TV Review: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 Episode 9

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 Episode 9 “Collision Course (Part II)”

Director: Sarah Boyd

Starring: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Henry Simmons, Natalia Cordova-Buckley

Rating: TV-PG

Runtime: 45 minutes

After a few weeks of relatively quiet table setting and the tense build-up of last week, everything finally explodes in “Collision Course Part 2”.  The second half of the two-part episode is S.H.I.E.L.D. at its rapidly-paced, wildly energetic best, delivering satisfying conclusions to the confrontations begun in “Part 1” as well as some season-long storylines before a rejuvenated threat comes into the spotlight in the shocking final moments.

Fitz and Simmons manage to prevent themselves from being unknowing victims of friendly fire when Izel (whose ruthless nature comes out in full force) instructs them to establish contact with their friends on Earth.  Davis and Mack are in just as much danger when they get the message, however, as Sarge has taken over the Zephyr and is ordering Davis to fly him to Izel’s ship so he can kill her himself.  The radio conversation is full of tension and surprises as Fitz and Simmons hear the voice of Coulson threatening their friends along with Sarge’s claim that Izel not only killed his family but took his memories of them as well, with Izel countering that those memories were never real in the first place, just part of “the skin” Sarge is currently wearing.  This episode doesn’t bring us much closer to an answer as to how Sarge exists but it does resolve the question of whether he is at all redeemable with a resounding no.  Sarge kills Pax once Yo-Yo gains the upper hand on him and his willingness to do so and leave Snowflake to die with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team on the truck finally convinces Jaco and Snowflake to turn on their leader.  It’s a testament to the work the creators and Clark Gregg have done making the latter such a despicably villainous presence that watching him get beat down in a fistfight with Mack is so cathartic.

While things were looking pretty dire for the team on the track at the end of “Collision Course Part 1”, they manage to get off without a scratch thanks to Daisy, who is able to vibrate the bomb at a frequency that keeps it from exploding upon the truck’s impact with the Shrike tower before also wiping out a rampaging group of bat-form Shrike with a powerful quake blast.  It turns out that even when this season tries to put Daisy in the spotlight it doesn’t know how to use her properly.  Giving her power enough to resolve one of the major problems her group was dealing with single-handedly is fine, (she is supposed to be the show’s main hero, after all) but allowing her to handle both without breaking a sweat is weak.

“Collision Course Part 2” has a strong moment or two for everyone (yes, even Daisy, though hers are limited to holding hands with May when they think they’re going to die and putting Snowflake under arrest against Deke’s protest) but if it belongs to anyone, it’s Jaco, who sacrifices himself when he teleports onto Izel’s ship and detonates the bomb in a (presumably unsuccessful) attempt to avenge his family.  Winston James Francis has done a great job at turning Jaco, who initially seemed like a generic henchman, into a compelling, extremely likable character and it’s sad to see him go, even if he does so in a blaze of glory, with one last exhalation of his wonderfully random fire-breath.

“Collision Course Part 2″‘s strength is in its adrenaline-pumping energy but it wraps the main action up early to let the agents get a rare moment to relax.  Nobody really has an arc this week and the only notable development character-wise is that Mack and Yo-Yo are back together (after a tender reconciliation that Henry Simmons and Natalia Cordova-Buckley play beautifully) but it’s always nice to just spend a little quiet time with these characters.  This brief lull is of course just the calm before the stinger begins yet another storm, however.  Having mentioned to Yo-Yo earlier that she regrets believing Sarge to be anything other than a murderous criminal, May walks into his cell and shoots him in the heart.  This development will surely be walked back somewhat (it seems likely that Izel is somehow influencing some of the agents, especially given Davis’ weird behavior, and I can’t be the only one far from convinced that Sarge will stay dead) but it’s still a great ending to a great episode, a classic S.H.I.E.L.D. curveball executed flawlessly.

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