[7.4/10] I would classify this as a “good not great” finale. That’s a little bit of a disappointment, but considering how many other long running shows have ended with a thud in recent years, I will take “good”! The thing is that I don’t have any major problems with the episode, I just think I wanted a little bit more. I also think that some of it stems from the fact that the show essentially did its big series finale at the end of season 5, so this was all a bit of a bonus to start with.
The one problem I did have is that the solution to the big major problem is a little too convoluted and confusing. I’ll admit that my memories of the end of season 6 are a little hazy, and I typically enjoy stable time loop solutions to problems. But time travel plots can get really messy, and this was no exception. The episode basically stopped dead shortly after it started so that Fitz could deliver ten minutes of exposition.
I’m sure if you break it down, it makes enough sense, but Fitz and Simmons plan, not to mention the rest of the team’s plan for defeating the Chronicoms in the main timeline, was so cryptic and shrouded in mystery and wrapped up in timey wimey craziness that there wasn’t necessarily the clarity of intention or character that I like from my TV shows.
To the point, I really like Kora turning and using her powers to help the good guys, as the culmination of her journey and learning that family can be a positive thing, as represented by Daisy and her experiences, versus a negative thing, as represented by Nathaniel Mallick and his experiences. I like the idea of May using her empathy powers to help save the day, as the culmination of her journey this season. And I like how the team’s experience with Enoch influenced their plot to turn the rest of the Chronicoms good, replete with a nice echoing line of “As I have always been.” But the combination of the three works much better on a symbolic level than on a plot level. Frankly, the plot mechanics of the whole episode are a little wonky.
I also didn’t have much of a response to the showdown between Daisy and Mallick. It was pretty much a fait accompli, and the two leaping around the giant inflatable balls didn’t do much for me visually, even with the show’s best director on board for this one. Daisy's attempt at self-sacrifice might have made more of an impact if I had any belief the show might actually go through with it. Instead, it mostly played like an obvious fake out. That said, I appreciate that Kora again used her nebulous powers for good, this time managing to channel them to revive her sister, in a vindication of ehr journey and the season’s themes.
And that’s pretty much that, in terms of the plot. The day is saved. We jump one year later. And what’s left is all character moments and beats, some of which were great, and a lot of which were fine.
Let’s start with my favorite of them. I love that Deke decides to stay in the 1980s so that he can send our heroes back to the main timeline. (This is also where I’ll say that the decision to bring the Chronicoms to the main timeline was pretty odd.) It shows great nobility from Deke. He’s very funny about it, but it’s also a sacrifice that he undertakes without complaint, even blessing the Daisy/Sousa pairing despite his prior crush. It even feels like a happy ending for him, potentially being both a rock god and the head of what’s left of Shield. I’m not sure any character has grown or become more endearing over the last couple of seasons than him, and I’m glad to see him get what I’d consider the best ending of the bunch.
Mack is still director, getting to close out on the helicarrier. Yo-Yo is still leading missions. And my favorite touch of the still-in-Shield crew is that Piper’s one wish for helping FitzSimmons was to get an LMD of Davis! Honestly, it may have been my favorite small touch in the finale.
Speaking of May, her teaching at the “Phil Coulson Shield Academy”, replete with good ol’ Flint(!) as a student, is a nice ending for her. I don’t know if it really completes the character’s journey for me, but it’s nice. She’s one of the major characters who kind of got her ending in S5, so it works as a grace note.
The same goes for FitzSimmons. The show gave away the game a bit when Simmons said “two become one then three become one” in her previous incoherent ramblings. The show got more juice out of her remembering Fitz than her reuniting with their child, but it’s still a nice beat. The fact that they got their happy ending with the life they made together up in space is a pleasant thought, and the bucolic tones of the two playing with Aliyah is sweet. Again, it’s all very nice, but just doesn’t carry the same emotional catharsis and impact their wedding did.
That said, I kind of like how understated Daisy’s ending is. There’s no “Me and Sousa are getting married” or “Kora is a whole new person”! It’s just “things are going well with both.” She’s built another new family and after feeling so lost in terms of romance and family when she started the series, having her end in a good but not “happily ever after” place is pretty darn good. It didn’t move me, but that’s okay.
Coulson’s ending is the one that threw me off the most. He, more than anyone, got his real ending in S5. But him getting his switch and his car is, again, at least nice, with a bit of a throwback to the show’s early episodes to boot, so I’ll take it.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure what more specifically I wanted. None of this material is bad. All of it is solid. I guess I just expected to have more of an emotional response after seven seasons and scads of adventures with these characters. It’s kind of a “life goes on” ending, which is bold in its own way. Still, it’s sweet and nice enough to pass muster, which I’ll count as a win given some of the series finales we’ve seen of late.
So farewell to Agents of Shield! A show that built its own unique and entertaining corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and used the freedom it found there for everything it was worth!
