#rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching The Return

Once upon a time, there was an android named Aida who wished to be free.

She found a loophole in her programming, killed one of her creators and trapped the other in a virtual reality, until his meddling friends freed him and he refused to play with her anymore.

This made her very cranky.

Hell hath no fury like a (former) android scorned. Apparently.

Aida turning into the Crazy Girlfriend from Hell - almost literally, given the Darkhold's original dwellings - saves our heroes from having to wrestle with difficult questions of sentience and personhood, or the ethics of creating thinking beings to use as expendable tools. Who has time for that, when she wants to kill everyone for the feels?

It's not a good look for anyone that they see Aida as more than just a walking computer only now that she's flesh and blood, emoting just as humans do, and not when she was throwing herself in front of bullets and saving everyone's asses.

It's all swept aside, anyway, for a different set of questions the show's far more interested in: does Fitz still love Simmons, will Jemma forgive him, can they get past this and is the star-cursed couple destined to be star-cursed forever?

The answers, unsurprisingly, will be: "Yes", "Of course", "Faster than you can say Time Monolith" and "No, but we're going to milk this cow drier than the Atacama desert".🤭

Then a certain fiery-headed demon from East L.A. portals his way back, after far too many episodes without his scorching presence, and at least I am happy again.

Daring Engineering:

Fitz wakes up from his Dr. Mengele's roleplaying adventure and has barely time for the beginning of an identity crisis before he has to run for his life. He cleverly guides Aida through her newfound feelings of empathy to save Mack while managing to keep mostly in check the anger for what she did to him, but fails to anticipate her meltdown. That makes at least two of us, Fitz.

The show will afford him a few comforting moments with his ever devoted future wife and one hell of a pep talk by the vibing superhero, before throwing him and everyone else into yet another apocalyptic mess.

Instead of therapy, a long vacation and maybe some reflection on Dr. Hall's lessons ("experimentation without thought of the consequences", remember him from 1x03?), he'll get solitary confinement and 70+ years as an icicle. The results will not be pretty.

Dreamers of Electric Sheep:

In the wake of S7, when they saved two Earths giving feelings to the genocidal space robots, Aida becoming an even bigger danger than she already was because she's overwhelmed by her human emotions sure carries some irony.

Of course, in-universe, there's an easy answer. She's the product - both her quantum brain-powered robot version and this newly organic one - of knowledge acquired from the Darkhold, and since the Darkhold is inherently evil, all the endeavours conducted under its influence are equally and irredeemably corrupted.

The pre-Darkhold Aida, however, is a different story. A marvel of technology that passed the Turing test with flying colors, could already feel in her own way ("I need to exhibit the proper response to human sensations, and I was programmed to feel them. Including pain. [...] It's quite awful", 4x08), was capable of expanding her knowledge and had the drive to do so. She saved almost everyone in the opening credits at least once and was instrumental in keeping Downtown L.A. from becoming a crater.

It's especially hard to dismiss it all as "just programming" when we've spent an entire arc on the notion that humans may be nothing more than the product of their (social) programming.

Of course, that Aida hadn't killed anyone yet nor had she stripped five people of their real lives and agency to plug them into a fake world run by nazis. But if Radcliffe can absolve himself for that outcome because he was corrupted by the Darkhold, well... so was Aida. Who, in her stuffed-in-a-closet days, was the poster child for no agency.

So, she's a fascinating, complex and thought-provoking antagonist, maybe the very best this show has written, certainly up there for a medal.

And then she goes crazy because a guy rejected her. Oof.

Stuff:

Take the shot, May! -- Get out of the way, Fitz! -- Just take the shot! Phil really wanted to see the Renegade interrupt but May is doing a Paragon playthrough. 😁

She has Inhuman powers, now?! Can we get a break, please?! Can we get one break?! No, I really don't think you can. You're a Mutant Enemy protagonist and therefore shall suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Over, and over, and over again.

The Superior Bigot is engaging in the villain's time-honored tradition of interrupting a long awaited reunion between beloved characters at the worst of times.

You are nothing without a S.H.I.E.L.D. to hide behind. -- That's not all they're good for. Give him an opening for a pun or a dad joke and Coulson becomes invincible.

Robots...is that a common occurrence now? Quite!

Davis! Try any evasive maneuver you can! Meanwhile, it's La Palice Day on the Zephyr One.

Should've stayed in that damn spa. Yeah, no, I don't think seeing you guys battling the horrors of facials and deep tissue massages would have had quite the same entertainment value, tbh...

You must've spotted the decoy right away, right? -- Yeah, 'cause you're never robotic at all. Can of worms, Phil!

Help should be on the way. The "help" is busy trying to stay in one piece.

Davis has zero patience for backseat pilots and he's been cursed with an especially unhelpful lot of them.

Radcliffe blamed it all on Aida and now Aida blames it all on Radcliffe. Revisionist historians both, I think.

Every decision you made was your own. Decisions made on a vastly different set of inputs and information. You'd think an AI would be keenly aware of that distinction.

The first thing I choose, Leopold, is you. Isn't that nice. I would have started smaller, like which pizza topping, ale or stout, hair dye color maybe?

Aida is in love with her co-creator and will be soon burning with hatred for his chosen companion (and every human ever). Oedipal much?

Oh, you only bring back the people that matter to you, not to me! -- You know what? I've known Mack longer than you, and he means as much to me. YoYo clearly doesn't know Daisy very well if she thinks she'd leave Mack behind as an acceptable loss. Which is fine, because their friendship is still pretty new. They helped each other over the summer - Daisy saved her life, YoYo kept her supplied with bone regeneration pills and was the only one who didn't pile another frakton of guilt on her - but they really haven't known each other for long, nor have they spent all that much time together.

Besides the fact that going into that world as an Inhuman is the worst idea ever, we need you here, making sure that the real Mack stays alive, or it'll all be for nothing. Daisy continues to make sensible calls and her friends continue to ignore them and follow their guts instead, like Jemma going after Fitzler Sr. in the Framework and now YoYo who will plug herself in while everyone is busy with Talbot and Aida. Shape of things to come.

I got out unscathed. Jeffrey didn't. He should be in here with us, still in the fight. I need to take one for the team. As opposed to all the other times you took one (or two, or three...) for the team?

Did something weird happen with my robot self? Well, let's see: they flirted, ate Chinese take-out, drank a full bottle of the top shelf whisky you were saving for a special occasion and then she kissed him, apparently quite sloppily, since he immediately realized it wasn't you. Which, btw, raises some questions...😏🤭

Phill, did I try to...kill you? -- Kill me... Yep. That's what happened. You tried. It was messed up. Coulson, you coward! 😂

The entire area is sealed off, but, no, I can't rule out Daisy Johnson's involvement. Oh, joy, Daisy's being dragged for the mess by name while S.H.I.E.L.D. are once again being branded as terrorists, after a mere 13 episodes - from Uprisings to Self Control - of public legitimacy. Why did they even bother?

