Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S6E03: Send In The Shark

A man (alien?) appears to be playing a video game at first glance but is actually scrolling through faces with writings in an alien language and stops when the faces of Fitz and Enoch appear. Having found what he was seeking , he grabs a gun and a donut-shaped frisbee  and tosses it on the floor which opens a portal and teleports him away.

An argument over Jemma’s actions breaks out among the Space Agents with Daisy-Quake making the decision that they should return to Earth. Before they can act, the ship shakes amidst a loud rumbling sound. On the ship’s monitor a bald, bespectacled humanoid alien identifying himself as Pretorius Pryce welcomes the Space Agents and tells them their ship has docked at Naro-Atzia and requests permission to come aboard for inspection. Daisy tries to tell him politely they won’t be staying but Pryce seems very obsessed with forms and protocol.

Fitz and Enoch try to procure a cryo chamber but are doubled crossed and lose the Xandarian snails they were trying to sell and their ship as well and are left with a single gambling chip. Abandoned in Kitson City, an infamous gambling resort and brothels, they must try to get enough money in The House of Games to get back on their journey. Enoch tells Fitz he’s having fun and considers Fitz his best friend. Aww….besties!

Pretorius Pryce boards the Zephyr. He has a squat upper body with freakishly long legs. As he commences his inspection he asks what the Space Agents purpose for being on Naro-Atzia is. Pryce is taken aback to discover they are Terrans and further shocked that they are looking for Fitz and Enoch. He tells them they shouldn’t have said those names and that “He is here” and out steps the alien from the beginning of the episode. He starts firing his weapon at the Space Agents until Davis sneaks up and clobbers him.

On Kitson in the House of Games the typical space casino (cantina) hijinks ensue. Nothing new here we haven’t seen before. Meanwhile, the alien on the Zephyr has awakened and tells the crew that they are “Out of time” and Leopold Fitz is wanted for “tampering with the universe”. He tells them he is a Hunter and Leopold Fitz died on Earth a year ago and reiterates “You and your friends are out of time!”.  Daisy-Quake and Jemma learn that the ship Fitz was on went to planet Kitson. And, as Pryce states, “What happens on Kitson…is contagious and burns”.

Enoch wins a lot of money then loses it all. The Zephyr arrives on Kitson and Jemma, Daisy-Quake and the others question the men who stole Fitz’s ship. They learn where Fitz has gone and as they leave they partake in some colorful puffy marshmallow food that Enoch warned Fitz against eating. Daisy-Quake and Jemma enter the House of Games and start tripping out…as in LSD hallucinogenic tripping. Ooh, look! What pretty colors! Back on the Zephyr Piper, who didn’t eat the puffies, deals with Davis who consumed a lot.

In the casino Jemma and Daisy-Quake act like fools and forgetting about Fitz decide to have a “Ladies Night”. Jemma hallucinates seeing Fitz in a monkey suit dancing on the tip of her straw.  On the ship, Davis allows their prisoner to escape and gets the munchies for animal crackers.

The silly antics and cliches continue in the casino, cutting between the boys and the girls without either meeting until the end when Fitz and Jemma lock in a romantic gaze that lasts two seconds before the Hunter arrives and teleports Fitz away. Honestly, did anyone not see that coming? However we do learn from Enoch that there are many types of Chronicoms including…Hunters.

Epilogue: On Earth, Sarge and Jaco fire off a beam in the sky. Jaco: “How many do you think there are?” Sarge: “Stars? I don’t know”. Jaco: “No. Not stars.”.

While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. kept its MCU connection through season 5, season 6 just seems to be saying to hell with it…we made Thor comical let’s do the same with S.H.I.E.L.D. Joss Whedon is saying that this all takes place “pre-snap”. I’m telling you that is just plain not the truth.

From Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5 episode 20: Kasius: “Thanos and his forces have begun an assault on your planet even as we speak”. Talbot: “Then I’ve got to get down there with the Avengers and take on this Thanos!” Kasius: “Thanos’ strength is unrivaled. You will lose. Even with your powerful friends fighting alongside you”.

So you can see that Joss Whedon just wants to play the audience like fools. But he can’t because it has already been firmly established that Thanos was on Earth fighting the Avengers during season 5. What’s more, season 6 takes place one year later meaning that the snap has happened, half the life on the planet (and the universe) is gone. We are a year into the “5 years later” of Avengers Endgame. This season is taking place after Avengers Infinity War and before (mostly) Avengers Endgame. Whether S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6 had premiered in the fall of 2018 or now in the summer of 2019 these facts would not change. My point is that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. should be using this opportunity to explore what the Earth was going through during this time and instead we have this ridiculous space caper involving generic Star Wars cantina rip offs and Chronicom Hunters trying to catch people who have tampered with the timeline. I suspect that Sarge and his crew are also part of this Chronicom Hunter brigade. First Fitz is suddenly speaking an alien language then all the aliens in the casino are speaking English! With great disappointment I think it’s time to declare Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has jumped the shark. It’s a term that sprang from when ABC tried to get the ratings up on Happy Days by having Fonzi jump his motorcycle over a shark.

Jumping the Shark is the moment when an established long running series changes in a significant manner in an attempt to stay fresh. Ironically, that moment makes the viewers realize that the show has finally run out of ideas. It’s reached its peak, it’ll never be the same again, and from now on it’s all downhill.

I realize that there are many viewers who are enjoying season 6. This is only my opinion, what do critics know anyway?  Except that I’m also a fan of the series. And what I’m seeing this season doesn’t match up with what we’ve seen in the past. These characters are secret agents, not space adventurers.  I find it sad because as I’ve pointed out, the show could be doing some awesome stuff instead of trying to be a comedy.