Well, we wanted to know more about what happened to Simmons on the alien planet. And this week, we got our wish. Let’s take a look at “4,722 Hours.”
SPOILERS AHEAD
Taking a gentle swipe at James Franco’s 127 Hours, this week’s episode title set a fitting tone for an installment that was perhaps the most gritty and “real” yet. For one thing, in devoting the entire show to one storyline, it was a series first. Also, it had a more serious look and feel than the typical episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D., which have up till now kept one foot firmly in the comic-book world, where even dark events are tempered with a bit of humour to soften them. No, Simmons’ time on the alien planet was harsh, gruelling and horrific – and we now understand some of the reason behind her apparent PTSD symptoms up till now.
Elizabeth Henstridge deserves a lot of credit for her acting in this episode. Having the spotlight for most of the show, she really does a good job conveying the psychological stages of her situation – hope, fatigue, desperation, and even the rush of killing a monster with her bare hands and eating it. Simmons really becomes a more three-dimensional character in this episode, and I personally will never look at her the same.
This episode also brings some really interesting complications to the show, particularly in Simmons’ relationship with Fitz. When all is said and done, she slept with another man – Will Daniels, an astronaut who has been stuck on the planet since 2001. That year is another “inside joke” amongst geeks, who will remember Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the all-time classics in the Sci-Fi genre. Simmons comes upon Daniels after a while of barely surviving on the alien planet, and the two naturally become closer as they struggle to survive together.
As a viewer, I love the relationship between Simmons and Daniels because it is such a conundrum. On the one hand, she “cheated” on Fitz – I know, they weren’t technically together, but we viewers know they eventually will be. So it feels like cheating to us. And the show writers know this, of course. They know they are ripping OUR hearts out with this story, as much as they are hurting Fitz. But on the other hand, you can’t blame Simmons either. She was stranded on a strange planet, she had no idea where or why, and she was desperate to live. Hell, she didn’t know if she would ever see Fitz and the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team again, especially after their attempt at a message fails. And Will was brilliantly written – even Fitz would have to admit, after hearing Simmons’s story, Will is a really nice guy, who acted selflessly to save her. Plus, she did wait a really, really, long time. Overall, this Fitz-Will relationship was a brilliant plot twist because it will divide viewers and keep us watching.
And how Fitz reacts to this news is also really interesting. I said a couple of weeks ago that I love how the show’s writers are handling the Fitz/Simmons pairing. They are actively resisting, with every episode, the tired, cliche options that most shows would go with in a situation like this. They could easily do the usual slow, boring romantic courtship process between the two love interests. We watch each week, hoping the two will finally “get together,” and the writers tease us with one-step-forward, one-step-back games. And we’re all like, “oh Ross/Sam/Marshall/Chachi/Jim/Angel, just ask Rachel/Diane/Lily/Joanie/Pam/Buffy out already!”
But with Fitz and Simmons, things feel so much more real. This is a real relationship, where people make mistakes, they make tough choices, and they have flaws. And they still love each other, as true friends, above all else. Fitz hears everything that Simmons says, and decides that he still wants to help her. That, folks, is real love – or as close to real love as you’re going to get on Prime Time TV. Fitz loves Simmons so much, he is even willing to see her be with Will, just to see her happy. But damn, I really hope that is not what happens – come on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., give this guy a break!
Finally, how scary is that creature/person/Grim Reaper thing that controls the alien planet? Damn. I really hope that future episodes give us WAY more on the origins of this dude. The way this “consciousness” seems to be tied to the planet itself, in a sort of symbiosis, reminds me of the movie Solaris. There also seems to be a whole, interesting backstory to how the alien planet became what it is. According to Will, it was once a lush paradise, but the mysterious being somehow consumed and destroyed it. I got the sense that the writers are planning to give us more details on the entire story – let’s hope that they do.
“4,722 Hours” was a milestone episode for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was the first episode that focused just on one story. And it was a real risk-taking concept for the show. I am always in favour of seeing more depth to characters, and Simmons showed a welcome new side in this episode that I hope the writers continue with other characters. Next week, we’ll see if they do.