Disclaimer, I love this show SO MUCH and all of the actors did an amazing job portraying their characters; the final episode was just a bit of a letdown. Also, I know that a lot of people got wrapped up in fan theories but even without them, the finale was lackluster.
The biggest issue I have is the whole Fietro/Ralph/Fox Quicksilver fiasco. Why on earth would they cast Evan Peters to play Quicksilver—fake or not—if it was going to end up meaning nothing? Why would they build suspense around the elusive “Ralph” if he was going to end up meaning nothing? In my opinion, this isn’t a far-fetched fan theory; they perfectly teased the multiverse with this character and just…did nothing with it? I’ll admit that Ralph being Mephisto was a bit of a stretch, but having Ralph mean absolutely nothing doesn’t make sense with the suspense surrounding him. They reduced two good possible plots to a boner joke, and I haven’t known peace since.
Another thing—where did White Vision go? Why was he introduced for five minutes and enlightened by Hex Vision just to leave? I guess it’s a setup for an upcoming movie, but it was just so unsatisfying to watch. Paul Bettany teasing a cameo from an actor he’s “longed to work with” all his life turning out to be himself is equally hilarious as it is infuriating.
Hayward’s storyline falls apart in this episode for me as well. He was just a dude that wanted to use Vision as a weapon. Okay, for what? Why did he have Jimmy handcuffed like Jimmy’s the biggest threat ever? Jimmy escapes too quickly for it to even matter and then he calls someone named Cliff? It’s set up like we’re supposed to react with “OMG Cliff no way!!!” but who on Earth is Cliff and why am I supposed to care?
Honestly, the whole episode felt very rushed. The scene where Agatha and Wanda faked each other out back and forth was so unnecessary and Agatha, an immortal all-powerful witch, was taken down far too easily. Also, Wanda saying “I don’t need you to tell me who I am” does not make sense when she literally would not have figured out that she’s the Scarlet Witch without Agatha.
There’s just a lot of uncertainty and wasted potential that didn’t do justice to the other 8 episodes.