Agents of SHIELD, Season 3, Episode 22: Ascension
Throughout this episode, there's a sense of 'WHO GON DIE' which really kinda felt annoying. From the cross being tossed from one person to the next from Elena to Mack to Fitz to Skye to Lincoln, to Elena getting shot in the gut, to Fitz being confronted one-on-one with Giyera, it really was a bit annoying. We all know there was going to be one death (plus most likely Hive) but telegraphing so loudly that there's only going to be a single death among the good guys felt really poorly handled. That's not to say that it isn't a great finale, though.
Granted, when it's finally clear that Lincoln snuck aboard that ship and (somehow non-lethally) knocked Skye out of it, bringing the ship with only him and Hive inside it, we know what was going to happen. Lincoln honestly is still not quite enough of a character for his death to really mean that much or even to deserve such a long farewell, and the ripoff of the Steve/Peggy goodbye scene in Captain America: The First Avenger really felt a bit iffy. Regardless, it went quickly from a basic screamcryfest to something more poignant and poetic when Hive actually opens his mouth to accept death and finally has a bit of a nice, final conversation with Lincoln.
The two enemies just calmly talk with each other, embracing their fate, knowing that there is no escape, being at peace, is a beautiful scene. Hive's been a very interesting villain and his unique viewpoint on the world makes him a pretty fun one. And, yes, while his existence is a transparent ploy to keep Brett Dalton, Ward's actor, in the show, it's a great farewell to the character, with last episode's flashbacks to Grant Ward giving us a moment to appreciate the oddly complex Grant Ward before all traces of him is obliterated when the ship goes boom. What an ending! Definitely a nice, different moment compared to having the villain just die in a big superhero shootout.
The events leading to it were a lot more cooler, though, starting off almost immediately with Skye fighting against the thing with Grant Ward's face. Quake versus Hive. It was a great fighting scene that used some great effects with Skye's shockwaves and a lot of great kung fu moves. It's a confrontation we had three seasons of buildup to, and while this isn't quite exactly Grant Ward himself, the history between both of them is deep enough you can't not be excited seeing them have their final superhero showdown.
There was that whole zombie fog apocalypse going on in the SHIELD base, with some really, really fun moments courtesy of dr Radcliffe, evidently filling the comedy-shaped hole that Hunter left gaping in his wake. From him walking around aimlessly, to 'science hunch', to geeking out over Coulson's robot arm in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, to just being such a wonderful source of comedy, Radcliffe is a more than welcome addition to the cast.
We also get Elena taking a couple of bullets in the gut to save Mack. She doesn't die, despite having death flags all over her head ever since we first saw her, but we were kinda subjected to a painful scene of torchblowing her wounds. That... isn't exactly healthy.
And while it was a bit annoying that Skye skulked in her cell until May brought Andrew up, it ended up giving Fitz a really cool scene as he bluffed Giyera, before going on about "you were already a murderous wank before all that" and shooting Giyera with an invisible gun. That was as badass as killing Gordon last season, and I think that's going to be Fitz's thing from now on. Kill the second-in-command badass villain mook at the finale. That's not really a shameful way to go out, though, Giyera. You're an underrated villain and I really like you.
We get a bit of a fight between Hellfire and Lincoln, and while Hellfire seems to have been merely knocked out, the episode doesn't exactly give us any real details about his ultimate fate. There was a long, extended and annoying moment between Skye and the wounded Lincoln. Which was, y'know, annoying. There was that hilarious hologram sequence with Coulson and Hive (which was a trick he borrowed from Blake, and actually one he and Hunter used against TrueSHIELD in season 2), and while we don't see Hive's true tentacly face for too long, it does look realistic enough to not be obviously CGI. It does look like it belongs in the cast of the next Star Wars movie, which I think is a compliment.
There was a great moment as the entire Agents of SHIELD cast engaged in a full-out battle against the Primitive army, with even Simmons and Fitz getting physical. Mack gets a proper shotgun-axe! We did gloss over the fact that all of these used to be SHIELD agents until recently, but the horrifying 'there's nothing you can do for them anymore!' scenes with Fitz in the hangar last episode was kinda sufficient, so I don't particularly mind.
After Lincoln and Hive's death, we flash forward a couple of months... to a point where Coulson and Mack are operating under the orders of a new director, hunting down an earthquake-creating vigilante... called Quake. Finally! Now obviously Skye didn't just went off and go evil thanks to grief, despite the expository image change, but she's definitely turned into a vigilante more concerned about helping out people in ways she thinks is right. We see her help out the family of that hobo prophet Inhuman, before using her quake-generating abilities to hop into the air and onto the roof of a building to evade pursuit. Also, Radcliffe is apparently on good terms with FitzSimmons and is building
A great finale. Could've stood to have less Lincoln/Skye romancy moments in it, but hey. Definitely looking forward to season four.
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