The Real Deal

The most recent episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the series' 100th, and they marked the occasion with a premise that let them pull the "greatest hits" of their run into the episode. Many of the individual elements worked, but things were perhaps too crowded for most of them to breathe fully.

Take the team's realization that Coulson is dying. The ensemble gave it their all to make the emotional weight of this punch land... and yet I wasn't completely sold on it. Maybe it's that we found out about it from Future Yo-Yo a few episodes ago, blunting the sudden shock. Maybe so much time passed between when this "sickness" was discovered and Coulson got it (we learn it was when he made the deal with Ghost Rider) that it lacked immediacy. Maybe it's that the entire show's survival is questionable when this season is done, making me unsure whether I should be mourning the whole thing rather than just Coulson, as it's trying to convince me to do.

But I do know that the scene in which Daisy's tough exterior crumbled completely worked. I do know that the conversation between May and Coulson, where she put him in his place for deciding how to handle her heart for her, was one of the more effective scenes with May in a long time -- even though it was restrained and deliberately not written to boil over.

Take the procession of baddies spilling out of the "fear dimension." It was fun to see Lash again, and Deathlok, and an L.M.D. (this time of Simmons), and Hive. But some of these moments whizzed by so fast it almost felt like commentary on how effective those particular elements had been as long-running story lines in the series. And I honestly could not decide how I felt about the fake Deathlok's attempt to mess with Coulson's head. The "you've been dreaming the entire TV show" trope is so done that I don't think there are any compelling angles left on it. On the other hand, the fact that Coulson actually started the show having died in the Avengers at least gave the gimmick a grounding that made sense. (And Clark Gregg acted it wonderfully, in his signature style where you see the gears work without him sailing over the top to show you.)

One element of the episode that I appreciated without reservation, though, was the wedding of Fitz and Simmons (finally). The show definitely had its fun with throwing obstacles in their way to keep them apart -- and got great stories out of it. But now it was finally time to pay things off. This isn't Moonlighting, where the show will be changed irrevocably by putting them together. (Indeed, I don't imagine it will change much at all.) And something celebratory to commemorate 100 episodes was in order.

The marriage came with the revelation that Deke is their grandson from the future. I'm not sure I needed his irreverent quips to Deathlok intruding on the moment, but the big reveal itself was nice. It's a good way to bring Deke more into the fold (even if only for the audience). It's also a nice promise, in a way, that whatever else may happen to FitzSimmons, they can and will overcome it. (Though I suppose that's no more inevitable than the complete destruction of Earth, which our heroes will surely prevent.)

The pressure of the "100th Episode" is tough to live up to, so I can't be too disappointed if the episode fell flat in a few ways. Still, I'd say most of this season has been better than this installment. I give "The Real Deal" a B.