Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Finale Review: The Sign / New Life (Season 6 Episodes 12 and 13)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sure knows how to wrap up a season with a bang. Specifically, a two-part bang.
On Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 Episode 12, “The Sign,” Flint’s resurrection and Sarge’s awakening finish setting the dominoes for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s last stand against Izel.
On Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 Episode 13, “New Life,” pits agents against doppelgangers and evil aliens in a fight for Earth’s survival…and sets up Season 7.
In both of those synopses you can sense a bit of a theme. Both “The Sign” and “New Life” spend a significant amount of time setting up for what is to come next. As a result, some of the 2-part finale feels a little unevenly paced.
That’s not to say it’s bad. It isn’t. And Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on its worst day is still better than 85% of other shows out there.
But the pacing feels uneven, and as a result the stakes feel hollow. A properly paced double-dose of episodes would have viewers genuinely worried that May and/or Yo-Yo would be lost to viewers forever/for the impending final season.
Instead, the threats facing The Cavalry or her expedient friend feel hollow because it doesn’t feel particularly likely that either one gets killed off. The pacing of the two episodes is geared toward plot reveals and not emotional impact, which is in direct opposition to, say, the Season 5 finale.
Finding out mid-way through Season 6 that Season 7 was going to happen seems to cause a shift in pace of the episodes. It seems like the Chronicoms and Coulson’s return are the real stories they want to tell, but essentially decided to cast those aside in favor of Izel and the Shrike.
All of that said, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. still knows how to build to an emotionally impactful moment. When May first gets stabbed, when Flint is “resurrected,” when May turns out to not be dead and battles Izel, or when Daisy can’t put Yo-Yo down.
These moments illustrate that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. still knows how to do an emotional build and do it well.
It’s not that I’m mad Yo-Yo and May will survive. Natalia Cordova-Buckley and Ming-Na Wen both lead the hyphenated names club and do terrific work on the show. It’s just that if they had, the emotional impact wasn’t quite there, and they would have been major sacrifices just to get Coulson back.
But on the bright side….Coulson’s back!!
Phil Coulson: Hey guys!
Jury’s still out on whether this will feel right within the final season, but in my experience, knowing it’s the final season going in helps. A lot.
Overall, “The Sign” and “New Life” are still exciting episodes that mostly nail their emotional beats. Is it perfect? No.
But does it feel like a strong kick-off for a victory lap. Indeed.
A few stray thoughts:
- Though not in the way I thought, they did get some semblance of OG Coulson back at the end. What do I win?
- Adding Flint back into the mix gives the show a lot of cool possibilities. A+ decision there.
- More than anything, I’m interested to see what happens to the team in the past. So the finale did its job in that respect.
What did you think of this episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Fridays at 8/7c on ABC.
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Nick Hogan
Nick Hogan is an experienced podcaster and writer (particularly on media topics), who loves discussion and analysis of TV and is always looking for new shows to watch. He is also a parent who loves buffalo wings, blowing raspberries, and his beloved Cincinnati Reds.