REVIEW: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S7E12 – The End is at Hand & S7E13

Oh, man. I can’t believe this is the last time I’ll be writing a review for this show. Just give me a moment, okay? Thanks.

The original duo.

That was an amazing finale, very worthy of this show that we’ve all come to love. I think it had just enough nostalgia and callbacks, just enough fantastic special effects, and the stakes felt real. Also, while I know some people think you can’t have drama without major character death (*ahem* one certain brother of Jed Whedon, I’m looking at you), I have never been one of those people. I think this was the perfect way to have this have been our team’s last mission together without any of them dying. Permanently, that is. Or with any of the pairings having been permanently split up, for no good reason. (Looking at you again, particular Whedon brother.)

First of all, I am very happy to take back most of my annoyance with Kora as a character. She didn’t end up only propping up the ‘real’ bad guy and then dying. She stood apart from Nathaniel, and decided for herself who her true family was. I’m still a little unhappy that one of her main purposes on the show was to be victimized and gaslit. But at least she stood up for herself. I imagine she and Daisy enjoyed that year we didn’t see of getting to know each other.

I was surprised to be a tiny bit sad about Garrett’s death. James Paxton played him so, so well – and it could’ve been interesting to see him “wearing a white hat” and on SHIELD’s side. But then again, he was already plenty untrustworthy. Fitting that Victoria Hand would be the one to take him out, after all.

Second of all, I’m glad the writers did a good job of giving each main character at least one moment to shine in these last two episodes – or more than one. The arcs each of them have gone through over the seasons – the continuity of it all? Just gorgeous. For instance, remember how May used to hate being called the Cavalry? In the finale, she calls herself that name, right after knocking Sibyl out. And that’s not even mentioning the way she now uses her emotions as one of her strengths! Melinda May, of all people!

Speaking of emotions as strength, I also loved how the way to defeat the Hunters was to make them have empathy. That’s a very Doctor Who way of defeating emotionless robots – and I am here for it. Daisy being willing to sacrifice herself to take out Nathaniel is also very in-character. Though I’m glad it was just a fakeout death. I would not have been okay with her actually dying.

Other things I loved: the return of Fitz. I mean, I don’t think anyone was particularly surprised what all those objects were meant to accomplish once Jemma put them together. Still, it was a great scene! And I was right that Deke would have a big part to play in saving his grandparents – not to mention all of his friends and the whole planet. Aww, Deke. He sure ended up being a hero. And I’d sure like to see more of his tenure as Director of SHIELD/’80s rock god. Hope he was reunited with the rest of his Squad (minus the useless drummer, of course).

Happiness forever for these guys and their extended SHIELD family.

Loved Mack and Sousa working together to defend the Zephyr. Those two didn’t take long to respect and understand each other. Also loved the little callback with Mack reflecting on robots possibly being his downfall. Hee. Glad they weren’t. Blowing open the Chronicom hangar with destroyed Chronicoms was also pretty darn awesome.

Jemma was very River-ish while she was still dealing with the effects of her implant being dissolved: wandering around, muttering cryptic phrases, able to do mysterious things. Thank goodness her amnesia and confusion didn’t last too long. But no wonder she was so devastated in the timeloop episode, if she started to remember about adorable little Alya! (Seriously, I don’t think that child could be any cuter.) Thank goodness for a happily ever after for the FitzSimmons family, too. They really, really deserve it.

And that leads me right into the biggest theme of all for this show, what they’ve always been fighting for at heart: family. The show has always been about family – blood and found family. That’s why I can be happy knowing that these guys will keep their tradition of meeting up, even if it is only virtually. And it was nice to see Piper and Davis again (though the whole bringing Davis back as a reward for Piper thing is a leeetle bit questionable), and Flint.

“Cool.”

I’m going to miss our Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. a lot, guys. It was a privilege to review episodes and follow the news for this show. Before I make like Coulson and fly out of here on the coolest automobile shown on TV, check out this post-finale New York Times interview with Jed & Maurissa, complete with plenty of behind-the-scenes photos and tidbits.