Agents of SHIELD Roundtable: “Brand New Day”

A new episode from the final season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD aired this week on ABC.

Here’s the synopsis for the latest episode, “Brand New Day”:

With the help of Kora on the inside, Sibyl and Nathanial continue their fight to shape a dark new future for S.H.I.E.L.D., managing to stay one step ahead of the agents along the way.

Join NiceGirls Roz, Christie, Karen, and Ruben as we discuss the episode, using our ratings system known as SASSY – S(tupid), A(wesome), S(o) S(o) and Y(Your Thoughts):

STUPID

Roz: All of those flashbacks for that one thing? That Fitz isn’t even alive anymore? WHAT THE EFF? Tell me I read that scene wrong, someone. Please. Because after all of this season to find out their hope has been misguided feels so cheap.

Christie: I’ll be honest, I think Roz is onto something because of talk of “blood tests” and they clearly had been at work a while. I get that the point was that pulling the plug meant that Simmons would forget Fitz completely so that no one would find him, but still I think it may be more than that. And that is painful and quite frankly upsetting.

But what I really came here to say is… the whole time they were trying the “lets be unpredictable” thing with Sibyl, it felt wrong. Too easy. And I was disappointed that Coulson thought it was a great idea.

Karen: I’m with Rueben, and I’m holding out hope that Fitz is okay somewhere, but damn if it didn’t feel like he’s sick or dead. That would make me spit fire. As it is, I really wish we had more by the penultimate episode. And THE KISS?? GROSS!

Rueben:  Oh, boy, Roz.  I read that differently.  I read it that Fitz and Simmons set up her implant to make her forget about him if anyone got too close to finding out where he is.  I hope that’s the case and that nothing has happened to Fitz because that’s just NOT fair to them.  After all they have gone through, I want them to find a way back to each other, and get a happy ending.  And that kiss between Nathaniel and Kora – blech!!!

AWESOME

Roz: I appreciate that the team had to go against their natures and act unpredictably in order to get some idea of what Sybil has planned.

Christie: I liked the scenes with Souza and Daisy and Souza and Mack and Daisy and Mack. Mack asking Souza what his intentions were was probably more hilarious than the whole “Quake” bit. It was nice to have that old moment of levity back in the show for a moment.

Karen: I actually liked the flashbacks in theory. Souza and Daisy bantering? One of my favorite things ever is witty banter. They’re adorable. Getting to ship him with someone finally seems so right. I never would’ve expected Daisy to be his “one”, but they are just ADORABLE together. I never thought he had real sparks with Peggy, and now I see why. I don’t think they had this planned, mind you. But wow. Souza just seems to fit in with the modern SHIELD so seamlessly – it shows how good the writing is (at least in this storyline).

Rueben:  I loved them thinking outside the box.  I just wasn’t expecting the chronicoms to show up again.  I loved the conversation between Mack and Souza about Souza’s intentions towards Daisy especially Mack saying, “the man out of time and Quake, it’s like a damn comic book.”  And the funny little banter between Souza and Daisy over her name Quake.  I also loved to see scenes of Simmons and Fitz together even if it left us with uncertainty about Fitz.

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SO SO

Roz: How is it that we’re going to lose all of the SHIELD agents with a series of lasers and still have any chance of surviving next episodes? Those odds are HORRIBLE! Has this been set up a less than happy ending since episode one? That makes the tenor of the show so much different.

Christie: The revelation that they were now in an alternate timeline was weak to me. The whole understanding of how time travel works in the MCU has been blurred, they’re playing so fast and loose with the rules. I don’t see how any of this gets cleaned up without an easy out. Unless it doesn’t get cleaned up in the end. Unless Marvel has really just excised SHIELD from the whole universe.

Karen: Where did Nathaniel get his clothes? Moustache Twirlers R Us? Ridiculous. He’s such a caricature. This is where the writers fall short. I can even predict the general ending options, and that disappoints me.

Rueben:  I’m SO sick and tired of Nathaniel and Kora.  I just want to see them finished off.  And, you’re right, Roz, I cannot understand how ending all of the SHIELD bases is going to make things better or give our team a fighting chance.  With only 2 episodes left, I cannot see how all these dangling storylines are going to be cleared up.

YOUR THOUGHTS

Roz: I’m feeling so let down right now and I don’t even know if I have hope for the finale. What has the point of this been if we’re left without hope?

Christie: I am just not hopeful that everything will work out all right next week. At least not in a satisfying way.

Karen: There are a lot of parts to S7 that I really dig. But overall, the pacing is pretty terrible. I get that they wanted each decade to have a full episode. I’m not complaining about that. It’s just that the rest of the story got the short-shrift. Too much Nathaniel. Too much with the Chronicoms. We needed more of the FitzSimmons story that just won’t get told. I’m also disappointed in the lack of MackO (do they have a portmanteau?) in the last season.

Rueben:  I’ve been loving this season – except for Nathaniel and Kora (and now the young version of John Garrett) – but I am really, really worried about how the storyline is going to be cleared up without a cliffhanger or two.  After all that the team has gone through, I just want to see a damn happy ending for them not some dire straits that we’ll never see resolved.  I want to see Nathaniel, Kora and John taken down by Daisy; I want Coulson to end Sibyl; I want Fitz and Simmons reunited; I want Mack and Yoyo moving on with their relationship and for Coulson to be given some kind of “real boy” life.  After 7 seasons they deserve a good ending.

[Photo Credit: ABC/Mitch Haaseth]

Series Finale Promo:

The Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. two-hour SERIES finale airs next Wednesday, August 12 at 9/8c on ABC.