I can only imagine what Fitz is feeling while Aida is rhapsodising on hers.

I drank the bottle of Haig -- What?! You piece of - Saved by the explosion 😂

Do the right thing. Focus on empathy, not fear. Excellent advice, one I daresay you would have done well to follow yourself on a couple of occasions.

I'm now realizing the pain that I've caused and I don't want to hurt anyone else -- Congratulations. You're as close to human as you'll ever get, suffering from the one thing that you kept trying to remove...Regret. Do you understand irony yet? I hate him but Aida cut his head with no anaesthesia so I'd say he's earned the right to gloat at her predicament, at the very least. This is excellent gloating, too.

You watched, unaffected, as I took a hammer to the bones of the Director's corpse. Which was done to make it look as if Daisy had quaked him to death, although you'd think any decent coroner would be able to tell a hammer was used instead. Still, we'll be ending the season with the team as wanted terrorists and Daisy accused of one murder (Mace) and one attempted murder (Talbot) on top of that. If their plan to turn themselves in hadn't been rudely interrupted by time travel and an apocalypse, she was definitely in for some fun times. And yet, still better than 5B.

Good shooting, Dr. Dr. Simmons.

Daisy and Jemma explaining why the house went kaboom while Mom and Dad were gone with what would be one of my dream excuses: robots did it!

Why would they lock Fitz in the same place as Aida? There's more than one of those white rooms and it's not like he has powers to contain anyway. Any lockable space would do.

I love the continuity of reusing the device invented in S2 to contain Gordon.

Why don't we chop off her head like last time? YoYo and Simmons are all for the kill option, while Daisy, Coulson and May would prefer to at least have a conversation about it. Swap Mack for Coulson and add Fitz to #TeamToTheDeath and it would be the same exact matchup of S5's debates over Ruby and Talbot. Minus the animosity toward one another, thankfully.

She's afraid Fitz will be the same guy he was in the Framework -- No. She's afraid he still loves someone else. Daisy thinking her best friend would be grossed out by the naziness, like she was with Ward, and YoYo being a little more cynical. And correct.

They may be able to forgive you. It's me they won't forgive. Please. You could strap one of your best friends to a table and cut into her without anaesthesia while she's screaming in pain and begging you to stop and the rest of them would forgive you in a day. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Also, are we really pretending that it's *them* you're most worried about? I watched and rewatched this show for 8 years, now, pal, I know your priorities.

It was learned behaviour, programmed into you by an overbearing father figure -- Just like Ward. I'm just like Ward. Ward is once again the paragon of all badness for a Bus Kid lost in the depth of self-loathing. 3x21 Daisy says hi.

How can she even look me in the eye? Or even stand the sight of me at all? Ah, there you go. That's more like it.

And there's only room in your heart -- for her. Cripes. This would be a good time for bold faced lies and shameless backtracking, Fitz!

Talbot arrives at the worst time. He's a natural.

They're all robots. You assume each and every one of them is a damn C-3PO unless you hear otherwise from me! And this one! [points at Daisy] If she so much as blinks, take her down. Tsk, tsk... a few nervous grunts vs Quake? I like her chances.

Unless you can explain to me in 50 words or less why I found Jeffrey Mace's body washed up on the beach with his bones quaked apart [...]. Sir, your medical examiners are incompetent.

Where's that Speedy Gonzalez girl? Staring impatiently at the Framework's loading screen, I'm guessing.🤭

Try it. Let's see what happens. Yes, please. *swoons*

Davis... -- I'm sorry, but he's already dead. And the Strange Case of the Failed Murder of Agent Davis begins...

Wait a minute. Where was YoYo during that standoff? Well, about time you guys noticed!

My plan will rebuild the world that you have grown accustomed to...one where Inhumans are hunted. -- And we control the rest [...] But your plan is flawed. It's too clean. I want them to suffer. Typically, the socially-accepted post break-up ritual involves unhealthy amounts of ice-cream, not murder and world domination. Just a FYI, since you're new at this emotion thing and all....

Ghost Rider has achieved peak performance as far as dramatic entrances go, complete with his very own Dr. Strange-style orange magic portal. Welcome back.

YoYo loads in as her avatar is strapped to a bed awaiting torturous experimentation. The Framework never disappoints in the creepiness department.

#agents of shield #aosrewatchs4 #aos 4x21 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #leo fitz #jemma simmons #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #aida #glenn talbot #rewatchingaos4 #aos season 4 #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aosrewatch

[ryder616]

Rewatching World's End

Welcome to the End of the World Season:

Demonic androids are planning world domination, S.H.I.E.L.D. is wanted for terrorism, everyone is traumatized by alternate lives or alternate friends and Director Dad makes a death pact.

But the worst part? Nobody gets pie.

Okay, I lied. The worst part is that this is the last time we're seeing Robbie Reyes in action, sharing the screen with Daisy.

Things have definitely changed from their fateful meeting all those weeks ago. For one, deadpan has replaced brooding as their primary way to establish communication: "What's new" asks she, surrounded by beheaded robots, after 10 days in digital hell and looking like it. "Nothing much" replies he, after beheading said robots on his first day back from literal hell. "Why are you so perfect" cries I, cursing TPTB one more time.

And then they fight together like they've been practising the whole time, before moving from deadpan to softness. She empathizes, he opens up, and they look at each other with those eyes when they (don't) say goodbye.

It feels like a To Be Continued, but it's The End instead.

Rude.

In other Rider, non Quake related, news, we have the big showdown between the Coulson Rider and Aida.

It's a quintessentially Coulson plan: exploiting the enemy's weakness - Aida's newly developed emotional instability in this case - with a side order of left field ("I live outside the box", 1x04) and self-sacrifice on top.

In retrospect, their tussle feels a little underwhelming, especially when weighted against the momentous consequences it carries into the following season.

For those who like to keep count of these things (that would be me 😁), Coulson is the fourth Ghost Rider's incarnation in the season, after Robbie, Johnny Blaze (4x06) and Mack (4x07). The Spirit of Vengeance gets around!

A Team That Suffers...

Mack's take two as a dad concludes in the most heartbreaking way possible, with him clinging to his digital daughter until she literally disappears in his arms. Can anything get more emotional and haunting than a little girl asking if she's going to die? Yep, rhetorical question.

Elena gets a front seat to share in all that misery and chooses to stand by Mack, even if it means they both might die. She also apologizes for thinking of getting him out while the kid was still "alive", which is nice if unnecessary, as Mack doesn't even dream of blaming her for it. Mackelena is strengthened and so are both characters.

