Agents of SHIELD 4-18 featured Television 

Five Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD’s “Identity And Change”

By | April 12th, 2017
Posted in Television | % Comments

Well, things are certainly getting intense in the Framework. Things are going about as wrong as they can for the few characters who remember the outside world, and for everyone else, things aren’t going too well either. So let’s take a look and see how it goes.

And we can talk about mind controlling soap in the comments, if you so wish.

1. Welcome to the Resistance

Last episode had a lot of talk about the Resistance, and now we get to see it. Naturally, they’re using the hideout from when SHIELD was on the run, because why let a perfectly good set go to waste? And of course, one must still remark upon how in this reality, Ward is a SHIELD spy within Hydra. Ah, the delicious irony.

But there’s a definite sense of apprehension and desperation as we hear about the Resistance losing more and more people. Poor Agent Koenig died offscreen some time ago in the Framework’s reality (or at least one of them did). The show’s done a fine job setting the tone for the season, and the scenes in the Resistance’s base really help sell it.

It’s also interesting how Jeffrey Mace is still Patriot in this reality, and still has his suit. But does he still have the knockoff super serum? Next episode may tell, given the preview.

2. Oh, hi Radcliffe

As we all know, Radcliffe was recently murdered by AIDA then placed in the Framework. He knows it too, as he describes his life in there as a “gilded cage” of forced retirement, albeit with Agnes. I also note that his claim to fame in the Framework is that he was working on a “cure” for Inhumans; sure, Marvel has used a “mutant cure” plot line on more than one occasion, but here’s the thing about Inhumans: there’s a really easy way to prevent them from changing and developing powers, and that’s to keep the Terrigen away from them. The idea that the transformations are beyond their control, and thus might drive people to create a “cure” just doesn’t work when it’s not for mutants.

At any rate, now we have the sometimes-good doctor wavering again. He says the Framework was intended to be a paradise, but he still doesn’t exactly have any regrets about his plans for it. He’s more than happy to whine about how everything went wrong, but isn’t exactly admitting his own culpability in AIDA or the Framework.

Still, the scene where he tries to explain everything to Fitz was quite well done, and hearing him getting tortured at the end definitely inspired a fair amount of winces. More importantly: was the escape he mentioned having programmed in to the Framework a proper setup for their eventual escape, or just a point that AIDA already covered?

3. It’s a trap!

I have to hand it to the writers, there was a clever trap set for Daisy. What seems like a mission to bring in Simmons turns out to grab Mack, who we’re led to believe for just a second remembers Daisy from outside the Framework, since he says her real name.

Of course, true to this season, that hope spot is quickly quashed, as it was all a cunning setup. It seemed like May had prepared it all—targeting Mack, giving him the name “Daisy” instead of “Skye,” but that would require her having some knowledge from outside the Framework. So, of course it was all on AIDA’s orders, but the show managed to trick us well by only showing AIDA focusing on finding Simmons; the sudden turn to “Nope, it’s all for Daisy” was a nice little turn.

Admittedly, one I should have seen coming the moment they went after Mack, but even then they set up a probable cause for grabbing him and the virtual representation of his daughter, so well-played.

4. Do LMDs Dream of Electric Sheep?

Oh man, AIDA is pissed. This episode made it quite clear that she was not happy as an artificial intelligence inhabiting an LMD. She hisses that the “A” in “AIDA” stands for “artificial,” and how degrading it was to be kept in a closet and used as a tool.

Continued below

To be fair, that’s a decent point, it’s just that no one expected her to actually have feelings. Still, Radcliffe probably misstepped a while back when he programmed her to feel pain, that never ends well. She describes her life outside the Framework as slavery (while avoiding the fact that she’s a machine with an artificial intelligence, of course), to the point where her grievances are almost understandable.

I do have to call BS on one thing, though. “I took away their now greatest regret, everything that came after was not up to me,” she claims, after placing herself as head of Hydra. Yeah, I’m not buying that, AIDA. As I mentioned last week, what possible algorithms could she have to determine that saving the Inhuman child from Bahrain would result in Hydra manipulating events to create a disaster that placed them in control of the country? Literally the only one that makes any sense is Mack living a simple life with his daughter, staying out of trouble. Everything else is absolutely due to her machinations, no matter what regrets she fixed.

That aside, she’s certainly become a more compelling character, and a good antagonist.

5. Holy crap, Fitz!

So, Fitz killed a woman in cold blood.

I mean, she was technically already dead, but he killed the digital remains of her consciousness. And sure, technically it’s an alternate Fitz who only has memories of his life in the Framework, but it’s still Fitz.

The other characters weren’t kidding when they called him a sadist. This is a version of Fitz that appears to enjoy cold-blooded torture, and is entirely devoted to “Madame Hydra.” He even knows that there is an “other side,” even if what he knows is pretty well distorted by AIDA.

And did I notice just a bit of a jab at Trump when he said Hydra will “make our society great again,” or am I looking too hard for political statements?

Either way, this episode’s events raises the question: what exactly happened in this world to make him such a nasty piece of work? But more importantly: will he remember his actions once they leave the Framework, and how will he react when we get the normal Fitz back and he realizes what he’s done? This isn’t something so easily washed away.

Now then, did you enjoy the episode, or is the Framework just annoying you? Let us know your thoughts!


//TAGS | Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

Robbie Pleasant

EMAIL | ARTICLES



  • -->