Coulson and the team’s victory in the Framework is short-lived, revealing an even deadlier looming against them all.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. heads into its season finale with an episode that sets things up for a clash with Madame Hydra who now exists in the real world and apparently now has a whole bunch of powers. But, there’s also SHIELD on the run after blowing things up. It’s not looking good and then a certain flaming someone shows up in the end? There’s a lot packed in here.

But, through all of that action, the episode really focuses on the relationships particularly between Fitz and Simmons and Mac and Yo Yo. There’s also a little bit between Coulson and May. Fitz especially gets the focus as he must deal with what he’s done in the virtual world and decide if he is the person in there. There’s also the fact his heart belongs to two individuals.

And the show when it does the above, focus on relationships, feels stronger for that. It adds depth to the characters and gives us reasons to care about them. Here this is done in an intelligent way in that it swerves around but also sets up the conflict that drives these last two episodes. It also helps define a big difference between these heroes and the villains they fight.

The episode is decent and continues some of the stronger threads of the season, specifically the group’s relationships and friendships. It’s a fun episode in many ways and does a solid job of mixing action and the quieter moments and sets up the season finale in a solid way. While this has been a bumpy season overall, this lead up to the finale has done well to make it a memorable one.

Overall Score: 7.65