Line #67 Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS6E06Inescapable


1	[=FitzSimmons=] are finally reunited (again). But much to their horror, they find out that the Chronicoms have uplinked their minds together into one mind prison so they can work on inventing time travel to save the Chronicoms.
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3	----
4	!!Tropes:
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6	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: {{Deconstructed}} as [=FitzSimmons=] hash out this aspect of their relationship. Fitz feels patronized by Simmons always coming to his rescue, and Simmons hates Fitz always sacrificing himself and leaving her to mourn. They eventually work out that they'll both always do that because of how deeply they love each other.
7	* AndShowItToYou: Nightmare Simmons uses a bone knife to cut out Fitz's heart and show it to him. This being a simulation, not having a heart is more disturbing than fatal, and he recovers once he spawns Mack as backup.
8	* BadassBoast: Enoch after freeing [=FitzSimmons=] and taking out the other Chronicoms.
9	-->'''Enoch:''' I have taken bold action.
10	* BaitAndSwitch: After their highly emotional argument in the containment pod, Fitz and Simmons resolve their differences and agree to face their nightmare selves together, only to find that the Doctor and Nightmare Simmons are... [[UnusualEuphemism otherwise engaged.]]
11	* BerserkButton: Fitz is able to coax Jemma into aging back into her adult self by mentioning that he could casually bring back Aida.
12	* BigDamnHeroes:
13	** Fitz and Simmons think up versions of Mack and Daisy saving them from the Doctor and Jemma's evil self.
14	** Enoch ultimately rebels against Altarah, frees Fitz and Jemma from their mind prison, and teleports them off of the Chronicoms' starship.
15	* BottleEpisode: Played with; most of the episode takes place in the mind prison, but the fact that it's a mental projection means bringing in all kinds of sets and characters as [=FitzSimmons=] explore their memories.
16	* BritsLoveTea: [=FitzSimmons=] manifest some very British afternoon tea to share space adventures over.
17	* TheBusCameBack: The Doctor/Leopold makes his first appearance since Season 5.
18	* CallBack:
19	** While ranting about how much Jemma hurt him, Fitz recalls her [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows temporary leave from S.H.I.E.L.D.,]] [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E22SOSPart2 her unintentional transport to Maveth by the Monolith,]] and [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E54722Hours her affair with Will while on said planet.]] Jemma then shoots back that Fitz [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS4E4LetMeStandNextToYourFire created Aida]] and [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS4E17IdentityAndChange manifested his id as the Doctor.]]
20	** Enoch subdues Altarah (and presumably the other Chronicoms) with the same device that produces a high-pitched whine as they used on him in the [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS6E03FearAndLoathingOnThePlanetOfKitson third episode of the season.]]
21	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Mack makes this rationalization as to why [=FitzSimmons=] will be fine with the Chronicoms. Little does he know that Altarah is irrational enough to potentially get them killed in search of the information she needs.
22	* CharacterDevelopment: Enoch realizes that he cares more about protecting [=FitzSimmons=] than he does about being a good Chronicom, and breaks them out of Altarah's mind prison.
23	* ChekhovsSkill: Altarah informs [=FitzSimmons=] that the mind prison can be used to conjure about anything that their mind wants. [=FitzSimmons=] eventually figures out they can conjure their friends to help them: Daisy for Jemma and Mack for Fitz.
24	* ContinuityNod: Oh, ''several'' of them, especially during [=FitzSimmons's=] blazing row in the containment pod.
25	** [=FitzSimmons's=] "cursed" love is brought up again.
26	** The brief RunningGag of everyone assuming [=FitzSimmons=] were one person is brought back.
27	** The hoodie Simmons wore after her return from Maveth shows up in a flashback. [[HerBoyfriendsJacket Turns out it originally belonged to Fitz.]]
28	** When Nightmare Simmons tortures Fitz, she starts by having him chained upside down in the Quinjet docking bay and [[ToThePain wondering aloud which part of him will suffer first]] like it's a biological experiment. This is just like a few episodes ago where she tortured aliens in a similar manner, exploiting the fact that their biology was used to lighter gravity than Earth's.
29	** When a 7-year old Simmons asks Fitz to read her a bedtime story, it briefly transforms into the Darkhold.
30	** Once again, Jemma enters a simulated world with someone she loves, while their bodies in the real world are lying next to each other on tables. Last time it was with Daisy in the Framework, now it's with Fitz in the Chronicom mind-prison.
31	** [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS5E11AllTheComfortsOfHome Noah]] described Enoch as being "[[CowboyCop quite reckless]]" by [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Chronicom standards]]. Here, we get to see quite ''how'' reckless -- as in [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight betraying the other Chronicoms to save FitzSimmons.]]
32	** Fitz sarcastically challenges a pre-teen Simmons that [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E12Seeds he might be the only one to enter the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy with a [=PhD=].]]
33	** Jemma warns Fitz about [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS5E14TheDevilComplex his mental break and the Doctor]] when they're both experiencing their memory in the S.H.I.E.L.D. dormitory.