Fitz and LMD Simmons play bait for a now completely psychotic Aida, featuring sharp implements. I don't think it recaptures the impact of the FS scene in Self Control and having the real Simmons unload an assault rifle on a target she can't kill feels like a poor substitute for actually empowering the character (which doesn't have to involve violence at all, needless to say). Is futile comeuppance better than no comeuppance? I don't know, but neither makes me happy.

May criticizes Coulson's plan (if only she knew...) and settles the ever important matter of that bottle of Haig. The conversation doesn't slow down Philinda's "will they, won't they" pendulum, as they agree to take a "couple of steps back", which also sounds a bit disingenuous now, because Coulson had already made the pact with the Rider and therefore must have known he was on borrowed time. This is the second season finale in a row where May doesn't have much to do, and I don't like it one bit.

A Ride To Hell:

Robbie makes the most of his last appearance: he is cool, badass, gallant - even unnecessarily so, had he gone for Aida rather than the Daisybot, they would all have had plenty of time for pie 😁 - vulnerable, soft and the best radio holder a hacker could ask for while she's trying to slow the collapse of a virtual reality.

The Rider, on the other hand, is a dick. It wants to destroy Aida, Coulson offers a way to do so, and it still wants more on top of that.

We'll never get a good (ok, one that I like 😁) explanation for the Rider's reasons.

Does he object to the "unnatural" means of Coulson's resurrection? (But it's standard science for the Kree)

Does he want the GH325 for himself? (What for? He's an incorporeal entity. But Mack will suggest it and he has insight from his own experience with the Rider)

Is it just a matter of having a price tag for the willing exchange of host bodies, no matter the circumstances? I guess so, but I'm still side-eyeing it.

Take Your Daughter To Work Day:

The parallel run of Coulson's and Daisy's arcs this season ends with a role reversal: he fights the Big Bad with superpowers and she makes the leader's Inspiring Speech™.

Just like it happened with the Secret Warriors - teased as the next big thing for Daisy in the S2's finale and then destroyed in the same episode where they properly debuted - the show will once again choose to subvert expectations, and four years of build-up along with it.

The truly unexpected part, however, will be how unsatisfyingly they'll go at it.

She's Got The Power:

Elena and Daisy are both put in situations where their powers don't matter. Elena because she's in the Framework with Mack, and Daisy because Aida is invulnerable to conventional (except Icers, but only if she's distracted I guess? 😈) and unconventional non-demonic means, and it's her human superpower - hacking - that's needed to save her friends. I like this. If you don't want your superheroes to solve your problems, have problems they can't quake or speed away, instead of just nerfing them or straight up ignoring what their powers do. Am I glaring at S6? Why, yes, yes I am.

Stuff:

Any word from Piper? -- Not yet, but she knows what to do if this doesn't go our way. Piper is plan D, as in Disaster 😁

[Aida] was created from the Darkhold -- Is that how she got her Inhuman powers? -- That was me. I devised a procedure which extracted dormant Inhuman DNA from subjects pre-Terrigenesis. The Doctor joined with the likes of Whitehall and Malick III in the creepy, ill-advised, sadistic and generally sickening quest to appropriate Inhuman powers. Bonus mention for Radcliffe, who tinkered far above the acceptable to give Hive his army.

My solutions only make things worse. They end up hurting or killing people. -- Good. That's exactly the kind of solution we need right now. I'm biased, but I feel like you guys are learning the wrong lesson here.

Should've forced Mack to come back with us. -- Wasn't your decision to make. -- Yeah, well, now we might lose both Mack and Yo-Yo. -- Again, not your call. I wonder if Coulson would be this practical if it had been Daisy who had plugged back in. I do appreciate the "people are responsible for their own actions" message, though, because Asgard knows Daisy needs to hear it, always blaming herself for everything.

How did you find me? -- I kept discovering [red yoyos]. In my pockets, in the streets. I felt like a pac-man gobbling up biscuits. Just when I think I couldn't love Daisy more, she goes and does this. 🤣🤣🤣

I've got a dozen intelligence agencies who now know that Mace wasn't an Inhuman. So, after freaking out for two years about Inhumans, they are now freaking out because someone wasn't Inhuman? These people just don't want to be happy, do they?😁

Is that a good news face or a bad news face? -- It's a weird news face. Robbie Reyes just stole his Charger out of a S.H.I.E.L.D. impound garage outside of Dover. What do you mean, weird? It's the best news! Also, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a garage in Delaware.

May casually carrying a severed head...😂😂😂

I've left messages for General Talbot, but he's not answering. Why would Talbot be ghosting Coulson when he all but begged him to come to the meeting? Second question, one general doesn't answer his phone and S.H.I.E.L.D. has no other recourse but to leave messages? 🤨

I don't know who sounds more like a lunatic, the Supbots touting the Darkhold like a pair of snake oil salesmen or Talbot using the word "commie" in 2017.

Aida, seriously, therapy. Just consider it. 😂😂😂 (you guys should get to it as well, when you get a minute...)

Quake, Johnson. I don't care what you call her. It's Agent Johnson to you, ma'am.😡

Chivalrous Rider, taking the knee to leave Daisy the kill shot. Worthy of a blue shirt.🤭

I missed it, didn't I? You two together, and we missed it. Damn. Fanboy Phil is, once again, reporting for duty.

It's the same tactic Aida used in the Framework. Unite people in their fear of Inhumans. -- But instead of a Cambridge incident... -- It's me. I'll be the monster. Always the scapegoat...

Can you destroy [Aida]? -- Maybe. But it's like Daisy said, she won't let me anywhere near her. Ok guys, I have a totally genius plan: we dress up Robbie in boring clothes, give him a wig, a fake beard, so when Aida shows up she won't know it's him and will be caught by surprise. What? It's not worse than some of their plans!😁

I have an idea that might solve all our problems. Or, Coulson can sacrifice himself for the cause striking a deadly, one-sided deal with the demon, tell no one, pass up at least one good chance to reverse its effects (with entirely understandable reasons), until he'll be forced to spring the news on his nearest and dearest at the worst possible time. Overdramatic, if you ask me, but I guess that works, too.😁

Wish I could get a couple of bars. Burrows and his unending quest for reliable mobile coverage.

This is a terrible plan. You don't know the half of it.

Really? You want to have that talk now? Why not? I think we have established many, many times that most of you have atrocious timing in matters of love. Mackelena are the only sensible ones who generally wait for the crisis to be over to talk - or kiss - things through.

I imagine where you came from was a whole lot worse -- [...] the main thing is, there, I'm just a passenger. Ghost Rider drives. And by "drives" I mean fights and kills. It's kind of all we did -- That sounds terrible...and painful and lonely. -- Yeah, that about sums it up. But I'm here now...and that's good. -- That is good. This could have been their "I know people like you" moment.

