Agents of SHIELD S05E19 Review: Not the Destroyer of Worlds You're Looking For

Agents of SHIELD, Season 5, Episode 19: Option Two

That is certainly a very interesting twist. With Ruby Hale dead, everyone (including me) basically notes that Daisy's very likely a candidate to become the Destroyer of Worlds. What I didn't count on is for a completely unrelated character to jump into the particle infusion chamber and take in the entirety of the Gravitonium. Glenn Talbot is probably last on the list of characters that I thought was going to become the Destroyer of Worlds. Or maybe just Graviton. It's definitely a fun twist. 

The episode spends a good chunk of its screentime with the Lighthouse under siege when one of the five races of the Confederacy, the Remoraths, shows up in a huge-ass spaceship. In a bit of a humorous moment, Coulson ends up preemptively clicking the "nuclear disaster" option for the Lighthouse before realizing that there's actually an alien-invasion option. This ends up causing the Lighthouse to go into full lockdown mode, shutting out the aliens for decades... theoretically. Unfortunately, the Remoraths can actually teleport. 

A good chunk of the episode is just our heroes holding their own in a fun little thriller segment as they fight off the Remoraths. And for what's essentially a bunch of dudes in makeup and a costume, they do manage to make the Remoraths feel pretty fun and alien. There's some drama thrown around with Yo-Yo's cold-blooded murder of Ruby, something that puts her at odds with Daisy and later Mack, but we don't really have the time to end up exploring that too much. What we do get is interesting, though. Sure, its slightly contrived drama, but the dialogue given to both Elena and Mack are very interesting. Great stuff delivered by both actors, for sure. 

Their biggest hitter, Daisy ends up being removed from the equation when she goes off on a mission -- initially to help secure the Hintons and Carl Creel from 'disappearing' with the aid of Tony Caine, and later on to track down a lead to save Coulson. Namely, the Centipede device and the dead body of her mom. Speaking of Daisy, it's fun that the show quickly establishes that, yes, Coulson ends up leading far more effectively than Daisy. Daisy is met with opposition throughout her brief stint as leader, challenged by Fitz and Elena, and even now she's going under Coulson's radar to do exactly what he told her not to do. It's very interesting to have the show simultaneously push the idea that she's ready to lead while at the same time showing us that she's not.  

Of course, the biggest fun twist happens around partway through the siege, because Talbot, who spends the entire episode muttering about how he really wants to help, how he could at least use a gun to take down some of the aliens... yet none of the SHIELD agents can afford to trust the unstable general, ends up trying to fix his own mistakes by jumping into the Gravitonium chamber and pumping the entirety of it into his system. Talbot ends up unleashing the power of Gravitonium with far more coldness and efficiency than Ruby Hale ever could in her very, very short stint as the Destroyer of Worlds, completely crushing the Remorath invasion in a moment that's equal parts badass and equal parts horrifying. It's a pretty great episode as it ends with Talbot being simultaneously in control and a ticking time bomb as he grabs Coulson and quite literally moves the Earth to zoom straight up to confront the aliens. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• Tony mentions "weird stuff going on in New York", which places this episode as happening around the same time as the first act of Avengers: Infinity War. This episode is released in the same week that Infinity War hits the cinemas. 
• The Centipede device, unseen since the first season, returns. Another ingredient to synthesize Centipede is Daisy's late mother Jiaying, the main antagonist of the second season. 
• Tony mentions that Robin gave him a drawing of a blue lady juggling balls, which is likely a reference to Sinara, seen earlier in this season.
• Talbot has basically became the MCU version of the supervillain Graviton after absorbing 100% of the Gravitonium. It's shown in a fun way, as Talbot's killing of the Remoraths, the blood splatters make the "Caution: Gravitonium" markings on the container into looking like "Caution: Graviton". Talbot's even got the beard!