Violet recaps Season 3 Episode 9 of Agents of SHIELD, titled Closure, where Coulson goes on a mission with Hunter and Bobbi to track down Ward and get revenge! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of Agents of SHIELD, Season 3 Episode 9: Closure
Coulson and Rosalind seem to have picked their relationship back up, and are having a romantic dinner together at her house — with hamburgers. Coulson thinks Malick is mobilizing, and Rosalind says she intends to find out. She is going back to the ATCU, and has scheduled a meeting with Malick. Just then, a shot comes through the window. Rosalind has been shot in the neck. We then see she was shot by Ward with a sniper rifle far away. Rosalind dies. Ward calls Coulson right then and taunts him, saying this is personal. Meanwhile, Coulson texts the team for extraction.
A man enters and begins to attack Coulson. Coulson tries to fight him off. Another man enters, and Coulson takes his gun and uses it against the two men. He then lights candles and puts an aerosol can next to them, then hides as more men enter. The aerosol can explodes, distracting the men, allowing Coulson to easy shoot them. Coulson jumps through the window and fires at the men who follow him. Mack drives into the alley and picks Coulson up.
They return to SHIELD HQ, and Coulson goes to his office to be alone. Mack tells the others that Coulson told him to get the interrogation room ready. The others hear Coulson upstairs throwing things.
Later, Coulson makes a plan to try to get Ward. He then proceeds to question each of the original team members about Ward. The main line of questioning focuses on Daisy, and how she fell for Ward. But she says she will never forgive Ward. She tells Coulson that the reason Ward kills is because he feels too much.
Meanwhile, Banks comes to SHIELD HQ, and Mack introduces him to everyone. Banks tells them it was Gideon Malick that funded the independent contractor for the NASA mission.
Elsewhere, Gideon chastises Ward for Coulson nearly not making it out alive. Gideon has 5 stones that were extracted from the monolith. He says they are the key to everything HYDRA has been working for. Ward seems confident that everything will play out like he planned.
Back at HQ, Coulson attacks Hunter for not taking Ward out like he said. Bobbi steps in and breaks it up. Then Coulson blames himself for having put Ward on the team. Hunter says he wants another chance to go after Ward. Coulson agrees, but says they have to go off book. He also says they need Bobbi as the pilot. Coulson puts Mack in charge as acting director of SHIELD, saying May’s not ready after what happened to Garner.
Banks, Fitz, and Simmons go to a Distant Star facility. Simmons says it’s irresponsible of them to open another portal, but Fitz insists that Will needs their help. Simmons says it would be selfish to put so many other lives in jeopardy. Just then, they realize Banks has shot two men. But he is being controlled, and the gun turns on him and shoots him as well. A man enters the room and tells Fitz and Simmons that Mr. Malick is waiting.
Fitz and Simmons are brought to Malick and Ward. Simmons figures out that although HYDRA knows how to open the portal, they don’t know how to get back. Ward suggests splitting up Fitz and Simmons.
Back at HQ, when Mack tells Daisy that Fitz and Simmons were taken, she insists on going after them. Mack calls Coulson to report the situation. Coulson gets angry and throws the phone.
Coulson and Hunter dress in robber gear, go into a jewelry store, and knock out a guy.
Ward questions Simmons, and brings in the man from earlier who was controlling Banks’s gun. The man uses his powers to lift a hammer and other weapons. Ward then goes to another room to talk to Fitz. Ward says he just needs to know how Simmons came back. They hear Simmons scream.
Coulson and Hunter bring the man back to the jet. It’s Ward’s brother.
Ward gets a phone call on Rosalind’s phone from Coulson. He shows Ward live video of his brother, Thomas. Hunter holds a gun to Thomas’s head. Ward tells them not to lay a finger on him, then they hang up. They explain the situation to Thomas, and he seems to want them to finish off Ward. He talks about how they used to be best friends, then talks about the day that Ward pushed him down the well, and how he changed after that day. Ward calls back, and Coulson puts Thomas on the phone. Ward tells Thomas not to listen to them. Thomas confesses that he changed his name and moved because he didn’t want Ward to hurt him again. Thomas is also upset at Ward for killing their parents. Coulson takes the phone, and Ward figures out that they traced the call. Coulson says he’s coming for him.
Ward goes to Simmons and demands for her to tell him everything he needs to know. Fitz agonizes over hearing Simmons cry out with pain.
Bobbi lands the jet, and they let Thomas go.
Mack and May monitor the castle where Ward and Malick are. Coulson said he didn’t need backup, but Mack doesn’t like how they are outmanned. May says Mack is in charge, so he should make the call.
It turns out that Fitz has agreed to go through the portal so that Malick’s men will stop hurting Simmons.
Mack gets a bunch of SHIELD agents together for the mission, including Lincoln and Joey, who he’s just cleared for duty.
Bobbi warns Coulson that it’s dangerous to go into a mission that emotional. However, Coulson doesn’t listen.
Malick seems to think that SHIELD isn’t getting near there, but Ward says not to underestimate Coulson. Malick says he wants Ward to lead his men on the other side. However, Ward says this isn’t over till he’s standing over Coulson’s dead body. Malick tries to talk Ward into it though.
