The seventh and final season of Agents of SHIELD has finally arrived as we reach the end of this Contrarian Retrospective journey. Let’s begin!
Episode 1 – The New Deal
In 1931 New York City, the SHIELD team must protect Franklin D. Roosevelt from the devout Chronicoms set on altering world history.
Oh yeah. This final season is going to be nuts. Adopting a policy of “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks”, Agents of SHIELD wastes no ‘time’ (heh, get it?) in establishing itself as the craziest and most unpredictable season of them.
Essentially, the SHIELD team is hoping through time alongside the surviving Chronicoms, who are trying to alter the history of the world so that they can claim Earth as their new home. In this first episode, we see 1931 New York City, snazzy costume changes, frantic and exciting action beats with Daisy and Coulson, genuinely distressing face-stealing technology, yet another Patton Oswalt cameo, and a surprise twist: in order to save the SHIELD of the future, our team of heroes have to save the HYDRA of the past. Oh boy.
Rating: 9
Episode 2 – Know Your Onions
Deke and Mack try to keep Freddy Malick (one of the modern fathers of HYDRA) safe, while May reconciles with her near-death experience in the previous season.
A lot of this season’s early half follows a trend of two-part stories, and this episode begins the trend. Still in 1931, we pick up where we left off. There’s still great costumes and sets, fun action beats, and a lot of neat character moments. Deke and Mack have a few great scenes together (building off of their unexpected friendship in the previous season), and it sets the stage for an amazing episode with them later on. May’s recovery is also exciting to watch, and sets up a new mystery involving her strange behavior. Enoch is still great, and it’s a shock to see him left in 1931 when the group time warps again at the episode’s end (thankfully, he’s basically ageless, so we’ll see him again in the future).
Rating: 8
Episode 3 – Alien Commies from the Future!
In 1955, the SHIELD team visits a secret base at Area 51 to stop the Chronicoms from launching a deadly weapon.
Picking up the previous episode’s slack, this installment fires on all cylinders, managing to deliver strongly on the three main pillars of a great episode. The humor is on point, presenting some consistently entertaining gags (including an extended scene of Coulson and Simmons trying to suss out the Chronicoms from the normal people). There’s a heavy emphasis on action in the episode climax, and it’s some of the season’s best and most tense stunt work. The overarching plot and character beats are nailed perfectly as well, alongside a super cathartic ending scene.
By far, though, this episode debuts the biggest twist and greatest feat of this season: bringing in Daniel Sousa from Agent Carter. Not only is this appearance wholly unexpected (and vastly appreciated, as I’ve always loved Sousa), but it isn’t just some little cameo. He has a major role in the events of this episode, and will continue to have a focused presence moving forward.
Rating: 9.5
Episode 4 – Out of the Past
With their future knowledge, the SHIELD agents do what they can to keep Daniel Sousa from dying like history always means for him to.
Presumably simply because they could, this episode is shot entirely in black-and-white (vaguely justified by Coulson being the POV character, and his robo-eye having been damaged in the previous episode). On top of that, it’s done in a classic Noir style, with Coulson narrating his inner monologue in that lovely, dry cadence typical of the genre. It’s silly, it’s arguably unnecessary, and it’s also a lot of fun. It lends the episode a neat visual style without sacrificing any of the other aspects of the show, like the heart, humor, and action.
There’s some great character scenes with unexpected pairings (like Yo-Yo and Deke), and some fun espionage and fighting on a train. We also get to see the SHIELD team putting their knowledge of the future to good use. By using Coulson’s robo-body to fake dying, the team is able to maintain the timeline by pretending to have Sousa die (as he was always meant to on this day in 1955), but the real man is then allowed to come with them on their mission to save the world as they time warp again at the episode’s end. Sousa is now a main cast member, what?!?
Rating: 9.5
Episode 5 – A Trout in the Milk
Landing in the 1970s, the team find that HYDRA’s infiltration of SHIELD is even stronger than it was in the original timeline.
