After the show’s crazy The Thing episode last week, this week’s shindig is the calm before the crazy storm that is next week’s two-hour finale. We finally know the origins of Sarge and the team is reeling from the revelation. On top of that, Izel’s relentless quest to bring her powerful race to the fold is in high gear, with Mack, Yoyo, and Dr. Benson in tow.

The show continues its streak of having great unhinged female villains. Izel is brutal AF, highlighted last episode when she murders Agent Davis in front of everyone and is further showcased this episode when a body-snatched Mack murders an agent in cold blood and when she torments Benson by murdering his pseudo-husband in front of him. Izel as a character has always seemed hokey to me but the past two episodes have taken her into very exciting territory.

Despite the brutality of the show and the lunacy of whys and hows, this episode was surprisingly very emotional. The scene of Daisy opening Coulson’s goodbye letter for the first time is touching and Chloe Bennet‘s quiet performance makes for the whole thing. Even though this powerful moment is punctuated by an almost comedic beat – Daisy snapping Sarge’s head without compunction, it’s a fantastic showcase of just what the show can do at its best.

With the revelation that Sarge is the Fear Dimension by-product of Coulson from last season, May seizes the opportunity to find the man she loved within this stranger. She’s hopeful while Daisy is understandably not. But everything changes for Daisy when Sarge refers to her as Skye. Suddenly, Sarge is as human as Daisy remembers Coulson to be. He’s willing to sacrifice himself for the better good. A lot of talk in this episode hint at the possibility of the team getting back a version of Coulson they could get behind with. On one hand, having more Clark Gregg is never a bad thing. On the other hand, I kind of want them to move on from all the Coulson stuff in their final season.

I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes a couple of times in this episode. The tedious back and forth about the moralities of harming a prisoner of war gets old pretty fast when characters can’t make their mind up on just how to treat Sarge. Last week, Daisy chastizes the body-snatched May for shooting Sarge with no due process. Cut to this episode when Daisy insists that May beat information out of Sarge and later murders him. Granted, they didn’t know just how invincible Sarge was but still, conversations like this get overdrawn in superhero shows.

One particular aspect of this episode reminded me of The Leftovers, one of my favorite shows ever. Namely, the part where Sarge gets killed in order for him to dig deeper into his psyche. The Leftovers features a guy dying multiple times to visit the afterlife to dig for information. But not only does Sarge get to dig for the truth in death, he actually gets stronger. I’m not quite why he has to die for his true form to surface but it’s a cool add-on to the intrigue behind these unnatural beings.

ONE-SHOTS

  • Deke is THAT classmate in your group project.

  • I’ll be honest: I totally forgot who Flint was. but having refreshed my memory, it’s cool to see him back.

  • Love how they managed to sneak in a high-fantasy looking sword in the midst of a sci-fi story. Can’t wait to see some sword action in the finale.