‘The Force of Gravity’ Plot Summary:
As Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) continues his mission to save the Earth, Daisy (Chloe Bennet) comes face to face with Taryan of House Kasius (Craig Parker).
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is officially coinciding with the events of Avengers: Infinity War. While this connection is only confirmed in the background, those who pay will notice the news reports of aliens in New York. And before you get in a tizzy, this is hardly a spoiler. Thanos’ ship over New York has been clearly featured in the movie’s trailers.
How much this episode references Infinity War has me concerned. To be as a vague as possible for the sake of those who haven’t seen the movie, the events of Infinity War and this season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. feel incompatible. There’s been a Confederacy spaceship chilling over the Earth for a few episodes now. So did Thanos’ ship ignore the Confederacy ship? You would think we’d see the Confederacy ship in the movie, considering they both hang over the U.S. Alas, Marvel doesn’t like to mix the TV shows and movies, plus it would confuse anyone who hasn’t watched Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I’m less enamored with Talbot’s character arc than I was last week. While he still has a couple tense scenes, the powers the Gravitonium grant him are wonky. Comic books are admittedly science fiction, so anything really goes, but Talbot’s insistence on absorbing people feels off. You wouldn’t expect a substance that allows you to manipulate gravity to let you suck people up too. Granted, gamma radiation will sooner kill you than turn you into a giant, green rage-monster. And regardless, Talbot spinning around bullets is pretty cool.
One thing that does resonate is the team’s fateful decision. While Daisy’s escape is too easy, her place is with the rest of the team. They have to decide whether to save Coulson (Clark Gregg) or stop Talbot. Keep in mind that May (Ming-Na Wen) and Coulson share a romantic kiss in this episode. Choosing between the personal good and common good is a consistent theme in stories like these, but rarely is it this dramatic.
One episode left to go for the season and maybe the series. I don’t want to sound like a downer, but I don’t see how the show can possibly pull this off. But I want to believe. These five seasons have been a rollercoaster. If this is where we get off, I want a satisfying conclusion to the ride.