The coolest part of this episode is how it ties back into the proper MCU canon (because this show has the integrity to keep trying to maintain the connected universe better than the films ever do). Chiefly, the giant hellicarrier deathships that were programmed to eliminate thousands upon thousands of HYDRA’s enemies (codenamed Project: Insight in The Winter Soldier), are now fully operational forty years ahead of schedule, and only SHIELD can stop the weapon from firing.
We also get to see Patrick Warburton’s cameo character from season five in the flesh (and he’s as entertaining as always), alongside some more good Deke and Yo-Yo scenes, and a few hints about the growing threat that will become the focus for the rest of the season. Evil aliens might be trying to rewrite history, but there just always seems to be some ambitious creepy guy lurking around with world-domination plans of his own…
Rating: 8.5
Episode 6 – Adapt or Die
While half the SHIELD team tries to save Mack’s parents from the Chronicoms, Daisy and Sousa are held captive by the nefarious Nathaniel Malick.
An episode with a split focus, and one that manages to make both of its halves extremely compelling.
On the one side we have Coulson, May, and Mack trying to protect the top SHIELD agents of the past from the Chronicoms, while also rescuing Mack’s parents. There are a few funny moments from both Yo-Yo and Patrick Warburton’s character, but the real standout gut-punch is the reveal that Mack’s parents were killed even before the rescue began, and the mother and father before him are merely heartless Chronicom duplicates. Mack then has to kill his own parents to protect his team, and the act of doing so completely destroys his resolve. It gets so bad that he goes outside for a breather (and Deke follows to try and be supportive), only for both to be left behind as the Zephyr time warps!
Then, on top of this, we have Daisy and Sousa being held captive by Nathaniel. Now, from this episode on, Nathaniel becomes the main antagonist of the season. I don’t think he makes for a very compelling or well-written villain, but I can’t give enough praise for his performance by Thomas E. Sullivan. Despite his few acting credits, Thomas’ performance as Nathaniel is unsettling, exceptionally creepy, and wholly unique in cadence and delivery. Almost as praiseworthy is the awesome relationship-building scenes that Daisy and Sousa get while trapped together. Their chemistry is immediate and quite palpable.
Rating: 9.5
Episode 7 – The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D
Stuck in 1982, Mack and Deke are left all alone to process their grief and fend off the remaining Chronicoms.
This episode could’ve been ridiculous, but somehow it nails it’s mash-ups of genres and tons perfectly, creating an episode that is part 80s action silliness, part genuinely touching story of friendship and loss, and part cheesy slasher horror. It’s madness, and it’s incredible!
A large part of the praise resides with Jeff Ward and Henry Simmons as Deke and Mack. Outside of a few minor roles that don’t extend past this episode, Deke and Mack are the focus characters for 95% of this episode’s runtime, and all of the action, humor, and heart rests on their shoulders. They handle the burden with bombastic aplomb, tossing out funny quips and one-liners right alongside some touching, tear-jerking scenes of Mack struggling with depression while Deke refuses to give up on him. It’s some emotional stuff, and it’s incredible to see these two and their unexpected friendship come to such a beautiful resolution.
The purposefully tongue-in-cheek tropes and clichés are off the charts too, like a horde of Dalek-shaped robots attacking with chainsaws that produce truly silly levels of fake-looking blood. There’s some cheesy jump scares and overacted screaming, an adrenaline-fueled training montage, and even a sudden musical number. It’s wacky to the extreme, and gosh darn it, it just works!
Rating: 10
Episode 8 – After, Before
With the Zephyr’s time drive damaged, Yo-Yo and May need to find how to fix Yo-Yo’s distorted speed powers (a negative side effect ever since her Shrike infestation in the previous season).
Continuing the trend of this season focusing on unexpected character pairings, here we get an episode almost entirely devoted to Yo-Yo and May’s relationship and development. It’s a peculiar pairing, but it works really well for a story about Yo-Yo exploring her past mistakes and insecurities, and coming to terms with her powers and how to use them to help others. The two get a lot of scenes together in this episode, and it’s a joy to see.
