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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Absolution/Ascension

"I forgive you."

And the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent destined to die on board an exploding Quinjet in space was...

...none other than Lincoln Campbell, the one I was actually hoping it would be.

I can't decide if killing Lincoln is an anti-climax or not. On the one hand the show did exactly what it promised to do. They said someone on the team was going to die and someone on the team did indeed die. On the other hand, it was Lincoln. Lincoln! His death just doesn’t register as significant enough to justify all the hype. Not that I’m saying someone more important should’ve died. You have no idea how relieved I am that none of my favourites were left holding the crucifix of doom, but killing Lincoln feels less like a bold plot development and more like the writers cutting loose the dead weight.

It's like the writers looked at all the characters and asked themselves "Who can we kill off without enraging the entire fandom?" and the answer they came up with was Lincoln. He's not exactly high on any favourite character lists and he is so inconsequential to the make up of the team that his absence will not create a hole that cannot be filled. His entire role on the show can be summed up as "Daisy's boyfriend". Well, I say boyfriend, but a better description would be coworker she occasionally kissed.

Things could've been different if they'd made him more likeable or actually established a convincing emotional connection between him and Daisy. Lincoln’s death may then have carried a little more weight. But they didn’t, so despite Chloe Bennet and Luke Mitchell acting their little hearts out, their big goodbye scene fell completely flat. That scene didn’t pack nearly a tenth of the emotional punch of Daisy’s reunion with Mack. Now that was emotional. I was wailing like a newborn when he told her he forgave her and wrapped his massive arms around her. Their friendship has been one of the real highlights of this rocky season.

Lincoln wasn’t the only one to meet their maker. Hive was also killed in that blast, bringing to an end his dreary reign of boredom and Brett Dalton's time on the show. I’ll kinda miss Dalton (who will provide the awful puns now?), but I won’t miss Hive one iota. He has been a complete flop as a villain, with his rip-off Matrix wardrobe and D-grade Bond villainy. His scheme in this episode was almost the exact plot of Moonraker. With any luck, his defeat will close the door on Inhumans and HYDRA for the foreseeable future. It is time for a fresh start, for some new adversaries and new challenges.

In a way, this finale encapsulated everything I’ve been feeling about the Hive arc and the second half of this season in general. There were some good moments, even one or two great ones (I will never stop laughing at Fitz in the motion capture suit), but far too many made me scratch my head, roll my eyes, and scream at the TV in frustration. Hive's infestation of the base, for example, was too quick and easily could've been avoided if S.H.I.E.L.D. had bothered to actually check their mail and didn’t carry those stupid Icer things. Honestly, why do they still use those? They are absolutely useless. Let your people use lethal force, Phil!

But by far the most frustrating thing about this finale was the two scenes that bookended it. Daisy’s dream, where she was trapped in the module on Maveth with a dying(?) Coulson, was completely random and made no sense whatsoever. It is like the writers just decided they wanted to start the episode in such a way to leave everyone confused. Were they trying to reveal something about Daisy’s current mental state? If anyone knows could they tell me what it was because I got nothing.

As frustrating as that dream scene was, at least it wasn’t real. The same can’t be said for that epilogue. Ever since Alias I have had a burning hated for sudden time jumps being used as cliffhangers. It is a lazy way to shock the audience by showing how different things are so many months or years later. What we saw here, though, was more laughable than shocking. I imagine they were going for Lisbeth Salander with Daisy's new Goth look but the end result is closer to Sk8er Boi era Avril Lavigne.

Intel and Assets

--That damn crucifix changed hands so many times that it turned into some morbid game of pass the parcel. Whoever is holding the crucifix by the time the episode ends dies.

--I wasn’t too keen on the ‘Hive is Daisy’s drug’ metaphor or that it was spelt out for us in big bold letters. Subtlety is just not this show’s forte.

--I hope John Hannah will be sticking around next season, even if it means putting up with a potential low budget Age of Ultron rehash.

--'Ascension' was directed by Kevin Tancharoen who also directed 'The Dirty Half Dozen' and 'Spacetime' which is probably why it kicked off with a great fight scene between Daisy and Hive. He clearly loves to see Chloe Bennet kickass.

--Behold the shotgun axe in all its glory:


--Now that their spin-off is defunct, can we please have Bobbi and Hunter back next season?

--No, Daisy, Ward was not brainwashed.

--Hive revealed his true face and the FX were impressive.

--Coulson is the biggest geek on the planet.

Talbot: "I thought that was a stupid gamble. Seriously stupid. Like betting on Wrestlemania stupid."

Hive: “This won’t kill me.”
Mack: “No, but it will suck.”

Radcliffe: “It’s a science hunch.”

May: "I don't give a damn about your powers. They're not what made you an agent. I did."

