Okay, I think this has to be the best season finale Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had. I mean, it’s had it’s rocky spots this season but it wasn’t as bland as last season and the episodes we’re looking at today — Absolution and Ascension — wraps up the season pretty damn perfectly.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes, let’s lighten the mood a little and talk about some of the lighter moments. The episodes are pretty intense over all and I’m glad that there’s some good comedy beats throughtout the episode, whether it’s FitzSimmons being adorkable or Coulson quoting Star Wars or even Holden Radcliffe just following people around to be helpful. There’s still fun to be had here and I’m so thankful for that.

Round of applause for Chloe Bennett and Brett Dalton, everyone. This pair brought their fucking A-GAME to this two-parter and really brought their characters to the forefront. Chloe’s performance of, essentially, a recovering addict/abused spouse/victim is damn strong and after the shock twist of her wanting Hive to take her back then the reverse-twist that he can’t… Well, Daisy and Hive’s fight is one of the most entertaining and interesting the show has had in a while.

Chekhov’s Shotgun Axe makes it’s first glorious appearance and I marked out super-hard. It’s beautiful.

Hive’s true form looks incredible! Definitely on par with the excellent creature design we’ve seen in Guardians of The Galaxy and looks very much like a more refined, charismatic version of his comic book counterpart. Brett Dalton’s performance is easily the highlight here, playing a deranged gestalt consciousness to perfection and, even in his final moments, even a little sympathetic. This should be the last of Dalton we see and while it’ll be sad to see him go, at least he went out with a bang.

Oh, and Lincoln too, I suppose. I had a little chuckle to myself when I realised that the cross and jacket was being passed around like pass the bloody parcel with the ultimate prize being a big damn heroic sacrifice. There’s definite shades of Captain America: The First Avenger as Lincoln and Daisy share an emotional goodbye that’s about as cliché as it gets.

In a surprise move, we quickly jump six months into the future to see that Daisy, now under the codename Quake me up inside (I can’t Quake up), has gone rogue and is clearly not abiding by the Sokovia Accords and is now being hunted by SHIELD under the orders of a new director. That’s got to be Maria Hill, right? She’s the only viable choice.

And in the stinger, we see Radcliffe celebrate the birth of a Life Model Decoy body for his AI secretary, AIDA. It’s awesome that LMD’s are finally going to become part of the SHIELD show going forward and Radcliffe’s involvement is a good pull since he’s nice and obscure but with a background with robotics. AIDA is also obscure as she is the AI created by Tom Thumb of the Squadron Supreme (Marvel’s thinly-veiled proxy of the Justice League) and gives us a real hint at what we may be seeing next season.

Between an intense finale and the promise of manhunts and androids in the next season, Absolution and Ascension are easily the best episodes this season has had and while we wait for the next season, we can look forward to more Agent Cart-ah… Well how about some Most Want-oh yeah, that’s not been picked up. I guess we’ll have to wait for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to return and for that Cloak and Dagger show to materialise. Catch you guys soon!

Spacetime, rather disappointingly, does not really having anything to do with my favourite Rider’s call out but instead focuses on the notion of precognition. An Inhuman is discovered who can share premonitions of future events. Naturally, the episode revolves around the team trying to thwart the events only for them to inadvertently cause them or to be out of context to the actual situation. So how does the episode turn out?

It’s definitely a damn good episode. For it’s character development, fight choreography and handling of a subject that others have done before; Spacetime comes off as the sci-fi spy craft show it was meant to be.

I love the little bit of bonding that they’re doing with Coulson and Lincoln. Mostly because it’s clear that Lincoln, as a character, has no chemistry with May so switching his SO to Coulson is a great move.

Speaking of May, Ming-Na Wen is on top form, not only providing some fantastic fake fight work during a training sequence but also a fantastic scene with Andrew, whom turned himself before he transforms into Lash for what he believes is the final time. It kind of lacked emotional impact for me but I can tell both actors put their all into it.

Fitzsimmons sails on with this adorable little sequence while Daisy is getting her face caved in by Robo-Malick.

Also, shout-out to the most comedic reaction to the reveal of your nemesis still being alive goes to Coulson. Or maybe he’s just impressed with HiveWard’s fancy new Matrix coat?

Overall, Spacetime is a great episode for a whole bunch of reasons and is a contender for my favourite episode of the season, even without any major reveals or events. Just a really solid episode.

Holy cow, that was equally as entertaining and intriguing as the Season 2 opener! We’ll kick off with…

Daisy Johnson, Agent of SHIELD! Damn, Chloe Bennet looks fantastic this season, the new hair, the slick gauntlets and that tank-top. DANG. But seriously, Chloe is doing a fantastic job of portraying a more confident Agent Daisy. No longer going by Skye, which Coulson seems to struggle with, Daisy is definitely taking a more softly-softly approach than her mentor but is no less capable because of it. She really is becoming Coulson and May’s child!

Speaking of May, she’s noticeably absent this episode but everyone is cracking on with their own plots so she’s not really missed (plus she’ll be back next week).

Lots of things are changing but I have to talk about all the new toys. Since SHIELD’s re-emergence in Age of Ultron, clearly Fury’s been in touch and given Coulson a ton of new toys to play with the two biggest being Zephyr-One, the new bus which looks sexy as all hell, being both jet and mini-helicarrier in one, and Coulson’s new hand! I like to think it’s based on Deathlock or even Vision tech (name-drop for Doctor Cho, please?). Hell, I want to see a rocket punch!

In terms of antagonists, we get Rosalind Price and her Advanced Threat Containment Unit. A new rival for SHIELD that deals with alien threats, a strong-willed woman at it’s head who commands respect even from the president? Hmmmm, if this doesn’t lead to the establishment of SWORD, I will be disappointed.

On the other end, we have Lash, the Inhuman Hunter. Not just an inhuman hunter, he’s literally an Inhuman Hunter. Apparently he’s a character from the comics but once you move out of the Royal Family and Kamala Khan, my Inhuman knowledge is lacking. OH! OH! Can we have Kamala on SHIELD? That would be awesome!

And finally, the biggest thing I have to talk about is Fitz. God damn, Ian De Caestacker is killing it in this episode. A man possessed, hunting across the globe for a way to save the woman he loves. The rest of the team are coming to terms with her death but Fitz, after losing his last thread of hope, explodes. It’s an immensely powerful sequence as he walks silently through the base, kicking in doors and blasting the locks off the containment unit. He steps inside and demands, screaming, that the monolith do something. Swallow him whole if it likes, just do something. It’s truly heart breaking to watch the dorky guy who came back from a crippling brain injury lose his mind once more. All for a woman he knows is de–

Well bugger me sideways… Jemma’s alive! Sure, she’s running from alien predator on another planet but she’s alive! For now… Can we get a Star-Lord cameo? Hell, I’d even settle for Yondu.

A fantastic start to the new season and I can’t wait to see where it’ll take us. Be sure to come back next week if you seek Purpose in the Machine.