Without a doubt, it was a big deal that ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ tied in with ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron.’ After all, thanks to Director Phil Coulson and Theta Protocol, the Hellicarrier was ready to help Earth’s Mightiest Heroes save the day. But as we saw last week, Ultron was basically the opening act for the Inhumans as far as the popular ABC show is concerned because the season two finale was all out war.
Now that the two feuding S.H.I.E.L.D. factions are united and determined to keep the peace, Agent Gonzalez ventured to Afterlife to meet with Inhumans leader Jaiying about the two groups coexisting. However, after Skye’s mother killed Gonzalez and made it seem like his group was attacking, a whole crazy set of events were set into motion that saw Mockingbird get captured by Agent 33 and Ward, Mack rejoin the team, Raina have her last vision, and way, way more. There was so much going on in the final two hours of this season, and it was all just so awesome. But more on that in a second.
Before getting into my thoughts on the season finale, I have to say that I was spoiled because I saw someone post about “Coulson’s loss.” Having seen the episode now, I realize that they were referring to his arm being cut off, which is a ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’ reference that has been included in every Marvel Studios Phase Two film so far. But before we got to that part, I was constantly on edge because I thought that Bobbi was going to die or Fitz was going to die or Skye was going to die. I mean, when Mockingbird got shot, the first thought that went through my head was, “Whoa! I know that they killed her spinoff, but they didn’t need to kill her!” At the end of the day, our favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are mostly in one piece, but I was really worried for a minute there thanks to that spoiler/teaser.
It definitely didn’t help my peace of mind to see Jaiying and Cal’s true colors. I loved seeing Skye’s family reunited throughout this season and it’s almost a shame that we won’t see it again. Some of the best stories from this season came from Skye’s family situation, but before it all came crashing down, we got some great moments. For instance, we saw Kyle MacLachlan’s transformation into Mr. Hyde finally (which was actually a little weird because of the forehead prosthetic). We also got to see Jaiying’s energy vampire powers, which were super creepy visually. But things got worse in that last confrontation that saw Skye’s father kill her mother so that she wouldn’t have to. It went to a pretty dark place, but it was all wrapped up so nicely thanks to the T.A.H.I.T.I. project. Now as this chapter in Daisy Johnson’s life closes, it seems that another is about to open that (with any luck) might just include a team by the name of the Secret Warriors.
Speaking of new chapters, it looked like one was about to begin with FitzSimmons, but it was snatched away at the very last second. Literally, the episode was over and I was feeling good about the ending and then BAM! NOPE! After that tease that a pole went through Fitz’s chest, I had flashbacks to Wash in ‘Serenity.’ After seeing that he was okay, I calmed down until that very last minute. After all those strides that Fitz made this season, he made one of the biggest ones yet with Simmons and it was just taken away from him! Damn those Whedons! Joss, Jed, and the whole lot! I love the stories that they’re sharing in their work, but the feelings are getting to be too much! WHAT HAPPENED TO JEMMA?!
But when they taketh away, they also giveth, and my favorite thing that was given to us in this season finale was Grant Ward. I can’t think of a better place for the character than at the top of HYDRA. He’s way too far from redemption and it doesn’t look like the writers are planning to go in that direction at all. So many shows would probably try to make Ward redeemable again, but ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is keeping up with his full-on heel turn. Hopefully he gets even more sinister next season and we get some Kingpin level threats on this show.
Overall, this season of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ was so solid. It was definitely better than the first one because everyone involved from the writers to the cast to the crew has certainly found their stride. It also helped that there wasn’t massive delays between episodes in order for the show to line up with ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. Although, I did think that the S.H.I.E.L.D. civil war was a bit anticlimactic. All was basically forgiven when Coulson played a part in defeating Ultron. But even still, Season Two did a great job in setting up the Inhumans in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There were also a number of very interesting storylines teased in this finale, so I’m super excited for the show to return in the fall so that we can learn even more about this uncharted corner of these beloved films.
Final Score:
‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ starring Brett Dalton, Ming-Na Wen, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Adrianne Palicki, Chloe Bennet, and Clark Gregg airs on Tuesdays at 9:00pm on ABC.
