'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: 'The Honeymoon'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​Last week, I lamented over the one great flaw that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has continued to exhibit over the course of its five-year run, in that…it tends to suffer from inconsistency storytelling wise by tossing in a filler episode in the middle of a powerhouse run before resuming that amazing arc, and I make mention of that, simply because this pattern proved itself to be true once again. Because last night, ‘The Honeymoon’, brought us a magnificent episode, filled to the brim with quality moments, and a few surprises thrown into the mix for good measure as well.
 
Case in point, the long-awaited showdown between Daisy and Ruby. It’s something that last week’s teaser promised would be a big part of this episode, but really, it served as our first surprise of the night due to the fact that it was a brief but epic affair. If anything, that little face off wrapped up quickly so that far more important moments could take place. Like having Coulson and May exchange some words over his recklessness and carefree attitude toward death since there are others that care about Phil deeply, and he needs to take their feelings into consideration, and it was quite the stunner to hear May flat out tell Coulson that she loved him.
 
But there were other twists and turns waiting for us in this tale, like the fact that Fitz seems to be resigning himself to the whims of fate, and he may take others down with him with this kind of thinking. Because despite finding the machine that Hale has been waiting for Strucker to figure out, and making moves to disable it, by the end of the episode, the survival of
‘The Untouchables’ and the arrival of Ruby and Strucker truly has him believing that there is no hope to save the future, that all of this is playing out as it should and well, it was simply heartbreaking to see Fitz resign himself to a future that may not be set in stone.
 
As to how exactly Ruby and Strucker showed up at the device’s location, well that relates to the final surprise element of the night; the fact that this episode featured some devastating double crosses. After all, up until this point Ruby has been a resistant but obedient daughter but thanks to a little push from Strucker, she finally turned on her mom so that she can fulfill her destiny as Hydra’s ‘Chosen One’, and while that seems pretty by the numbers for Hydra, the devastation comes from the fact that Ruby may indeed become the horrible weapon that destroys the Earth after all and that was compounded by the other big double cross of the night, wherein we learned that Hale didn’t just keep General Talbot around solely for information, but also as an insurance policy.
 
Because Hale brainwashed and trained the man to do her bidding as a double agent, and as Talbot called his family to check in, he was activated…putting the Lighthouse and the team in danger. So, just like that, the series is back on track with its juicer plot to save the world and while it was full of ‘holy cow’ moments, I also appreciated the tender ones as well, including Daisy’s act of kindness toward Talbot in the hopes of helping him heal. Either way, the danger is growing minute by minute and at this point, I’m dying to know exactly how the heck the group is going to get out of this one, because the odds are starting to look insurmountable. Until next time. 

---