Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 5, Episode 13 Review

Trying to focus on "Principia" as a standalone episode is really quite difficult, mostly because in retrospect it's very much an establishing episode, awkwardly sat in between "The Real Deal" and "The Devil Complex" - two much more notable episodes due almost entirely to the fact that they each have their own respective standalone plots to work from, whereas "Principia" is moving different pieces into place for the over-arching narrative to progress.

For example, a key sub-plot in this episode revolves around Von Strucker's son, in a guest appearance that failed to resonate much of a "oh, was he thingy's son?" While I appreciate returning to certain characters and story-threads, when the show has distanced itself from them for some time, it's difficult to really remember them, unless they've stuck in your brain. Garrett returning from the first season, or Daisy's dad, or Ghost Rider would be significant returning characters, but the Von Strucker's son just isn't, and that's partly down to his character being a glorified reference to the prologue of Avengers: Age of Ultron - not even the main plot of that movie. So, opening "Principia" with a scene entirely dedicated to him that doesn't actually remind us who he is feels like a real misstep on the part of the writers, especially since the actor playing him isn't particularly distinctive. His whole story is just labelled "we'll come back to this later", and his relationship with Ruby doesn't really amount to much because both characters feel sorely underdeveloped for what little story there is to mean something.

In comparison, Deke's revelation that the newly-married Fitz and Simmons are his grandparents works as a reveal because the show has developed Deke's character up to this point, even going as far as to give him a vision of his mother - and Fitzsimmons' daughter - earlier on in the episode, making the reveal more impactful on both a narrative and character level. Deke isn't a character that the writers have tried to make particularly likable, and I am wondering where his character is going - bar the romance with Daisy that they're *really* trying to "subtly" build-up to - because there's not a huge amount of purpose to him. However, its clear that writer Craig Titley - whose name sounds familiar, so he might well be one of the better SHIELD writers - has tried to employ whatever character traits can give him a role within the narrative, that being his knowledge of Gravitonium from 2091.

The episode also tried to develop Mack as a character, but that all felt quite flat and cliched until the team attempted their Gravitonium heist on board the Principia, which in itself was a pretty good sequence, even if I don't believe for a second how quickly they supposedly made their way off that ship and back onto the plane. Even by Agents of SHIELD standards, that seemed pretty implausible.