doing what she thought was the right thing.

I don’t think it was fair for him to be kept in the dark once he was back with Shield about Fitz’s death, that should have been one of the first things he was told. Nor do I think it was fair how he was forced out into the field with no training and expected to perform as a trained agent would in a high pressure situation with the person that had tried to murder him not long ago.

As we saw last week one of his major motivations was making his grandparents, making Fitz proud. He couldn’t wait to show off what he’d done. Spend time with them. And grow closer as a family. He’s been so desperate for a family his entire life and he finally has one. In Fitz he finally has that positive Father figure that he never had and I desperately hope is an arc they explore between the two.

Deke could have easily been drawn in by someone like a morally grey Radcliffe and used as Fitz was in Season 4.

I also don’t think this set up is an accident. Over the seasons we have seen Fitz lose and/or get betrayed by people who got close to him. Ward and Radcliffe stand out as some of the most brutal of betrayals because Fitz saw them as family figures. Especially Radcliffe, he’d finally had that father figures who supported him and celebrated his mind. He lost Coulson who was the closest thing to a positive father figure he’s had, even more he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.

Now the dynamics have shifted and it’s Fitz’s turn to be the father figure an mentor. And I am here for that with bells on.

With Snowflake, that are both a chaotic energy and it’s not like Shield hasn’t fallen for, worked with, or given a former baddie a second chance before. Just last season, Daisy was telling Hale she wanted to recruit Ruby and try to help her find the right path after she’d cut off Elena’s arms and had Fitzsimmons as hostages.

Snow is going to be a bit lost here now. She’s lost her team that has been like her family for years in a matter of hours. She was betrayed by her leader and Sarge seemed like her mentor and left for dead. Even worse she is quickly going to find out Jaco’s sacrifice will have been in vain and Izel made it to earth.

I am not sure where she will ultimately fall but the fact that Deke is continuing to fight for her and cares for her will go a long way in what is to come for her. This is very much a parallel to Fitz trusting Radcliffe in Season 4.

Deke is socially awkward because he didn’t have a normal childhood and we’ll we’ve seen his grandparents flirt. I do think more time with Nana and Bobo and getting settled into a more normal life, well as normal as Shield gets, will have a massive impact on him as the Season’s progress.

A little bit of comfort, reassurance, and respect goes a long ways in helping someone who is scared, overwhelmed and out of their comfort zone. Imagine if Mack, May, and Daisy treated Deke like the team treated Skye when she first joined the team and how big of a difference that would have made right out of the gate.

So I”m very happy for him to have some time with the thing Deke wants and honestly needs the most right now, his family.

It’s fine to not like a character and it’s fine to disagree with me. But please don’t sent this kind of stuff to me again because I will not hesitate to block. It’s not going to change my mind just as I doubt this meta will change yours.

#aos spoilers #please don't send me negatively I don't want or need it #Everyone can enjoy the show and the characters they want too #I am excited for the FItz/Deke arc

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unaugmentedmonkeyscantfly · 6 years ago

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Muse: Agent Leopold James Fitz, PhD

What Is Your Muse’s Blood Type: O+ How Do You think Your Muse Handles Rejection?: Outwardly, he’s very gracious and understanding. Inwardly, he can nurse a grudge. What Makes Your Muse Jealous?: Being left out or not even considered over someone with less qualifications (including but not limited to significant others of love interests) What’s A Bad Habit Your Muse Has?: Self-depreciation. A Prized Possession Of Your Muse: The astrophotography poster he’s had since he was a pre-teen. Any Medical Conditions?: Oh boyo. Anoxic temporal lobe injury (probably not limited just to there but eh) aggravated by severe psychological trauma and multiple things stemming from it, including but not limited to: depression, anxiety, hallucinations, motor control problems (mostly trained away by now), aphasia, fatigue, and in rare cases psychosis. PTSD symptoms are also present although he mostly attributes those to the brain injury rather than to the trauma. {in a couple of AUs, the injury that took his life in canon was lower and either crippled or severed his left leg.}

