Surprisingly positive thoughts on the Agents of SHIELD series finale

[sholio]

Mainly the Agent Carter related parts of it.


If you just want to watch the part of the ending including the last Daniel Sousa scene, you can watch it on Youtube here (for however long it stays up).

I am having an interesting mix of feelings. I was not expecting to get as emotional as I got over that final shot of Daniel on a spaceship, looking out with wonder. But it's also that sort of ... way you feel over a comic (or other bit of extended canon) that does something really cool which is also outside the part of the canon that's "yours."

It's a very comic-booky sort of feeling. It's that thing where you get to have some really neat scenes for your favorite character where they're part of the Avengers while also, in your head, they are very firmly NOT on the Avengers because your head is very firmly stuck on their solo book run from ten years ago when they were paired up with a character you never wanted canon to stop pairing them with. So it's like ... what a very cool thing that just happened, I really enjoyed it, now I will go back to being firmly stuck in 2008 with whatever the comics were doing then, and pretend it stayed that way forever.

(Comics are like this a LOT.)

But Daniel deserves his time travel, outer space ending. You go boy.

Also, he's now technically part of the Cosmic MCU and could conceivably meet up with the Guardians of the Galaxy or Carol Danvers out there. I'm just saying.

Also also, now that I know his canonical ending, I have an immediate fixit in mind, which is Daniel rocking up in a SPACESHIP circa 1958 or so (a couple of years after Peggy and Jack think he died) and Space Things Happen. I will totally write this if it ever develops more of a plot in my head. I mean, in general I'm probably just going to carry on with Agent Carter as a closed canon that ended in 2015 and ignore this the same way I'm ignoring Endgame (it's semi-canonically a different timeline anyway), but yeah, the feels are nice feels, and that visual of Daniel looking out at a nebula or whatever is a really cool final shot for him.

And they all got a nice ending. I was never that into this show, not in the way I've been into a lot of other, similar shows, but it's really nice to have a long-running sci-fi show that ends on an up note, with everyone who made it to the finale ending up safe and alive and happy. That feels good.

Comments

[sovay]

Mainly the Agent Carter related parts of it.

Wait, what?

the last Daniel Sousa scene

WAIT, WHAT?

But Daniel deserves his time travel, outer space ending. You go boy.

DETAILS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN A WAY THAT I CAN'T MENTALLY RETCON IF I HAVE TO.

[xparrot]

Awww, yay, I'm glad to hear it ended upbeat -- I haven't watched AoS in a couple years and it was never a real fandom of mine, but I was fond of the team and glad to know they got a happy end. It feels like hearing friends of friends had a kid or something ^^

And comics canon and fanning on comics canon is such a special thing -- I'm not even that into many comics, more the adjacent media, but I still have that thing of enjoying multiple mutually exclusive versions of characters while having kind of an internal "but this is the REAL canon" happy place...

[yalumesse]

I was distinctly unmoved by the whole thing. To me, Daniel in AoS... just wasn't Daniel. Something close, sure, but an AU Daniel at best. I didn't like that he was forced into the mold of Daisy's love interest 0.2 seconds after he was checking his hair in hopes of seeing Peggy aggain. It was too fast to be organic. So I'm very detatched from it, and similar to you my headcanon for him is going to be closed to those two very finised seasons of Aggent Carter, and I'm good with that.

But I'll totally take a cracktastic Big Spaceship Adventures fic if you're offering ;)

[schneefink]

...all right then! I think I prefer not to think of it as canon (like the ending of Endgame and some other stuff...) but it's a fun AU.

[chelseagirl]

(Dammit, my wifi cut out after I'd written a long response to this, so this is my second try.)

Since the word from the Marvel folks was mixed -- some thought the Peggy/Steve ending was in our own continuity and some did not, and there were good reasons for each -- I honestly thought in terms of our girl being called up to the big leagues of the MCU, and took it as real. But also, for fannish purposes, that I could continue my PeggySous ship with, as you say, an Agent Carter canon that closed when the show ended.

