10 Best Episodes of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD

6. “What They Become” (Season 2 Episode 10)

Two big moments happened in the mid-season finale here for the team. First was the introduction of Inhumans, a long running race in the Marvel Universe. Daisy and her nemesis Raina end up in a temple, which opens up “The Obelisk” and crystals that contain the Inhuman power.

The mist from them transforms both of them which leads to one of the most shocking and heart wrenching moments on the show: The Death of Antonio “Trip” Triplett.

Trip had become a fan favorite since the first time we met him in “The End of the Beginning,” and he grew to become a valuable part of the team.  When he tries to smash the crystals inside the obelisk to save Skye, he pays the ultimate price. Trip’s death still hurts for the team as of now and set the course for the rest of the season of Skye trying to figure out her new powers without harming anyone else.  Another game-changing episode in the canon of the show.

7. “S.O.S.” (Season 2 Episode 22)

For its Season 2 finale, Agents of SHIELD delivered a classic episode of that showcased how much each character had grown from the beginning as Coulson and his team tried to stop Daisy’s mom from spreading the Terrigan mists across the world  killing those who are not Inhuman.

We got such moments as Fitz and Simmons finally talking about becoming something more than just friends, Bobbi, Hunter and May trying to stop Ward once, a memorable moment between Mack, Coulson and an ax, and Daisy giving her father a second chance at life. We got to see a show clicking on all cylinders and a team that had grown to care for one another and be Daisy’s true family.

Finally we also got one of the biggest surprises in the show’s history in the final minute. Just as Simmons had agreed to finally go on a date with Fitz, the alien Monolith they had recovered from Daisy’s mom, Jiaying, had activated. Simmons was sucked up in goo and sucked inside the structure!

8. “4,722 Hours” (Season 3 Episode 5)

When shows do something outside their normal format, it goes one of two ways: it’s really great or really terrible.  “4,722 Hours” is most definitely the latter as Elizabeth Henstridge delivers the best performance of her career.

In the episode we get to relive what happened to Simmons when she was sucked into the Kree Monolith as it takes her to an alien world. Through the episode , we see Jemma on the planet and her time there before being rescued. As she uses every instinct she has before finding out she is not alone on the planet.

It is a rare to see a character grow and develop over the course of one episode but this episode and Elizabeth’s great performance shows it can be done even on a little old “Comic-book” show.

9. “Maveth” (Season 3 Episode 10)

“Maveth” is the mid-season finale for Season 3, and in it we get to see Phil Coulson’s defining moment. Coulson follows Ward and his group to Simmons’s alien planet to seek an ancient Inhuman as Fitz tries to save the man who helped Simmons on that planet.

Clark Gregg shines as we see all the anger Phil feels over everything Ward has done boil over in their final confrontation. The crack of Ward’s chest caving in thanks to Coulson’s arm is an unforgettable moment in the history of the show. That one moment spreads the seed for what was to happen in the remainder of Season 3 and its impact on his team.

10. “Ascension” (Season 3 Episode 22)

The finale of Season 3 lets us say farewell to two long-standing characters on the show. Grant Ward whose turn to evil was one of the most long-talked about things in the fandom. For the back half of Season 3, he was no longer Ward, but the inhuman Hive. Here he is defeated by SHIELD after being forced onto a quinjet with an explosive by the second character we say good-bye to: Lincoln.

Lincoln was brought in Season 2 as an Inhuman who was suspicious of the team but care for and loved Daisy. He grew to care about the rest of the team but couldn’t fight the pain inside of Daisy after she was captured and entranced by Hive. Lincoln sacrifices himself to stop Hive from using missiles to destroy the world. We then get a preview of the upcoming season in the final minutes as Daisy is a fugitive on the run from SHIELD and Coulson is no longer the director!

These are my picks for the 10 best episodes over the course of the show’s first three seasons. I can’t wait to see where the show takes us from here.

Which of these episodes is your favorite? Do you have one that didn’t make the list? Hit us up in the comments section and let us know!

 Agents of SHIELD returns for Season 4 on Tuesday, September 20th at 10/9c on ABC.