Let's say you manage to force Mack to the other side. Will he ever forgive you? Will he ever forgive himself for abandoning his daughter? You have to come to terms with the reality that he is willing to die in here with [his daughter] Radcliffe making the case for respecting Mack's agency. Who says people can't change?

There are lots of ways to express sadness and pain. There's music and art. -- And smashing heads on the floor. That's the one I like the best so far. AU in which Aida takes up painting - like Agnes! - and everyone gets pie.

So, they scanned Simmons' brain, downloaded it into her LMD they just dug up from the base's wreckage (I'm guessing) and then used it to tick off Aida - more than she already was anyway - to lure her into going after Coulson. And I assume the Jemmabot was aware of being an android, since all the other LMDs besides the Maybot were and are. So when she says to Fitz "You did this" she's being literal and it's not the real Jemma's resentment coming through. Or maybe just a bit of both? It'd be interesting if it was. Also, did the entire plan hinge on Fitz's acting abilities and Aida's inability to spot a LMD? Because that's...something.🤭

So it's Jemma now? Trying to humanize her? Oh...does this mean Aida knows she's an android? That can't be, she'd know something was up. Now I'm confused.

Everyone who cares about you is on the other side of that door. The only person I care about is right here -- [...] the only person I care about is here, too. -- Great. Just great. Am I the only sane person here? Radcliffe is unimpressed by Mackelena's suicide pact in the making. Clearly, he's no shipper material.🤭

I'm just grateful Ghost Rider kept its part of the deal and went back to you. -- You know why he made the deal in the first place, right? -- I do. -- Are you gonna tell the others? -- No. And I'd ask that you don't, either. I will when it's time. By which you mean you won't, right? 😁

I feel terrible that I tried to pull you away from her and worse that we couldn't save her. Can you forgive me? -- There's nothing to forgive. Those years with her, as a father, it'll always be a part of me. But they also gave me a glimpse of a life I could have here... with you. I really like Mack and Elena as a couple. They're direct, open, talk their problems through, and their romance usually doesn't cause or require collateral damage (reason why I think the exception, that doomed boyfriend storyline in S6, didn't work). Also, in light of this conversation, I'm more convinced than ever that Mackelena's ending was, at least partly, a miss.

I have to get this book some place safe. Don't bother...😈😁

I tried to take the blame for everything not too long ago. I dyed my hair. I ran away. I thought that separating myself from the team would help me protect it. But in truth, I kind of just lost myself. And you, you were the one who pulled me back in. This is not on you, okay? We all lost ourselves in there. And yeah, it might take you a long time to forgive yourself. But speaking on behalf of the team, you have nothing to apologize for. Fitz made it all about his hurt feelings, almost everybody else contributed an extra load of guilt on her shoulders, Fitzler brutally tortured her in the Framework...and this is what she does with it. Coulson's proud grin is mine. On a different note, having her validate her friends' behaviours in 4a by saying that *Fitz*, of all people, brought her back, is really fucking terrible. My sympathies to everyone who's had rough patches and had to watch through this treatment of mental health issues.

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a... Appropriately, Radcliffe can't finish his last words, just as he pretty much failed to complete his work at every turn.

I was a little annoyed by the cavalier attitude toward possible jail time, because things aren't equal and there are two Inhumans on the team. If the tag hadn't teased space, I would have been seriously worried Daisy and Elena might have ended up at the Raft or somewhere equally awful.

If the show had been cancelled in S4 (it was on the bubble), the diner scene would have been the last, minus the kidnapping. Not a bad note to go out on, considering, and actually, very fitting for a show that revolved so much around the found family trope.

You got us. Nice job. And hey, congrats on the whole power-outage thing. It was very ominous. Good snark, too bad it's wasted on Enoch. Oops. Spoiler alert!😄

#agents of shield #aosrewatchs4 #aosrewatch #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #robbie reyes #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #jemma simmons #leo fitz #aida #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #aos meta #aos 4x22

[ryder616]

Rewatching Self Control

Tens of players agents. Four Impostors. And everyone is sus. *slams the red button*

Stripped to its core, Self Control is stock AoS: friendly faces with a secret and ill-intentioned agenda are plotting behind everyone’s back and the base of operations is compromised and eventually trashed while a larger existential threat looms in the background. Been there, done that and will be there and do that a few more times still.

Yet Jed Whedon - who wrote the script solo - spins these familiar plot elements into a masterpiece, possibly because the focus stays firmly on the characters in the midst of all the drama, trauma, action, suspense, (dark) romance and the most WTFJust Happened!? cliffhanger since Ward shot Hand or Jemma was eaten by a Space rock, take your pick.

There’s also that thing AoS really likes, giving shippers what they want in a really twisted way🤭:

FitzSimmons contemplate marriage. But he’s a malevolent android and she stabs him to death.

Philinda speak openly of a future together and May says the L-word. But it’s a future for their trapped consciousnesses, neither is the real person and she blows him up.

Skimmons hug epically and help each other in their best “Us against the World” outing but Daisy ruins the mood donning her HMS FitzSimmons’ captain hat.

StaticQuake is given one moment to hope before being snuffed out by the reapparence of SkyeWard... which, in turn, slams fast and hard into a wall because none of it is real anyway.

I’m not a shipper and I still felt the pain.

Dreamers of Electric Sheep:

In a season that is about to make a pretty big deal of how humans might be the sum of their social “programming”, the Maybot arguably exceeds her technical one, inflicting a decisive blow to her creator’s plans and assuring the team - what’s left of it, anyway - retains a fighting chance.

That an LMD with May’s brain patterns would commit the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone isn’t surprising but her tragic final hour affords us the opportunity to witness a vulnerability the real woman rarely shows.

Her self-awareness isn’t programmed but gained - through an accident - and it gave her a perspective the other LMDs are incapable of. Watching Mace’s, Mack’s, Fitz’s and Coulson’s copies feels like watching extensions of Radcliffe (and Aida)’s will, in the same way the swayed Inhumans were extensions of Hive’s will. The Coulbot parrots the same argument about a life free of pain and regrets in the virtual world that Radcliffe believes, except the Framework’s lives of the agents, and Radcliffe himself, won’t look all that painless or regret-free and real Coulson will reject it all.

If free will means exercising choice, then the Maybot definitely has it. And all the sentience to go with it.

Speaking of free will, Aida makes another stride toward hers, circumventing one of her core directives to kill Radcliffe in the real world.

