History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS5E12TheRealDeal

!!!Tropes in this episode:

!Tropes in this episode:

!!Tropes in this episode:

* AngerBornOfWorry: The team's reaction when they find out Coulson's deal with the Rider means he's dying.

* BittersweetEnding: Coulson's loss of GH-325 means he's dying, and cannot be cured by any means that Jemma knows of, while the rift is still present and has only been temporarily sealed. But the immediate danger of the rift is contained for the moment, Hale leaves River's End after writing it off as a dead end, [=FitzSimmons=] finally get married, and the agents Deke gathered allows S.H.I.E.L.D. to reform.

* CareerEndingInjury: Referenced with May; Daisy blurts out in anger that she's never going to be full-strength again after having her leg impaled back in [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS5E1OrientationPartOne Orientation]], and May's reaction shows she knows this too. Doubles as a way to reference the serious real-life knee injury Ming-Na Wen sustained early in filming this season.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Coulson's line at the wedding: "We are gathered here today for a moment we all knew was coming, some of us even before these two did," could be directed at the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, or at the audience watching the show.

* ProductPlacement: More for Zima.

** And it turns out Deke is the son of Fitz and Jemma's future daughter.

* SupermanStaysOutOfGotham: After helping to save the day, Mike informs Coulson that he will stay for the wedding [[HeroOfAnotherStory then move on.]] Continuing his solo hero gig, [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome while helping out any other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the run.]]

* VorpalPillow: Yo-Yo's fear manifests a Jemma LMD which attempts this on her. Alternatively, it may be Mack's fear manifesting, given his fear of killer robots and of anything happening to Yo-Yo.

** Coulson's greatest fear is that nothing he's done since being revived by Tahiti is real.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Thanks to his deal with Ghost Rider, Coulson's old stab wound is catching up to him. The tissue around the wound is turning necrotic, and will eventually spread to his heart. It can't be cured, because the flesh is already dead. Simmons confirms that at some unknown point in the future - no time frame is suggested - Coulson will simply drop dead.

* ParanoiaFuel: The fake Mike Peterson {{Lampshade|Hanging}}s this {{In-Universe}}: as there HASN'T been an ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' reference in the movies, it's slightly possible that the entire show really ''is'' just Coulson's DyingDream...

* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: A low-key example at Jemma and Leo's wedding; they're presumably around 30 by now, and Jemma says that she is looking forward to their "next adventure": being parents.

* ChekhovsGun: The forest generated by the fear dimension. Hey, if you're going to get married, what better place to do it?

* AbsurdPhobia: While the team discusses the implications of WhatDoTheyFearEpisode, it turns out that Deke is afraid of the forests -- which for him are just open spaces with "branchy things" and creepy crawlers. He seems comfortable inside one by the end of the episode, however.
* AllJustADream: The 'fear dimension' version of Mike tries to convince Coulson that ''everything'' since Loki stabbed him has been nothing of a near-death experience.
* AltarTheSpeed: Played for laughs at the wedding, when Coulson says that they dare not put the wedding off any longer lest something jinx it.
* AmbiguousSituation: It's not clear if the Rider deliberately took the Kree blood out of Coulson's system ForTheEvulz or if the Spirit's very nature meant there was no way to avoid it even if the Spirit wanted to.

--> '''Coulson:''' I don't know, but my clock ticks faster, - and we get to fight another day.

* BittersweetEnding: Coulson's loss of GH-325 means he's dying, and cannot be cured, while the rift is still present and will eventually reopen. But the immediate danger of the rift is contained for the moment, Hale leaves River's End after writing it off as a dead end, [=FitzSimmons=] finally get married, and the agents Deke gathered allows S.H.I.E.L.D. to reform.

* CareerEndingInjury: Referenced with May; Daisy blurts out in anger that she's never going to be full-strength again after having her leg impaled back in [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS5E1OrientationPartOne Orientation]], and May's reaction shows she knows this too.
* ChekhovsBoomerang: This episode establishes the origins of the Monolith stone that was formerly in Deke's father's possession: the original monolith was blown to bits in this episode, with [=FitzSimmons=] presumably keeping a piece of it. With the reveal that Deke is actually one of their descendants, it would appear that the stone was passed down for future generations as it would be used in the machine that would eventually return the team to the present.
* ContinuityCavalcade: The "fear dimension" leaking through the portal created by the destroyed Monoliths creates illusions that include several past antagonists -- Lash, Hive, some Roaches, a Kree warrior, and an LMD (albeit one of Simmons, whose LMD did ''not'' act as an antagonist during its brief appearance). There's also a lightning-fast set of flashbacks involving Daisy, and we also get a direct reference to the events of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' complete with a NameDrop for Tony Stark.

