"Beginning of the End" | |
---|---|
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 22 |
Directed by | David Straiton |
Written by | |
Produced by |
|
Cinematography by | Feliks Parnell[ citation needed ] |
Original air date | May 13, 2014 |
Running time | 41 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Beginning of the End" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they attack a major Hydra base. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, and directed by David Straiton.
Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by series regulars Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge.
"Beginning of the End" originally aired on ABC on May 13, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.45 million viewers.
Following the events of "Ragtag", Coulson, Melinda May, Skye and Antoine Triplett are attacked by several Centipede soldiers (controlled from Cybertek) and a Hydra operative wielding the Berserker staff in a Cuban Hydra base. After Skye activates her Trojan virus within Hydra's computer systems so the team can uncover their plans, May uses the staff to collapse the base and bury the Hydra agents.
Trapped on the ocean floor, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons send out a distress signal, and devise a controlled explosive to blow the windows open and escape. Fitz forces a distraught Simmons to take the sole oxygen tank, professing his feelings for her. He is nearly drowned after using the explosive, while Simmons swims to the surface with his unconscious body, where they are rescued by Nick Fury, who picked up their distress signal. Fitz survives, but sustains damage to his temporal lobe as a result of oxygen deprivation and is left comatose.
After being saved from death by Raina's synthesized GH325, John Garrett begins exhibiting the super-strength given by the Centipede serum, as well as the manic behavior and hypergraphia caused by GH325, and the symbols he carves resemble those found in an earlier mission by Grant Ward in the Todorov Building in Minsk. [lower-alpha 1] Coulson, May, Skye and Triplett use the Trojan to locate the new Cybertek facility, and launch an assault while Ian Quinn is giving some military generals a tour. Hearing the gunfire, the generals demand to know the situation, and an annoyed Garrett murders one of them. A panicked Quinn flees with the gravitonium, along with Raina.
Ward tries to capture Skye, but is attacked and incapacitated by May, while Skye releases prisoners Hydra took to coerce the Cybertek staff and Centipede soldiers into doing their bidding, including Ace Peterson. Fury arrives and provides Coulson with the Destroyer gun, which he uses to take out the remaining Centipede soldiers, before they confront Garrett and Mike Peterson. Skye sends Peterson a message from Ace through his eye implant ("Dad, what are we? We're a team"), and Peterson, realizing Ace is safe, fires a missile at Garrett and then kills him with his cybernetic leg.
In the aftermath, the Centipede soldiers are arrested by the military, Coulson takes Ward captive, and Peterson, unable to face his son, leaves to seek redemption for his crimes. The GH325 in Garrett's blood revives him, and he uses Cybertek machinery to upgrade into an advanced Deathlok, but Coulson vaporizes him with the Peruvian Tesseract weapon. Coulson criticizes Fury for using GH325 to revive him, but Fury asserts that he values Coulson as much as any Avenger, because he represents the heart and moral center of S.H.I.E.L.D. He then declares Coulson the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D., tasking him with rebuilding the organization from scratch, and equips him with a "toolbox" containing useful data. Under cover of his apparent death, Fury heads to eastern Europe to continue hunting Hydra, while Coulson, May, Skye and Triplett use co-ordinates in the toolbox to locate another secret base, the Playground, where they reunite with Simmons and meet Billy Koenig, the deceased identical brother of Eric. Elsewhere, Raina meets with Skye's father, "the Doctor".
In an end tag, Coulson begins experiencing hypergraphic episodes as a belated side effect of the GH325.
