Kidnapping, trauma, confrontation, and… music? Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 6×11 keeps the hits coming in the best of ways.
“From the Ashes” is all about what we talk about when talk about the people we’ve lost — but first…
What happened on ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ 6×11?
On the Zephyr, Alien-Queen-Demon-Spirit lady Izel tricks Elena into telling her that Dr. Benson is the person who can locate her temple. Impersonating Mack, Izel collects a surprisingly invigorated Benson and another researcher, and Benson reveals that Izel wants to use her temple to open a portal to her world. Elena tips him off, but Izel catches on, kills the spare, and demands the coordinates to her temple. Benson says he isn’t afraid of death, as he has already lost everything, but Izel is confident she can find something he fears.
Locked in the containment pod (of looooove!), Mack and Elena each insist they are strictly on this mission for Professional Tactical Reasons. They watch as Izel opens the monolith-infused Gravitonium device before Benson and his fears manifest in the form of his husband Thomas.
Aaaaand cue the tears. The initially warm reunion rapidly turns to ashes as nightmare-Thomas tells Benson that he was aware of everything that happened to him — including Benson’s insistence that Thomas be taken off life support. Oh, and then he accuses him of being drunk during the whole ordeal! Izel destroys the vision of Thomas, but Benson (like this reviewer) is shattered and agrees to give her what she needs.
Elena and Mack confess that they are each motivated to protect the other by more than duty, and contemplate what they might have done in Benson’s place. When Izel pushes the doctor into the pod, Elena grabs the sphere and becomes possessed — distracting Izel long enough for Mack to send the pod with Benson inside to safety. He can now contact the team, a prospect that Izel welcomes.
Meanwhile, at the Lighthouse, May tries to coax some recognition out of Sarge. He resists, smashing a handprint into the table with his new strength, insisting that his only real past is the decades spent hunting Izel — he is not, he yells, the cure for May’s loneliness.
Daisy happens to agree. She and May argue about which part of Sarge to try to awaken; the part that might be Coulson, or the terrifying kindred spirit of Izel. Daisy says the thing in Coulson is not the man May loved, and May abandons the attempt to change her mind. Daisy makes a fruitless attempt at awakening Sarge, leaving her rattled.
Daisy demands that Fitz and Simmons find a way to thwart Izel’s unhelpful habit of possession. Simmons calls out Daisy’s single-mindedness, pointing to her pattern of running away in the wake of personal tragedy. She points out that Daisy is now being forced to face the loss of Coulson, and urges her to deal with her emotions, with their support if needed.
So Daisy finally, tearfully, reads the letter Coulson left for her — proof, to her, that Sarge is not her Director. Reinvested with conviction, she returns to Sarge’s cell, and, after Sarge confesses that his memories and powers return stronger with every reanimation, quakes him to death. She wants to see the thing inside him come out.
Simmons and Fitz are dismayed, but Sarge indeed begins to return to life. Daisy interrogates him about Izel, demanding that he show her who he really is. Goaded past endurance, Sarge unleashes his strength and — after a chilling moment of contemplating his own power — backhands Daisy across the room. He blasts his way out of the cell, which Daisy considers a win.
Daisy retrieves the sword from the lab; it’s time to see if the thing really works on creatures like Izel. Simmons protests that Coulson might really be in Sarge, but Daisy is sick of pretending that her mentor has not been dead for a year.
Daisy stalks through Sarge’s wreckage, rejecting May’s offer of help. Finding Sarge revealed, she raises the sword — but Sarge does not fight back. Instead, already intent on killing himself, he welcomes death. Daisy pauses long enough that he bellows at her to do the deed — and calls her “Skye.”
Daisy freezes in shock as Sarge demands and eventually begs her to kill him. His willingness to sacrifice himself makes her drop the sword; she finally sees the link between Sarge and Coulson. Sarge insists that he could kill her; “You won’t,” she says, and embraces him tearfully.
Back in the lab, Deke realizes that Izel’s song is a manifestation of what makes her powers work — resonant frequencies that echo the monoliths allows her to phase in form. He, Fitz, and Simmons get to work creating a device that matches the resonance of the sword and shrike blades, blocking Izel’s possessive powers.
Piper, who has been looking for the Zephyr, locates Benson and updates May on Izel, Mack, and Elena. May speaks with Daisy, who finally sees that Coulson is indeed alive within Sarge, and feels that his powers might just tip the scale. Coulson wanted only for the team to take care of each other, and she feels Sarge will do the same.
Sarge, meanwhile, picks up the sword in dark contemplation.
In South America, Mack and Elena wake up inside Izel’s temple, which is built of the Monolith material. She opens the Gravitonium device again, telling the pair that she will use their fearful memories to recreate her “Dialis.” Elena and Mack are unimpressed, retorting that they have already faced their real fears of losing their loved ones.
“Then who is that?” Izel asks, pointing to the confused figure of Flint, who has materialized before them.
In the tag scene, Malachi mutinies and kills Atarah when she refuses to authorize the conquest of Chronica III. He tells his minions that they have their new targets.
