[keg in kc]

Spoiler-free review of the finale: http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillb...-small-screen/

Some of the highlights:

From the first scene, “Beginning of the End” (which has now been confirmed to not be the series finale) hits the ground running, and all the built-up tension of the last 22 episodes is released into 60 minutes of pure pay off. The best part, however? Within all that making good, the series finally stands its ground and stakes its claim as a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How does one do that? By establishing world changing consequences that don’t just affect one MCU franchise, but all of them.

The biggest promise made by the end of “Beginning of the End” is Marvel’s live-action world can now be shaped by anything, no matter how small… which, as it so happens, is also the main message of the episode itself. The littlest of things can change everything.

this is, by far, the most well put together episode of the series to date. There’s no denying a lot of that has to do with the previously mentioned build-up, but that’s okay because it’s just nice to know the series didn’t crumble under the weight of its own scale. Every story arc is given its due (even the ones audiences may have forgotten about from the beginning of the season), and every character is given a chance to shine in their own right, all well setting up more arcs for season two.

It’s been a long journey, and there’s no question many viewers’ patience wore thin toward the end, but that never stopped Marvel from pushing forward to one of the most entertaining hours of television this season and finally cementing a deserved place on the small screen.