Agents Of SHIELD: "The Return" (5/8)

Not even the power couple of the episode.

If you don't look to closely at how Mack's continued connection to the Framework is a thing at all given what happens in this episode, this is a damn near perfect episode of Agents of SHIELD.


I'll be honest, even if the entire season had been garbage and existed solely to lead to the conversations Coulson and May had in the oil rig base, it all would have been worthwhile. They acted the shit out of those sequences in a way that should make the CW shows ashamed of themselves.

Similarly, Fitz and Aida. There were lots of ways to handle that in a trite, ham-handed way, but the whole arc of the two of them, start to finish, was first-rate. The Aida stuff flirted tenuously with being a borderline sexist, but pulled it off by giving her the full range of emotions to be overwhelmed by.

Also, I don't know if it's an easter egg nod or an actual full reveal, but The Russian, a decapitated head with robot extensions DESIGNED ONLY FOR KILLING is fuckin' MODOK. Love it.

We end in a fascinating place for the show - so many plot balls in the air it seems impossible that they can resolve them in a single season finale, and yet confident that they'll be able to do so because the people making this show  are good at their jobs.