Finally finished S7, and my reaction to the two-part finale was... it was fine. Indeed, it was a bit underwhelming, in large part a rehash of the S5 finale, which I wasn't crazy about the first time around, complete with a lame death fake-out for Daisy. I suppose the "original timeline" Fitz returned them to is still the non-Prime timeline in which Thor
did go straight for Thanos' head, and the Snap never happened, but closing with Mack wearing a Fury jacket on a helicarrier seems a bit lame assuming this is the last we'll see of him. (Although, given the recent
Far From Home cast news, never say never...) That said, it was still a satisfying and skillfully done conclusion.
And, of course, this is show is primarily about the ride; I like to call it a perpetual motion machine. S7 was probably the best since S4, and the time-hopping added a lot, especially the always-delightful Agent Sousa (even if I remain on Team Peggy/Sousa even after
Endgame and this). Reviving John Garrett with James Paxton was an inspired move, but ultimately, Nathaniel Malick and the Chronicoms became rather tiresome, as did Izel and Sarge and Kasius before them. Ultimately Aida/Ophelia was the last of the genuinely compelling villains, but our heroes were so charismatic, that the weak baddies were rarely big problems outside of finales.
I kinda wish that these past few seasons, ideally after S4, had gotten even weirder - stranding the crew in a faraway realm of space and time permanently, maybe, rather than carrying on more or less as before, but with even fewer MCU connections. Much like Seasons 4 and 5 of
The Last Ship being solid, yet lesser than (and superfluous to) its first three years, I could see ending a future
AoS rewatch with the high point that was S4. Still, it was a fun ride throughout, and I'm glad to have taken the trip.
S1: B+
S2: A-
S3: A-
S4: A+
S5: B+
S6: B
S7: B+
AoS overall:
A-
Apart from Mack being totally hidden in his opening shot, this is awesome, and should definitely be added to all streaming versions of the finale!