Questions for the Muse to Answer

What’s Your Favorite Color: “Blue-grey, like the sky when i’s about to rain.” What’s Your Favorite Food: “I’m a simple bloke. Apart from Jemma’s mozzarella an’ prosciutto with a hint of pesto aioli, pretty much anythin’ you could find in a pub would do me fine.” Skiing or Snowboarding?: “They both sound cold an’ miserable and way too easy to break a limb or get caught in an avalanche.” Worst Injury You Ever Got?: “Well, I mean...I would have to consider the brain injury to be well above an’ beyond the time I got shot by a Kree, or the time I got my arms broken.” Early Riser or Sleep in?: “It is extremely rare for me to want to get up before the roosters stop makin’ their awful crowin’.” Video Games or Books?: “They both have a time when I’ll prefer them, it all depends on what I’m feeling like and what books.” Something That Makes You Cry?: “Most everything these days, either happy cry or sad cry.” Someone You Hate? Why?: “Ssssssso...there’s this bloke, and he did some bad stuff, tortured Inhumans, dictator, blah blah, crimes against humanity, without a shred of emotion about it. Him. I hate him.”

Phobias: “Drowning. And I wouldn’t call it a phobia, but I very much did not like looking out into space with nothing else around and only a thin membrane of what I assume was glass between me and certain death.” (also, to a point, claustrophobia and blood. And parasites.)

Favorite Soda?: “Irn Bru, what is this, a citizenship test?” Favorite Drink in General?: “Tea with two sugars an’ a bit of milk. Or maybe beer.”

What Did You Have For Breakfast?: “Some sort of MRE that was down here, I think it was supposed to be grits and bacon or some other very American dried nonsense.” When in the Shower What Do You Wash first?: “My face, while my hair’s soaking.” 3 Items in Your Top Drawer?: “Packets of crisps, socks, and an improvised divider to keep them separate.” What Kind of Underwear Do You Have on Right Now?: “Boxer briefs, not that i’s any of your business.” Stockings or Leg Warmers?: “Uh...for me, or are we talkin’ what I like to see on other people?” Superhero Name: “I dunno, it would depend on whatever powers there are. I can’t go around callin’ myself Captain Underpants an’ then my power is heat vision.” (There are verses where he has powers, and thus names, but not in mainverse.) Super Villain Name: “I’d rather not have that conversation.” (The Doctor. Obviously.) Song you are listening to right now?: “Deke yammering on.” Worst Job Ever?: “Military prisoner.” Best Job Ever?: “Highly acknowledged genius who people had to bribe people to get on their team.” What’s Your Type?: “Intelligent, kind, usually brown-eyed brunettes but one had blue eyes, confident in her abilities, and a sharp dresser.” When Giving Spankings, I Use: “Nothing. I am vehemently opposed to spanking in any context.” Ever Been Thrown Out A Window? Why?: “I feel like at some point I probably was considered someone worth tossing out a window, but i’s never happened.” Do Dogs Randomly Sniff You?: “First off, dogs don’ normally randomly sniff anyone. It just seems random to us because our olfactory senses aren’t as keen, so we have no idea what scent they’ve found interesting.” What’s Under Your Bed Right Now?: “Jemma does a damn good job makin’ sure I don’t accidentally store things under there..” What Kind of Drugs Are You On?: “Anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, an Alzheimer’s drug, and I think Jemma’s looking at anti-psychotics.” Last Person To Give You An Orgasm?: “Jemma.” {ct: temple of unrequited love: “Yeah, I’m not, I don’t wanna talk about that.”} Do You Regret What You’ve Done?: “A lot of it.” Your Best Pick-up Line: “I don’t...have those.” Any Roommates?: “In the traditional sense of people who share a living space with common areas, pretty much everyone I work with. In the literal sense of people with whom I share a bedroom, just Jemma. And I don’t especially want that to change.” Are they Sexy?: *awkward stammering* “In the right circumstances.” {ct: temple of unrequited love: “I don’t...find...there’s not...ehm...”}

Would You Steal a Kiss from them?: “Theft is wrong. I might surprise her with it, should it be appropriate.”