The real shock, though, is the backdrop of Yo-Yo’s recovery. Since this is that past and all, Yo-Yo and May visit the Inhuman sanctuary of Afterlife (from season two), and spend time talking with none other than Jiaying (Daisy’s mom, and still played by Dichen Lachman). Talk about unexpected appearances! On top of this, this is a Jiaying free of Daniel Whitehall’s influence, so she’s still a nice, caring, and not-genocidal woman. On top of THAT, we find out Daisy had a sister named Kora who committed suicide, yet is stopped from doing so in this timeline by Nathaniel? What the heck!
But there’s no time to dwell on that, because…
Rating: 8.5
Episode 9 – As I Have Always Been
Stuck in an unstable time loop, Daisy and Coulson have no choice but to find a desperate solution to escape and survive.
Man, what a phenomenal episode! Say what you will about these last two seasons, but they are practically worth watching for “Inescapable” and this episode alone. As such, this episode gets the prestigious rating of 11, joining alongside the previously mentioned “Inescapable”, and the season five finale “The End”.
In essence, the crew of the Zephyr are trapped aboard the ship inside of a time loop. Over a span of about fifteen minutes, the ship hurtles towards a cataclysmic cosmic cyclone, only for a bright flash to reset everything back to the beginning before the collision. The trouble is two-fold. Firstly, only Daisy and Coulson remember the events of the previous loops, and each loop the Zephyr gets closer to crashing. Time is running short, and the loop count is running low, to prevent a fatal and decisive crash.
It’s the “Groundhog Day” setup that’s been done plenty of times before, but it’s executed here arguably better than I’ve ever seen it before. Elizabeth Henstridge (the actress for Simmons) even directs the episode, and she does an amazing job in crafting a tense and thrilling time loop story, but one that still delivers one extremely funny or emotional character beat after the next. Everyone gets time to shine, and the core trio of Daisy, Coulson, and (eventually) Sousa really shine. The climactic sacrifice of Enoch is also shockingly effective at pulling at the heart strings, and it’s crushing to see such a kind soul let himself go to save the SHIELD crew.
An absolutely incredible episode! Alas…I’d argue it’s a bit downhill from here.
Rating: 11
Episode 10 – Stolen
While Daisy is given the chance to confront her mother, Nathaniel recruits an old SHIELD enemy to his side.
Leveraging the old timey-wimey fun inherent in time-traveling stories, this episode gives both the heroes and the villains something to do. On the one hand, we have Daisy getting the chance she never had to connect with Jiaying, and their scenes of bonding together are excellent (made even more heartbreaking when she sacrifices herself to Nathaniel at the end to save Daisy). On the other hand, we have Nathaniel recruiting more people to his pseudo-HYDRA team, including a young John Garrett, who is played (quite impeccably, I might add) by Bill Paxton’s own son, James.
The trouble is that this little group of episodes here feels like it’s mostly spinning its wheels. The villains don’t have a super clear end goal, the stakes aren’t particularly established (other than that the Chronicoms want to take over Earth), and Nathaniel isn’t a compelling villain outside of his arresting performance. It’s not bad…just a little meandering.
Rating: 8.5
Episode 11 – Brand New Day
SHIELD splits up, with half the team confronting the Chronicoms in space, and the other half protecting the Lighthouse.
Things finally begin to pick up a bit, and this episode manages to land much stronger thanks to some incredible performances and great character scenes.
The highlight is easily the trio of Daisy, Mack, and Sousa heading into space. We lead in with a heartbreaking scene of Daisy confessing that she has no idea what to do with her life once their mission ends, as Mack consoles her on her inner strength. Mack also reveals that he knows she has feelings for Sousa, which leads to a touching and comedic scene of Mack interrogating Sousa like a wary father about to let his daughter be taken to prom. It’s a lengthy scene, which only helps the humor and heart land that much stronger.
