7x06 Adapt or Die

[7.1/10] Plenty of interesting ideas here, but they didn’t necessarily compliment one another. With this many storylines and characters moving at once, it can make things feel a little jumbled, even if the individual pieces are solid at worst.

I think my favorite subplot in the episode was Coulson and May dealing with Stoner and a rightfully suspicious 1970s Shield team. It struck me because it’s a nice deconstruction of the fact that Coulson dies over and over again in this franchise. The fact that May refuses to keep mourning for him, and Coulson affirming death as virtually his superpower is a nice way to balance the meta-ness of the fact that Clark Gregg has a contract and make it personal for the characters in-universe. Him facing off with the Chronicon psychic and blowing up their Borg-like spawning center is a good beat for Coulson, even if, like May, we have every reason to think he’ll be back.

Mack’s story was interesting too. One of the elements of time travel that’s the trickiest is running into younger versions of people you know (shades of Back to the Future!). Mack working so hard to save his parents, only to discover that they’re Chronicoms, is heartbreaking in its way, and the tip-off with May’s empathic powers is a nice way to drive that home. There’s a solid transition from Mack trying to express concern for his parents and introduce them to his girlfriend without giving anything away, to him struggling to fight them even though he knows they’re not the real Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie. It gives the audience emotional whiplash in a way that mirrors the character.

The Daisy/Sousa storyline was more of a mixed bag. I find myself strangely compelled by Nathaniel Malick as a villain. He has a low key sinisterness to him that makes him stand out on a show full of bad guys. That’s accented by his Whitehall-esque purpose to try to steal Daisy’s powers, which implies some body horror and a noteworthy “be careful what you wish for” resolution when he can’t control them. That said, I really hope they’re not setting up Daisy and Sousa for any sort of romance, because they seemed to be hinting in that direction with Sousa sharing the story of how he hurt his leg, and I’m not really on board for it.

Last but not least, we get some answers about what’s going on with Simmons. The detail that she designed a biological implant so that not even she knows where Fitz is, because he’s helping them from afar, is a nice excuse for Fitz’s absence, and adds another ticking time bomb of a plot detail that’s sure to come up again later, particularly given the implant’s malfunctioning. Deke’s apology to Enoch after he misdiagnosed the situation and Enoch’s acceptance is understatedly sweet. It’s not much, but it works to give us a little more detail and give that contingent of the team something to do.

Overall, no major complaints here, just some good and bad storylines that don’t necessarily fit together super well.

Daisy Johnson and Daniel Sousa being a potential ship is honestly the biggest plot twist of 2020, but I'm not mad about it. I was already like :eyes: when he pretended to be her fiancé last episode and this week has really solidified them for me. The chemistry is there. The vibe is there. All their scenes together are gold. Plus, we know Sousa likes a badass woman. I love how his "I'm right where I need to be" line at the end, in which he was probably referring to the Zephyr and helping save the world could very well also be referring to being at Daisy's side while she heals. They'd be great together.

Speaking of Daisy, I am thoroughly underwhelmed by how little Quaking we've seen so far this season. Damn Nathaniel Malick managed to cause more destruction before he dropped dead (or did he though) than she did in 6 episodes. Hopefully the healing chamber restores her powers after what that asshole put her through. Daisy getting tortured or used for somebody else's gain is an unfortunate recurring theme on this show.

Jemma's secret was pretty easy to figure out to be honest, I've seen many theories about the device in her neck suppressing her memories. FitzSimmons continue to be tragic as always.

Coulson's "yo I'm a bad bitch, you can't kill me" moment was funny as hell. Just casually getting blown up because he knows he'll return somehow.

Mack's parents turning out to be Chronicoms was horrible. His younger self literally got orphaned! His memories will all change! Or at least they should. Time travel is very confusing.

I wonder what happened to the Zephyr and what time period it jumped to. If we're following the pattern, it should be the 90s. I need to see what Daisy will pick as her 90s attire.

We're halfway through the season and halfway through the list. This one won't suprise anybody:
3x05 "4,722 Hours"
Granted, I could have done without Will and I think the episode would've had an even bigger emotional impact if Jemma had been alone the whole time, but still, this episode perfectly showcased Elizabeth Henstridge's acting chops and let her shine. She absolutely deserved it. AoS had never done a bottle episode before so this was an interesting change of pace for a show that relies strongly on its ensemble. Every minute of this episode was stellar, especially the beginning and Jemma's struggle to survive. The hopelessness of not being able to find water at first, the triumph of overpowering an alien creature and using it for food, coping with loneliness by talking to Fitz... I FELT it all. It was a masterclass both in acting and character writing.

Okay so why are the chronicoms even hunting them??? I know it’s because Sarge and Ezil or whatever destroyed the chronicom’s home planet so they are looking for a new one... first they wanted to go back in time to save their planet (which I don’t get why they aren’t doing right now) and then they decided that out of all the planets in the universe they wanted Earth to be their new home (even tho they could pick any other planet at any other time) so to conquer Earth they need to defeat Shield and since they couldn’t do it in the present they went to the past to destroy past Shield even tho that wouldn’t affect our present because of the multiverse... is that it??? Like it sounds dumb. And then why can’t Jemma and Fitz be together??? Cause Fitz knows where Jemma is but Jemma blocked that memory??? Again it doesn’t make sense, cause okay the chromicons have access to all their memories till they were abducted in s6 and put in that machine and that’s it, like the chromicons can’t have access to the new memories so idgi.
AND when are they gonna explain what happened to May and Elena??? So May is just an emotionless machine now and has empathic powers but Elena lost hers???

"Wake the hunters, one by one." - Oh dear, that didn't sound good... :o They should've done that much earlier though :D

"I felt nothing." - May has kinda a superpower now: She can detect Chronicoms and feeling emotions of others can be quite useful in general.

I really liked the scene with Coulson and May where May shows attitude and her emotions are coming back.
"You never die. You always come back."

Deke unintentionally messed things up again while trying to help... :o I get it though, that looked quite problematic...

"I named her Diana. She's adorable and we're inseparable. Literally." <3 xD

Fitz observing their moves is quite interesting - I really wonder where he could be to hide and observe!

Nathan's quaking isn't really going well (duh): "My bones are cracking." He had that coming! Hopefully he won't return for more...

"The fact is. Dying... It's kinda my superpower." - It really is :)
"I just hope you're right about this next part." - I hope so too...
I also love how concerned Mack and Jojo were after the "he's gone" while May casually said "he'll come back, always does" (with the emotional range of a Terminator).

Btw: It didn't seem that smart that they all jumped together without leaving anyone (Enoch) behind.
Mack's really broken now. Unfortunately this also makes him unfit to lead! That "just need some air" really wasn't ok at all and he already made some problematic/personal decisions earlier (hugging his mom was also stupid btw). I get that having to kill his "fake mother" messed him up but they should really elect a new director now - unless he recovers very quickly (at least until they meet again).
I really wonder what Deke and Mack will do/experience and how far the rest of them jumped forward in time.

I also liked quite a few of the lines around General Rick Stoner:

• "I think he got that from the bag of explosives."
• "We'll remove your face ASAP, sir."
• "I'm level 7. Technically, you'd report to me."