Choose Between

Boxers or Briefs: “Hybrid.” Panties or Thongs: “Neither, not on me, thanks.” Coke or Pepsi: “I haven’t done an objective comparison.” Dominant or Submissive: “Go fuck yourself.” Dogs, Cats, or Both: “Dogs.” (although he does want a precious little Scottish Fold kitten to look after) C4 or Dynamite: “They both have uses, I can’t answer that without context and details.” Catch Phrase or One-Liners: “Definitely one-liners.” Day or Night: “Day.” Star Wars or Star Trek: “You can’t categorize them in the same sentence. One’s pure fantasy in a space setting, the other is military-styled exploration. That’s like comparing apples and tomatoes. Yes, they’re both fruits, with some similarities, but they’re more different than they are alike.” Spanking or Whipping: “Neither of those, since the way this is phrased is asking for a sexual situation. I hope. Because it’s either that or you’re talking about discipline, and we do not have time for that conversation.” Cake or Pie: “Cake if we’re just eating it alone, but pie if we’ve got vanilla ice cream.” Zombies or Vampires?: “Both are terrifying possibilities. Zombies make the better video games, though.”

tagged by @jemmaqueenofspace

#bio #cp: the invincible three

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metawitches · 7 years ago

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This week, SHIELD goes back to its roots as a spy organization, and does some legwork that the Black Widow would be proud of. It’s a quieter, more light-hearted episode after last week’s emotional roller coaster ride, but family and loss are still themes. Deke figures out who his grandparents are and remembers his beloved mom, while Mack reaffirms that he’s not going to think of Elena as a robot just because she has robot arms. In the run up to Infinity War and Thanos, the show also brings up familial abuse, both as physical abuse and as the abuse of power. Hale becomes a stand-in for Thanos, and her team, especially Ruby, become alternates for Thanos’ children.

And Werner von Strucker is back! He’s still institutionalized, but out of his Ward-induced vegetative state and being threatened with heavy doping via Thorazine. He’s also using his favored alias of Alex Braun, but his therapist seems to know his full history and identity anyway.

His therapist wants Werner to show motivation toward making progress in therapy by revealing as much information about his past as possible, so that Werner can avoid the thorazine. Werner, however, has developed powers after being trapped in a particular memory in the memory recall machine while in a persistent vegetative state, then being shocked out of the memory loop by Lincoln Campbell zapping Werner with inhuman electrokinetic powers.

Now Werner remembers everything that’s ever happened to him, and every detail of his surroundings, no matter how small. He also seems to have enhanced senses, though I’m not sure Werner realizes that yet (or the writers 😉). He read the small type on an envelope in the trash from across the room, and heard the other side of a phone conversation through a wall. That’s not normal hearing or vision, and may be part of why he’s so out of control. Both hypersensitivity and psychic powers have a long tradition of driving people mad until they get a handle on their powers.

Werner spills personal information about the doctor, laced with threats, then stabs the doctor in the hand with a pen. Werner must hit the major blood source to the hand, because blood pours out like it’s a major head wound. Then he asks for the thorazine, because SHIELD left him a tormented, mismanaged soul. Thugs orderlies drag him out of the room.

Yoyo is improving, with all of her vitals having stabilized in normal range now. Jemma, and especially Mack, are still hovering though, and Yoyo is becoming a very cranky patient. Coulson arrives to check on Yoyo, and Jemma asks about his health. He gets a little cranky with her. SHIELD agents are really terrible patients.

Coulson tells Yoyo that Fitz is going to create the best arms ever for her, but they need to get arm parts for her first, so it’ll take a bit of time. In the meantime, she should rest. He’s the third person in three minutes to tell her to rest, and she hasn’t even attempted to get out of bed, poor kid.

Coulson tries to cheer Yoyo up a little by showing off his own cool robot arm, but Yoyo cuts him off by asking if it feels the same. He has to admit that it doesn’t really feel. Maybe Fitz can get on that in all of his downtime between projects.

Elena asks Mack. “How are you going to feel about dating someone with robo parts?” Mack answers, “Those aren’t the parts that matter.” Jemma “Mind in the Gutter” Simmons is scandalized, her thoughts on only one thing now that she’s a newlywed, and misinterprets what he said. Mack explains that he meant that robots don’t have hearts and souls like people do. Everyone agrees that it was a nice save, then Jemma enforces Elena’s need for rest and shoos them out. Elena requests a beer as Mack leaves.

