Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Patriot (4x10)

This episode escalated the plot quite nicely, further cementing the information we learned last week about how this whole LMD plot thread is going to go. Things are heating up. Secrets are revealed, betrayals are begun. Let's take a look.

Cons:

So, Radcliffe is the only one that knows that the real Aida is still fully functioning; Fitz has the earlier model's head. Simmons begs him to just put it behind him and let the project go, but we see that Fitz is sneaking behind her back to continue investigating it. We already did the whole Fitz-lies-to-Simmons-about-Aida plot thread, and it ended up sort of fizzling away to nothing, since the truth about Aida came out so quickly. I really don't want more deception between these two. The show is making the mistake of adding in further conflict to create drama, just to keep us interested in their relationship subplot. But we don't need that. For a while, at least, we need to see them happy and united. Fitz is a favorite of mine, and I don't like this nonsense of him keeping stuff secret from the team.

Pros:

The rest of the Aida plot is pretty cool, though. Aida and Radcliffe are still keeping the real May locked up, while the LMD is at large within S.H.I.E.L.D. We learn something new, here: The LMD doesn't know she's not really May. That adds a whole extra level of complexity, since Radcliffe is being forced to steer clear of HQ for a while, to let the whole Aida incident blow over. That means a highly advanced android is wandering around, not even knowing it's an android, and Radcliffe has no control.

We also see that Aida is becoming more and more human, in a way. The Darkhold didn't mess with her programming - it's just the way Radcliffe built her. Aida stops the real May from escaping, but Radcliffe is angry with her for her extreme measures. We can see that Aida resents being told off so harshly, which seems like the beginning of some not-so-great developments for Radcliffe. What I love about Radcliffe's character is that he's not a murderous monster. He doesn't want Aida to kill anybody for him. He just believes in his project, and seems to believe in progress for progress' sake, and is crossing some serious lines to continue with it. That's an interesting villain.

I suppose I should talk about the main plot of the week: the truth about Director Mace is out. As Mace is giving a press conference, commending Daisy for her bravery, there's an assassination attempt. It's rather a flimsy one, and Mace gets away on a Quinjet with Coulson and Mack to protect him, per protocol. Back at HQ, Talbot takes command of the search to find the Director. But Simmons, who is now the highest ranking person around, learns a horrifying truth when she gets access to a new file on Mace: he's not really Inhuman. He's being injected with a concoction that gives him temporary super strength. Mace tells Coulson and Mack the truth, but only after their Quinjet is shot out of the sky, and the Director is separated from his all-important strength serum. So now we have May (secretly a robot) and Daisy looking to rescue the group, while Simmons, Fitz, and Talbot bark orders from HQ, and Mace, Coulson, and Mack look for a way to escape the group of assassins sent to take them out.

Of course, Mace is able to bluff his way into delaying the men for a while, and Mack blows up the baddies' transport. Daisy and May show up and save them all, and they head back to HQ! Mace is ashamed of getting everybody into this mess, even though he was just following orders. This was all Talbot's scheme. Coulson refuses to accept Mace's resignation, however. He tells him to keep playing hero, and handle the image and politics. But from now on? Coulson is calling the shots behind the scenes.

I'm so happy with this plot twist. I genuinely did not see it coming. I assume that readers of the comics know who The Patriot is, and perhaps this twist is part of that character's origin story... but with no background information, this one came totally out of left field for me. Mace has turned in to a surprisingly complex character. His deception was a consequence of his following orders, nothing more. He feels awful about lying to people, and he actually laments his inability to protect Coulson and Mack when they're all stranded together. He also does the right thing once the game is up, offering to step down and get Coulson reinstated. So, yeah, it sucks that he lied, but he was working under impossible circumstances. He was following orders. Talbot should have known that it's impossible to manufacture another Captain America from just anybody. Especially not somebody without impeccable moral fortitude.

Talbot was kind of hilarious in this episode, both for how incompetent he ended up being, and for his insistence on his own authority. I loved watching Simmons and Coulson each push him around. He totally deserves it.

Final comments:

Simmons using Aida's severed head to intimidate one of the bad guys was a thing of beauty. Fitz finding it attractive was also great.

Daisy remarks that the assassination attempt was done with exploding bullets: "they don't sell them at Walmart. Yet." Sick burn!

We end the episode with May, or rather the LMD who thinks she's May, discovering her own circuitry under her skin due to an injury during the rescue operation. She doesn't say anything to Daisy. Now that she knows she's an android, what is that going to mean for her character and her motivation? She's still programmed to find the Darkhold. But will she go off book? Will she confront Radcliffe? If she has the memories, and truly feels like May, maybe she'll want to keep pretending everything is normal. After all, she probably feels that this is her life, just as the real May feels the same. What a delicious conflict!

I can't wait for more of this. The story is heating up in a big way!

9/10