Agents of SHIELD: "Absolution" and "Ascension" Reviews (Season 3, Episodes 21 & 22)

Wow. We're done another season already? Well, time flies when a show is pretty awesome. And you're having fun too. Fun's good.

In all seriousness, SHIELD delivered another satisfying season finale. Was it as mind-blowing and action-packed as the previous one? Not quite. But, man is it close. 

There's a lot to talk about, so let's jump in:

"Absolution" got the ball rolling almost immediately with SHIELD thwarting Hive's first attempt to launch his missile. Within the first two minutes, I'm already at the edge of my seat. It was also great seeing the memory machine come into play once again against Hive. Those scenes where he's experiencing the memories of Ward, Will and Malick's brother were some of the best of this finale, and further proved just how much Brett Dalton NAILED it this season.

Meanwhile, the team attempted to help Daisy overcome her guilt, but she was apparently having none o' dat. Her whole spiel about wanting to be locked up and feeling regret for what she did was a bit heavy-handed, but Chloe Bennet was able to sell it. Also, her breakdown with Mack and her begging Hive to take her back were powerful scenes, ones which made up for that heavy-handidness. And the Hive/Daisy fight was 100 shades of cool.

Something that was both funny and agonizing was the game of Hot Potato between the different characters with the cross necklace and the SHIELD jacket. It really muddied the waters in terms of knowing who was going to die. Also, everything was just so foreboding. Oh, look. There's Lincoln talking about leaving SHIELD. Oh, look. There's Fitz and Simmons planning a vacation. STOP MESSING WITH MY HEART, SHIELD.

For me, I had four candidates: May, Lincoln, Fitz or Daisy. Both Fitz and Daisy came very close, but in the end...it was indeed Lincoln.

Having Lincoln die does feel like a cop-out, but it's not the writers' or the character's fault. If the promos hadn't been smashing it down our throats that someone was going to die and insinuating it would one of the show's veterans (One of them did die. Kind of. More in a bit.), maybe I would've thought kinder of it. But Lincoln's sacrifice fit snugly into what he had been through over the course of the season in finding his purpose. Yes, his radio farewell to Daisy was emotional (and was givin' me some First Avenger vibes), but the real standout moment was Hive accepting his defeat and spending his last minute of life in peace alongside Lincoln. That was the best scene of this finale. No question. It was infinitely better than having them fight to their last breaths. It also added a level of sympathy to Hive. All he wanted was to feel a connection to someone. Aww. 

Then we go back to the team. Daisy's a crying wreck. Somber glances are shared. Simmons asks "What now?" SMASH CUT TO 6 MONTHS LATER!!!!!!!! 

Ok, look. That scene didn't need to go on for a long time, but neither did it need to be cut off on such a jarring and almost laughable way, Just needed to get that off my chest.

So let's get to the juicy Season 4 set-up. Daisy's gone rogue and is being pursued by Coulson and Mack, SHIELD apparently has a new director (May. Calling it.), and Dr. Radcliffe is now working with Fitz and has just invented a LMD, or Life Model Decoy. I'm kind of hoping next season shows us a bit of what transpired between seasons to get us to this new status quo, but it's still a certainly intriguing set-up. Nothing's going to beat Simmons getting swallowed by that monolith, though. Just saying.

So, all in all, another fantastic finale, and another fantastic season, under our belts. With SHIELD's track record so far, I have little doubt that Season 4 will be just as fantastic.

Other Thoughts:

• The shot-gun axe! In all its glory!
• The mo-cap Fitz scene was a lil' strange, but I'd be lying to you if I said if it wasn't a hoot. 
• Fitz gets the best kill in the finale with that invisible gun. RIP Giyera.
• Oh man, Hive's true form was wicked! Probably the best visual effects work on the series so far.
• I saw the hologram Coulson twist coming from a mile away, but I wasn't expecting the Star Wars reference. Brownie points!
• I'd love it if Radcliffe was promoted to a series regular next season. He stole the show this week. I loved that "Woo! Yeah!" bit after the team captures Hive.
• Simmons hiding from the Primitives reminded me a lot of Jurassic Park. And then Radcliffe went and quoted it too.
• So Daisy's setting up Charles Hinton's wife with Cal? I'm fine with that as long as we see Cal again next season.
• Is the LMD thing going to become SHIELD's version of Ex Machina? 

Rating: 9,1/10 Ronalds

Until next season,

Noah