1. Patton Oswalt is a national treasure
I mean, the episode begins with two Patton Oswalts (that is to say, two Koenigs) quoting Star Wars and Back to the Future. But then he still fights off Russian attackers without missing a beat. It’s been too long since we last saw any Agent Koenig, and it’s nice to have him back. Putting the multiple brothers in different parts of the story allows Patton to show off his acting chops, and it’s wonderful how much energy he puts into his role; it’s clear he’s having a great time being a SHIELD agent, or rather, multiple SHIELD agents as the case may be.
Seeing him talk to Daisy about the Quake fanfiction that exists, and how cool it is that she’s a superhero, seems less Koenig and more Patton himself; I have to wonder how much of that scene was ad-libbed, particularly when it came to the shipping. Either way, it was hilarious.
Really, I could go on about every scene he’s in, because they’re all fantastic. That, however, would more than double the length of this article, and there are more points to discuss,
2. The Coulson-May Ship Half-Sails
Speaking of shipping!
“I’m not going to lose you,” Coulson says to May, just as a quick aside as they make their way through the base. It’s not focused on, but its meaning is clear; the May/Coulson pairing is picking up steam, but his affection is being spent on a LMD double.
Mind you, the LMD double returns his affection, but that’s because she’s got May’s mind mapped out and inside her. So it’s technically not unrequited, but at the same time, he’s kissing a robot and she’s still locked up.
So Coulson’s continuing misfortunes just get worse when her true LMD identity is revealed. Honestly, at this point the chemistry has been built up well enough that I’m hoping they do become a couple at the end of the season (but I’m not one to get too deep into shipping, so I won’t place any personal stakes in it past a “couple’s cosplay”).
3. Radcliffe’s Obvious Ploy, and Less Obvious Plan
C’mon now, was anyone buying for a second that Radcliffe was double-crossed when we saw him tied up? It was pretty obvious, to the point where they dropped the attempt pretty early on.
At the same time, we see his LMD being put to use, as SHIELD delves into his programming to try and get all the information they can from it. The Robo-Radcliffe gets some nice lines, but there’s also a nice new level of mystery as he begins speaking Latin and spinning his head around like a scene from The Exorcist.
The bird tweeting sound effects after being told he’d be made to sing like a bird was a nice little side effect, so nicely done there.
And in the end, his plans pay off, but of course it has to for the plot to get anywhere. The last guy to use the Darkhold got the ability to make matter appear, we’ll see what it can give Radcliffe and Aida.
4. Head Games
Speaking of the Robo-Radcliffe, there’s a nice scene where we learn that the real Radcliffe knew Fitz’s father. While Fitz is trying to get into his mechanical head, Radcliffe is getting into Fitz’s instead. (While the actual one is literally getting into Koenig’s head, thanks to some cerebral mapping.)
We haven’t heard much about Fitz’s family until now, but there’s definitely some important information there; now that the will they/won’t they with him and Simmons is over, we can get some new development or character arcs for them, and this could be an interesting one for Fitz.
Otherwise, it’s just dropping some daddy issues onto Fitz to deepen his personal stakes with Radcliffe, who’s been almost like a father figure to him (or so the LMD claims).
5. Coulson’s Role
Phil Coulson has had quite a role in the Marvel cinematic universe, from the very first Iron Man movie. While he started as a common character to connect the universes, and as a default SHIELD agent, his importance has not gone unnoticed.
In fact, it seems his constant appearances in the movies are connecting to the plot now, with these alien-hating Russian mercenaries Radcliffe is working with (who once again overshadow the Watchdogs, naturally). It’s nice when the show ties back in to the Marvel movies, and this is a good way to make Coulson’s movie appearances count and impact the show without needing to cross-over anything.