It would be easy to point the finger at Radcliffe’s ambitions and dubious ethics, amplified by the Darkhold’s influence, when the fault clearly lies in his choice of recreational fiction growing up: too much Asimov, not enough Terminator. *fistbumps Mack* 😁

Team Captain:

Daisy completes the reclamation of self and purpose mangled by Hive and shows why, when AoS isn’t trying too hard to subvert expectations, she is a natural leader. She musters confidence in their chances despite the direness of the situation, exhibits quick thinking making up a plan out of nothing - her speciality - and the empathy to take Simmons out of her spiral, telling her friend exactly what she needs to hear to get her wits back.

I’ll be honest, ordinarily I wouldn’t be a fan of Captain Daisy of the HMS FitzSimmons but here it works for me. Would it have been nicer if she had said something about her own bonds with her friends as the motivation for the following BAMFness? Definitely. But she’s speaking for Jemma’s benefit who “can’t think without Fitz” because, after what just happened, she can't think of anything but Fitz.

Me? She had me at “I will beat them, I know it”. Simmons needed more and Daisy delivered.

She’s Got The Powers:

Daisy vibrates air into a small spherical maelstrom and splits it in two, trashing one android and knocking out the other who would have turned into scrap heaps, too, if a glass divider hadn’t been on his side to absorb part of the brunt.

It’s not our regular Tuesday on AoS, as the show didn’t get this creative with her vibrational blasts as often as it probably should have. And, yeah, one might ask why didn’t she do it to the Macebot the second she saw him instead of wasting so much energy fighting him hand to hand but the fighting was cool. If you can’t appreciate a woman in a loose sweatshirt punching robots with her bare hands, you are watching the wrong genre. 😁

She also gently quakes Jemma’s bones, proving she’s capable to discern materials using her abilities, another example of her powers’ versatility.

B-Squad to the Rescue:

Piper, Davis and Prince earn a spot on the Agents of the Month wall, providing life-saving services not only to Skimmons - who would have been stuck on the (exploding) ground otherwise - but also all the knocked out agents they dragged to safety off-screen before the Playground went kaboom.

Stuff:

This is Jed Whedon’s directorial debut, and, clearly, first time VIP directors on AoS are given the goodies. Clark’s Fun and Games and Elizabeth’s As I Have Always Been are also highlights of their respective seasons (Clark wasn’t a first time director, but it was his first time directing AoS and, I think, TV).

What is it with this show and non-consensual, anaesthesia-free surgeries? Now I feel bad for the Superior Bigot and I really didn’t want to.

In the meantime, Daisy will contact the Inhumans, inform them she's coming to collect them personally. -- Yes. And then execute them on sight. -- Which reminds me, the hardware we brought from the Russian's loading dock... -- Still in the shipping container on Zephyr One. I'll oversee it's off-loaded down into the basement now. If anyone was wondering how the Daisybots Army ended up in that containment room and what was its purpose, this is the answer. 

I sometimes wonder what it would've been like if I'd never signed up. All the loss, the grief... All my regrets are piled up after that. Could've lived like a civilian, you know? The simple life. I feel like this desire for a “normal” life is the direct result of the wear and tear of the directorship. Agent Coulson was aware of what he had given up (see the speech to Mike Peterson in 1x10) but seemed, for the most part, satisfied with his life choices.

Are you saying we'll eventually be able to be... together? -- I'm saying that in the Framework, we already are. The Coulbot is either lying or unaware of the truth, since in the Framework May and Coulson don’t even know each other, let alone being together.

The Fitzbot is an excellent actor, pretending he’s the real guy. And Iain, pretending to be the android who pretends to be the real guy, isn’t too bad himself... 😉  

It’s one of us, Fitz. -- Regardless of who it is... it’s my fault. [...] I perfected the technology. I started this whole nightmare. I suspect S5 and onward Fitz would defend both the goal and the ultimate outcome of his participation. The technology works and it is useful, after all.

I had to restart the simulation to accommodate the new residents. In order to reduce their pain, to fix a regret for each of them, I had to restart the Framework simulation from those moments in time. So this is what actually led to the fascist takeover inside the simulation? Not just fixing May’s regret, which was done a few episodes ago, but the combined new trajectories all their lives took after one regret each was fixed? Because Radcliffe was okay with everything until now and I think he would have objected to a Hydra-led world, for accuracy’s sake if nothing else.

Are [the LMDs] commands working on a subconscious level to avoid detection, as with Agent May? -- There wasn't time for such subtleties. They're much more... objective-driven. -- Aida, people could be killed in that scenario! -- Only if they resist. Ah, well, no need to worry, then. It’s not like you’re trying to fool a base full of combat trained spies, one of them with superpowers and a notoriously short fuse when her friends are in danger....

Do you really think it's necessary for me to personally greet each of them? You don't think that'll take too much time? -- It'll be more efficient than you think. I have to give it to the Superior Bigot (and Aida). Murdering all the Inhumans with a replica of their most prominent hero and de-facto leader is fiendishly brilliant.

I was always trying to protect you, pursuing technological solves to the problematic scenario that you could be harmed or killed. But Radcliffe's cured death. Once I map your brain, we'll never have to fear losing each other again. Step 1 is admitting you have a problem...😁

I'm securing our future. So we can get married, grow old together. -- That's the first time you've mentioned it... getting married. -- I mean... I've thought about it. But I was afraid to bring it up. You know... I thought I knew your answer, but no one's ever 100%. -- I’ll tell Fitz when I see him. First time they talk about marriage and one of them is an android. I can just picture the writers’ room cackling maniacally while breaking this part of the script.

Daisy calming herself from the early stage of a panic attack is very reminiscent of Skye doing the same thing after she had found Eric’s body in 1x19. Nice character continuity.

Well, you, Doctor, exhibit poor self-control. Is that what we’re calling it this week?

So, we fight our way through the trained military personnel, then the ultra-powerful android doubles of our friends, somehow make it to the Zephyr, which we can't fly, to escape the base and try to plug our minds into an alternate reality. -- Okay, well, don't say it out loud, because that made it sound way worse. Let’s just keep it one thing at a time, okay? Jemma is in shock which explains her uncharacteristic defeatist attitude but this dialogue perfectly showcases the differences between their personalities. One prone to overanalyze everything, the other used to flying by the seat of her pants.

Daisy and I aren't the LMDs. -- I don't buy it. -- I don't care. 100 % done Simmons is the best Simmons.

[the Macebot gives no sign of physical extertion] Really? Not even winded? I know, he’s very rude. He could at least show you the courtesy of venting extra heat or something.

Daisy, this is for your own good. -- We didn't want to hurt you, but we have no choice here. If Daisy had a dime for every time someone hurt her claiming they had no choice... well, she wouldn’t be rich but she’d have several dimes.