Out in the hall, Fitz brings warnings of doom and gloom. The tiny amount of Gravitonium that they used to seal the rift was really only enough for a band aid. It’s beginning to fail already, so they need to find more, quickly. Fitz wants to put the entire team on the Gravitonium problem, but Mack wants Yoyo’s arms to be a priority as well, so that she can get back into action.

Daisy has solved the issue of priorities, or rather, Ian Quinn has. His company, Cybertek, was the last known location of the stored Gravitonium, and also created the Deathlok technology for Mike Peterson’s advanced prosthetics. Unfortunately, Ian Quinn is missing, his coconspirator Raina is dead, and Cybertek was dissolved. All of its scientists have mysteriously had death certificates signed in the last 2 years by a photo shy guy with a lot of aliases, the most useful being Murray Jacobson. They need to talk to Jacobson about Quinn’s supposedly deceased Gravitonium scientist, Dr Joseph Getty, so it’s off to Baton Rouge, where Jacobson was most recently sighted.

Deke enters the room and Fitz bristles. When did Fitz start to dislike Deke so much? Coulson wants Deke there, because he has the most experience with Gravitonium, and it gives the writers an opportunity to throw out explanations of stuff from previous seasons, like who Ian Quinn is (season 1 tech billionaire/villain with close ties to HYDRA).

They make their plans to go find Jacobson, leaving under cover of darkness. Daisy invites herself along, so that she can keep an eye on Coulson. Coulson orders Deke to help Fitz work on plans to solve the rift. Fitz balks that he’s not a babysitter. Fitz is being very unFitzlike this week.

Werner wakes up in Hale’s compound, and wanders down the hall of closed doors to find a communal dining hall. He snags something to eat and sits down. Then Ruby enters, earbuds in her ears, grabs a snack, and leaves again, all while pretending Werner, who’s yelling questions at her, doesn’t exist.

The SHIELD team was supposed to be getting a change of scenery, so of course they find, and chase, Jacobson in a parking garage. Guns are drawn, threats are made, but then Mack and Jacobson recognize each other as Candy Man and Mackhammer. They were roommates freshman year at the SHIELD Academy. Daisy even pulls up yearbook photos. Jacobson is really Tony Caine, known as Candy Man because he was the guy who could get you anything, legal or not.

Back in those days, Mack was anti-violence and followed all of the rules. Together, Mack and Tony were known as the Saint and the Sinner, until Tony got thrown out of the Academy for skipping too much school and getting into trouble.

Coulson asks for more information about the connection between the Cybertek scientists and the death certificates Tony signed. Tony explains that they had a program similar to Operation Paperclip for HYDRA scientists after Winter Soldier. Anyone who was valuable enough got a new identity and a new life working for the US government. Tony gave them their new identity, and continues to be their handler. Tony agrees to take the Agents to Dr Getty.

Deke brings a baseball and mitt upstairs to the command center to try to get Fitz to take a break and play ball. Fitz is in serious scientist mode, and insists that he can’t take a break, no matter what. Deke’s appreciation of the 21st century eventually wears him down, and he condescendingly agrees to play fetch/catch for a few minutes. Just as they get started, the fear anomaly alarm goes off again. Fitz alerts the team, telling them to kill anomalies by any means necessary.

Jemma returns to Yoyo’s room to find her collapsing onto the floor. Yoyo says that she forgot for a moment that she doesn’t have arms anymore and tried to get up. 😭😭 She’s finally feeling the enormity of what happened to her and what her future self said to her. It’s probably not a coincidence that it’s while Mack is out on an op. She wants to be strong for him, but she needs to give in and experience these feelings sometimes, too.

Yoyo tells Jemma that she wants a future with Mack, kids and all, but the future looks so bleak, between her physical state and the unbreakable time loop. In her heart of hearts, she doesn’t believe it can be broken, since her future self was so desolate and certain, and everything Future Yoyo predicted is happening. Add in the enormous pain Yoyo is in, and the depressant effect of the painkillers, and she’s a basket case. Jemma comforts her and tries to be as optimistic as possible.

