Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 22 Review: Ascension
Jay Ruymann
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The "Fallen Agent" is finally revealed on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 22.
The person to make the sacrifice for the cause is Lincoln.
The two hour finale was jammed with closing stories to round out Season 3, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Episode 21 began with the biggest of them all: Daisy.
Daisy being forced into mind control by Hive and his parasites set her character on a different course and she struggles to grapple with that. She's trying to cope, but how do you cope with being made to love the person who is forcing you to hurt your friends and family?
I knew someone was gonna go. I just didn't know everyone would.
Daisy
Out of all of these characters, Daisy has always been the strongest. She lost her mind a bit when she first received her powers, but she grew to accept them.
Hell, she hardly batted an eye when her father murdered her mother, as her mother was trying to murder her. Just another Thursday in the Johnson family.
Being freed of Hive's control broke her. It was a drug, she was experiencing withdrawal. It also helped her forget the terrible things she was made to do, and the blood that was spilled.
She attacked Mack, Fitz, Lincoln, everyone she loves the most, and she's lost her self-respect and her confidence. She doesn't want anyone to visit her in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s luxury prison cell, because she believes she doesn't deserve to be treated as anything but a criminal.
I don't want you to die, I want you to suffer.
Daisy
Maybe the Kree blood gives its inhabitants an extreme lust for revenge.
Coulson sought his on Ward, Hive took his out on the Kree, and Daisy's thirst for revenge led to one of the show's best fight scenes between Hive and Daisy, as Daisy's powers were heightened to an extent never seen before because of her overwhelming rage.
I'm really going to miss Brett Dalton.
From Agent Grant Ward, to traitor Grant Ward, to Hydra Grant Ward, to Hive, Brett Dalton's acting has always been outstanding as he's been made to adjust to so many different characters.
Lincoln sacrificed himself taking out Hive as the pair now float together in space, giving Daisy extreme hope for her love life.
He thinks he's the savior.
Daisy
Though his methods were bizarre and inhumane, Hive's dedication was admirable. This was a cause he was going to see through to the end and he almost did.
The agents captured him, but he was always one step ahead. He wanted them to, so he could release the gas on agents, and take over the Zephyr to fly high enough in the atmosphere to release his toxin.
Hive should've been made into a full season villain, rather than a half season villain, because his mission seems incomplete.
The writers had to spend a few episodes building up his backstory, but then they rushed into this massive plan for world domination. Who starts their quest by launching a missile?
Hive was relentless in his mission, so he would've found another way, or kept trying until he died, so having him fail after one enormous mission feels rushed.
You will be missed, Brett Dalton. Good luck on other adventures, and I hope this show realizes the mistake(s) they made and brings you back in some capacity.
Even through all of the heartbreak, Fitzsimmons and Yoyo/Mack were adorable.
Jemma started to plan a vacation for her and Fitz, but she's the worst at surprises. But definitely the best at (almost) sexual innuendos.
Jemma: I'm gonna do something on that island that will take your breath away.
Fitz: What... what? Are you, are you?
Jemma: Snorkeling!
The progress these two have made throughout the show, but limited to just Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 is astonishing.
Fitzsimmons went from being a cursed pair and Jemma being trapped on an alien planet with no sun, to Fitz taking down an Inhuman with an invisible gun and Jemma shooting the big bad in the gut three times at close range.
They provided an adorable cuteness to an otherwise dark tone, but I hope Season 4 finds them trying to balance being agents and being a couple together closely. If there still is an agency.
Meanwhile, Mack and Yoyo continued to grow closer, and I am so thankful neither of them were the fallen agent.
Mack: Not all of us have super speed.
Elena: This isn't about super speed, this is about your turtle speed.
They're sassy and snide with each other in good fun, but ultimately what showed the connection between them was Yoyo taking bullets for Mack. While accidental, she risked herself to stop the bullets, and technically she did.
Jemma: What happened?
Elena: Mack lit me on fire.
If she plays a bigger role in Season 4, her relationship with Mack would be worth exploring and could lead to other stories about faith, objectivity, etc.
I don't feel a loss for Lincoln.
I was never his biggest fan and I believe the writers failed on the character's behalf.
Lincoln was forced onto us and his relationship with Daisy came out of nowhere and his own story outside of being in love with Daisy was nonexistent as the hunt for Inhumans increased.
His death is being used to push Daisy down a path of vigilantism and finding herself, which she desperately needs to do after Hive.
Flash forward six months and Daisy is a local hero. Or vigilante, as some people prefer to say, with Coulson and Mack hot on her trail.
There's no more S.H.I.E.L.D., or if there is, Coulson isn't the director anymore. He and Mack are partners and they're searching for Daisy, reporting their finders back to the director.
Could that be Agent May?
Many were afraid she would be the one to perish, but she's alive and kicking. She's lost Andrew, so what's next for her?
She's a firm leader, strong, independent and fierce, willing to make the sacrifice, which is what the agency needs now that many of the remaining agents were turned.
I don't give a damn about your powers. They're not what made you an agent. I did.
May
And finally, Dr. Radcliffe is going to doom the world, again.
We see him acquitted of the charges from his work with Hive, talking to a LMD in his office, discussing Fitz joining his mission and all of the friends Jemma and Fitz have lost along the way, wondering if it was necessary.
The finale faded out as he introduced the faceless body with the program.
Now that Daisy is on the run, S.H.I.E.L.D. is potentially shut down, and everyone except Coulson, Mack, and Daisy, are missing, what can we expect for Season 4?
I hope to see more of the Secret Warriors, but they're one down and I doubt there will be volunteers lining up. Six months is a long time jump, what did we miss? Leave your theories below!
You can watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. online right here at TV Fanatic to experience the tense two hour finale yourself!
See you later this week for a round table discussion about the episode's events.
Jay Ruymann was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He retired in January 2018.
