“The Real Deal” is episode twelve of season five of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the 100th episode of the series.
In the previous episode, “All the Comforts of Home”, the supposed Kree beacon turned out to be something intended to lure Coulson and his team into a trap. This was set by General Hale with the assistance of Agent Piper, who thought that this was in everyone’s best interests, as Hale only wanted to bring them in. Which was not true. Hale had sent a team of robots by the looks of it – and her daughter, Ruby – to kill the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Ruby herself appears unusual in some way. She managed to chop off Yo-Yo’s arms – which current Yo-Yo saw future Yo-Yo was missing in “Past Life” – seemingly whilst Yo-Yo was moving at superspeed. Ruby, despite being in charge of the team, is also kept in some kind of secure facility – her typical teenager’s bedroom is behind a sealed door with guards outside. Ruby also appears to really want Quake for some reason. So, just what is she?
The Kree beacon was also a trap; when it was brought into the Lighthouse it started heating up instead of turning off and Noah detected that it was going to explode, throwing himself on top of it as he told Fitz and Simmons to run. And it did explode. In the area where the three monoliths were being stored.
This episode opens with a D.W.A.R.F. being sent into the area of the explosion. There is a view of what looks like a rip in space time and then the D.W.A.R.F. is knocked out of the air. The last image is of what appears to be Lash – despite him being killed in “Emancipation”.
The opening credits are a montage; Ghost Rider, Agents of HYDRA, LMD and the cracking Earth.
Fitz is telling Coulson and May that the basement is sealed off and he sent D.W.A.R.F.s into the damaged area. When one of them opened on a level well below them. Onto a forest. 150′ below ground. With sky. Which is more than a little odd.
Fitz thinks that all three monoliths exploding at the same time opened a rip in space time, and another dimension is bleeding back into this one. Coulson says that the good news is that Daisy may well not be responsible for destroying the Earth; Fitz says that the bad news is that the planet’s destruction may have already started.
Yo-Yo is alive but in hospital missing half of her arms. Coulson of course has a prosthetic arm, so she could probably get them too. With some more supplies. What worries Yo-Yo the most is that things are turning out as foreseen.
Daisy and Deke are looking for supplies in the Lighthouse; the latter is still undergoing culture shock to a degree. Then a Kree appears and attacks them. When Daisy kills the Kree, it evaporates.
Fitz says that everyone’s fears are coming to life. He says that he thinks that the monoliths tore open a rift to a ‘Fear Dimension.’ Which sounds very not good. The phenomenon is also expanding.
Fitz has a potential fix, but he doesn’t know how to do it without one of them perhaps possibly sacrificing themselves. One will need to carry a device, based around Deke’s belt buckle, to close the rift. But they might be either killed or sucked into another dimension. Coulson volunteers, which everyone argues with. Until Coulson collapses.
Simmons says this is nothing she has ever seen before. That Coulson’s flesh is dead around the wound that Coulson got when Loki stabbed him through the heart in The Avengers. Coulson knew that the price of the bargain he made with the Ghost Rider in “World’s End” was that whatever kept Coulson alive would be undone. And now he’s dying the death he originally avoided.
Someone needs to stop the phenomenon from spreading, and the fears that are coming to life are capable of killing. Deke is currently the only person who can head to the surface for supplies. Although Hale is looking for them. And there is a surprise about Deke.