Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Closure (3x09)

Okay! This episode was pretty darn intense. I have one thing I want to discuss as a potentially troubling flaw, but the rest of the episode kicked ass.

Cons:

Rosalind Price was fridged. Pretty much by definition. She was killed by a man to hurt another man. There was, expressly, no other reason to kill her at this moment. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is usually better than that, and I was quite disappointed to see such a tactic being used here. I don't think it's a problem to kill off female characters in general, but I felt like all that buildup with Price's character was wasted here, since she was clearly only a means to cause Coulson to fall off the deep end. It feels disrespectful to her character.

And on a less righteous note, Rosalind Price was interesting to me. I was annoyed about the simplistic twist last week, where we learn that she was working for Hydra but didn't know it. But even with that being said, I greatly enjoyed the complexities of her character, and thought she still had a lot to offer in the story. It's disappointing to have that potential cut short.

Pros:

That being said, everything catalyzed by Price's death was excellently executed by the actors and the script. Clark Gregg's acting gets a shout-out here. The whole scene with Rosalind Price's death was excellently delivered. The two of them are having a romantic dinner, when a sound makes Coulson turn to see a bullet-sized hole in the window. He turns back to Price, who is holding her hands to her neck as blood wells up from a fatal injury. Coulson was so devastated! It was a brilliantly constructed scene, despite my aversion to the whole "female character dies to further a male character's vengeance" trope.

Coulson's revenge takes on a kind of fury I wouldn't have expected. He angrily tells the team that it's now or never - it's time to take Ward out once and for all. He asks May, Daisy, Fitz, and Simmons to all share their personal histories with Ward, hoping for more hints as to how he operates and what his weaknesses are. This was a really fascinating callback to the first season, as each of our original team members thought back to a time when they truly thought of Ward as a friend and ally. I loved the fact that Daisy had a lot of understanding for what had happened to Ward. She'll never forgive him for what he's done, but she understands how he got to that place.

From his discussions with the team, Coulson forms a plan - he needs to get to the one person who Ward still cares about - his little brother Thomas. He brings Bobbi and Hunter with him, and they cross some serious lines, kidnapping Thomas and using him to threaten Ward. Ward freaks out, threatening to kill Fitz if they touch Thomas. He's so upset that he lets himself talk to Thomas on the phone for too long, allowing Bobbi to trace the call and find Ward's location. I loved this scene. Much like last season with Kara, showing a person that Ward actually loves and cares about makes him a much more interesting character. I really admired this episode for explaining Ward's origins without trying to excuse his behavior. The scenes with Thomas gave me a tiny little twinge of sympathy for Ward, which is actually a testament to Brett Dalton's acting. (I can't believe I just said that. Remember how bland I thought Ward was at the beginning? Things certainly have changed!)

These moments with Thomas were interesting not only for what they revealed about Ward, but for what they revealed about Hunter and Coulson. First of all - was Hunter really going to kill Thomas? We're left uncertain about that. Would Hunter have done it, and would Coulson have asked it of him? I like that we didn't get any cut and dry answers here. Bobbi is clearly worried about Coulson's erratic behavior. He's fallen off the deep end, and Bobbi is worried that if he goes in to this mission to take out Ward without a clear head, he's going to make reckless mistakes. I like seeing Bobbi as the voice of reason, while Coulson and Hunter both act like immature children and jump blindly in to a heavily defended Hydra base. Yikes. The stuff she has to put up with.

During all of this stuff with Coulson, Bobbi and Hunter, Mack has been left as the acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. This was an excellent touch. I would have been really annoyed at Coulson if he hadn't made this provision. While he's clearly not working in the best interest of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the moment, he's still responsible enough to recognize that he's behaving too emotionally. Putting Mack in charge proves that Coulson is still capable of behaving responsibly.

Mack hasn't had much to do all season, so I enjoyed seeing him thrust into this position of unexpected power. He's a bit uncertain about his game plan, and when he realizes that Coulson, Bobbi, and Hunter are rushing in to a fight they can't win, Mack asks May for her help in figuring out what to do. May is supportive but firmly leaves the decision up to Mack, which I thought was really interesting. In the end, he decides to bring Daisy, Lincoln, and the other Inhumans that Andrew had deemed too dangerous to go into the field with him to back Coulson up. I'm thinking this is going to make for an explosive mid-season finale! I liked seeing Mack take some initiative, and I love that the Inhumans are finally getting brought in off the bench.

Meanwhile, Ward's bad behavior doesn't stop with killing Rosalind. He also kidnaps Fitzsimmons, on Malick's orders. Malick wants to use them to figure out how to get people back through the portal, something that Hydra has never been able to sort out. Seeing Ward with Fitz and Simmons again was a real treat, in the most cruel way possible. The chemistry between these characters and actors is off the charts. Every moment of Ward with one of his former teammates just emphasizes to me how brilliant the end of Season One really was.

Fitzsimmons had so many amazing moments in this episode that I think it's even better than last week. Seriously. This week's Fitzsimmons material was better than the episode that contained an actual Fitzsimmons kiss. For real. First of all, you have Fitz's continued reassurance that they'll find a way to save Will. Simmons thinks it's too dangerous to contemplate opening up the portal again, despite the fact that she loves Will and wants to save him. Then they get kidnapped by Ward, and Fitz is forced to listen as Simmons is tortured by Hydra. Ouch!

I'm a broken record about Iain de Caestecker's acting, but it's simply stunning. There's this moment when Ward enters the room where Fitz is sitting, and Fitz starts stuttering over the words "what have you done with Simmons?" He gets this brief look on his face, frustrated with himself for betraying his fear through his stutter. It's a nuanced little moment that just blew me away. And things only get more intense from there. To stop Hydra from hurting Simmons, Fitz agrees to enter the portal with Ward and a team of Hydra people. Simmons begs him to just let Hydra kill her instead, but Fitz insists that he's not strong enough to live in a world without her in it. Oh my God. It's just too much amazingness. Simmons tells Fitz to come back to her, and Fitz promises he'll find a way to bring Will back. All of this is just heartbreaking to the extreme, and I can't wait to see yet another reunion moment for everybody's favorite scientist duo.

I also have to mention my favorite moment of humor in this week's episode. When Ward goes to talk to Simmons, she says to him: "you really are the king idiot." I loved that! Simmons was cool as could be, totally in control of herself even as she faced off with one of the most insane and dangerous people in the world. You go, Simmons!

As the episode ends, you have all these pieces coming to a head. Ward, Fitz, and the other Hydra people are going through the new portal. Coulson is ready to end things with Ward once and for all, Bobbi is increasingly worried about his behavior, and Mack is rushing to Coulson's aid with Daisy, May, and the other Inhumans.

And then? Coulson jumps from the plane and straight into the portal, following Ward, Fitz, and the others onto the alien planet. Now that I did not expect. I was sort of figuring that Fitz and/or Simmons would go back there once Malick started talking about opening the portal. Ward going in was a bit of a surprise, but it makes sense. Coulson? I never would have seen that coming. Whatever ideas we had about Inhumans being the A-plot and the portal being a B-plot have been turned on their head. Coulson, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., has gone down the rabbit hole, ladies and gentlemen. It's about to get real interesting.

Despite some objection to Rosalind's death, I thoroughly enjoyed everything this episode had to offer. I don't know if I'm ready to handle whatever comes next!

9/10