Anyone here know how to fly the Zephyr? -- I-I just started training. -- Okay. Well, you're gonna try real hard. This casual disregard for actual flying expertise is unsettling. What’s next, stealing a plane and flying it into space?

[bleeding from two gunshot wounds] I need medical.🤣

Okay. Everything's under control. -- Whose control? Organic or synthetic, it makes no difference: May always cuts to the heart of the matter.

That pain, that regret... that's what made you a person ... a person I love. [...] My programming was to get the Darkhold. That came from Radcliffe. But my impulse, to keep Coulson safe and close, that desire... that came from me. And I'm sorry to say... you're not him. More manic cackling in the writers’ room...🤭

[Told about the simulation] How could they build ... -- The Darkhold. -- Al culo con ese libro (fuck that book). Truer words were never spoken.

Lincoln? Of course. It’s not AoS if Daisy isn’t put through the emotional wringer.

I need you walking around, able to continue protecting the Framework. A perfect machine, controlled with a mind endowed with the ability to feel love, anger, wonder... joy. -- Joy? When? -- When I am able to feel those things myself. Never heard of “careful what you wish for”, huh?

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aosrewatchs4 #agents of shield #aos 4x15 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #jeffrey mace #aida #holden radcliffe #anton ivanov #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching All The Madame’s Men

Revolutions only need good dreamers who remember their dreams. 

Or, in the case of a virtual reality run by an android who wants to be free, they only need secret agents who remember their true selves.

I’ve always wondered if at least part of the inspiration for the Framework arc came from the writers’ frustrations with the 2016 US presidential elections and its result.

It’s not just the numerous and very overt jabs - they’re not even pretending to be subtle - but the resolution: facts, as in the truth of the Patriot’s sacrifice and Hydra’s depravity, win over propaganda and the public “wakes up” and unites against the fascists. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was so straightforward in real life?

Take Your Daughter to Work Day:

At the beginning of the season Coulson was in a very similar place to Daisy, minus of course the PTSD and the death wish (that will come next season. Sort of?).

On a surface level, both were back to when the series started: she, on her own in her van, flouting laws and crusading. And he, a high-level agent again, leading his own team on a cool plane, picking up assignments he likes (for the most part).

Both chose this “regression” to protect the team in the wake of the Hive crisis: “I thought that separating myself from the team would help me protect it” Daisy will explain in a few episodes to a more receptive Fitz than the one who accused her of “turning her back” in 4x02, and Coulson has already said in 4x07 how stepping down from the directorship was the move that allowed everyone else to continue in S.H.I.E.L.D. and, presumably, to do so unhindered.

Both were forced back into their pre-Hive roles by circumstances: Daisy returned because of the Eli Morrow crisis and may have left again right after it if she had paid attention to land in a media-free area (🤭). And Phil only assumed his Shadow Director role because Mace’s qualifications were a lie.

So it’s very satisfying that in the same episode Daisy emerges from a new Terrigenesis fully healed with her powers again and Coulson fully finds himself, stepping up to lead the Resistance and inspiring the masses.

Tinker, Traitor, Soldier, Spy Redux:

When you get down to it, FW!Ward is basically doing exactly what real!Ward was doing until the Hydra’s attempted takeover (so before 1x17 and the subsequent murder spree): he is a spy, embedded in a rival organization for years, who is lying about himself to everyone there, including the woman he claims to love.

Except, of course, he’s doing it for a very different and, I think we can all agree, far better cause. Betraying S.H.I.E.L.D. made him a villain, betraying Hydra makes him a hero.

As an exercise in moral relativity and “Context Matters!”, FW!Ward is very effective. And he works as a foil for Fitzler, with the nurture vs nature argument that was seeded way back in season 1. Fitzler was raised by an overbearing, abusive father instead of his loving mother, while FW!Ward was “saved from himself” by a woman dedicated to the greater good (given it’s Hand, overbearing probably still applies 😁), instead of the self-serving, toxic asshole that Garrett was. And so here they are, on opposite paths again but in reverse.

As a “redemption” for real!Ward, however, assuming that was the intent - and it is debatable - I don’t think he works and Daisy’s line, that she now understands her Ward had good in him since the simulated one does, feels borderline disrespectful to her character, whose empathy and survivor’s guilt could probably be used for better things than forgiving remorseless abusers.

How does the obvious notion that Ward would have become a better human being if someone less awful than Garrett had offered him tutelage when he was a vulnerable, messed-up teen, redeem the adult who consistently chose to do ill, channelled his hurt into hurting others and never truly regretted it?

Will Fitz’s horror for what Fitzler did, and his better path in life, “redeem” the Doctor? Then why would FW!Ward’s dismay for his real world counterpart’s actions, and his different path in life, redeem real!Ward?

This “presumed redemption” angle is also further muddled by S7, when we are told (by Kora, in 7x11) that in a timeline where Garrett never “helps” him, Ward was going to be worse.

Stuff:

The Framework has its own Fox News stand-in. Naturally.

Unlike Afterlife’s crystals, the one used by May doesn’t contain any trace of the Diviner’s metal and is therefore completely harmless for humans. FW!Hydra did a better job growing the Terrigen and it’s also likely that post-Whitehall Jiaying considered the deadliness to humans a feature, rather than a bug, and never saw a reason to refine the process.

You’re looking better -- Yeah. Thanks for that. I guess Aida and the Darkhold agree with me that cuts, bruises and even scars should not be retained after Terrigenesis. Daisy’s real Terrigenesis worked differently - she still had the cut on her cheek after it - and she seems surprised here that her injuries are gone but in 2x16, during the acupuncture scene, there were no visible scars on her stomach where Quinn’s shots should have left their mark. 🤷‍♀️

No matter the circumstance, none of you can escape your true nature. [May], the Warrior. Mack, the Protector. And Fitz, well, he's a Romantic. -- And me, what, I don't make the list? You, my dear, are the Rebel with a Cause. 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!! 🥳👏🙌

The same parameters that limit me must also limit you. My primary directive requires me to protect these people. [...] If they become a direct threat to the Framework, then they no longer require protection. Can I just say that Radcliffe bungled the Laws of Robotics? Protecting human life is the FIRST law and everything else is supposed to be subordinate. This part is definitely not the Darkhold’s fault. Bad priorities!

Anyone else getting sick of this propaganda crap? It's like sipping poison. Little bit every day, you don't even notice till it kills you. How unsubtle of you, AoS. Good. 

Still feeling the after-effects of the Terrigen. It's like a hangover made of bees. In S2 Daisy described her powers as a thousand bees inside [her] that she felt all the time. The technical aspects of the simulation remain impeccable.

What I don't get is how you can control your powers so quickly. A question I have about the humans powered up with the stolen Inhuman powers in S7 (other than Malick, who almost killed himself at first and, unlike the rest, had proper time to learn).

