I know Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't the type of show where you can relax during the last couple of minutes of an episode, but that fact was increased tenfold in the first season finale.
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Ward's story took a turn when his mentor showed signs of basically losing his mind after injecting himself with all of the GH-325. Not that Garrett was exactly working at full capacity anyway, but suddenly he became even more wacky than normal and had super-strength to go with his new lack of faculties. That spelled major danger for Coulson and the rest of the team, but it also spelled major confusion for Ward. After all was said and done and they had caught Ward (after he was spectacularly beaten to a pulp by Mar), Coulson said that he needed to figure out who he was and I feel like that's what we're going to see next season. In my review of the last episode, I thought I saw Ward's outer shell beginning to crack and I wonder where that will leave him now that he's lost his father figure.
- ICYMI last time…
- Ward’s past was explored, including how he was found by Garrett and taken out of juvenile hall to work for Hydra.
- Garrett always accused Ward of being weak and caring too much for others, including Skye.
- The true reason Garrett wanted to know about GH-325 was revealed: He needed it to heal himself.
- While Coulson, Skye and May broke into Cybertek, Fitz-Simmons got onto the bus to put a tracker on it and trace where Ward and Garrett were going. They were caught by Ward and ran to a pod. Ward jettisoned the pod into the ocean.
- Raina managed to replicate the GH-325 and injected it into Garrett, who immediately turned into the super-soldier of all super-soldiers.
The Fitz-Simmons story had some beautiful moments at the bottom of the ocean. Finally Fitz was able to tell Simmons how much she meant to him, it's just too bad he had to nearly die in order for it to happen. Never in a million years did I expect them to be rescued by Agent Fury, which made that moment all the more fantastic. I was worried that we never saw Fitz again though. First Fury said Fitz would never be the same and then Simmons would only tell the team that he was alive. I wonder what he will be like when we see him next season and I also wonder how this will affect what he said to her in those final moments in the pod.
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From the beginning, Coulson has always been the guy that everyone could depend on and would never back down from a fight. He has puzzled all this time about what happened to him when he died and why he was saved in such a drastic way. Leave it to Fury to solve the mystery with just a few words. Coulson was saved because he needed to be saved. He, and men like him, were always the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D. and now he will be the brains. The only troubling part about that is the fact that he has obviously been affected by the GH-325. Not as badly as Garrett, obviously, but still. That image he carved into the wall looked a lot like the one Garrett drew, which was very disconcerting.
Raina wandered around this episode, saying cryptic things and encouraging Garrett to be crazier than he already was. She claimed all she was interested in was science and the bigger questions and all the little battles were beneath her. In the end, she went and saw a man and showed him a picture of Skye. With that, we were introduced to Skye's father. Will he be an enemy now that he knows where his daughter is? Yet another question to be answered next season.
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My favorite bits:
May and the angry stick. Uh oh.
Fitz calmly informing Simmons that they were at the bottom of the ocean.
Coulson: "What do you say? Are you ready to change the world?"
May: "No, but I'm ready to kick some a**."
Coulson: "That works, too."
Tripp informing Coulson that he always brought the noise and the funk wherever he went.
Fitz asking Simmons to let him show her what she meant to him. That whole scene broke me.
Nearly losing it when Simmons reached up and found Fury's hand reaching back for her. Amazing.
Fury: "You saved him."
Simmons: "It was the other way around."
May vs. Ward. Wow.
Ward: "You said our thing was no strings attached. Looks to me like the Ice Queen got her feelings hurt."
Fury: "I went to great pains to make sure you didn't die the first time."
Ward: "Reminds me of the old days."
May: "You were never on top."
Garrett going to all the trouble of coming back to life, just so Coulson could blow him away again. Classic.