Danny Hale reviews the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 finale…
Warning: FULL spoilers for S.O.S Parts 1 and 2 below.
Wow, where to begin? I haven’t had so much fun watching a finale since the good old days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. S.O.S had a bit of everything; it boasted some of the strongest writing and performances yet on this show, it had more than a few amazing fight scenes and so many injuries and deaths that a very real sense of peril hung over the character’s heads throughout. A feeling not often experienced when watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The episode got off to a very strong start by having Skye and May come to blows, we also got to see just how thought out Jiaying’s plans really were; having a quinjet high-jacked and then shoot at the Inhumans, erasing Gonzalez’s remains in the process was a very deft move and very quickly made S.H.I.E.L.D look like the enemy. And this all happened before the opening credits.
I was surprised to see S.H.I.E.L.D retreat so early. I had just assumed the bulk of the finale would take place in the Afterlife but what the writers gave us instead was an incredibly tense and thrilling conclusion to what has been, overall, a very strong season. I mentioned in a previous review that Raina’s precognitive abilities posed an interesting plot device and now she’s dead! I literally gasped when Jiaying stabbed her. I was expecting her to try something but genuinely didn’t see the writer’s killing Raina off but it very nicely set the tone for the episode and I began to fear for everyone’s safety. I can’t believe how much Raina’s demise hit me; I was never her biggest fan but throughout season 2 I was becoming more endeared to her. It is the world of Marvel so hopefully it won’t be the last we see of her.
I’m not allowed the word count I’d need to talk about how much I loved Adrianne Palicki this week. Her torture scenes were excellent, her attitude was even better and when she broke free and attacked Ward I nearly jumped out of my seat. I was just rolling with the dialogue, loving the scene and was not ready to be thrown into such an awesomely choreographed fight and even adding Agent 33 to the mix didn’t stop Mockingbird taking them both on. The fight may not have had the same visual flare as the infamous May vs. May fight but the emotion and ferocity of the actor’s performances more than made up for it. She went down like a hero and taking the bullet for Hunter was probably one of the most emotionally charged moments this show has had. It was an incredibly visceral and raw way to immediately clarify Bobbi’s relationship with Hunter.
Sadly but not unsurprisingly it looks like we’ve said goodbye to Kyle MacLachlan, for now at least. I didn’t realise how much his character had had an impact on me until it came to his leaving. We got to see Coulson at his finest; as a good man, talking Cal Zabo around to helping them stop Jiaying. It was at that moment that I realised I never resented Cal for the things he did, he was a victim in so many ways and really did love his family. I guess undergoing the T.A.H.I.T.I program was the nicest ending we could have hoped for him and more importantly, he lives! So hopefully Kyle MacLachlan will make a return.
The first of many other notable instances that I sadly can’t get into too much is Mack and his serious screen time this week. Thankfully it looks like he’s not leaving the show which was a concern for me after last week’s episode. ‘I’m the guy who kills Gordon.’ Nice Mack, very nice. Ward shooting Agent 33 three times at point blank range was just lousy luck but did Ward really think Melinda May would go down like that? It makes me very excited to see where this latest blunder and betrayal sends Ward spiralling. It gives the writers a chance to really pin point where Ward’s character is going and gives him a great motivation for revenge. Oh sorry, closure. It was also really great to see Fitz and Simmons in such a good place given how the season started for them. It was a nice ending to their arc and Fitz finally asked Simmons out! It was incredibly sweet and really refreshing to know that these moments can still land in the midst of all the chaos.
The season concluded appropriately; the villain was defeated and we got a few teases for the recently confirmed season 3. Having Cal be the one to kill Jiaying and in a way save the day was a nice flip on my expectations. It felt right that only Skye was present, this show has put a lot of emphasis on Skye’s past and her family, it’s only right that it gets the correct payoff. Cal remarks how after he stitched his wife back together that she was missing her heart and was never the same but at least it means that at some point those three were a happy loving family. Meanwhile Mack has cut off Coulson’s hand, a moment that took me by great surprise. I think it was important to show the vulnerability of our team and it added an extra blow to the many I felt watching the two episodes. Thinking it was all done, I was greeted to Bobbi and Hunter wanting to leave (I don’t believe that for a minute!), May leaving the field (But not the show, if there is a God), Ward looking to kick-start Hydra, potentially killer fish oil and Simmons being pulled into a giant alien rock! It leaves me with a lot to think about and a lot of questions to be answered but most importantly after 22 episodes I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this season and cannot wait for season 3 and really, isn’t that the whole point?
Danny Hale
https://youtu.be/8HTiU_hrLms?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