Two and a half out of four Sk8er Bois
--
Mark Greig is sorry for the lateness of this review. More Mark Greig

10 comments:

  1. I felt bad for Lincoln, but prefer losing him over any other team member..
    Elena and Mack are too cute.
    GothDaisy should be fun.
    Bye for good, Ward. Been a blast.
    Was John Hannah making a Jocasta? That'd be fun. I'm glad we didn't lose him.
    Hunter and Bobbi can come back now.

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  2. I knew the spinoff would never work out, and I knew Hunter and Bobbi would come back. Yay. I actually quite liked the finale, and thought it was satisfying enough and smart of them to kill Lincoln off. My favorite part of the episode was Fitz being all silly in that suit thingy, oh, and Phil's iconic, "Help me, Obi-Wan-Kenobi, you're my only hope."

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  3. I liked it. Not the greatest finale, sure, but satisfying. And Chloe Bennet proved to be a much better actress than I originally thought.

    As for Daisy's dream... I'm curious if it's something that will happen much later. Maybe in some other way.

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  4. Did anyone else get a Buffy vibe from the choreographed fight scene with men with masks monsters?

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  5. Actually, I was pretty sad to see Lincoln go. But does it make sense that Hive didn't 'sway' him when he had the chance (or should I say - chances as there were several)?
    Another thing that confused me was Daisy begging Hive to 'take her back'. She couldn't have known it was impossible. One minute she feels super-guilty and just a while after her moment with Mack she wants to be rid of her free will yet again?

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  6. 2Yane: she is a druggie. As for the first part — what chances Hive actually had? I don't remember any — except on the Quinjet, when it didn't matter anymore.

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  7. They've met face to face and had quite a chat (well, Hive did most of the talking) before Lincoln fried Hive's brain. It would have made sense for Hive to sway Lincoln right away instead of gloating about his connection to Daisy... I guess if he did, Lincoln's behaviour would not suit the plot, but it bugs me anyway.
    As for Daisy, her sense sense of guilt seemed sincere and it made sense for me that she'd go and try to fight Hive and attempt to redeem herself, but her begging him to sway her again seemed off. I thought she wanted to trick him but how could she know that his influence wouldn't work on her anymore? I get that she was kind of addicted but her behaviour just seemed inconsistent to me.
    Still, I enjoyed the finale and was quite moved by that last scene on the Quinjet. At first when he appeared in the series, I didn't like Lincoln all that much, but he grew on me over time so it's a shame he won't be around next season.

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  8. to all who think DAISY BEGGING TO BE TAKEN BACK makes no sense:

    I was SO glad they wrote it that way, because anyone that has expirience with what are considered hard drugs/ ppl addicted to hard drugs and know how the pleasure centric system of the brain works will know, that there would be no way you could go through withdrawl after what Daisy had felt without the craving taking over.
    After hearing the descriptions of Fitzsimmons about Hives affect and knowing that Daisy was in his presence for quite some time... give desperate people amazing drugs and just stop that to throw them into a shitty life for withdrawl...

    aw well, I won't elaborate further. Just saying, that from a psychological point of view it makes every sense.

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  9. I agree that the whole "HIVE is a drug" thing was kind of ridiculous. They didn't do a good job setting that up besides just saying it attacks the pleasure center of the brain.

    Also, I feel like writers (ahem, Joss Whedon) seem to use addiction as a way of saying people turn evil but aren't responsible for their actions. Remember Buffy Season 6, with Willow being "addicted" to magic? Come on, let heroes take responsibility for their personal fails. Willow loved the power; Daisy needed to belong. It was a lot more convincing when they emphasized that need for connection alone - it is a powerful enough need that could have stood on its own.

    I think Ming-Na Wen is bad ass, but they really need to give her another facial expression besides scowling. I mean, yeah, she's an ice queen. But most of them just look bored or uninterested, not annoyed.

    That being said, I do think Lincoln's character was a waste. I really wanted him to work out. They should have kept him the zen master from Season 2 - it might not have made as much drama for the whole Inhumans-are-out-of-control storyline, but it would have packed more of an emotional punch. They could have invested more time on the other Inhumans and their panic at turning/lack of control, and had Lincoln help them through it. After all, he's a doctor that wants to do good, and after Andrew changed, they needed a calming force.

    Finally, I agree that HIVE was kind of a yawn, but thought Brett Dalton did a great job of playing a totally different character. RIP Brett/Ward/alien thing. I'll miss your super hot psychopathy.

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  10. I knew it would be Lincoln because he just wasn't working as a character. He actually made me not like Daisy. But I actually rather liked the quinjet in space ending, with Ward/Hive just sort of standing there, like, "Now what?" Not a thing he could do.

    Here's hoping there's a reason for John Hannah coming back that doesn't involve making hideous Inhumans. Hannah kept making me laugh as he was shifted from situation to situation.

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