Tony and Mack take a moment to catch up. Tony can’t believe that his nonviolent friend is now one of America’s Most Wanted and carries a shotgun-axe. Mack explains that he knows a lot more about the dark underbelly of the universe than he used to, and somebody’s gotta protect the kids. Or words to that effect.

Coulson thinks he might have issues with Operation Paperclip- The Sequel Operation Let’s Find the New Arnim Zola Cause That Worked Out So Well the First Time, Just Ask Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers granting amnesty to evil HYDRA scientists. I can’t imagine why Captain America’s biggest fan would have a problem with this. It’s only how HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD in the 1940s, eventually took it over completely, then almost took over the world. It’s not like Coulson and his team were on the front lines as SHIELD fell to HYDRA at the end of season 1. Oh wait, that was them. Yeah, bringing home any HYDRA scientists who weren’t working under the “incentive plan” is a very bad idea.

Then again, I never get tired of HYDRA showing up onscreen again, either. 🤷🏻‍♀️😘

Anywho, Daisy points out that Cybertek had an entire team devoted to keeping John Garrett, aka The Clairvoyant, alive. Maybe one of those doctors would have an answer for him. Coulson shuts the discussion down. He’s had one unnatural life extension, he doesn’t want another. As he makes his dramatic exit, Daisy and May look at each other and agree that there’s no way they’re letting him die.

They don’t plan to give Coulson a say in the matter. The guy who iced Daisy and forced her through the monolith really doesn’t have a leg to stand on as far as who makes these decisions. The team has always operated with the understanding that it’s better for them all to live, no matter what someone says or feels in the moment. The deal amongst them has always been that the core group keeps each other alive and brings each other home, no matter what the obstacles, no matter who seems like they’re dead or dying or evil. He can’t expect them to give up on that now, when it’s all they’ve got left.

Werner finds Ruby working out with a punching bag in the gym. She’s willing to talk this time, but is still cryptic. They’re in a safe house run by Mother (the way she says it sounds like Tony Perkins in Psycho), who will answer his questions when she feels like it.

After a moment, Werner recognizes Ruby as someone he played with as a child. She hit her head and got a deep cut once, and his father beat him for it. The story distracts Ruby enough for Werner to grab her and hold a knife to her throat. He demands to see Hale.

Mother Hale and her stormtrooper mechs make an entrance, surrounding Werner and Ruby and ordering him to release her. Hale tells Werner that the hospital was going to chemically lobotomize him, so she had him transferred to her facility. Werner says that maybe the lobotomy is what he wanted. He lets Ruby go as Hale greets him by name and says it’s good to see him again.

Hale says that she always hated Von Strucker, and HYDRA was such a boys club. She asks Werner what he remembers about what SHIELD did to him, and tells him that she creating a new world order something new here. She wants him to be part of it, but if he refuses, a car will take him wherever he wants to go in the morning. He’s free to go. It’s her gift to him.

Once Werner leaves for his room, Hale instructs Ruby to gain his trust in whatever ways necessary, but she’s to stick to the books and not go off the rails. Seduction is, of course, within the standard methodology.

Tony and Mack find Dr Getty, the Cybertek Gravitonium expert. He was working for Cybertek/HYDRA under the “incentive program”, meaning they threatened his family. Getty tells Mack that the Gravitonium was put on a cargo ship called the Principia, then sent to a facility in the Pacific, but it went down in a storm before it got there. It’s lost at the bottom of the ocean somewhere.

Fitz uses every kind of instrumentation available to search for the ship and the Gravitonium under the water, but they’re not there. He’s frustrated and even crankier than before. Jemma tries to relax him, noting that he hasn’t been sleeping. Deke is in awe of the sheer mass of water in the ocean. He asks what it’s like 5 miles under the surface, and if they can visit, until Fitz loses his temper again and shoves him out the door. On his way out, Deke reminds them that he’s never seen an ocean before, because they’d already blown up the world where he came from.

Jemma and Fitz take a short moment to admire Deke’s taste in wedding rings and flirt a little. Jemma thinks they should hyphenate their names. Fitz sarcastically notes that Simmons-Fitz doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

Deke goes down to the pantry storeroom to rummage around. He finds a case of Hostess Twinkies that’s probably been there since the 70s when the Lighthouse was stocked by Director Rick Stoner. The joke is that they are 45 years old and still just as fresh as ever. Deke loves them and wants to meet the chef that invented them.

