Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: World's End (4x22)

Man, what is it with ABC shows ending their seasons with show-altering shakeups? First we had Once Upon a Time with the time skip, and now we've got S.H.I.E.L.D. sending everybody into outer space? But setting aside the last few minutes of the episode, which I'll talk about later, we should first look at how this finale worked as a wrap-up for the best season of this show to date.

Cons:

Like I said, this was the best season of the show we've yet seen, and the finale had a lot to live up to. Consequently, things felt just a tad crowded. We had to deal with the resolution of the Framework plot, along with getting Mack and Yo-Yo out of there. We had to deal with the return of Robbie Reyes, and somehow resolve the whole Darkhold business. Also, the world is still suspicious of Inhumans, and nobody knows what to think of S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, so there's that. Oh yeah, and Ophelia/Aida is running around trying to kill everybody. Oh yeah and we've got to deal with relationship drama between Fitz and Simmons, as well as between May and Coulson. With so much going on, I felt like several very important things didn't get enough resolution.

First of all, Robbie is awesome, but he felt really shoe-horned in here. We've spent two thirds of the season building up Aida as a great villain, and pitting our various characters against her in unique and interesting ways. And then we get a Deus Ex Flame-Skull guy to come in and be the answer to the question of how to kill her. A little disappointing? Yeah, maybe. And Robbie basically pops in, helps to defeat Aida, and pops back out again, taking the Darkhold with him to keep it somewhere safe, apparently. How is he going to manage it? Where exactly is he leaving this all-powerful book of magic? And is that really the end for his character and the Darkhold? If not, then I'm still holding out hope for a cool resolution. If yes, then... lame.

Okay, and Aida is not nearly as interesting in this finale as she's been throughout the whole rest of the show. Last episode we saw how tumultuous and scary she is now that she's human. This week, she's just a crazy manic lady who wants to hurt Fitz because... you know... hell hath no fury. Our good guys discover that Aida is apparently attempting, with the aid of the Russian, to turn this world against Inhumans so she can have the same fascist control here that she did in the Framework. Sounds interesting, which is why it's a shame that we barely saw any of this, and Aida gets killed off with, I'm just going to say it... relative ease. I'm not saying there won't be consequences, but the payoff in this finale itself was pretty weak.

I was so pleased throughout the entirety of the Framework arc, because I knew that Fitz and Simmons were being set up as the center of the main conflict. That meant, obviously, that the payoff would be worth the pain, right? Apparently not. I have some vague and wispy hopes that next season will feature Fitz and Simmons talking through the consequences of what they went through, but the fact that this episode had barely anything between them at all... I mean, come on. I didn't want them to get engaged or anything, because that would feel too sudden and cheap. But a conversation, maybe? Maybe Simmons could tell Fitz that she's going to support him through this? Or we could see Fitz viscerally react to the death of LMD!Simmons in a way that made him want to be near to real Simmons? Something? Anything? Now, next season we're jumping in to a whole different story with new challenges. How much of Fitz and Simmons' emotional development and trauma is actually going to carry through? I hope we get something, but this show tends to skip over some of that stuff, and that would be a damn shame.

Pros:

The resolution of stuff in the Framework was pitch perfect, and probably my favorite part of the episode. Yo-Yo wakes up in the Framework, and, with the aid of Radcliffe, gets to the resistance and finds Mack and Hope. Mack doesn't remember her, and isn't willing to consider coming back to the real world, as Hope won't be with him. Slowly, the world around them begins to blink out of existence. Large swaths of people, of buildings, of belongings, start vanishing. On the outside, Daisy works frantically to create a back door for Yo-Yo and Mack to go through. She succeeds, but Mack is still unwilling to leave Hope. Until, tragically, she too vanishes. Yo-Yo wakes up in the real world, and looks over in desperation at Mack, who opens his eyes at the last possible second. We see Radcliffe blink out of existence as he's about to enjoy a final drink on the beach. We see Yo-Yo apologize to Mack for trying to separate him from Hope, and Mack says there's nothing to apologize for. The two share a kiss.

So much to unpack here. Let's start with Radcliffe. He may be the character on this show I've been the most surprised by. I didn't care much about him one way or another when we first met him, but slowly I began to find him interesting in the narrative. And from narrative interest came a lot more. His relationship with Fitz, his attitude about science, his relationships with Agnes and Aida, his behavior in the Framework... all of this stuff really pulled me in. I know Radcliffe has been dead for this entire last third of the season, technically speaking, but I was actually really upset when he blinked out of existence. They gave him a fittingly somber final moment. I'm really going to miss him.

