Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Finale review (episodes 20-22)

We've reached the final episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and whilst I have mixed feelings about the back half of the season, S.H.I.E.L.D. has always delivered a good finale, will it continue to form in this season? Let's take a look

Emancipation

Wow, we’re bringing out our big words here, let’s do a quick Google search

Emancipation

noun

1. the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation.

"the social and political emancipation of women"

• the freeing of someone from slavery. 

"the early struggle for emancipation from slavery"

Well, spoilers!

We come to the penultimate episode if you count the 2-part finale as a single episode. And it’s the first episode since the American release of Civil War. My thoughts on Civil War, go see it, it’s a trillion than Batman v Superman and deserves to make more money than that piece of garbage. (Review of Batman v Superman will come in due course)

Of course, the Sokovia Accords from that movie was mostly about putting the Avengers under the watchful eye of the UN and there was no mention of it having a wider impact on superheroes in general. Of course Agents of SHIELD delved further into the registration of ‘enhanced people’ and what that means for the secret Warriors and SHIELD in general

Coming to the forefront of that argument is #TeamIronMan General Talbot who continually makes the case for the registration of the enhanced, knowing the dangers they could posess, which puts an interesting perspective when Coulson (#TeamCap) decides to be up front, honest and true to him about everything to do with SHIELD. As acting chair of the ATCU I feel that was necessary and it’s probably the first time I’ve seen Talbot without wanting to punch him in the face.

But the main plot is a plan to liberate daisy from Hive’s control as Hive has members of the watchdogs, that group that was in the second worst episode of the series, transformed into his own personal golums.

The plan is actually pretty solid for the most part, they know Daisy can hack into most of the base so they get Lincoln to convince her he wants to be freed and allow Daisy to do so, but once in the Hangar send Lash instead. Unfortunately, this is where I have a problem.

You see, Lash turning himself in was a bit too easy, and now it’s a matter of plot convenience. Lash can conveniently resist hive and cure Daisy, these were not abilities he’s showcased before so it came off as kind of convenient and ultimately his sacrifice did not mean anything to me whatsoever. I get that it could come off as a sign that Andrew was still in there but… it’s not enough for me.

Then there’s the big problem, the talk of the sokovia accords at this point in S.H.I.E.L.D. brings the pacing of the episode to an absolute crawl. I know I’ve been harping on about pacing for a few weeks now but the finale is next week and we could’ve used some more momentum. As it is it’s just them teasing that Mack might be the one to die (since Yo-yo gives him her necklace) but it’s likely too obvious and it’ll be someone else

Rating 7/10

Absolution/Ascension
And so it came to pass that the prophecy would deliver and a member of the team will die. Here’s a fluffy bunny to compensate

The back half of season 3 has been the weakest Agents of SHIELD has ever been in my opinion, the problem is mostly down to pacing but it’s made clear that there’s another problem, the investment of relationships.

Fitz and Simmons fare best in that department, wanna know why? Because we’ve had 3 seasons of them working together, working past the obstacles life puts in their way and ultimately coming out better. We care for both of them as characters and we have investment in their relationship.

Earlier in the season we had the same problem with Coulson and Rosiland Price. Price is not all that interesting in her own right and because they had so little screen time together, it’s hard to sell their relationship that way either. Which is unfortunate since her death is what ultimately sparked what lead into this half of the season

OK, first off, spoiler alert, Lincoln is the one from the team who dies in this episode, and unfortunately it’s about how they’ve sold Daisy and Lincoln as a couple, ie not very well. The problem for me is I think they were really holding back on Daisy and Lincoln out on the field together, building up chemistry through action, rather than words allows something of an investment into their relationship. It doesn’t really help that Lincoln, for all their attempts to add depth to him, wasn’t interesting as a character. May already had the tragic backstory element covered. If they wanted to show he was a loose cannon, they needed something more substantial in his past than potential marital abuse and alcoholism.

But S.H.I.E.L.D. is a very plot driven show so let’s see what they have to offer on the plot side of things? Coulson orders a raid as HIVE prepares to launch their missile. They succeed, even capturing Hive but really should check their orders before accepting them since some of the conversion gas gets into the base and turns all the redshirts into golums. (Yeah, I know they’re smart and strong)

So it’s hide and seek for our team at S.H.I.E.L.D. all the while Hive is using their airship as a new way to launch the warhead and turn everyone into inhuman golums. Meanwhile Daisy is suffering withdrawal effects from Hive’s mind control and guilt from her actions leading her to take rash steps to ending this threat.

In essence, it’s not a bad plot. It provides a good mix of tension, action and drama that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has done since the beginning, the characters remain true to form and overall it’s a satisfying conclusion to the arcs set in this.

On the other hand, it also feels kinda hollow. Aside from not being invested enough in Lincoln to be at the front of the queue to mourn his passing, I’m still not sold on Hive. I get that he’s a smarter, subtler villain than many of the others but even so I feel like he never gains any real victories over the SHIELD team that are a result of his own work. Him turning Daisy was happenstance, he didn’t plan for them to show up exactly, or at least it never felt like he did.

As for the ending. I can’t help but feel this as a desperate attempt to keep all its viewers, especially since it’s moving to an unpleasant time slot. I don’t feel like any of it provides much progression from where we were at the end, there are a lot of jumps that need to be explained, and likely will be in season 4.

As for Daisy herself. I think we’ve come full circle and it seems she’s more lost than ever, something that’s been building most of this two-parter. Not sure what her agenda is but in some ways it feels like a step backwards from the in-control badass she was at the beginning of the season.

I will watch and be reviewing season 4 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I just hope they up their game and do better with the next season because there is definitely room to improve here.

Rating 7.5/10

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Images/clips used in this review are from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use