Parting Shot

"Parting Shot" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the fifty-seventh episode of the series overall. It aired on March 22, 2016. It was written by Paul Zbyszewski and directed by Michael Zinberg.

Plot
Imprisoned at an Interpol facility, Morse and Hunter are interrogated by Duval, who wants them to admit that they are SHIELD agents, so Russia can blame them for the deaths of three government officials and declare war on the US in revenge. Flashbacks to the previous day depict the events which led to the agents' imprisonment. Following the events of "The Inside Man", Malick's plane lands in Siberia, and Morse and Hunter pursue him and Petrov to an abandoned facility they intend to repurpose into the Inhuman sanctuary, which has been banned by the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Olshenko. May, Daisy and Mack join Hunter and Morse, and the five of them infiltrate the facility, discovering the dead body of Olshenko's personal attaché. Cabinet ministers opposed to Olshenko arrive to meet with Malick and Petrov, who reveal that the attaché was murdered by General Androvich, the Minister of Defence, revealed to be an Inhuman who can manifest and control living shadows made of Darkforce. Malick suggests they have Androvich assassinate Olshenko, who soon arrives looking for his missing attaché. Malick departs, leaving Androvich to make his assassination attempt, but the SHIELD team causes a distraction, and Hunter rescues Olshenko and kills Petrov. Androvich unleashes a Darkforce shadow, which subdues Daisy and Mack before attacking Olshenko and Hunter, but it dissipates when Morse kills Androvich, after which she and Hunter are arrested by Olshenko's bodyguards while the other agents escape.

In the present, Morse and Hunter deny their involvement with SHIELD, claiming they were on vacation and became caught up in events by accident, sticking to their story even when Coulson offers to extract them, as they are determined to protect their friends and prevent war. Insisting SHIELD no longer exists, President Ellis and Coulson (posing as an ATCU consultant) convince Olshenko not to execute Morse and Hunter, on the condition that they never work for the US government again. Morse and Hunter are released, but can have no further contact with SHIELD. The couple debate what to do next in a bar, aware they will be followed by both US and Russian agents. They notice Coulson, May, Mack, Daisy, Fitz and Simmons watching them, and the agents share a silent farewell, drinking 'parting shots'.

In an end tag, Malick meets with his daughter Stephanie, also a Hydra agent, and updates her on the failure of the Russian Inhuman facility and the status of the ancient Inhuman.

Starring

 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
 * Brett Dalton as Grant Ward]] (credit only)
 * Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson / Quake
 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
 * Nick Blood as Lance Hunter
 * Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse
 * Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie
 * Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell (credit only)

Guest Starring

 * Powers Boothe as Gideon Malick
 * William Sadler as Matthew Ellis
 * Bethany Joy Lenz as Stephanie Malick
 * Ravil Isyanov as Anton Petrov
 * Ivo Nandi as Duval
 * Endre Hules as Dmitry Olshenko
 * Kristof Konrad as Androvich

Trivia

 * This episode scored 2.88 million viewers upon its initial airing.