Season 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended on a tag that showed a rogue Daisy on the run from her former partners. The finale concluded without explaining why exactly she was evading S.H.I.E.L.D., and fans have had to wait and wonder about what could be next for Daisy Johnson. Luckily, actress Chloe Bennet is more forthcoming than the show about Daisy's future, and she had this to say about why her character went AWOL:
Daisy cares so much about the people that she's with, the people of S.H.I.E.L.D., that she feels like if she gets too close to them, something bad is going to happen, they'll get hurt. I feel like she's protecting them, in a way, by going rogue.
Chloe Bennet shared her thoughts about why Daisy left the S.H.I.E.L.D. squad in a chat with TVLine, and it's an interesting explanation for what the hell was going on in the end of that episode. The Season 3 finale had been rather vague about what Daisy's motivations were as she operated solo. The tag was set six months after the previous scene, so we missed out on a whole lot of backstory for what led to Quake on the run. She had been last seen weeping as she listened to her boyfriend Lincoln say goodbye over the comms, and his death was clearly already hitting her hard.
Given the fact that Lincoln was killed by Hive and Hive never would have made it to Earth if not for Coulson's - and to a lesser extent, Fitz's - actions, Daisy might have left S.H.I.E.L.D. behind because she felt she could no longer trust them to do the right thing. Another possible reason for Daisy going rogue was that she was doing something that her friends at S.H.I.E.L.D. would not have sanctioned. Instead of doing as she's told, she could have decided that her personal cause was more worthy of following than orders from Coulson. Honestly, she could have just wanted some alone time to mourn Lincoln outside of the S.H.I.E.LD. bunker.
The explanation that Daisy would try to protect her pals by staying away makes sense, considering her history. An awful lot of death and betrayal seems to happen around her. Life as a rogue agent or a freelance fighter or even a hermit might seem like the best option for a young woman who has been through as much as Daisy over the span of only a few years.
Unfortunately for Daisy, her altruistic intentions to protect the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are going to be seriously misinterpreted by the world at large. The public will consider Daisy a terrorist in Season 4 due to her clear connections to destruction. Now that the events of Captain America: Civil War have enabled S.H.I.E.L.D. to become a legitimate agency again, Daisy really could have used the endorsement.
Personally, I'm a little bit bummed that Daisy's motivation to stay away from Coulson isn't linked to the fact that Coulson totally got Lincoln killed. Hive may have been the entity that put the plot that killed Lincoln into motion, but Hive never would have made it to Earth if Coulson had just left Maveth ASAP instead of lingering to murder Ward. Hopefully Coulson will be held at least somewhat accountable in Season 4, even if not by rogue Daisy.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return to the airwaves with Season 4 on Tuesday, September 20 in a new 10 p.m. ET time slot on ABC. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see when your other favorite shows will be back in the near future.
