This week’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stepped out of its regular format and dedicated almost its entire running time to Simmons’ experience in the other world, thus ending up as one of the finest episodes of the entire series, if not the finest, and a terrific hour of television.
I honestly didn’t know that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to go this way with Simmons’ flashbacks in the other world, but I’m glad I didn’t see any previews ahead of time, because it made my enjoyment of the episode even more special. It made me think a lot of Joss Whedon’s the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer episode, “The Body,” when Buffy’s mother dies. I’m not sure why I think of that particular episode of Buffy as it doesn’t share many similar stories or elements to “4,722 Hours,” but even going away from that idea, I was just impressed with how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which has one of the largest ensembles on television, could really focus in on one character (in this case, Simmons) and tell an incredibly compelling story about her.
Elizabeth Henstridge was someone that I had a hard time enjoying last season because of how her character was written, I was just disappointed by the time Season 2 ended that I didn’t even feel much for Simmons when she got sucked into the Monolith. However, the writing for Simmons is winning me back in Season 3, and this episode redeemed her for me. It was inspiring, fun, thrilling, and compelling to see all the stages she had to go through while being trapped in this mystery world. Her continuing faith and optimism was astonishing to me because I can’t imagine how anyone could hold on for so long and believe that a loved one would find them.
The flashbacks also introduce us to the character of Will, who had been trapped on the planet for over 14 years. During Simmons’ time on the planet, she and Will grow close and even forge a romantic relationship before she’s rescued. While I don’t even know how to view that odd ending with him, I do like his role in the whole arc.
This story was, oddly enough, a great coming-of-age story for Simmons, because she was put through something that really made her evolve, but also mature. She really reflected on most of her life (if not her whole life) by being trapped in that world. While I don’t know what the chances are for this to happen, Henstridge’s performance was one of her finest hours in this whole series and so good that she should be nominated for an Emmy or Golden Globe. It can’t be easy to carry a whole episode on your own, but this actress has more than the chops for it; she deserves to be recognized in some way.
Other than still wanting to know where in Marvel’s name Simmons was at and who the mysterious cloaked person was (is it Death, the Marvel character?), “4,722 Hours” is one of the best episodes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever done and something that I will easily be re-watching at least four more times this week.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesday nights at 9/8c on ABC.
[Photo credit: Tyler Golden/ABC]
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