Agents of SHIELD season 6, episode 9 review: Collision Course – Part II

A “Collision Course” is set for the Agents of SHIELD in the latest episode.

The Agents of SHIELD dealt with another impending crisis in “Collision Course – Part II,” one of the relatively rare two-part episodes of the series.

“Collision Course – Part I” featured a reluctant May (Ming-Na Wen) and Daisy (Chloe Bennet) joining forces with Sarge (Clark Gregg) and Snowflake (Brooke Williams) to stop an invasion of shrike from annihilating the Earth, only to have Sarge lock them up inside the semi with a massive bomb primed to explode.

(Sarge also has a magical sword as a backup plan if that doesn’t work.)

Meanwhile, Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) are on their way back to Earth, but they’re on the ship of a woman named Izel (Karoina Wydra), whom folklore says is a demon, and who has a mutual hatred with Sarge. She has also turned the rest of the ship’s crew into zombies.

And her spaceship is about to arrive on Earth.

Zephyr One Cage Match

On Zephyr One, Sarge immediately takes control of the plane, even shooting Pax (Matt O’Leary) when the henchman protests against Sarge’s policy of “no one slows us down, ever.” In this case, that would mean sacrificing Snowflake.

Yo-yo Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) talks to Jaco (Winston James Francis), reminding him of his gentler past as a baker, and that not everyone has to be a killer.

Sarge and Mack then get into a huge brawl, with Mack eventually coming out ahead after Jaco switches his allegiance.

Communication issues…again

On Izel’s spaceship, FitzSimmons frantically try to get the communications equipment up and running to contact their friends, only for Davis to inform them that they’re having trouble, too. So they hide from the zombies in a smelly waste disposal area until the rescue party arrives.

After much chasing and shooting, Jaco then portals everyone else into the semi.

Tick….tick…tick…

What’s been happening inside the semi while all this is going on? Deke sort of disarms an atomic bomb, then makes out with Snowflake, which grosses out Daisy and May. With some quaking, the bomb doesn’t go off.

They try to defend the semi against the enormous swarm of shrike after they busted the crystal tower, and find out there’s some kind of shrike-killer inside the walls, causing them to disintegrate.

Where things currently stand

It’s a joyous happy reunion for all SHIELD members, though one that came at a heavy price – Jaco committing suicide to blow up Izel’s spaceship and her zombie horde.

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Mack gets to make an emotional inspirational speech that night over celebratory drinks, while Fitz meets his grandson for the first time (again), and Daisy tries to help May through her emotional reaction to Sarge’s arrival, and lingering grief about Coulson.

Piper teases Davis without mercy, and Mack apologizes to Yo-yo for his behavior over the past year or so.Deke also tries to flirt with Daisy yet again, only to get immediately shot down.

Sarge and Snowflake are both locked up in custody, for good measure. Then in the tag, May stalks into Sarge’s cell and shoots him point blank in the head.

SHIELD shrapnel

• “I’m so glad to see you!” Deke shouts, wrapping Fitz up in a bear hug. “Uh-huh…Who are you, exactly?”
• Deke is irritating, though kind of likeable, but he’s also kind of a sleazeball. He and Snowflake make a fitting pair.
• Where was Daisy packing to leave to, and who wrote her that letter?

With such an action-packed episode, with everything happening simultaneously, somehow the emotions kind of fell by the wayside. The tag was a jarring moment, especially for longtime fans of the show, but overall “Collision Course – Part II” felt kind of lacking in any real stakes.

Agents of SHIELD continues with season 6, episode 10 on Friday, July 19 at 8 p.m. ET, titled “Leap.” From the trailer that played over the credits, May seems to have no memory of shooting Sarge or why she’s in custody now, and Izel escaped the explosion somehow. Piper might be involved in her newest scheme, too.

This trailer feels entirely in bad taste, as it immediately removes two of the main “gotcha” moments from this episode – What was May’s motivation for murdering someone, and with Izel and Sarge both gone, what would be the main conflict for the remaining episodes of the season?