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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
You know, I think “4,722
Hours” (3x05) was exactly the episode I wanted to see. The focus was entirely
on Simmons and her experiences on the planet. We learned exactly how she
survived 6½ months on the planet and why she needs to get back. And along the
way this episode offers some incredible character development for Simmons. All of
the acting was superb throughout the episode, and aside from a very few things I
loved just about everything about the planet. After several episodes with an
enormous number of plots going on at the same time, I think that an episode
with a laser focus on a single plot was exactly what we needed.
The episode begins
slightly differently from other episodes: instead of the “Previously on Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D.” segment, it picks up right from the ending of the season 2
finale, “S.O.S.,” with Fitz and Simmons having their “dinner” conversation
right before she gets sucked into the Monolith. From there we see her appearing
on the unknown alien planet and panicking a little. However, she quickly
collects herself and begins analyzing her situation like a trained scientist. She
starts off by using her phone to take dictation of her observations and analysis.
However, it is not long before her “log entries” turn into her talking to Fitz
and looking at his picture on her phone. At this point she is still hopeful
that Fitz will find a way to reopen the portal and return her home, but you can
see some cracks forming.
She finally has to
leave the wormhole site after about four days because she needs to find a
source of water. However, she leaves a marker at the site showing which
direction she went so that Fitz will be able to find her when he reopens the wormhole.
That’s definitely a hopeful gesture; if she didn’t think there was any hope of
rescue, she would never have gone through the effort and exertion. And yet, at
the same time you can tell that she is starting to lose hope, especially as she
keeps traveling and can’t find water anywhere. When the sandstorm came through
and covered her in sand, I wasn’t entirely sure what would happen, as while we
knew that she was going to survive, she was really not in good shape.
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| Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com |
Simmons finding the
pool was another fun scene, especially the way they handled the reveal of the
giant plant monster. That plant monster wasn’t my favorite part of the episode,
though in giving it more thought it did look pretty consistent with my
experience of underwater plants. Once she found a source of food and water, it
made a lot of sense for her to stay there for as long as she could. However, it
was pretty clear that something would have to get her to move sooner or later. That
thing turned out to be wind rustling giant reeds. She went to investigate, and
fell into a trap.
Will is a very
interesting character, particularly for how he related Simmons. We don’t know a
ton about Will, but from what he said, he’s a former Air Force test pilot who
was recruited to N.A.S.A. and volunteered for a special mission: traveling
through the Monolith (in 2001) as part of a plan to explore space on a budget—I
wonder if Rosalind has some connection to this plan, as she spent some time at
N.A.S.A. Regardless, Will went on the mission with 3 scientists (Easter Egg: one
of the scientists is named “Brubaker,” after Ed Brubaker, a comic writer who
has worked on a number of important Marvel characters, including Captain America,
Daredevil, Iron Fist, and the X-Men), and he was intended to be their security
guy to keep them safe for the year or so before N.A.S.A. would bring them back
to Earth. However, the other three astronauts all died well before Simmons
arrived. There is a lot here that needs to be unpacked—everything about him is
screaming “comic book character” to me, but I can’t figure out what comic book
character he could be.
Having been on the
planet for 14 years already, Will serves as Simmons’ guide in understanding the
planet. He explains to her that there is something on the planet which caused
the deaths of the other astronauts and which can smell blood. This thing, “Death,”
has killed everyone who passed through the Monolith, and has some sort of
connection with the planet itself, such that a sandstorm indicates its
approach. Though Simmons does not believe him at first, she quickly becomes a
believer when she sees “Death” herself while exploring a “graveyard” where she
found the remains of many previous human travelers (including the sword carried
by the British gentleman in the season premiere, “Laws of Nature”). In contrast
to Simmons’ hopefulness—she is convinced that Fitz will find a way to get her
home—Will has become bitter, believing that there is no way for them to return
and they are going to die on the planet. They play off each other quite well,
with her offering to be the “voice of hope” in contrast to his “voice of doom.”
