Episode 5.22 discussion (SPOILERS!) :)

FINALE!

I'm not sure this is the episode I was expecting.
Most people seem to feel this way.

Prologue:
Team arguing over Coulson.
Piper (to Deke in hallway outside): Davis says there's no change. You don't want to be in there?
Deke: It's for them to decide.

Inside the room, arguments continue. Yo-Yo takes the centipede serum.
Yo-Yo: You won't listen. I'm in a nightmare, and I'm screaming at the top of my lungs and none of you can hear me.
Jemma: We hear you.
Yo-Yo: But you won't listen. You all saw what happened, and none of you will help me stop this. (to mack) I'm alone and even you... Even you won't help me.
Mack: You're not alone. We're in this with you, but we need to hold it together.
Yo-Yo: There's nothing... holding us together.
Mack: Yes there is! Hope. We never give up. We're always held together by hope. So we cling to it. And we vote. We vote.

May breaks the odium vial. Oh crap.

May (to Yo-Yo): I'm sorry. (not really)
Daisy and May willing to sacrifice the world for Coulson.  How heroic.


Fitz: Simmons and I will prepare the remedy. Everyone else should prepare for the end of the world.



Back in the Lighthouse:
Yo-Yo (to mack): You're going to die.
Mack: Well, everyone does. And on that day we'll have to answer up there for what we've done down here.
Yo-Yo: It's not God I'm afraid of.

I'd say that honor goes to Kasius... Or Talbot


And cut to Talbot, in his broken-ass space ship, and crashes into Chicago. THE GRAVITONIUM IS IN CHICAGO? Oh, yeah, baby... (The initial approach shot really was of Chicago. The ship actually crashing, not so much.) It was nice to see somewhere besides NYC being destroyed even if it is a fake Chicago.


Deke, meanwhile is outfitting the Lighthouse.
Daisy: I'm glad you're taking point here at the Lighthouse. Who better than you to decide what the next generation will look like. Get to show them the ins and outs of this place.
Deke: Yeah, I don't know if I'll be around for all that. I'll call the mayor and give the tour, but when you get back, I think I'll be out of here.
Daisy: Why? (Deke opens the door to his room.)
Deke: This is my room. I'm like a squirrel hording anything I can find. Also as a side note, I got a nature book, learned about squirrels.
Daisy: Old habits die hard.
Deke: 'Smore like I'm a damaged person. From a damaged world. There's even a chance it could happen again.
Daisy: And you want to see the world before it does.
Deke: I mean besides, according to Fitz, if the world doesn't crack open, and you break the time loop, I'll just blink out of existence anyway. So it's just one more vacancy, right? Come on. I never totally fit in with the gang anyway.
Daisy: Is that what we are?
Deke: You know when I first met you guys, I never seen anything like that? I mean I've seen people kill for each without hesitation all the time, but I've never seen a group that was willing to die for each other. Your trust, it just seemed to strong to break. And you trying to fix Coulson? That's great. I love the guy. But if you really want to lead one day, you've got to fix that. Just... my two cents. I also read a book on idiomatic expressions.
Piper: We're on the move.
Deke: You spotted him?
Daisy: Where is he?
Piper: Chicago.

Bye Deke. You left with not a bang, but a whimper. I hope you're out there touring the world, instead of having been blinked out because... reasons. I hope you are right. I would like him to show up again



On the Zephyr.
Daisy: I'm aware that we rolled the dice with Coulson, and I still believe we need him for this, but I will admit that I let my emotions get the best of me. I thought that Coulson was the only one who could keep us all on the same page. (To Yo-Yo) You would say that's proof that I can't do the job. That I shouldn't lead. Well, I agree. The truth is, I can't hold the team together. (looks to Mack) But he can. Coulson wants me to call the shots in his absence, well, that's my decision. Mack should call the shots. He has the biggest heart. I mean physically but also, you know. You are a moral center. Look, I never want to stop being a soldier. He's a general we can all rally behind. Anyone who think's I'm 100% right about this, raise your hand. (Everyone raises their hand. Well, except for Mack...)
Coulson: Couldn't have said it better myself. (Gives Daisy her bracers.) Time to suit up. (to mack) So, what do we do?
Mack: We save lives.

And it took Deke to tell Daisy her elevator needs to go to the top floor, and it's stopping a couple stories short. And so Mack is the defacto leader of the club now. Didn't he say he wanted out of the outfit? Again? I have really not liked Daisy this season, so yay! I think I heard Mack hater heads exploding during this scene. When was the last time he said he wanted out? I say I want to quit my job all the time, but I don't really mean it.


May, Fitz and Mack are looking for survivors in a building hit by the spaceship. Out comes Robin. Polly is still in the ship. Mack goes in after her.

Meanwhile, it's revealed Coulson didn't take the serum. Did this break the loop?