Deke’s mom appears behind him as a surprisingly friendly fear anomaly. She’s a cute, insightful, supportive redhead. She wants to know all about how he’s settling in with his new friends, especially that cute Daisy girl. He should make an effort to get to know her- “The steps you take don’t need to be big, they just need to take you in the right direction.” She always said that to him, just like her mom said it to her.

But then Mom’s attitude turns dark and she reminds him that he shouldn’t get close to anyone, because he’ll just lose them anyway. And, oops, a Kree arrives and runs her through with his battle axe. Going to guess that watching her die was the fear part of the apparition. Deke fights and kills the Kree apparition.

Jemma finds Deke and tries to convince him to go back to control with Fitz so that he won’t be alone with a fear anomaly again, but Deke knows Fitz doesn’t like him. He goes into a rant that’s all anger and science, and talks himself right around to a solution to finding the Principia. He and Jemma race upstairs to tell Fitz.

Since the Principia was carrying a significant amount of Gravitonium, if it got hit by lightning it would lose its relationship with gravity. They should look for it up in the sky. Fitz does the math, and sends the potential coordinates to the rest of the team in the Zephyr, who easily find the flying boat. Tony is impressed, and the rest try to pass it off as an everyday occurrence, but they’re getting a kick out of a floating ship, too. Some things just never get old.

Werner wakes up from a nightmare (that’s really a memory of his father’s abuse) to find Ruby in his room. She tells him that everything that’s happened so far at Mother Hale’s Home for Powered People, everything, has been carefully planned to convince him to stay. She confesses that her mother wants her to keep flirting and even use her body to convince him to stay and join their cause. Ruby hopes that he’ll join her own personal cause of breaking free from her mother and forming their own team. He’s non-committal, and Ruby gives him until morning to figure it out. She let’s him know that sex is still an option if he makes the right choice.

In a high tech team effort, Coulson, Mack and Daisy board the Principia after the Zephyr drops them onto its deck while they’re in the containment pod. Davis, May and Tony stay on the Zephyr, ready to perform an emergency rescue should the Principia suddenly lose gravity. Fitz, Jemma and Deke monitor the operation from the Lighthouse. The remote groups watch the Principia team’s bodycam footage, and everyone’s on coms.

Coulson’s team searches the ship for the Gravitonium that must be keeping the Principia in the air. They find the ship’s dead crew first, on one of the upper decks. They don’t notice a mech coming to life as they walk away. Daisy finds the Gravitonium containment unit soon after, but it’s empty. Mack keeps looking, and quickly finds a softball sized hunk of Gravitonium floating free.

Deke instructs him to find a plastic box and capture the Gravitonium inside without touching it himself. Once Mack does that, they have 90 seconds before the Gravitonium’s gravity field dissipates and they drop 25,000 feet to the ground. Coulson makes a MackHammer/MC Hammer/science joke, saying, “MackHammer, U Can’t Touch That.” Coulson’s making Dad jokes now.

Infinity War Trailer! Thanos! Keep your hands off my Stevie! Killing national icons is not okay.

I should probably just set aside that whole weekend for emotions.

The Mech found a friend and makes Mack’s nightmares come true, attacking just when they have seconds remaining to get to the containment pod before the Principia drops into the ocean, potentially killing them through a combination of height and drowning. But it’s Hammer Time- yes, Mack went there- so he sends Coulson and Daisy ahead while he finishes off the mechs, then grabs a mech body to bring home as a useful souvenir, and runs for the pod.

Mother Hale is on her way to visit her powered charges again when her assistant informs her that the mechs on the Principia have come back online. The assistant suggests that they should have blown the Principia out of the sky when they had the chance, but Hale says that it was too risky. They didn’t know how the Gravitonium on board would react. It could have set the Ozone Layer on fire.

Something isn’t quite adding up with that conversation. Do they not know about Franklin Hall/Gravitron? Why would they have bothered to leave a small amount of Gravitonium behind and leave the ship in the air if they don’t have the rest of it/Franklin Hall/Gravitron, and need to hide evidence of what they’re doing?

