REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Farewell Cruel World"
- May 5, 2017
- 3 min read
I just realized we’re on episode 20. When did that happen? And five out of six of the main characters escaped the Framework two episodes before the finale. How did that happen? And we just went through a whole episode without Ward. Why am I excited about this? The answer to all of these questions are thankfully explored in this week’s episode.
First of all, it’s a nice reminder that the real world is still going on since apparently TEN DAYS have passed. Granted that kind of throws away all the tension of them having to get out as soon as possible, but it’s nice to remember that Yo-Yo and the other agents are going through their own troubles too. Remember, being a hero means being miserable. But these characters are pleasant enough, so no complaints there.
Back to the real problems in the fake world, the episode’s story is oddly quick and simple. They get out. That’s all you need to know for the next one. There are a couple of extra details which I’ll get to in a moment, but it gives the episode a lot less significance even though it has the pacing and tension of a good finale. It’s not a full criticism since getting out is a pretty big plot point, but it’s the only one. It shouldn’t have been that hard to do.
One criticism I can give is them finally ending the evil Fitz plot by…doing nothing really. It’s a sign that I ended up liking how they portrayed Radcliffe in this arc than one of our main characters. Yes, I know they will obviously come back to this since it clearly affected Fitz, but it makes the whole build-up feel entirely anti-climactic. Nothing was learned, and everyone seemed to take one step back if you think about it. Simmons pulled a gun on a man, Fitz killed two people, May is somber again, and Daisy actually talked to Ward. These aren’t things the characters would never go through, they certainly aren’t things we should go through in season four.
Then there’s the notion of Mack staying behind with his daughter. Despite the on-the-nose reference to Hope (just listen to it again), it really is a touching scene between him and Daisy. Unlike the other characters, this scene also builds off the relationship between Daisy and Mack that can only come at this point of the show. Of course, Mack is going to come back and Hope is a goner (it’s actually more depressing than it sounds), but it really does play on the tragedy of the situation. Hopefully, this can lead to a satisfying conclusion.
The odd thing is that besides the Fitz plot everything was oddly satisfying even though technically both the villain and the heroes got what they wanted. Most of them came back, and Aida got a body. Eventually there were going to have to explain what would happen after that, especially since all of them wake up in danger.
So where are we headed now? Hopefully somewhere that explains how Aida got the ability to teleport. There’s this constant back and forth between science and magic that becomes worse since we’ve been in one of the largest sci-fi plots. The Ghost Rider arc helped to push magic a little, but that was ten episodes ago. What happened to the Darkholde anyway? Do the bad guys still have it? That’s more of my issue since I honestly can’t remember. At least the teleporting effect still looks nice.
But this moves on to the bigger issue that I don’t understand what the endgame is at this point. Stopping Aida, rescuing Fitz, and getting Mack out are some things, but none of them scream FINALE. The fact that we’ll need to build up another threat from these minor details is harder to believe than a magic book. But then again, my only other option would be to care about the Superior. Well, there’s always Ghost Rider.
And so supposedly concludes the journey into virtual reality. Despite a few logical failings, it was probably the most intriguing premise of this season. The fact that it ended on an exciting episode only cements its quality. Now there’s the question of settling all the other plots. So what will it be, magic or science?
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