* DyingDream: A manifestation of Mike Peterson caused by the "fear dimension" tries to convince Coulson that the ''entire show'' has been one of these for Coulson as he dies on the operating table after being ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice by Loki in ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Avengers]]''. Since Coulson is a big AscendedFanboy who loves dealing with superheroes and other weird stuff on a daily basis, the notion that none of his adventures were real is almost certainly a much bigger fear for him than just simply dying.
* EasilyForgiven: Averted with Piper, who is kept imprisoned and they even consider sending her on a suicide mission.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Coulson has made peace with dying, and certainly does ''not'' want to be put through the same painful process of resurrection again.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The 'fear dimensions' version of Mike is extremely polite to Coulson and doesn't attack him in any way...at least not until Coulson sees through the charade and stops walking towards the rift.

* HandCannon: Fitz gives Coulson what appears to be a .50 caliber Desert Eagle, saying it should be enough to take out anything he runs into on the way to the rift.

* MoreHeroThanThou: After Fitz's plan requires someone possibly going on a SuicideMission, the team argue who should go. Deke refuses, Fitz-Simmons are needed for engineering and medical, Yo-Yo is mutilated and needs Mack, it comes down to Coulson, May, and Daisy arguing which of them should go. It's briefly brought up that they could send Piper, as a form of atonement/payback for her betraying them the previous episode, but this idea is quickly dismissed.

* PassingTheTorch: Coulson wants Daisy to take over for him when he dies.

* TheyDo: Fitz and Simmons finally get married at the end of the episode.
* ThisCannotBe: Substitute "can't" with "cannot" and this is ''literally'' May's reaction to seeing a D.W.A.R.F. photo of Lash.

* ForegoneConclusion: Fear!Mike's suggestion that Coulson effectively dreamed everything after being stabbed by Loki on first glance almost works given the fact the TV series tends to remain separate from the films, but loses logic when one recalls that the TV series featured story arcs following on from ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and ''ThorTheDarkWorld'', among other things.

* ContinuityCavalcade: The "fear dimension" leaking through the portal created by the destroyed Monoliths creates illusions that include several past antagonists -- Lash, Hive, some Roaches, a Kree warrior, and an LMD (albeit one of Simmons, whose LMD did ''not'' act as an antagonist during its brief appearance).

Coulson's deal with the Ghost Rider is finally revealed.

* SpecialEditionTitle: Every custom logo that appeared in the past is used for this episode's title sequence.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Thanks to his deal with Ghost Rider, Coulson's old stab wound is catching up to him. The tissue around the wound is turning necrotic, and will eventually spread to his heart. It can't be cured, because the flesh is already dead.

* LeaningAgainstTheFourthWall: Coulson's line at the wedding: "We are gathered here today for a moment we all knew was coming, some of us even before these two did," could be directed at the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, or at the audience watching the show.

* BrickJoke: Apparently, one of the things Coulson had Deke buy is [[SeriousBusiness a bottle of Haig]], but Deke couldn't find that anywhere... so he bought Zima instead.

* AllADream: The "fear dimension" version of Mike uses this, claiming that the ''entire series'' has all been a creation of Coulson's mind as emergency workers try to revive him. Coulson refuses to accept it.

* VorpalPillow: Yo-Yo's fear manifests a Jemma LMD which attempts this on her.
** This is also potentially Mack's fear manifesting, given his fear of killer robots and of anything happening Yo-Yo.

* MoreHeroThanThou: After Fitz's plan requires someone possibly going on a SuicideMission, the team argue who should go. Since Deke refused, Fitz-Simmons are needed for engineering and medical, Yo-Yo is mutilated and needs Mack, it comes down to Coulson, May, and Daisy arguing which of them should go.

* LastNameBasis: A rare aversion for Fitz: Daisy calls him "Leopold" out of frustration with his apparent view of acceptable losses.

* LoweredMonsterDifficulty: The roaches and the [=LMDs=] each took considerable punishment to defeat in their original appearances. The manifestations of them here dissolve into smoke as soon as they're injured, such as being shot by a handgun.