Daisy: You didn't take it.
Coulson: Didn't feel right. Didn't feel like this was the way it was supposed to go. I'd have told you on the Zephyr, but you'd have pinned me down and jammed that syringe into my neck right there.
Daisy: Damn straight.
Coulson: I'm sorry.
Daisy: You're the only one who can reach Talbot.
Coulson: That's not true. I think we may be beyond that. If so, you're the only one who can defeat him. Appeal to him as a military man. He took an oath when he enlisted.
Daisy: I can't believe this. I can't... I can't do it. I can't go out there. Especially not alone.
Coulson: I've given you all the tools you need to handle this. Now you find the strength in your heart to appeal to his good nature, and if you can't, then find the strength in your arms to beat his ass senseless. We're out of time. Go.
Daisy: You take it. Do you hear me? You fly back and you take it. We fought for you. Okay? We fought each other for you.

And this completes the scene we've seen since Voss showed it to Daisy...


Mack is in the space ship, and is trying to save Polly. May and Fitz are outside the ship, and they cut to the globe, and (lol) the entire Southern Hemisphere is sharpied. Mack saves Polly, and... two Amorath warriors are behind them...Fitz also figured out that Mack and Polly need saving. Did this break the loop?


Back in Chicago (which isn't Chicago, it's Los Angeles, see note at end), Daisy tackles Talbot and tried to talk some sense into him.

Fitz and May kill the aliens and save Mack and Polly.

Davis lands the Quinjet and Coulson isn't responsive.

Daisy gives Talbot the hero speach.
Talbot: I'm becoming a hero.
Daisy: You are one. The minute you enlisted, you became one. We all did. Look around. You're surrounded by them. Anyone who signs up for this. To lose friends, or limbs, or your mind or your life... in protection of humanity. We're in this together. We need to join forces.
Talbot: That sounds good. You know Hale gave me that speech, just before she tortured me. Coulson says it every time he's going to stab me in the back. Humanity is on the brink. And I alone can fix it. But you're right. We should join forces.

Well, it looked like it was going to work for a couple seconds there. Third time's the charm, I guess.

And from here, we start to see a furious number of cut scenes, since all of this is happening at the same time.

Polly, May, Mack escape the ship. Talbot causes a shock wave (trying to subdue Daisy), and the ceiling collapses on Fitz.

Cut to Yo-Yo and Jemma trying to save Coulson.

Cut to Talbot and Daisy in a typical Chicago pothole, starts to absorb Daisy.

Cut to Zephyr, Jemma finds the box the syringe was in is empty.

Cut to Robin, who stops in the stairwell: "Everything's different". Yay! Go team! What do you think was the change?

Cut to Daisy trying escape Talbot.

Cut to Yo-Yo still trying to save Coulson.

Cut to Mack and May trying to dig out Fitz.

Cut to Daisy, who finds the syringe hidden in her gloves, and injects it into her neck.

Cut to Yo-Yo still trying to save Coulson.

Cut to Daisy/Talbot. Daisy beats Talbot senseless and blasts him straight up into the air. Nice effects on the buildings, as Talbot goes by. Oh, and never date a girl who's eyes glow red. It's probably a bad sign.

Cut to Zephyr, and Coulson gasps for a breath.

Cut to Mack and May still diggging Fitz out.

Cut to Daisy, and she's blown Talbot into space. Obviously dead. Well, hopefully dead. He said he needed the quinjet to breathe when he stole it so I think no  oxygen, no Talbot. I think it's really sad he had to die. I wished they had memorialized him someway. I don't think any of this was really his fault.

Cut to Fitz. Oh hell. Fitz is going to die. NO! NOT FITZ! And he does. Crap.  (See note at end!)

Cut to Zephyr. Oh no. Simmons looks so happy Coulson's alive, but sees Mack and the smile fades.

Cut to Daisy burning all of Robin's pictures.

Cut to May destroying the time monolith shard.

Cut to Jemma packing? Or is she gathering Fitz's stuff?

Cut to Mack/Yo-Yo in the Lighthouse, hugging.

Cut to Jemma entering Deke's room. It's empty except for Fitz's multitool. And only one of them.

Cut to Davis installing a plaque on the Zephyr.

Cut to May pouring scotch for the team.