Yo-Yo and Mack make me feel all sorts of feelings. I love them and I'm so glad that they both made it out of there. I was a little worried we'd be losing them both. The stuff with Hope was pretty devastating. I mean, yeah, she's a little too cheesy of a character, but when she's crying and saying she's scared and she doesn't want to die, and questioning if she's real... well, ouch. And then suddenly she's gone, and Mack is just so broken. But, of course, he's Mack, so he's able to pick himself back up again. I'm glad they're not going the route of having Mack blame Yo-Yo for any of this. Once he's back in the real world and able to remember everything, he knows why she did what she did. They can move forward, scarred by what has happened, but stronger for it. Also, Yo-Yo and Daisy both had the most intense relieved reactions when Mack woke up. It made me very emotional.

While Robbie's return may have been a little rushed, he did get some pretty awesome moments. Him and Daisy working together to fight off the various versions of the Russian LMD... that was some cool action! Coulson walks in just after they've finished kicking ass, and he's super disappointed to have missed it. That made me smile! Daisy and Robbie always had this connection, and I do hope we get the chance to see Robbie again some day. I think there might be more to explore there.

The biggest lasting consequence of Robbie's return is that Coulson briefly takes on the mantle of Ghost Rider in order to get to Aida and destroy her. Not only was it super epic to see Coulson take out the big threat of the season, it also opens the possibility for future consequences. Robbie hints that Coulson made some sort of exchange for this temporary power, but we don't know what it is or how it works. As long as the payoff is interesting, I'm here for it. What's going to happen to Coulson?!

Oh, also, Coulson and May have a conversation about how they'll find a time to talk, and open a new bottle, once they get out of this mess. I love the idea of these two old friends sitting down and actually having a mature discussion about their relationship. They both deserve all the happiness in the world.

I complained above about the lack of on-screen resolution for all the hell Fitz and Simmons have been through. There was one scene that I quite liked, however. Simmons and Fitz are in a room together when suddenly Aida shows up. She wants to make Fitz suffer, so she grabs Jemma, stabs her in the chest, and makes Fitz beg for Jemma's life. Fitz promises to take her to the Darkhold, promises to do whatever she asks, if she'll just spare Jemma. But Aida isn't interested. She kills Jemma in front of a horrified Fitz. A few moments later, we realize that this was just a way for Fitz to tell Aida about the Darkhold, thus sending her into a trap where Coulson, newly empowered with the Ghost Rider abilities, would be waiting to end her.

I didn't believe for one second that Simmons was actually real, and that was all but confirmed the minute she started blaming Fitz for their current predicament. What I wasn't as sure about was whether or not Fitz knew that Simmons was an LMD in that moment. But Iain De Caestecker is such a superb actor that I figured out pretty quickly that he must know. He was certainly desperate to save fake Simmons, and he had a lot of emotion in his voice. But if he had thought that the real Jemma Simmons was about to die... I mean, the guy would have been a blubbering, hysterical mess. He certainly wouldn't have charged Aida after "Simmons" fell; he would have rushed to his fallen girlfriend. I love the subtlety at work here. Since we didn't get to see much with Fitzsimmons on screen together in this finale, I'm choosing to fill in some of my own blanks - can you imagine the conversation they all had where they planned that fake-out? Someone write a fic.

This episode had a few cheesy speeches about teamwork, but they all really worked for me, especially Daisy's at the end. She tells Fitz that he can't take on this burden by himself. They need to face the consequences together. Something about the delivery made this speech really lovely. I think that after such a long time of separation and hardship, it was just such a relief to get the gang back together.

Finally, let's talk about that ending. The team is aware that they're about to be blamed for a lot of really terrible things, and that they will likely be locked up. They go to a diner to have a last meal. We see a slow panning shot of the whole gang - Mack, Yo-Yo, Coulson, May, Daisy, Simmons, and Fitz. Before they can order pie, the lights go out, and some menacing and unspecified government officials come in. We next see Coulson wake up in a strange room, open a panel on the wall, and see the view outside of... outer space. Dun dun dunnnnn.

I absolutely loved the scene of the whole team hanging out at the diner. It gave me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings to see them all together and safe. There have been losses - this season alone we lost Radcliffe and Mace. But our remaining team are all together, and although a lot of terrible stuff has happened, they are united in purpose.

Coulson cracked me up when the government guys came to apprehend the team: "congrats on the whole power-outage thing. Very ominous." That was great! His light-hearted joking in the face of such a grim circumstance is one of the things that makes his character so awesome.

And then of course he's in outer-space. Can we assume the rest of team is with him? Probably. What does this mean? What were they sent out there to do? It seems like like they're being put to work? How did they get there? How do they get back? And what will be waiting for them when they do?  

This is a great twist. I'm so glad Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting another season. This finale was really crowded, and a lot of character beats didn't have time to land in this one. Hopefully with another season, they can smooth out the end-season pacing, and we can end this show on a high note.

7.5/10