Then, we get some fun scenes with Nathaniel trying to rip into Simmons’ mind to find out where Fitz is (which, by the way, is kind of a big mystery of this season, since he’s been absent for all of it up until now). We also have May giving a few heart-to-heart talks to Daisy’s estranged sister, Kora. Finally, we end with the Chronicoms wiping out all of SHIELD from the face of the earth. Oops. So much for protecting the timeline!
Rating: 9
Episode 12 – The End is at Hand
The mission to rescue the team in space is put into action, and a long-gone friend makes his return.
Following from the slow buildup of the previous episode, this installment pumps the gun on the action as the SHIELD team strikes back against the Chronicoms to rescue Simmons and find a way back to their original timeline, as their actions have now created a split universe. There’s some great fight scenes, the young John Garrett is convinced to abandon Nathaniel and work with Coulson and the crew, and all the pieces of the mystery of Fitz’ disappearance are unraveled as a machine is built that opens a portal to the Quantum Realm.
Out pops Fitz in all of his glory, and the stage is set for the grand finale of season seven, and the ending to the entirety of Agents of SHIELD.
Rating: 8.5
Episode 13 – What We’re Fighting For
The series finale is at hand, as SHIELD stages its final counter against Nathaniel and the rampant Chronicoms.
This episode suffers a bit from the overall problems with meandering tension and villains that all of season seven (and, sort of, season six) has, but come on! It’s the season and series finale! It’s still awesome, and it’s still a 10/10 in my books! The showrunners basically decided to turn this episode into a collection of every possible awesome thing that could happen in an Agents of SHIELD series finale.
Fitz and Simmons outsmart the enemy thanks to the power of the Quantum Realm, and timey-wimey shenanigans even reveal that the two have a young daughter that they go on to live a fulfilling and happy life with (finally achieving their happiness, thank goodness). Deke stays behind in the past timeline to allow the team to escape to the present, and he goes on to put his leadership skills to the test by rebuilding this alternate world’s SHIELD.
In the present timeline, Mack is appointed as the director of SHIELD, and he helps a struggling world find peace alongside his lover and best agent, Yo-Yo (and they’re also joined by Piper and, most surprising, an LMD Davis, hooray!). May becomes one of the most loved professors at the new SHIELD school, Coulson Academy, and she takes on the time-displaced Flint as her top student.
Daisy (fresh off of an epic and surprisingly violent beatdown of Nathaniel) becomes an official item with Sousa, makes up with Kora, and the three go off to become SHIELD agents exploring deep space and helping the galaxy. And, finally, Coulson gets to enjoy the peace of knowing his life’s work is done. He retires happily (and in style, thanks to Mack rebuilding him a replica of his old classic automobile, Lola).
Is it a tear-jerking, overwhelmingly happy ending? Yeah, it is. Would I have wanted anything different? Genuinely…no! I don’t think I’d change a thing!
Rating: 10
SEASON CONCLUSION
I think I’ve made my qualms about this season pretty clear. Most of it has to do with a lackluster central storyline and weak villains. It’s certainly a step down from the tightly written and expertly executed season five (and four, and three).
Does it justify its existence? Is this season (and season six) worth watching after the solid series-finale contender that is the ending of season five?
Absolutely.
While a few things might’ve been lost, Agents of SHIELD does not abandon its core principles of action, humor, and heart. The character writing is as solid as it has ever been, the action scenes are still top-notch, the humor hasn’t faded, and there are (as I made sure to point out) still a few unbelievably great “must-watch” episodes in the mix.
There’s a lot worse ways that an unexpectedly renewed show can go out…and at least Agents of SHIELD still stuck to a definitive and cathartic ending by the time those final credits roll.
Rating: 9
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
(Regularly scheduled Contrarian Corner programming will resume next week, starting with a review article that some of you may have been anticipating I’d write for the past month now.)
The Contrarian Corner 