Agents of SHIELD S06E09: Collision Course (Part 2)

SHIELD’s Collision Course comes to a crashing conclusion

© ABC

Surprises abound!
by Brandon Coulson

There certainly was a lot to take in this week as 'Collision Course Part 2' was jam-packed with, well, just about everything! Sarge wasted no time in trying to take over the Zephyr and if I have one complaint this week it would be the sharp turn in character Sarge takes. After being a measured and seemingly always in control type he quickly unraveled through the episode.

You could argue being so close to Izel and completion of his mission drove him there but I just felt a couple of the outbursts and loss of composure felt very out of character for him. The biggest of course and what is likely what turns the tide for him was the coldblooded murder of his crew member Pax. The scene leading to this was actually quite clever though, as they actually do have a plan to keep Yoyo from stopping them in the form of a force field. The back and forth of their force field and then Yoyo baiting Jaco to lower it, however briefly, giving her the window to sneak Mack a key, all of that was very nicely laid out. It felt logical. Sarge realizing Pax was bait and executing him made no sense as the force field was already down and all he actually did was reduce his own team and in the end turned Jaco against him.

© ABC

On the ground, the atom bomb diffusion scenes played very funny, with Deke’s failure to diffuse and Snow finally realizing her own mortality, but Daisy has easily become the deus ex machina of this series. First vibrating the bomb to keep it stable and later when inundated by countless Shrike she dusts them with little effort. It’s like why don’t they just have Daisy handle every problem to start? Yes, I know the bomb could have gone off, it was a last resort, blah blah blah. I just want to have a clear picture of what her powers are and their limitations. Oh and the 'are all women this powerful on your planet' line … a little on the nose but cute.

I did actually enjoy all of these scenes even with my gripes. I actually really enjoyed the whole episode and I loved some of the smaller touches throughout. The two two six code sequence made me very happy as of course SHIELD would have a trouble code, that’s a basic security protocol. The sequence itself was very tense with the code being delivered in both directions and both teams realizing they’re in the same frying pan. Oh and yes I did notice that in addition to the Truck’s 'Collision Course', we also get another with Sarge flying the Zephyr straight at the ship in orbit. You’re very clever, good for you.

Sarge and Mack fighting was a pretty entertaining fight even though the thought of any Coulson lookalike beating Mack is pretty laughable. But it was an appropriately sloppy dirty kind of fight. The back half of the episode was just sprinkled with lots of great moments. Jaco and Yoyo’s heart to heart, the attempt to take down Izel and then escape through Jaco’s coat portal was a great callback, and  his eventual sacrifice (in vain) actually made me sad to see him go.  For a character that started as a silent brute, Jaco ended up as someone I could have seen joining the cast.

© ABC

Of course we all knew Izel wasn’t really killed as there was no final confrontation or reveal of her plan. What did shock me was May unloading a clip into Sarge’s chest, seemingly killing him. Now while he does appear dead, and we all but know Izel controlled May to do it, I feel like whatever Sarge is will be revealed with a resurrection or a cloning, and in some way, shape or form we aren’t done with Sarge yet. Especially since Izel teases that the reason he has no memories is because he never did. A lot of questions still to answer.

And our fake out ending also wrapped up the threads of Mack and Yoyo's obvious, eventual reconciliation though it still was very sweet. Almost as adorable as Deke and Fitz, or Bobo as he calls him, wanting his grandpa’s approval so badly. Deke was actually kind of endearing here and I’d love to see this dynamic continue on.

With four episodes left we certainly seem primed to run full steam to the finish and I honestly have no clue where things are heading, in the best way! I only hope the final reveal of Izel and Sarge’s true natures are worth the mystique they’ve built up so far.