Danny Hale reviews the thirteenth episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4…
Our opening scene this week did a great job of quickly establishing where Coulson’s mind is at in the wake of the events of ‘Hot Potato Soup’ while he and Mac observe an anonymous target. Discovering he was living alongside a LMD for weeks and that the real May is in fact missing Coulson, by rights, should have descended onto a destructive path to find her. We saw this last season when Ward murdered Rosalind in front of him resulting in Phil killing his once friend in brutal fashion. This was a believable action at the time; driven by vengeance but we’ve since seen Phil’s guilt over what he’d done to Ward and now we are seeing how he has grown from those events. His decision to keep a level head and stay on the mission is a welcome one and adding that he credits this reasoning to what May would want him to do is a nice (and accurate) touch. The teaser ends with the identity of their target revealed, a woman named Agnes Kitsworth who we soon discover is the original human that Aida was modelled on.
Putting the narrative aside this reveal grants us a great look at Mallory Jansen as a performer and to see her play a living human being. It really highlights how controlled her actions are when she is playing Aida as almost immediately Agnes looks less like her android counterpart and becomes her own, realised character. Her story of how she is dying and is simply trying to live out the remainder of her days on her own terms was touching, believable and in Mac’s eyes transcends whatever business S.H.I.E.L.D. may have with her. Agnes’ no nonsense approach to her impending death is refreshing and pits Mac and Coulson at odds with one another with how to proceed but driven by personal feelings, Coulson proceeds to attempt to illicit Agnes’ help without Mac’s assistance.
‘BOOM’ also gave us confirmation of just how harmful Mace’s serum is to his body and it’s hard to say for just how long more he will be able to use it. It puts Mace in an interesting position as he now is starting to feel a little useless on the team. Without his powers he is not sure how he can contribute to the cause, aside from being an attractive face for the organisation. It’s this insecurity that drives the Director to take one more potentially lethal dose of serum in order to take on the Watchdogs. His attempt to “block” the oncoming vehicles was a visual treat and a much needed win for our Director, even if it did result in him getting captured. If this is the last time we get to see Mace power up at least it was in such a grand fashion. Worryingly, his serum will likely wear off soon so it cannot be long before the Superior and the Watchdogs discover the truth about him and potentially expose the US government for their deceit.
We saw a return of the terrigen crystals this week when Radcliffe gifts the Superior with some in order to secure an Inhuman hostage. This doesn’t seem to fit with Radcliffe’s overall intentions but I think he can sense Ivanov’s waning patience with him and this is his best way to buy himself some more time with the Darkhold. In a surprising turn of events Shockley tries to force terrigenesis onto Senator Nadeer whom he has always suspected to carry the gene. In a great moment Shockley quickly discovers that he is in fact an Inhuman as a rock cast begins to cover his body. His horrified screams as he realises what he is was a great moment and I couldn’t help but smile with Nadeer. Then, in moments Shockley detonates, wiping out Senator Nadeer in her own office. I really wasn’t expecting Nadeer to die like this but beyond being a shocking plot device it also makes Ellen Nadeer a martyr, enforcing animosity against Inhumans. The apparent defeat of a villain could in fact present more problems for our team going forward.
‘BOOM’ was yet another strong episode barrelling the story forward and removing a major player from the game. It gave us some much needed screen time with Ivanov too which I was grateful for as he is starting to feel like more of a threat now and to carry more weight. Now, with Senator Nadeer down Ivanov may be our villain for the rest of the season, unless Aida snaps and supplants him, which I am not writing off yet. Although Agnes decides to go with Radcliffe in the end despite Coulson’s attempts to gain her assistance Phil still manages to get confirmation of May’s condition, refuelling his desire to find her. Agnes’ choice to go with Radcliffe is understandable; on the verge of death she is offered a chance of eternal life.
Even Coulson agrees it was the smart play. During our final scene we see Aida take a necklace from around Agnes’ neck and place it on her own. Is Aida going to try and become Agnes or does she see her as a possible mother figure? At the very least, Aida has been processing a lot over the previous weeks and none of our characters seem to be noticing. What this is building to coupled with May’s fate is what I am most eager to see in the coming weeks. Roll on the next episode.
Danny Hale
Originally published February 9, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