The assistant is worried about who knows about the Gravitonium, but Hale already knows it’s SHIELD.

Tony had a great time hanging out with SHIELD. Before he leaves, he tells Mack, Coulson and May that he’ll find out what he can about the Deathlok program and what happened to its scientists. Is Tony a new recurring character? They do need to rebuild their network of suppliers and contacts, using people who operate outside or just straddling the law.

As Jemma gets Elena ready to go the command room to welcome everyone home from the mission, Elena apologizes for her moodiness the day before. Jemma understands, and tells her healing is a long, grueling process. She’s going to have rough days. Elena notices that Jemma has a piece of the monolith, the piece that was Deke’s family heirloom. When Elena asks about it, Jemma says she just felt like she should hang onto it in case of emergency. In case of emergency space or time travel? Or as a weapon?

Elena becomes more positive, deciding that they will change the timeline. Jemma agrees, and reminds Elena that she doesn’t need to rush. Jemma tells Elena, “The steps you take don’t need to be big. They just need to take you in the right direction.” Deke sees the monolith shard and overhears Jemma. He understands the implication that she ‘s his grandmother.

He’s totally thrown and stares awkwardly at Jemma and Fitz. When Coulson and the gang return, Fitz grudgingly calls for him to get back to science work. Deke mutters, “After you, Grandpa.”

Mack asks Yoyo to guess what he got her. She says, “I don’t know. I’m stumped.” Too soon? Nah, never too soon. He got her a couple of beers and a mech with intact robot arms, perfect for repurposing into Elena’s prosthetic arms. But is Jemma going to allow her to combine alcohol and painkillers???

Back at Mother Hale’s, Ruby finds Werner waiting for her in the mess hall. He tells her, “The future’s ours.” She takes him to meet Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man. Hale finds them all in the gym and asks Ruby how she convinced Werner to stay. Ruby enigmatically answers that she told him the truth.

Daisy mentions that, “The last time we saw the Gravitonium in this timeline was…”, which sounds like the Agents have moved to the multiverse/multitimeline view of time and time travel, or are at least getting there (or the writers are). Deke explained the theory of the multiverse way back in the beginning of the season, which makes me wonder now if the explanation was passed down from FitzSimmons, to his parents, to him.

At any rate, with multiverses and branching timelines, they don’t actually have to “break” the loop. The loop is like a circle continuously being redrawn over itself, without erasing what came before. The old timelines still exist, and won’t stop existing, no matter what changes are made in the future. It’s future versions of the timeline that will change- if the loop is repaired, the circle will become a straight line again from that point onwards, but the circular knot in the timeline that’s already been created would still be there, as would any other events that caused branching or looping to occur. They don’t need a big change to form a branch, a small change could do it, but this is TV, so it’ll be big.

More importantly, everything that happened previously will continue to exist in a separate timeline. Unlike Back to the Future, the timeline isn’t being rewritten or erased, we’re creating a new timeline with every pass through the loop, so anyone who time travels out of one loop into another, like Deke, will continue to exist when the repeating cycle is broken, because their own timeline won’t be affected.

I’ve never understood Coulson’s abject horror over how he was brought back to life. He essentially got a modified transfusion from an alien and some sort of electrical stimulation to his brain. What’s so terrible about that? We use drugs made from anything and everything we can get our hands on already, from mold and slime to deep sea creatures to rocks (minerals). Something from off planet is still part of our universe/greater environment. And that Kree was probably all natural and organic, nothing unnatural about him.

Or is the objection that it was painful and he was lied to afterwards? One the doctor was unrealistically upset afterwards, in my opinion. You don’t look at a happy, healthy patient and tell them that the procedure that saved their life was a mistake because it was painful. I live with pain every single day of my life. I’ve experienced trauma. Should I give up and die rather than deal with the pain and the memories? It seems like that’s what AoS’ message is about the TAHITI procedure.

The lies were a mistake, and Coulson has a right to be bitter about them, but that’s life with Nick Fury, and, honestly, life dealing with the medical-industrial complex. Welcome to the complexities of life with a chronic illness, Phil. You can’t always get a straight answer from your medical professionals and caseworkers. I suspect only healthy white people (men) expect that they always will.