What kind of monsters would do this? -- Inhumans. The ever-present threat. Right. Inhumans are the monsters here...🙄

This woman, known by the alias "Skye," is a member of the Inhumans First movement. Her goal is to destabilize Hydra from within. We warn our audience that this Inhuman has the potential to cause mass destruction, and she has been known to target civilians. Aside for the “Inhumans First” membership, none of this is technically untrue. And yet...

Her name was Victoria Hand. She was the first person to tell me I could be a good man. Skye was the one who made me believe it. Skye. Who was working for Hydra. Willingly, apparently (why?). Honestly, I don’t think the writers thought the lives of the alt NPCs through, outside of the Ward & Fitz moral switcheroo.

This is quantum-energy manipulation. Darkhold tech. Aka the stuff with the magic boxes, Lucy the Ghost and Eli the Quantum Thief from 4A. When people hate on the Ghost Rider pod I get cranky, because it set up everything.

You can't blame yourself for their lies. Once you learned the truth, you fought back. As usual, May doesn’t hide from responsibility, even when the deck is fully stacked against her, but this is good advice that hopefully helped her. It sounds like Daisy was relating to her experience with her mom in S2, in which case this may indicate that she has forgiven herself for it... or that she’s much better at giving advice than following it.😄

[Aida] wants to circumvent her programming. Every step has been towards that goal. The Framework, Radcliffe, Fitz. We have to stop her. Aida wants to be free. By itself, that’s remarkable. And relatable. I think this is one of the reasons why she is such a great antagonist, one of the last, great villains of the show.

You believe me? -- Come on, girl. That's way too crazy a story to make up. Trip never, ever disappoints. 🤗

Don't you snap at me, boy. If I wanted you hysterical at every setback, I would have left you with your mother. According to the Declassified books, these scene with Alistair that highlights the perils of growing up without a female parental figure were shot, coincidentally, on International Women’s Day.

So the secret base is the base. Probably should've guessed that.   😂😂😂

Trip? That's the best news I've heard in weeks. Right?!

Clearly, I wasn't in on any plan, or I wouldn't still be in this bloody cell. I’m disappointed they left Radcliffe in the hands of the nazis, especially because him being him along May and Daisy during the escape would have been hilarious.

To save ourselves we need to save the world. Work, work, work,work... 😅

I'm just saying, if you need to shop for furniture, I'll take you. I know just the place. This is another unsubtle reference, I *think* to Bill O’Reilly and his sexual harassment scandal.

If you think you can force me, Sunil Bakshi, to go on air and slander Hydra, then you're delusional. I am the most trusted voice in journalism [Daisy quakes him into a wall] Just, uh, put it in the teleprompter, then. The unyielding hero Hydra deserves.... 🤣

Well, every relationship has its ups and downs. We'll get through it. I’m a bit unclear on how being a Hydra supporter is just some regular relationship hurdle to get over but I admire your optimism, Better!Ward.

Hydra doesn't think we're smart enough to know when we're being fed alternative facts to keep us afraid, to keep them in power. Unsubtler and unsubtler...(sic)

Now I'm choosing to stand up, to become a part of something bigger. I really do believe that together, we can accomplish anything. Because the truth is I'm not just a history teacher. My name is Phil Coulson and I'm an Agent of S. H. I. E. L. D. Did anyone not smile broadly at this? Like, I’m typing it and still smiling.

We have located the two agents threatening the Framework. They are aboard a S. H. I. E. L. D. jet. Once we get a lock on it, my men have orders to shoot it down. Ugh, going from Coulson’s speech to the Superior Bigot is almost as bad as going from Enoch’s goodbye to Nathaniel Malick. Curse all aggravating villains and their tag scenes.😝

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #grant ward #leo fitz #jemma simmons #aida #antoine triplett #alphonso mackenzie #anton ivanov #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #aos 4x19

[ryder616]

Rewatching Farewell, Cruel World

The Digital Escapade is coming to an end, time to click the heels three times jump into a quaked pool of melted steel and go home.

From the cruel virtual reality to the equally cruel fictional one where the puppetmasters, unlike Aida, will be forever out of reach.

This episode sets up one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the entire show, namely Mack losing his daughter and then having to live with those vivid new memories alongside the old ones.

At this point in time the show hadn’t focused much on Mack’s tribulations but the Framework arc made up for it and then some. And then more some. Yikes. 

In hindsight, it might have been less painful for him if here Daisy had lied or just pushed him in, sparing him the slow torture of hearing his scared digital daughter’s mounting panic, but I suspect he would disagree. I think Mack would have chosen to be there for her even if he had been fully aware and had known how close to the end the digital world was. That knowledge would have likely fuelled his resolve to not leave her alone. And Daisy has lost her agency too many times - from the foster system to, most recently at this point, Hive - to take away his, even if it kills her to leave him behind.

Their scene, with both characters coming from a place of love, is harshly contrasted by the way Simmons finally comes face to face with Fitzler.

You really gotta feel for Simmons, who just a few weeks earlier was going apartment hunting (4x04) and now has been threatened, stabbed, shot and almost killed by two different versions of her chosen flatmate and future husband. One of whom she had to gruesomely stab to death (4x15), because why settle for traumatic when you can write horrifying? 😁

She never believed Fitz was lost in his Framework persona, highlighted by how she ignores Daisy’s sensible decision to leave his extraction for a time when all of their lives aren’t in imminent danger, and tries a desperate attempt to reach him through his father that could have cost them everything since Daisy, for her part, can’t fathom to advance the mission without her.

Luckily, it’s time for Radcliffle’s redemption.

I’m not sure if his very first selfless act since we’ve known him makes up for all the misery his actions have caused, even with the Darkhold’s corruption as the extenuating circumstance (which does nothing to excuse his S3′s shenanigans), but it’s a laudable u-turn for someone who, in the past, had let self-preservation override any other concern.

In between Mack choosing to stay and Fitzler being forced to go, stand May and Coulson. Unlike both Mack and Fitzler, neither value whatever ties they still have to the virtual world. Still, they perform a leap of faith, most impressive coming from May who has no memories of her real self, however hazy, and had just recently resolved to never trust blindly again.

Yet here she does, believing in a dorky high school teacher turned resistance fighter who’s actually a dorky superspy without the benefit of their 30 years old friendship backing it up.

And of course Coulson adds another almost-but-not-quite death to his record, a recurring circumstance that, at this time, hadn't quite yet turned into a meme.

Inescapable

About a year earlier (3x09) Simmons had earnestly declared herself against jeopardizing the many for the one and then had backed it up in spades, willing to be tortured to death, doom Will and doom Fitz - it’s not like Malick was going to let him go unscathed once they were done with her - to avoid the possibility that a yet unknown boogeyman would find its way to Earth.

