REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Return"
We’re almost there, and the penultimate episode does its part by being the big set-up piece for the first single-episode finale since season one. Does the process work while remembering the rest of the Ghost Rider season? It depends how you feel about irony. And how long you plan to wait for that.
This is definitely a penultimate episode with the level of action they add almost carelessly. There is still nothing in the world to make me care about the Superior, but it is certainly entertaining to watch various versions of him being taken down by Coulson and May. And the show took time to remember them being hunted by kamikaze jets and now the military. Since we never have to deal with that pesky detail known as a plot, action is always a plus. While not the best featured on the show, there’s enough to keep the pace going for an hour.
Ironically (that’s the word of the day here), that action is heavily offset by some of the most melodramatic moments of the season. Why did it have to take a full minute for the team to look at their destroyed base which, by the way, has been heavily destroyed before? And why did that scene with Fitz and Aida in the pod feel like it went on forever? Maybe because in the end I just didn’t care. They took their time, and they failed.
Since it looks like we’ve come to the conclusion of the evil Fitz plot, I can honestly say that. Great, he’s back to normal, but the return to the real world makes the plot that much more useless. And if I can’t even defend its presence, why should I even bother anymore? Now, it is purely a plot device meant to keep Fitz and Simmons apart because after three seasons, the writers still think that’s an interesting choice. Bottom line, it is not, and this latest excursion should prove it. It’s mostly uncomfortable in its wallowing of making characters suffer.
Now that would be the end of that scene in the pod, except for the last two minutes. I could make the joke about women being emotional wrecks, but I’m too excited about what happened to care. SHIELD managed to salvage something from the worst plot of this pod so far and give it some payoff for the finale. Fitz still loves Simmons! Aida is batshit crazy! We no longer have to worry about anything from the last three episodes! In case that scene in the pod wasn’t enough to convey that emotion, they even place a wordless reconciliation between FitzSimmons with the same familiar touch from season two. This show finally remembers it loves this couple.
It’s weird. Despite being the antithesis of good writing, the bizarre tonal shifts are what ultimately save the episode from obscurity, especially being so close to the finale. Even if they’re bad, they’re certainly enjoyable. Aida goes from depressed to angry to horny to angry all in one scene at one point, and it’s fun to watch. We go from the takedown of a Russian site to emotional conversations in the blink of an eye. I suppose that’s the only way we can follow FitzSimmons being crushed to them sharing a scene over the span of five minutes, but damn it if they don’t try to make it all work.
It still depends on the end goal here. Despite being fairly predictable, Aida has been one of the more fascinating villains this show has had over the past four seasons. The whole A.I. turning on humans coupled with the feeling feelings for the first time was interesting enough to try on Age of Ultron anyway, and I think it’s miles better here with more time and taking the notion of emotions seriously rather than jumping to destroying the world. It’s also odd saying that she’s also more threatening than the previous season where the last villain tried to literally nuke the world, but she’s aiming to kill people I care about. That’s how it’s done, even if I don’t know how they’ll do it.
The finale might be chaotic based on that alone, but we also have SHIELD’s public face, Mack and Yo-Yo in the Framework, Coulson and May’s relationship, and, oh yeah, the blatant return of Ghost Rider to handle. Can they really juggle all of that for a satisfying hour? Well, one of them will definitely be one and done in the last five minutes. Ghost Rider will obviously be the key to defeating Aida, so that’s two birds with one stone, and I’m sure that will give enough time for one last Mackelena scene for the season. By that, I mean, let’s wait for them to kill Yo-Yo. I knew it couldn’t last. So yeah, this could work.
I can’t say whether I liked this episode or not. On the one hand, it made a lot of missteps to reach the big finale from quickly wrapping up awful plots to hastily starting new ones in the last thirty seconds. On the other hand, the rapid shifts and quick action scenes mercifully end the worst parts of the last half and get you pumped for the end whether you love it or not. I’m going with I liked it right now but will have serious misgivings next week. The finale, however, looks more promising than ever.