So, Coulson is doing the same thing with his health that Daisy is with regards to her powers. They’re both afraid. He’s dealing with the fear of the horrific procedure he went through, the unprocessed trauma of the events from the first Avengers movie, and the loss of control that he experienced by having the TAHITI procedure done without his consent, then being lied to about it for months.

Daisy is afraid that she’ll end the world, and that fear is being fed by her memories of Hive and season 3. She’s afraid she’ll make the wrong decisions or be influenced by the wrong person again, and she doesn’t want the responsibility of her powers and having to control them at all times. Coulson’s pushing her toward leadership, when she’s not sure she can figure out who’s evil or good, or if she’s being manipulated. It’s easier for her to give up her powers so that she doesn’t have to deal with the ramifications of using them for the “wrong” purpose.

I wish we could get a Nick Fury cameo right about now to come in and tell both of them to get their acts together, the world needs them, their team needs them, and it’s time to be the heroes they’re both meant to be.

We’ve been rewatching season 1 lately, which has reminded me that I used to think of Daisy, Jemma and Fitz as the Muppet Babies. The babies have grown up so much. Deke has become a 4th Muppet Baby since he’s arrived in our present day. If there’s a season 6, I have a feeling it will be “The Muppet Babies Take Back the US Government (Again)”. Talbot and his amazing metaphors also need to come out of the coma and join our side, stat.

We need seasons 6 and 7 of Agents of SHIELD so that all of the dangling plot and character threads from seasons 2 and 3 can be revisited. That flashback structure worked for Arrow for 5 years, why not Agents of Shield? Plus, I really want to see Daniel Whitehall and Daisy’s mom and dad again, and for more than just a cameo.

If you haven’t watched them lately, a peek at season 1 episodes Pilot (1), FZZT (6), The Hub (7) and Seeds (12), which have a lot of bearing on the characterizations and callbacks we’re seeing this season. Seeds (12) also introduces Donnie Gill/Blizzard, currently missing and presumed dead, but probably living in one of the rooms in General Hale’s Home for Wayward Powered People. Franklin Hall and the Gravitonium make their appearance in The Asset (3). It’ll be completely anti-climactic if Hall isn’t behind one of those doors, having absorbed enough Gravitonium into himself to be able to control gravity fields. He may have fused with all of the Gravitonium that he was stored with, or Hale may have the extra to use as part of her evil plans.

The TAHITI story, which is about Coulson’s death at the hands of Loki and his rebirth using Kree juice combined with torturous brain stimulation, unfolds throughout the season, in tandem with the return of HYDRA, but the two main episodes are The Magical Place (11) and TAHITI (14). I still say, “It’s a magical place,” every time I hear Tahiti mentioned. 😉

Werner Von Strucker, son of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, one of the heads of HYDRA, was a season 3 character. He became involved in Ward’s quest to rebuild HYDRA when WARD tortured him for his fortune and an artifact/monolith piece hidden in his family’s vault. SHIELD took control of him when Ward tortured him into a coma/persistent vegetative state.

In the comics, Werner is the brother of Andrea and Andreas, the superpowered Fenris twins currently being used on The Gifted on FOX. I really want Werner to survive this season on AoS and then have the same actor play him on The Gifted. If DC can do it wth John Constantine, Marvel can make it work with their TV characters.

Coulson used the memory recall machine that Raina once used on Coulson to help Werner remember the information they needed. But the memory recall machine caused Werner’s mind to get stuck in a memory of torture. Lincoln Campbell used his powers to direct of surge of electricity at Werner’s brain to break him out of the loop. This episode reveals that the memory recall machine brought out all of his memories, good and bad, then the electroshock solidified his ability to remember everything. Did he gain other telepathic abilities?

Images courtesy of ABC.

Agents of SHIELD Season 5 Episode 13: Principia Recap This week, SHIELD goes back to its roots as a spy organization, and does some legwork that the Black Widow would be proud of.

#Agents of SHIELD #Chloe Bennet #clark gregg #Elizabeth Henstridge #Henry Simmons #Iain De Caestecker #Jeff Ward #marvel cinematic universe #Marvel Comics #metacrone #ming-na wen #Natalia Cordova-Buckley #Principia #review

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