Wow… I gotta hand it to the show, because this episode had me on edge the entire time. It had a HSQ (Holy Shit Quotient) through the roof, making it probably the best one this season. How do I like this episode? Let me count the ways.
1. Tension
This episode kept me on the edge of my seat nearly the entire time. It begins with the terror of knowing that several characters we know and love have been replaced by robot duplicates, and focuses on Fitz and Simmons as they try to find a way to escape. There’s a huge survival horror element to this episode, and it works very nicely.
That said, it is a very dark episode visually as well; the backgrounds are kept in the darkness, and shadows are cast over the characters’ faces in most of the scenes. It adds to the tension nicely, adding a sense of uncertainty, claustrophobia, and terror of the unknown to the mix.
It had something of an “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” feel at many points, especially when the LMDs start telling the others to join them. But it works. It really works.
2. High Stakes
Everything the characters do this episode counts. Every decision could be a fatal one, and the robot doubles are out for blood. The very future of SHIELD is on the line, and it comes through in every scene. Of course, this ties into the aforementioned tension, but boy does it feel like this episode is for all the marbles.
We have some great fight scenes, but they end with a main character seriously wounded. We have scenes where two characters are ready to tear at each others’ throats, and we don’t know which one is real. Daisy finds a room filled with robotic doubles of herself, all primed and ready to attack Inhumans. And throughout it all, we have some of the strongest acting this season, which really hammer in the drama.
Not to mention the sheer power of that gut-wrenching scene where Simmons has to stab the LMD Fitz over and over in order to escape. That’s gonna take more than a little therapy for the couple after all this is over.
I know I complain about the Watchdogs a lot, but after all this I hope we don’t go back to anything with them, because that storyline couldn’t compare to the intensity of this episode, or the impact of everything it has at stake.
3. Paranoia
I know I joked before about how you can’t tell who’s real or not any more, but good god did they use that for all its worth this episode. Not only are the characters on edge and paranoid, but so are we.
There’s an amazing scene where we discover that either Fitz or Simmons is an LMD, but we don’t know which. Simmons has a gun on Fitz, and he’s begging her not to shoot… so is she the LMD, or is he trying to convince her he’s not? Once more, the acting in those scenes was outstanding, and really amped up the emotion and the uncertainty. But as the scene built to a climax, the reveal was done so suddenly and in the midst of all the drama that it was a legitimate surprise.
Then Simmons and Daisy meet up, they’re both shaken, they’ve both seen things they’d rather not see again, and they don’t know who they can trust. It’s not quite as intense, since we know they’re both real by that point, but it’s still very dramatic.
4. Plot Twists
Oh, so many twists. So Daisy isn’t an LMD – but Fitz is! Aida is feeling conflicted – so she kills Radcliffe and uploads him to the Framework! And then we get the LMD May, dealing with her own conflicting emotions.
The scene where the robotic May confronts Coulson is another excellent moment in this episode. It’s a great character moment not only for May, as the LMD reveals her own feelings for Coulson, but also for the LMD as a character, as she begins expressing her own free will, and takes down the LMD Coulson in a quick dramatic moment.
Continued belowI may have complained about some incredibly predictable twists in some previous episodes, but this one proved me all wrong. There were so many moments that were legitimately surprising, so bravo to the Agents of SHIELD team for making this episode so strong.
5. Plot Hooks
So how can they possibly follow up an episode this intense? It’s hard to say, but they’ve given us some great hooks for the next one. After spending so much time talking about how the Framework tries to undo regrets those plugged into it have, and how it’s a complete virtual world, we finally get to see inside it.
It looks like Daisy’s virtual self finally gets her happy ending with Lincoln – but no, that’s a picture of Ward on their mantle! Coulson is a teacher… but he’s teaching about why we hate Inhumans. Fitz seems to be living the life of the rich and famous, with a lovely woman on his arm, but it’s not Simmons, because she’s dead. Yeah, that’ll certainly make it harder to rescue everyone from the Framework when she’s six feet under. As for May, it looks like she’s a successful SHIELD agent. But nope – Hydra again!
Those last few moments give us a look at the world within the Framework, and it’s as though a wicked genie corrupted their wishes. It’ll be interesting to see how each characters’ regrets, when played out differently, leads to this twisted world; in a way, the Framework is now similar to the dreams from a Black Mercy flower (even though that’s from an entirely different comic company’s universe).
But hey, at least Mack appears to be living a happy life at home with his daughter, right?
Phew… this really was quite the episode. I honestly can’t recall the last time this show had me so invested – I can’t even make a snarky remark about how Daisy totally used a Rasengan to defeat the robotic Mack. Until next week, Agents of SHIELD.