In April 2014, Marvel revealed that the twenty-second episode would be titled "Beginning of the End", and would be written by executive producers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, with David Straiton directing. [1] Whedon said they wanted to give the season "a happy ending in a way" with Tancharoen adding the series was "a little bit back to square one" and "boiled down to the basics". Whedon continued saying, though teases were given for Raina, Skye, and Phil Coulson, "we wanted to feel their victory" in the episode. [2] : 192
In April 2014, Marvel revealed that main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge would star as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Grant Ward, Skye, Leo Fitz, and Jemma Simmons, respectively. [1] It was also revealed that the guest cast for the episode would include Bill Paxton as Agent Garrett, J. August Richards as Mike Peterson / Deathlok, B. J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplett, Ruth Negga as Raina, David Conrad as Ian Quinn, Glenn Morshower as General Jacobs, Josh Daugherty as Kyle Zeller, Patton Oswalt as Billy Koenig, Mark Berry as Admiral Jolnes, Jeffrey Muller as Kaminsky, Ajani Wrighster as Ace Peterson, Asif Ali as Jesse Fletcher, Kyla Garcia as Mrs. Zeller, Nicole J. Butler as Aunt Mindy and Cynthia Rose Hall as employee. [1] Oswalt, Berry, Muller, Wrighster, Ali, Garcia, Butler, and Hall did not receive guest star credit in the episode. Paxton, Richards, Britt, Negga, Conrad, and Morshower reprise their roles from earlier in the series. [3] Samuel L. Jackson makes a special guest appearance as Nick Fury, reprising his role from the films. [4]
Filming occurred from March 23 to April 9, 2014. [2] : 191
In his appearance, Jackson's Fury wields a version of the gun that Coulson used in Marvel's The Avengers . [5]
"Beginning of the End" was first aired in the United States on ABC on May 13, 2014. [6]
For the final six episodes, Marvel began the "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Art of Level Seven" initiative, in which a different image was released each Thursday before a new episode, depicting a first look at a key event from the upcoming episode. Bell stated that the initiative was a way to tie the series back to its comics roots, and was thought of at the beginning of the season. The production team tried to pair specific artists to the teaser posters based on their previous work and how it connected to the themes and emotion of the intended episode. [7] The poster for "Beginning of the End", created by Phantom City Creative, is reminiscent of the first official poster released, with differences including the characters' order and clothing, the poster's coloring, a broken S.H.I.E.L.D. logo over Hydra's, and Ward being tinted by Hydra. [8] Phantom City Creative director Justine Erickson said, "It made sense to bookend the series with a poster that on one hand called back to where they began, but more importantly showed how far they've come as a team." May and Skye are positioned closest to Coulson in the poster because they are now both the closest emotionally to him, while Ward's positioning needed to show how he went "from the most trusted of colleagues to betrayer and villain". [2] : 159
The episode, along with the rest of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 9, 2014. Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. [9] On November 20, 2014, the episode became available for streaming on Netflix. [10]
In the United States the episode received a 2.0/7 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 2.0 percent of all households, and 7 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 5.45 million viewers. [6]
"Turn, Turn, Turn" is the seventeenth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they discover the infiltration of their organization by Hydra. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, and directed by Vincent Misiano.
The first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on several dangerous cases revolving around Project Centipede and Coulson's mysterious resurrection following his death in the film The Avengers (2012). The season is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the continuity of the franchise's films. It was produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners.
"Pilot" is the pilot and first episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his new team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The first television episode to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it acknowledges the continuity of the franchise's films. The episode was written by series creators Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, and was directed by Joss Whedon.
"A Hen in the Wolf House" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they must deal with Hydra and the mysterious "Doctor". It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Brent Fletcher, and directed by Holly Dale.
"What They Become" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they race to destroy an ancient Kree city before Hydra can get to it and unlock a potentially extinction-level event. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Jeffrey Bell, and directed by Michael Zinberg.
"...Ye Who Enter Here" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they race Hydra to enter a hidden alien city, and get to the mysterious Raina. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Paul Zbyszewski and directed by Billy Gierhart.
"Aftershocks" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they race to strike back against Hydra after an apparent defeat to the latter, while several characters discover they have gained new abilities following the end of the previous episode. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, and directed by Billy Gierhart.
"T.A.H.I.T.I." is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they race to save Skye. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Jeffrey Bell and directed by Bobby Roth.
"Ragtag" is the twenty-first episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they search for a secret Hydra base. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Jeffrey Bell, and directed by Roxann Dawson.
"Afterlife" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they face a rival faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. while Skye goes to Afterlife, a secret haven for people like her. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Craig Titley, and directed by Kevin Hooks.
"The Magical Place" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they attempt to rescue him from Project Centipede. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Paul Zbyszewski and Brent Fletcher, and directed by Kevin Hooks.
"The Dirty Half Dozen" is the nineteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they infiltrate a Hydra base to rescue two of their kidnapped allies. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Brent Fletcher and Drew Z. Greenberg, and directed by Kevin Tancharoen.
"Scars" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they make contact with a secretive community of Inhumans. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc, and directed by Bobby Roth.
"S.O.S." is the twenty-first and twenty-second episodes and two-part season finale of the second season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they fight a group of Inhumans. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The first part was written by Jeffrey Bell and directed by Vincent Misiano. Part two was written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancheroen, and directed by Billy Gierhart.
"Nothing Personal" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they learn of a traitor in their team. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Paul Zbyszewski and DJ Doyle, and directed by Billy Gierhart.
"End of the Beginning" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they hunt for the mysterious Clairvoyant. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Paul Zbyszewski, and directed by Bobby Roth.
"Providence" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they scramble to survive following the destruction of their organization. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Brent Fletcher, and directed by Milan Cheylov.
"The Only Light in the Darkness" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they face an escaped convict with enhanced abilities. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen, and directed by Vincent Misiano.
"The Real Deal" is the 12th episode of the fifth season, and the 100th episode overall, of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as he reveals the details of his bargain with the Ghost Rider, while they deal with a space-time rift that manifests their worst fears. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell, and directed by Kevin Tancharoen.