Takeaways
After a few episodes working to illuminate the central conflict of the season, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 6×11 distinguishes itself in its confrontations. So close to the end of this particular intergalactic tale, “From the Ashes” utilizes its powers of resurrection to bear long-awaited fruit both bitter and sweet.
The central confrontation of the episode is the quiet war between Daisy and Sarge. Agent May, so long the locus of this conflict as she warred against the man in Coulson’s body, has chosen her side, believing even where Sarge refuses to that Coulson still exists. Now it’s Daisy’s turn, and in typical Daisy fashion, several false starts are required before May’s perspective snaps into her focus.
Simmons’ observation of Daisy’s continual avoidance of grief is an apt one, and used especially well in “From the Ashes.” Like the cracks spidering through Simmons’ relationship with Fitz, it was easy for Daisy (and the audience) to attribute her dysfunction to other, nobler causes. Who could protest her galaxy-spanning quest to help her friend find her lost love, or even begrudge Daisy her manic vigilantism after Lincoln’s death?
Related: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast and crew tease season 6 cliffhangers, ‘incredible’ season 7
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. allowed the audience and Daisy these comforting fictions, but under the bright lights of the past several episodes, it’s time to kill those illusions. Daisy’s pattern of avoiding grief has left her reflexively incapable of confronting it; now, faced with Coulson’s embodiment, her instincts drive her toward increasingly extreme measures. (It’s impossible to contemplate the scene where Daisy breaks Sarge’s neck with anything other than powerful irony, as she eagerly enacts upon his body the murderous violence from which she tried so hard to protect Coulson.)
And it’s not enough for “From the Ashes” to have Daisy read Coulson’s last letter and thereby find peace. While this is an important moment, Daisy initially misreads what this moving reminder is really telling her. (Which makes sense — Daisy has always been better at seeing what she wants to see with her first glances.) Her awakening instead requires a corresponding change from Sarge, who is torn increasingly into his own disjointed reality with his repeated reanimations.
Clark Gregg has been admirably brusque and hardbound as Sarge throughout Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6, but nothing quite rivals the look of shocked contemplation he gives his fracturing, power-loaded hand as he winds up to clock Daisy. It’s the look of a being coming from nothing into something completely unknown — though not for long.
The ultimate confrontation between Daisy and Sarge is therefore deeply satisfying; it plays as the kind of shattering that ultimately heals. The pieces of Coulson waking up inside Sarge signal in turn to Daisy, shattering her unyielding judgement. “From the Ashes” doesn’t fully elaborate on how much of Coulson Sarge has decided to embrace, but the extended hand of the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team will probably not be empty for long.
Of course, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 6×11 has other, less lovely confrontations to share. In an episode brimming with emotional moments, Dr. Benson’s forced reckoning with his dead husband plays as an unrelieved emotional horror story. Barry Shabaka Henley is shatteringly vulnerable in the scene, which provides a tragic payoff to the story Benson has previously told Elena. Benson hasn’t been a consistent presence in the season, but it’s impossible not to hope that the poor guy gets a win somehow before the curtain drops.
Finally, Mack and Elena experience a mixed blend of confrontations. In addition to the not-insignificant wounds inflicted by Izel’s possessions, the two finally are able to lay their cards on the table and drop the pretense of a purely professional relationship.
Together and finally in sync, Elena and Mack make an incredibly powerful duo — which is why the appearance of Flint, the young kid from the future whom the pair took under their wing — is so potent. Flint represents the few weaknesses that Mack and Elena’s togetherness expose, something the Gravitonium device and Izel are only too eager to exploit.
There remain a few lingering promises of confrontations for next week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6 finale. Fitz, Simmons, and Deke’s roles seem to be on a collision course with the Chronicom Hunters (and hopefully Enoch) while everyone on the team — but Sarge especially — are by no means finished with Izel.
“From the Ashes” provides powerful closure to the most pressing questions in the season, and from here, it looks like pure propulsion toward an ending we are guaranteed not to see coming.
Best quotes
Izel: Your people have great imaginations, but lack the control to create anything other than what you fear.
Simmons: Daisy, what did you just do??
Daisy: I took your advice. I stopped running from the problem and I tackled it head-on.
Simmons: I meant try a little emotional honesty, not murder!
Daisy: How many more times do I need to snap your neck?
Simmons: You’re suggesting we all take amphetamines?
Fitz: Yeah, okay, I can see how that would be counterproductive.
Deke: Yeah, either that or very, very productive.
Piper: I’ve got good news, too. Found Benson in a containment pod in the Yucatan.
May: Benson?
Piper: Yeah. Apparently Izel is headed to some ancient temple where she can unlock a doorway to a realm of unspeakable evil. So… I guess it’s not all good news.
Izel: With the Dialis destroyed, there isn’t a way to complete the ritual. We must rebuild them.
Elena: That sounds like a you problem. And maybe you shouldn’t tell us your bad guy plans — that always happens right before the bad guy dies.
Malachi: The first rule of data is always have a backup.
The two-part Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6 finale, “The Sign” and “New Life,” will air on Friday, August 2 at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.