Finally, after last week’s cliffhanger, we jump straight into the action. Daisy, May, Snow, and Shaw are still stuck on Sarge’s suicide truck. Sarge and the rest of his team are taking over the Zephyr. FitzSimmons are still stuck on the ship with Izel, who has completely taken over the entire crew. The series now has both teams stuck in a shrike-invested vehicle as it leads up to the entire team finally coming back together. Sarge is also pushed to his limits as we potentially enter the final act of his mystery and what connection he has with Izel. Will our team be able to save the world once again?

The Coulson mystery really is the driving force behind this season. It is actually kind of fitting that two of the most prolific MCU characters have passed away within just a year yet their legacy carries on many stories. Once again we get quite a few hints at Sarge’s true identity throughout the episode. There is the massive hint by Izel about  Sarge wearing a different skin that he is trying to survive and it may confirm how he survived for over 100 years. His plan, however, backfired on him as he ends up getting overpowered after a rather heavy fight between him and Mack. Makes you wonder how our S.H.I.E.L.D. director is feeling beating up a man that has his former mentor’s face.

Daisy, May, Deke, and Snow are stuck on the truck after crashing into the tower. Luckily, Quake was able to use her powers to contain the bomb from any vibrations but they still had to face an invasion of shrike that is obviously quite pissed. It gives us another badass moment with May catching a shrike before it entered Deke’s mouth. It all comes to a smart move by Daisy, as she opens one door so they would all come swarming in through that specific point. She uses her abilities to destroy these beasts

The entire episode leads up to the final reunion of the entire cast. Just seeing May smile that Fitz is back, Daisy hugging Simmons who she was scared she might never see again. Deke jumping at Fitz without him even knowing what exactly is going on. Such a great emotional moment that felt deserved especially after a long season like this. Sadly, it all comes at a price as Jaco, who has become an MVP this season, sacrifices himself to take out the ship full of the shrike. I kind of realized that moment was coming as soon as Simmons said she liked him and I realized I did as well. SHIELD does love to tear at our heartstrings as much as it possibly can.

It all leads to a rather sudden party sequence. Everyone is celebrating that they defeated the shrike and taking down Sarge. Moreover, they finally got Fitz back to earth so it did make sense for them to finally party about. We get a great moment between Piper and Davis that really helps solidify them as a good anchor for this show. Also, Fitz and Deke talking was kind of hilarious as they don’t tell Fitz that the man constantly gloating is his grandfather. Also, him comforting Snow and introducing her to the team was kind of nice even if the obvious “she is a mass-murderer” was about to happen. Mack’s final speech also cements that he was the right choice to continue as director after Coulson. If only this wasn’t just the ninth episode in a thirteen-episode season and they could finally have a happy ending. Especially with Mack trying to fix his relationship with Yo-Yo.

Let us talk about that post-credit sequence. May all of a sudden just shoots Sarge out of nowhere. It’s easy to think it fits her earlier line where she proclaims she should’ve killed him when she first met him. Yet, we never saw Izel on the ship when Jacko blew it up and we still have four more episodes to go so we have not seen the last of these shrikes. Still, seeing her shoot Sarge in cold-blood was a heavy post-credit sequence and cannot wait to find out what exactly happened. My fear is that she may be infected with a shrike and our team will have to find a way to get it out of her. Also, they won’t just kill off Sarge before revealing his true identity and it is looking more and more likely that he is Coulson with someone else’s mind in his body.

VERDICT

4 confused Fitz expressions out of 5

SHIELD is continuing its build-up to the Coulson mystery. It feels like an early win for our team but we know better from our experiences with the past season. Still, they finally were able to take out the shrike and look great while doing it. May and Daisy get their moments to shine, Deke is once again hilarious and Mack proves himself once again as the perfect director to take over from Coulson. While they do still drag out the mystery surrounding Sarge, they are giving us more blatant hints with the arrival of Izel and it will be interesting to see how she plays into the rest of this season.

ONE-SHOTS

  • May just gets better with each season, here reaction to Snow’s “I sense negative energy out there” was hilarious.
  • There is a nice empowering line about the strength of Daisy reflecting the earth’s woman. Kind of makes you wish they would meet Captain Marvel.
  • Fitz’s “You smell nice!” while they are trying to hide from some monsters is just very typical Fitz.
  • I love when Mack calls Fitz “Turbo”. That massive bear hug was just adorable.
  • I would like to know how much money S.H.I.E.L.D. invests in those Quinjets they keep sacrificing. Who is even still producing those things?
  • Zeke’s love for Zima returns, it was only a small moment but it was great for continuity. Also, him falling in love with Snow really makes me hope that she stays as part of the cast moving forward.