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| Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com |
Simmons comes up with
a plan for them to get back to Earth by predicting where and when the portal
will open. While the science is unclear, the concept is fairly straightforward:
she believes that the wormhole itself is constant, but it opens in different
locations because the planet itself is rotating (how that works without the
wormhole being left drifting in space for most of the year is unclear). Based on
the locations where they both arrived on the planet, Simmons believes that she
can determine the rate of rotation. And because the wormhole seems to be controlled
by the planet’s moons, she may be able to determine the circumstances which cause
the wormhole to open and predict when it will happen again. It’s actually a
brilliant idea, though they fail in the end when “Death” somehow makes the
canyon separating them from the wormhole site much wider than it had been. They
still have hope, however: Simmons put a message to Fitz in a bottle and wants
to launch it through the wormhole using an improvised launcher to give Fitz the
knowledge necessary to open the wormhole. Unfortunately, Will lines up the shot
too late and the bottle lands just after the wormhole closes. This is the moment
when Simmons finally loses hope.
Simmons losing hope
may have been the most powerful moment in the episode: through all of this
adversity she never lost hope. She was stranded on the planet and didn’t lose
hope. She was nearly killed by a killer plant, but didn’t lose hope. She was
imprisoned by the first human she met, and still didn’t lose hope. But now she’s
lost her one tenuous connection to her friends—her phone—because she used its
remaining power to boot up the N.A.S.A. computer and calculate this one last
chance to return, and without that final connection, it’s like she no longer
has anything to hope for. Her only reason for optimism now is Will.
The relationship
between Will and Simmons was also very well done. At first she is all about
Fitz (it’s her favorite word) and distrusts Will. Even after meeting Will, she
still seems to be holding out hope for Fitz to find her. However, it is very
clear that after months of living and working alongside Will, Simmons is
starting to warm up to him, though not to the point of caring for him as much
as she cares for Fitz. This all changes when their escape attempt fails and she
is left with nothing to connect her to her friends. That is when she finally
kisses Will—I think she’s finally lost all hope of returning to Earth. From a
psychological perspective, this episode and particularly Simmons’ psychological
state is very well constructed.
After putting all that
effort into trying to get home, Simmons seems to have completely given up on
home and decided to make a life on the planet when she sees Fitz’ flare and the
two of them immediately run towards it. “Death” tries to prevent them from
reaching the wormhole, but Will attacks “Death,” using his final bullet on it,
to give Simmons a chance of reaching it the site. At this point the episode
syncs back up with “Purpose in the Machine,” when Fitz jumped through the
portal and grabbed Simmons to pull her through.
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| Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com |
It isn’t until now, at
the very end of the episode, that we finally jump to present events: all of
this is set as Simmons’ explanation to Fitz of what happened and why she needs
to go back. Fitz doesn’t really respond—even on discovering that Simmons had
seemingly moved on with Will—and silently leaves her room. She chases him to
the lab, begging for him show that he understands, and discovers him at the
computer bringing up everything they have on the wormhole. I think this is what
finally hits you “in the feels”: even though Simmons wants to go back to find
the man she’d met on the other planet and with whom she became close, Fitz is
still going to help her do it, knowing full well that he may be losing her for
good. As an aside, at this point I really don’t think that Simmons and Will are
going to be in a permanent relationship; I think most of the attraction stemmed
from the fact that they were alone together on the planet. Further, I think
that Fitz-Simmons is a well-enough established relationship that they are going
to be together at the end of the season, though it may be rough getting there.
As another aside, I really do not consider this to be a love triangle. If they rescue
Will and the focus shifts from there to Simmons having to choose between Will
and Fitz, then it will be a love triangle. As it is, Simmons’ and Will’s relationship
doesn’t really appear to be about more than convenience and close proximity.
All in all this is an
excellent episode, perhaps the best of the season so far. The complete focus on
a single plot was a welcome change from previous episodes (and a bit
unexpected, as well). The acting, specifically from Elizabeth Henstridge, was
excellent; Dillon Casey (Will) wasn’t great in places, though that may just have
been due to playing a character who was alone in inhospitable conditions for
the better part of 14 years! I really want to know if Will is based on a comic
book character, and if so, how much of that story will carry over into Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D.
What did you think of
this episode? Were you expecting her to meet someone on the other side? Were you
expecting the romantic angle? How do you think this whole plot will resolve
itself in a couple episodes? Let me know in the comments!
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