34	** [[DidntWantAnAdventure Fitz]] again recalls being more reluctant than [[JumpedAtTheCall Simmons]] [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E6FZZT at taking Coulson up on the offer to join SHIELD's field team.]]
35	** Fitz points out that the Doctor's ruthlessness at least partly stems from Simmons [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS4E20FarewellCruelWorld killing Alastair.]]
36	** When they ultimately resolve their shouting match, Fitz mentions that Jemma won't get a free pass from being stuck with him [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS5E22TheEnd just because of his other self's death.]]
37	** Nightmare Simmons has some visible residue of the gold paint on her face from when she was a [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS5E2OrientationPartTwo slave of the Lighthouse Kree.]]
38	* ADayInTheLimelight: For [=FitzSimmons=].
39	* DidntSeeThatComing: After resolving their differences in the containment pod and declaring they love each other once more, [=FitzSimmons=] fully expected Leopold and Nightmare Simmons to attack them both. Instead, they're making out with each other. Cue the [[HeadTiltinglyKinky Head Tilt]]. Seems Nightmare Simmons is a BrainsAndBondage type of... monster.
40	* DiscoveringYourOwnDeadBody: The real Fitz discovers his future self's dead body during Simmons's memory of the team planning to head into space and find his body.
41	* DrowningPit: When Simmons recalls her and Fitz's near-drowning in the ocean as they bicker in the containment unit, it starts filling up with water.
42	* EmotionalRegression: Simmons reverts to her seven ([[InsistentTerminology and a half!]]) year old self in the beginning of the episode at the stress of their situation. To a lesser extent, [=FitzSimmons=] both regress to their S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy selves as they go through their memories there.
43	* EmotionSuppression: Ever since she was a little girl, Simmons has shoved away any negative emotions that might trouble her into a little music box -- or, as she puts it, kept things nice and tidy. The Scottish Fitz has the ''perfect'' response to it.
44	-->'''Fitz:''' ''[exasperated]'' [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe Oh, you're]] ''[[AngstWhatAngst so]]'' [[StiffUpperLip English!]]\
45	'''Jemma:''' ''[offended]'' [[ViolentGlaswegian Right, yeah, how]] ''[[ViolentGlaswegian Scottish]]'' [[ViolentGlaswegian of you to pick a fight on those grounds!]]
46	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: During TheStinger, Mack is trying to tell Daisy about how the beings who destroyed the Chromicons' world are on Earth, with very dramatic music playing... and just before he can say "they're here", she cuts to the point, leaving the music to stop and Mack looking disappointed.
47	-->'''Mack:''' Kinda stole my thunder there.
48	* FightingDownMemoryLane: The Chronicoms put [=FitzSimmons=] into a machine that combines their minds so that their combined intellect can work out time travel. Unfortunately, it was meant for Chronicoms, not humans (whose emotional problems can disrupt the process and cause great risk of destroying them). This manifests in [=FitzSimmons=]'s darker alter-egos, who actively threaten each other as they lay out all their issues from their tumultuous relationship. They manage to save themselves when they realize they're not alone and conjure memories of their respective closest friends to fend off each other's dark sides, buying them enough time to reconcile with each other.
49	* FiveStagesOfGrief: Jemma searching for past Fitz is revealed to be stage 1, denial; at least that's what her teammates sans Coulson felt.
50	* {{Flashback}}: We see the first time [=FitzSimmons=] met Coulson. Turns out they initially thought they were being ReassignedToAntarctica for an unauthorized experiment to provide better fuel for a Quinjet.
51	* HeadTiltinglyKinky: [=FitzSimmons=] react this way to Leopold and Nightmare Simmons getting freaky:
52	-->'''Fitz:''' Didn't know you liked that.\
53	'''Simmons:''' Didn't know you'd ''do'' that!
54	* InsecureLoveInterest: Fitz's issue in his relationship with Simmons is that he feels like he has to be looked after by her, making him feel pitied in the relationship and resentful that she left when he was brain-damaged and she found someone else when they were physically separated. His Doctor persona liked Aida in the Framework because his ego was satisfied with someone he felt didn't have to constantly do that.
55	* InternalReveal:
56	** Fitz finds out that his alternative future self died, that Coulson also died, that he and Jemma are/were married, and that he has a grandson (Jemma doesn't have time to get to the details on that one).
57	** Mack learns that Fitz survived and is with the Chronicoms.
58	** Daisy is told about the Shrike, which are responsible for the destruction of the Chronicom homeworld.
59	* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: The Doctor and Nightmare Simmons have trapped their normal selves in the containment pod, and he sternly warns her to stay out of his way, to which she responds by brandishing her bone-knife-a and the shotgun axe at him. The next time we see them (after their regular selves have just had a ''very'' intense shouting match), the Doctor and Evil Simmons are making out like wild animals (and possibly doing much more than just "making out.")
60	* LetsGetDangerous: When he realizes that she's not going to listen to reason, Enoch [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome somehow]] incapacitates Altarah, the Chronicom Hunter, and any other guards that might have been there. By himself. And unarmed.