I'd quit AoS awhile back, but watched this season for Daniel Sousa. While I was not 100% down with the new prosthetic -- it effectively erased his disability, which was hurtful to some disabled fans I know who'd identified heavily with him -- I thought Daniel/Daisy was sweet, and developed naturally. And I also cried a bit during that final scene, even rewinding several times in order to do so.

[sheron]

Oh it was an AoS series finale?? I didn't realize. But also this sounds awesome?

Like, none of this will impact my AC headcanon (which is firmly stuck in the "how the tv show went and Endgame changes are alternate universe" headspace) but it's SO neat to hear of Daniel travelling outerspace?? I'm now thinking of watching this! (One day, when my other show feelings recede). I know exactly what you mean about it feeling like the comics, and that's just fine with me :D

[lynnenne]

I loved the addition of Daniel to the cast this season. And I agree, it was nice to see all the characters still alive and content at the end.

[kore]

It was probably due to scheduling conflicts or something, and I love that actor and it's great to see him doing more work, but after the first season it was like AoS really erased Peggy and that was a bummer. That final shot of Daniel in space sounds really sweet though.

I think this actually is an alternate timeline? It's clearly not MCU canon and it also seems to be an AU of the AoS canon itself. I'm not sure, though.

[amalthia]

looking forward to reading your thoughts once I finish the last three episodes of this season!

[kore]

I was also thinking, and wow, this really is the end of the Whedon-influenced MCU, isn't it....he was the one doing this show right after Avengers when his stock was sky-high and he also had influence on the MCU storyline long after AoU, altho he and Feige claimed he was the one who brought in Thanos when it was really Nicole Perlman. -- ANYWAY. EG even went back to AoU for some big plot points. But now it looks like the movies are going to maybe move into the multiverse, and possibly break out of the alternating solo trilogies/team movies pattern, and I wonder if they're all going to fit together as tightly or if there'll be some of that AU feel. (I really wondered this because of the What If? show getting a lot of publicity, too.) Obviously they're doing the synergy thing where the D+ shows now weave into the Disney movie and vice versa, but that's an even bigger machine with lots more working parts to keep track of and match up.

tl;dr I really like AUs, it seemed like EG was setting us up for some AUs?, please, Feige, just give me some cracky AUs like Cowboy Steve and Frog Thor (if they can bring back fucking Howard the Duck they can damn well give me Frog Thor)

[brightknightie]

>"(Comics are like this a LOT.)

:-D

"What do you mean, there's canon for the Scarlet Witch and the Vision after the birth of their sons in the late '80s? You must be mistaken. Everything was absolutely perfect right then at that exact moment and no one would ever have... oh, you found my shelf of graphic novels? and my trunk of comics? You think that you have evidence that I actually indeed know that Vision's entire backstory was painfully retconned by Mr. Byrne, and that then lots of stuff happened, including at least two full-scale psychological fridgings of Wanda, but that now at least Tommy and Billy are back as Wiccan and Speedster? Huh. No, nope, sorry, not me. Nothing has changed since the boys were born in New Jersey in the late '80s. Honest."

:-D

[indywind]

I won't dwell on my feelings about later-seasons Agents of Shield and the wider/multiverse MCU plot and character arcs, because I don't want to harsh anyone's squee. Except Black Panther and Captain Marvel, everything after CA:TWS is AU to me.

But hooray for Enver Gjokaj getting more employment and screentime! He's such a competent actor, besides being nice to look at. I've recently started watching 2011's Person of Interest crime/spyfi TVshow from Netflix, and caught him doing good work in a one-off guest role as a Russian mobster.

And if some fanwriter want to team up Sousa & Danvers (or even Sousa/Danvers)for some kind of hijinks, I would be all over that.

[amalthia]

Finished watching the end of the series. I liked the ending. Loved that the show gave characters time to interact and have conversations. I also loved that Daisy was sad that this would be the teams last mission and loved that they showed how the change would be hard on her because she grew to consider the team her family. I'm so glad they stayed in contact after they all went their own way.

[lokifan]

Awww! I'm so disconnected - and never saw AoS - I had no ideal Daniel was in it! But that's a lovely ending :) Totally agreed on the awesome final shot.