I admit. The last part of this conversation had me confused for a little while. Yeah, me too


Coulson: Come on. This is a celebration, not a funeral.
Mack: Remember how good it felt to walk in here when we first got back? The Zephyr's...the one place we've been able to call home these last few years.
Daisy: I'll always miss the bus.
May: Me too.
Yo-Yo: I wish I would have known you guys back then.
Jemma: We were different people back then. Thanks for this, my tv was frozen for the first part of this scene
Coulson: I spent a lot of years... Sorry. I lived a life, surrounded by heroes. None bigger than all of you. Since the day you joined, same as anyone in the line of duty... Heroes. Because you... 'Cause we signed up to lose each other. To get close to good people, and have them taken away. We've all suffered losses. Never lose sight of that.
Daisy: I'll never forget those we lost.
May: That's right.
Mack: Well, that's why we're putting that badge up in the cockpit, to never forget.
Coulson: You don't have to forget. But you have to move on.
Jemma: No. With respect sir, your wrong. We never fold. We hold that place in our heart, we close off, we lock the door, we visit from time to time, but we don't move on. Even after we say goodbye.
Coulson (to Jemma): I'm just sad I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Fitz. But you'll tell him for me. I was totally confused at this point.
Jemma: Of course. He'll be sad he missed this little... memorial.
Coulson: Hey, I'm not dead yet.
Jemma: Sorry. Retirement party.
Coulson: I'm not sure this even qualifies as a party. Nobody's drinking yet.

Cut to sign Davis is installing:

    In remembrance of our fearless leader
               PHILLIP J. COULSON
He gave us his wisdom, his love, and his life
                (A couple of times). This reminded me of Buffy's tombstone at the end of season 5--She saved the world...A lot.  I think we can say that Phil has saved the world a lot!

Jemma: I want you to have this. A picture of our new home away from home. I guess The Lighthouse is the new base.And to remind you that your team, always worked the problem, no matter what the outcome.
Coulson: Now he's frozen, out in deep space somewhere, no idea he's already solved it.
Jemma: He'll be a little disorientated. He'll be so happy that time is not fixed. It's a fluid, ever changing , beautiful thing. And he didn't miss much, did he?
Coulson: And I have not a single doubt, you will find him.
Jemma: None of us do.
Coulson: All right. Here's to us! Who's like us? Damn few.

Let's see. They've battled robots, freed themselves from the ultimate virtual reality game, time travelled and prvented the destruction of the Earth. Damn few? How about no one! Don't forget traitors from within, Inhumans, Inhuman haters, Hive, evil books, and flaming headed demons.



Cut to Zephyr.
Daisy: All right, Director? Where to first?

The Zephyr flies over May and Coulson, fade to black. I'd go for some shawarma. Lol


About Chicago: It's Los Angeles. They were pretty good with the police cars and uniforms, and even had a sign on the sidewalk that said, "Chicago". Where they failed were the fire trucks and busses, and the banners on the light posts that had the symbols for the Museum of Contemporary Art for LA, or MOCA. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is the MCA.

I admit that last part was a bit confusing until my second watch through. The writers on this show were brilliant. You can kill Fitz, because Fitz and Enoch are waiting someplace to be found. Killing Fitz not only solves the problem of a second Fitz appearing in 80 years alone, but you can conceivably get Enoch back as well in S6. I hope so. Present-day Fitz and Enoch don't have to complete their mission, because the future isn't fixed.  I wonder how Fitz will react to find he's married now?

At one point, Daisy thanks Coulson for the Spaceship.  Huh.  Use the Zephyr and go and look for Fitz and Enoch.  This might be a web-series waiting to happen. This

My problem is with Deke. Did he leave? Or did he just disappear? Future Fitz was killed, but Present-day Fitz was not, but since the multi-verse is real in the MCU... I hope he's alive and just looking the place over. A newbie to Earth is another web-series waiting to happen. And this Really, he should road-trip with some of the newly arrived Inhumans. Not so much this 

Oh.  Piper didn't die.  Neither did Davis.  Huh. I think that's a good thing. It shows SHIELD is more than our season one buddies. The team has always been rebuilding itself and this is the new iteration of the team. Besides, Davis couldn't die, without May they need a pilot to find Fitz.

I am trying to decide if I really like the finale or not. They have an out for Fitz, but they left Coulson's death sorta ambiguous. Obviously, they're not going to write Coulson out of Season 6, so something can still happen. Too bad something more terminal didn't happen to Talbot. As Garrett said, there's a reason they say to take off the head...

I also wonder if this was the ending the writers envisioned 7 months ago. This didn't fully feel like a series finale. At first I wondered about this too, but I think it really was. In fact, as I wrote elsewhere, I think it makes a better bittersweet series finale than season finale. The way they shoot these shows, they could change things just weeks before a show airs...

There is another positive thing about this. Something that our Director very much will agree with me and like:
younger Fitz is still unmarried. That really need fixing

Absolutely! And I'm sure that will be dealt with as soon as he is found!

So far everyone's missed the obvious punchline during the celebration/memorial with the scotch....Coulson quotes Sondheim (from Merrily We Roll Along)

What's to discuss old friend
Here's to us
Who's like us
Damn few

They know that they came back after Fitz was frozen. Because the other Chronicom, Noah, welcomed Fitz from his travel back from the future. And Robin's mother said to Daisy that she was happy to see that Fitz had gotten the team back, when Daisy got them out of their hiding (a hiding Hunter most likely put them in). And oh, they got the Zypher. That can also be after Fitz/Hunter got that back from Hale.