Coulson and Ward’s paths collided with deadly — and ongoing — consequences on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×09, “Closure.”
Opening moves
“Closure” opens with… well, the opposite of closure, at least for most of the people involved. Ward assassinates Rosalind as she and Coulson enjoy a candlelit dinner, calls Coulson to gloat, and then leaves him to die at the hands of his goons.
We’ll miss you, Rosalind Price.
For Ward, this is an act of revenge for Kara’s death (#closure) — even though, crucially, neither Coulson nor Rosalind had anything to do with Kara’s death.
That disconnect between Ward’s fiction and the story’s reality is a psychological chasm Coulson tries desperately to span over the course of the episode. The Director goes dark, or at least tries to, but it’s clearly unfamiliar territory for him.
That’s not to say Coulson has been bathed in the light of morality, either before or after the events of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3×09, but deliberate, reactionary line-crossing is just not his forte. Coulson alienates allies like Mack and Bobbi, he has no contingency plans, and his failure to cover his bases allows Fitz and Simmons to be kidnapped.
And even his darkest move — kidnapping Thomas Ward — is speckled with indecision. All of the violence enacted on Thomas is staged, and when Bobbi lets Thomas go, neither she nor Thomas are sure if Coulson would really have hurt his prisoner.
It’s not at all clear if Coulson knows the answer either.
Truth or die
Meanwhile, Ward remains rather less of a mystery. “Closure” demonstrates just how dedicated he is to his own fictions. From recruiting Fitz as a surrogate brother, to insisting that his hands are clean while Simmons is tortured, Ward is trying to reshape the world in his own image.
Ward’s conversation with Thomas is particularly illuminating in this respect. Far from the compassionate corroborator of his brother’s stories, Thomas rejects Ward’s deadly choices. Ward’s justifications make no impact on Thomas, who, even more than his brother, has clearly lived his life in the shadow of violence.
When Ward is unable to assert his worldview on Thomas, he, like Malick, turns to a grander purpose. If he cannot remake the ideological world of the people around him, Ward agrees to Malick’s plan and decides to force a physical change on the entire planet by leading the journey to Maveth.
The strong ones
So while Coulson flies through the portal on a rush of rage (and, perhaps appropriately, is promptly knocked unconscious) and Ward jumps in with earth-shattering plans, Fitz’s goals are much smaller.
His, in fact, are the only good intentions here — unfortunately, these may turn out to be the most destructive.
Simmons, ever the scientist, is willing to concede defeat in Project Rescue Will in order to thwart Hydra. (She also taps into her phenomenal storage of fortitude and doesn’t give a bloody inch under prolonged torture. Because that’s just who Simmons is.)
But Fitz, ever the idealist, remains determined — and grows even more so when Simmons is tortured for information on how she returned through the portal. He is an idealist, but also heartbreakingly pragmatic. In a deeply sad confession, he admits that Simmons — the woman who has inspired Fitz’s strongest moments — is also his greatest weakness.
“I’m not strong enough to live in a world that doesn’t have you in it,” he tells her.
As everyone in the world weeps, Fitz promises Simmons he will not bring “that thing” back with him — only Will. And if that’s not an uncomfortable piece of dialogical juxtaposition, we don’t know what is.
An all-out stand
Speaking of decisions that may end in disaster, Coulson appoints the long-suffering Mack Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in his absence. That’s not the bad decision — in fact, Mack is far and away the most level-headed person on the show right about now.
If he’s our next General Washington, we’ll take him and say thank you.
Unfortunately, Coulson’s increasing recklessness puts Mack in the unenviable position of having to preemptively rescue the rescue mission. With S.H.I.E.L.D. “outmanned and outgunned,” Mack is forced to turn to his least reliable assets.
Thus are the last-ditch Secret Warriors born, under a storm of desperation and clouds of distrust. Joey Gutierrez is completely untested in the field, and Lincoln comes with more warning labels than a bed made of razorblades — though we still have no idea whether to trust Andrew’s anxieties.
And so, dangerous, desperate, grieving and utterly unprepared, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. converge on battle across worlds. Their enemies are overwhelming, the powers against them unimaginable. Still, they come.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more.
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