Merp, by the end of this episode you’ll be in tears either from an emotional breakdown or a sudden case of cut onions. But with tears of sadness also comes a glimmer of hope. As far as the main season plot of Inhumans/Hive/dismantling-Hydra is concerned, this episode didn’t progress very far, however that’s because this entire episode may have been a prequel for the potential spin-off series Marvel’s Most Wanted. Marvel’s Most Wanted is an upcoming show featuring characters Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) & Lance Hunter (Nick Blood).
This is the first episode after the midseason break that doesn’t have any subplots and side arks; we don’t see Hive/Ward or Lincoln and the rest of the Secret Warriors. We’re instead treated to numerous continuous flashbacks that alternate with a present day setting of Hunter and Bobbi being interrogated by a Russian interpol agent somewhere in Russia. At the end of the last episode we saw that Bobbi and Hunter had stashed away in Gideon Mallick’s jet taking them to a base the Russians had been building to house Inhumans; a internment camp hidden behind the facade of an Inhuman Utopia. This episode as a result focuses on a single mission featuring the usual bunch of faces.
In Parting Shot we see that there are elements within the Russian government opposed to the leader of Russia who disagrees with the idea of safe haven for Inhumans. As a result, with a bit of prodding from Mallick, the opposition faction unleashes the Minister of Defence, who happens to be an Inhuman capable of independently controlling his shadow, to kill the Prime Minister. While I felt they don’t give General Androvich (Kirstof Konrad) much of an explanation, Simmons does reveal that his shadow is in fact sentient dark force, something that leads to a great fight scene between it, Daisy, Bobby and Mac. Ultimately in the end Bobbi kills the General in order to save the Prime Minister (Endre Hules) leading to her and Hunter’s capture.
Hunter and Bobbi’s relationship had been given much light over the past few episodes with this being the coup de grâce. Hunter’s quips about making mushroom stew during his interrogation had me chuckling as it contrasted with an earlier scene where he apologised to May for his actions earlier in the season in his hunt for Ward. The theme of sacrifice comes to culminating as both Hunter and Bobbi take a figurative bullet for SHIELD and are disavowed from the organisation.
Throughout the episode we see a small recurring and amusing theme of Hunter complaining that he and Bobbi never actually went on holiday together and as a result the last scene opens with them in a bar discussing holiday destinations, trying to make light of the fact that an agent from some spy agency tailing them to see if they are actually SHIELD agents and then the unexpected happens. They get a free drink. And another. And another. And even more. Glancing around they see Coulson, May, Daisy, Mac, Fitz and Simmons keeping their distance toasting them and then leaving in a bitter sweet scene that had me bawling. Perhaps the most emotional moment was Mac’s toast as he had been Bobbi’s and by extension Hunter’s best friend. A spy’s farewell may be the most loneliest parting ever, but the writers did a beautiful job of it having an abundance of emotion.
The after credits scene reveals that Mallick has a daughter who seems keen on meeting Ward/Hive making me speculate that Hive could potentially kill Mallick and work with his daughter instead.
