6x05 The Other Thing

[8.1/10] There were basically three stories here: 1. Mac’s adventures back at Shield headquarters, 2. Quake, FItzSimmons, and company’s advenutres in space, and 3. May’s adventures with “Sarge.” Let’s take them in turn (and in ascending order of quality!).
Mac’s story feels like filler. The bad blood/broken heart routine between him and Yo-Yo is execrable, and feels like a regrettable place to put what was once my favorite couple in. I get that characters need places to go, and that it’s worth exploring what happens when things go wrong, but I liked Mac and Yo-Yo much more when they were reluctant but flirty, serious about their jobs and devoted to one another but playful with each other. This whole “you know how I feel” distance between them is feh.

His exchanges with Benson are also a waste. I appreciate the show trying to add dimension to Benson, since he’s pretty undeveloped as a new character. But his arc goes from, “I’m not up to this” to “I’m a member of the team!” in the span of like two scenes, and all it takes is a generic speech from Mac to get him there.

The space shenanigans are pretty fun though! Agents of Shield turned into the latest Star Trek spin-off so gradually, I didn’t even notice! The idea of Enoch being hounded by his equally emotionally bizarre ex is a bit cheesy, but I like their dynamic. I like the dynamic between Fitz and Enoch even better. Enoch thinks of Fitz as his best friend, but he is so devoid of empathy and understanding (or at least has so different a view of morality), that he tells his counterparts to put Simmons in danger because he knows it’s the only thing that could motivate his “friend” to do the impossible and, thus, make him useful (and thus non-disposable) to the other Chronicoms. It’s a well-intentioned choice, that’s mitigated by the fact that Fitz would rather die than let Simmons be in danger. Whatever the complicated ethical snags at play, it promises something interesting among the FitzSimmons/Enoch portion of the show that seems poised to remain space bound.

We do get some plot reveal (a trend in this episode), learning that the Chronicoms’ home planet was mostly destroyed, and that now they’re trying to go back in time to undo that. It’s pretty out there, but that’s part and parcel with AoS’s increasingly crazy silver age bent, and I’m on board with it. Plus we get some decent quaking, and an unexpectedly warm reunion back on Earth for her and the newly-promoted, bickering Shield cadets (Piper is one, I think?) who are clearly going to end up dating.

Last, but anything but least, we have an interrogation between May and “Sarge.” I appreciate the formal boldness here. Blurring May’s torture (or at least threats) from Sarge with her fond memories of Coulson at Tahiti is disorienting, in a good way. It conveys the pleasure and pain that exists for May to see the man she loves (or at least someone who looks him) again, knowing that he is a pale reflection of the man she knew. At the same time, the use of common phrases or gestures not only help add to the mystery of just who Sarge is, but help complicate May’s motivations and responses to all of this.

In terms of plot, we find out that Sarge’s crew aren’t actually the bad guys (or at least, that it’s more complicated than that), when we discover that they’re hunting the obelisk-esque bats that have been attacking people lately (and vaguely connect to lay-lines somehow). We also learn that Sarge, at least on his own account, has no idea who Coulson is or why they share a face, and claims to be more than a century old. That definitely messes with my theory that He’s a skrull who got the Coulson look from one of the skrulls who visited Earth in Captain Marvel.

But I’m intrigued on both fronts! Emotionally, I like exploring the effect of blending love and hatred in the form of one man whose face engenders both her. And plot-wise, I like both the continuing mystery of who this dude is, and the notion that he and his pals are trying to wipe out some intergalactic scourge (implied to be part of what destroyed the Chronicoms) before it spreads any further.
Overall, I’d go so far as to call this the best ep of the season so far, with one clunker of a C-story, but an A-story and a B-story that nicely mix some good character-based moments with some crazy imaginative sci-fi material.