61	-->'''Enoch:''' ''(proudly)'' [[BadassBoast I have taken]] ''[[ColdHam bold]]'' [[ColdHam action.]]
62	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: [=FitzSimmons=] have several arguments like this throughout the episode, coincidentally involving his discovery that she married an alternate timeline version of him, culminating in their heated shouting match in the containment pod.
63	* LockedInARoom: Played with; [=FitzSimmons=] are imprisoned for the episode in a mental construct so they are forced to work out time travel. It starts out as a mostly featureless room where they can freely manifest whatever they can conceive. This becomes a problem as they touch upon the emotional issues their relationship has developed over the years, but they eventually reconcile their feelings and come out all the stronger for it.
64	* LoveHurts: A running theme of the episode, as [=FitzSimmons=]'s highly tragic relationship is reviewed: Simmons has a deeply repressed resentment of Fitz for all the pain loving him has caused her, and Fitz feels equal resentment for Simmons usually having to be his constant caretaker when he gets in trouble or feels vulnerable.
65	* MentalFusion: The Chronicoms are using a machine that explicitly does this so [=FitzSimmons=] can combine their intellect and hash out time travel together.
66	* MoodWhiplash: The very serious moment where [=FitzSimmons=] hash out their problems and prepare to face off with Leopold and Nightmare Simmons comes to a screeching halt when they find their dark selves heavily making out.
67	* NotSoDifferentRemark: It turns out Jemma has her own inner monster, born of all the issues she's suppressed over the years. Fitz doesn't hesitate to point this out during their argument.
68	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Before freeing [=FitzSimmons=] from the mental prison, Enoch single-handedly neutralized every Chronicom in the room, somehow. That large gun he was holding when the duo woke up may have played a part in it, or perhaps use of the sound signal that incapacitated Enoch a few episodes ago (we hear it briefly when Altarah is in the simulation).
69	* OminousMusicBoxTune: The natural herald of Nightmare Simmons, since she was suppressed within a music box and released when it opened.
70	%%* OnceMoreWithClarity:
71	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Fitz's reaction to seeing Nightmare Simmons and Leopold making out: "What... the Hell?"
72	* TheReveal: Coulson was the one who gave Simmons the go-ahead to find Fitz.
73	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Fitz lets out an especially high-pitched squeal when he turns around and sees Jemma as a seven-year-old girl.
74	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Enoch turns against his people in order to save [=FitzSimmons=].
75	* SelfDeprecation: The [=S.H.I.E.L.D=] acronym gets poked fun at by [=FitzSimmons=]:
76	-->'''Fitz:''' Oh, perfect, there's no better place to lay low than the Strategic Homeland Interventi--\
77	'''Simmons:''' Yeah, it's an awful acronym.\
78	'''Fitz:''' Yeah, I agree.
79	* ShoutOut: Simmons' dark side resembles the girl from the ''Literature/TheRing'',[[note]] Sadako Yamamura (or Samara Morgan in the Americanized version)[[/note]] as Fitz himself [[LampshadeHanging points out]]. He also compares it to ''Film/{{Night of the Living Dead\|1968}}''.
80	* TheStinger: Mack and Daisy talking about how unstoppable [=FitzSimmons=] are and filling her in on what's she missed. It should be noted that representations of both of them were used by [=FitzSimmons=] to assist them in their mind prison.
81	* StupidEvil: Altarah, again. She hooks [=FitzSimmons=] in a mind prison, similar to the Framework, allowing them to share brains and memories. She knows the effects could possibly kill them -- and if that would happen she'd lose the Chronicoms' only chance of getting time travel -- but she doesn't care.
82	* TryingNotToCry: Fitz is trying and failing to suppress tears upon learning that Coulson -- the one father figure that didn't betray him in some way -- died while he was off planet.
83	* UnholyMatrimony: The Doctor and Nightmare Simmons both seem to hate their respective counterparts' lovers, but after a few moments of staring each other down, as [=FitzSimmons=] resolve their issues over their relationship, they're found passionately making out with each other and engaging in HeadTiltinglyKinky activities off-screen.
84	* WhatTheHellHero: Both Fitz and Simmons let out their anger and frustrations with one another.
85	* WoundedGazelleGambit: The Doctor tricks Jemma by crying for help, pretending to be the real Fitz, causing her to run to him and being apprehended.
86	* YearInsideHourOutside: [=FitzSimmons=] spend the majority of the episode's 42 minute runtime in the simulation, and from their point of view it must have been even longer than that, but after they resolve their issues, we learn from Altarah that it's only been 5 minutes and 33 seconds in the real world.
87	* YouJustHadToSayIt: Fitz when Jemma bringing up their time at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean turns the containment pod into a DrowningPit.
88	* YourMindMakesItReal: [=FitzSimmons=]' suppressed thoughts pose a serious damage to them within the mind prison. This later becomes a ChekhovsSkill where they use other thoughts to summon representations of Mack and Daisy to help them against The Doctor and Nightmare Simmons.

Context Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS6E06Inescapable