Simmons tries to talk Fitz out of going, telling him to just let them kill her. Of course, Fitz refuses. Simmons cries on his shoulder, tells him to come back to her, just not to bring that thing back with him. He says the only thing he’s going to bring back is Will. Ward suits up in camo to lead the mission. They start the machine.
Meanwhile, Coulson monitors the situation from the jet, and can identify Ward from his heat signature.
Malick tells Ward they’ll turn the portal back on in 12 hours, and tells him he’s making HYDRA history. Ward and Fitz go through the portal, and Coulson sees this. HYDRA begins firing at the jet, and Coulson parachutes down, going through the portal as well just before it closes.
On the alien planet, Ward, Fitz, and the other men walk through a dust storm. They see something walking around. When Coulson lands, he stumbles down the side of a hill and hits his head on a rock, knocking him out.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 3 Episode 9 of Agents of SHIELD: Closure
Well, that was a big surprise! I did not see it coming that Rosalind would be killed off so suddenly, and at the very beginning of the episode! I thought she and Coulson would struggle with trust issues this episode, but it seemed like they got over that rather quickly and were nice and cozy again already. But it didn’t matter for long. I had anticipated that the team would debate whether or not Rosalind was telling the truth when she claimed not to have known what HYDRA was up to. Personally, I believed her. But now that she’s dead, it’s a moot point. That was a good way to eliminate some drama that apparently wasn’t very important to the story, and move the story forward.
Not only did the show kill off Rosalind this episode, but also Banks, which is a shame, because he could have been a great asset to the team. I suppose he was another loose end to tie up so that it didn’t matter whether he was secretly working with HYDRA or not.
So this is what it took to make Coulson go full steam ahead trying to get Ward. I’m not sure that we’ve ever seen such a scary side of Coulson, and I don’t envy anyone who stands in his way at this point. This was an emotional episode all around, what with Fitz helplessly having to endure the screams of the woman that he loves, and coming to a decision to save her the only way he can. Simmons would rather him let them kill her, but we all know that would never happen.
These past couple of Agents of SHIELD have been very intriguing, and I’m really into the show at this point. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens to Ward, Fitz, and Coulson on the alien planet, as this alien planet has pretty much been the highlight of the season for me. Yeah, Coulson hit his head, but it’s not like it killed him or anything, so I’m not worried about that. He may end up alone for awhile if he’s unconscious for a long period of time, so that could be dangerous. In any case, this is looking to be a pretty awesome mid-season finale!
Josh’s Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD, Season 3 Episode 9: Closure
I am still enjoying Agents of SHIELD this season, and think that the writers are doing a great job so far. I do wonder how much of this HYDRA lore will transfer over to the MCU though. We now have a world where HYDRA is a lot older than we originally were led to believe, and I wonder if this will have any impact in the movie universe. I guess in the movie universe, it could just remain unsaid how old HYDRA actually is, and to 99% of the audience, it won’t even come to their minds.
The episode pulled a Game of Thrones though, with the death of Rosalind. I did not see that coming, but when it happened, I knew exactly who had done it. I was very sad for Coulson, and I really hoped that Ward would meet his maker, but I also really like how evil Ward is, and how it plays into the show. He has turned into a very good antagonist, and I both hate him and like him at the same time.
It was also very sad seeing Fitz and Simmons helpless in captivity. Again Fitz pulls out the heroics and decides to go to the other world in order to prevent Simmons to be tortured anymore, even though it could mean certain death for him. HYDRA seems to want this Inhuman on Earth, which is certainly going to be a problem if it happens.
I thought the exchange between Coulson and Ward was a little odd. Coulson kidnaps his brother to use as leverage, and winds up just letting him go. Sure it seemed like it was for morality’s sake, but he already was knee deep in this plan. He basically lost all his leverage to save anyone when he gave up on the plan. But Coulson also managed to parachute into the portal (and I am not sure if it was intentional or not), so it will be interesting to see what happens on the other side.
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 3 Episode 10: Maveth
Here are scenes from the next episode of Agents of SHIELD, titled Maveth:
I use to watch Agents of SHIELD, but after mid season 2 it started getting boring and I just stopped wathcing. Is it worth going back to watching now?
Remember how Season 1 started out not so good, and then it suddenly got really good towards the end? That’s how these last few episodes of Season 3 have felt. So we would recommend sticking with it.
I love this show. Great review ! I think the AOS writers are doing a heck of a job in the sense of season 1 start off slow and build the characters, not too too exciting at 1st,then bam midseason twist. And from then on it just builds. I love the ending of this episode how he just jumps through the portal. It reminds me of how cap jumps out of the planes with no parachutes in the Marvel movies.
I saw many of first seasons episodes, a few were pretty good, many were slow, but it’s TV so I do expect more slow-burn character development drama than action. I need to catch up on most of season 2 and check out this season before I get too far behind. lol
This episode was amazing! Hell, this season is amazing it’s by far the best season yet.
I love this show, though i just got into it recently.