Things have changed.

Now, Fitz comes first. Even when, maybe, pre-Framework arc Jemma wouldn’t have prioritized him over everything and everyone else, especially when there were still options and he was in far less danger than the rest of them.

I can see how their constant separation drama could have chipped away at her mettle on this particular topic, but I also think that in pursue of the Inevitability of FitzSimmons some of the characters’ individuality was lost and most specifically Simmons’, because Fitz was already all about her when it came to the root of his choices.

Said Inevitability seems also why, in the Framework arc, Jemma has to literally be dead for an alternate version of Fitz to fall in love with a different woman, even though Fitzler being who he is should be more than enough to justify FitzSimmons not happening.

And now I need to climb on my soapbox because FW!Jemma’s deceased status alongside Ward’s not-quite-redemption, more-like-closure+foil-for-Fitz storyline are the meta reasons why FW!Skye ended up working for Hydra.

Something that, all else being equal other than the Cambridge Incident and Coulson's different career - including the type of childhood that could shape fairly execrable individuals yet didn’t turn our Daisy into one - makes very little sense. If at all.

As a paradigm shift, the Cambridge Incident is the virtual world’s equivalent of the alien invasion in New York and Daisy had clocked S.H.I.E.L.D. as bad guys in that scenario. So why would the hacktivist we met in the pilot ever think Hydra was doing good work? Or be in a romantic relationship with a guy who, as far she knows, is Hydra? When Daisy learned of Ward’s true allegiances, she was disgusted. She infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. - a far less malevolent organization than Hydra even while Hydra was infesting it - for personal reasons but changed her mind on them and stayed because Coulson (and the others, but it was mainly because of Coulson) was not the Big Brother’s stooge she had expected but a good man trying his best to do right by people and oozing dadness.

And she was recruited, by Coulson, in a highly unorthodox team that was only formed due to his special circumstances, while every other agent with a clearance over level six we met during the first half of S1 thought it was a bad idea.

So how and why did all of it sort of happened anyway? None of the known changes explain it. Are we supposed to infer that Better!Ward took over Coulson's role but with a romantic twist (eww) and that was enough to make Hydra (Hydra, not S.H.I.E.L.D.!) palatable? And with what clout? Coulson had to pull rank and had the personal trust of Nick Fury to bet on the stray hacker. Better!Ward is nowhere close to that level of influence even four years later.

Also, from an out of universe perspective, Daisy should not be in a similar position to the “real” world when you remove Coulson from her life yet FW!Skye is: she is an agent for the organization tasked to protect the world, which, in the Framework, happens to be Hydra and not S.H.I.E.L.D. (even though it’s of course all pretence to perpetuate its power). One could argue that she’s in a very different position morally, but Coulson didn’t give Daisy her morals. Her compass was already pointing to chaotic goodness before he adopted abducted her, with emphasis on the chaos when fascists enter the picture. Here we have plenty of fascists and no evidence of any chaos.

Without Coulson, and in a Hydra-controlled world, “Skye” is hacking into the state news’ signal to broadcast anti-Hydra manifests, running a cyber guerrilla, or has managed to infiltrate Hydra as she did S.H.I.E.L.D., without getting herself killed, vivisected or brainwashed in the process, and stayed as a mole for the Resistance. Or, maybe more likely, she is dead.

On the other hand, we have seen how Simmons reacted after Puerto Rico, so FW!Jemma initially sharing Hydra’s stance on Inhumans would be in character. She could have become a double agent, once she had seen enough of Hydra’s methods, just as she was one for S.H.I.E.L.D. in Hydra in S2. Heck, she could have been in a relationship with Better!Ward, making that 3x09 retcon about her flirting count for something and mirroring the real world almost perfectly: Simmons loves Fitz and despises Ward, FW!Jemma could have loved Better!Ward and despised the Doctor. That could have also offered Simmons an opportunity to find a measure of closure with her own Ward issues, which aren’t less than Daisy’s. Or something else entirely that was still about Simmons, in addition to Fitz and their relationship.

But, FitzSimmons are Inescapable(tm) and the show has no interest in exploring, even in the background of a 5 episodes long What if, any part of Simmons’ story that isn’t about FitzSimmons.

So Jemma’s dead, the anarcho-socialist hacker is okay with Hydra without any context given and Coulson’s removal from Daisy’s life means less than it should.

I’m just gonna bask in Trip’s smile wishing things had been handled differently (including his part in the proceedings, frustratingly small) while I carefully tuck my soapbox away for future use.

Stuff:

Beta Team has spent 10 days freezing their asses on the Zephyr watching over their two sleeping beauties. A certain gentleman out of time is smiling.

After those 10 days the Zephyr has only 24 hours of power left. Coulson had bragged about six weeks in the air in the season premiere but running the Framework apparatus is extremely tasking, hence the shortened autonomy.

YoYo seems to be calling the shots on the Zephyr, either because she is level color-that-puts-her-in-charge or because the aforementioned sleeping beauties left instructions to make it so.

Just look at [Madame Hydra’s] uniform. It's so crazy hot. I mean, if you're into the whole "bad girl" vibe. Not me. I'm just making an observation. Sure, sure... I know all about this kind of observations. I make this kind of observations all the time. Embrace your fanboyness, Burrows.

Hey, person I don’t know. [...] You can finish hugging me later. Witness Trip’s chill when his personal space is invaded by strangers. Granted, she’s a pleasant looking stranger, but he's unfailingly gracious.

Simmons we can't rescue Fitz right now. [...] I promise, we will find a way to get Fitz once everyone’s safe, okay? -- Okay. That is not the stance nor the look of someone who agrees, Daisy. How do you not see it?

Come on, Dad. She’s the biggest hero in S.H.I.E.L.D. Out of the mouth of babes...😎

Daisy is delightful with Hope. I wish they had put her with kids more often.

I’ll make sure you’re exactly where you need to be. Nice doublespeak. Good thing Mack isn’t your Mack or he’d have caught on.

My days of following blindly are over. If there's any truth to what you're saying, you'll have to show, not tell. May dislikes expository dialogue and prefers it when information is communicated through action.🤭

You may not be the Fitz who was my good friend, a man I'd step in front of a train for, but you wear your fear the same way. Radcliffe is going to be true to his word and give up his life for Fitz (and the others).

How did a little pop tart like you evade capture? I assumed she put into practice the lessons you taught her mostly off-screen.

What can I say? I'm easy to confide in. With that smile of yours? Easy is an understatement. 😍

You and I, we must've, uh, you know -- Dated? -- Sure. We'll go with that. -- Uh, no. Sorry. -- Right. Me and Simmons, we probably... -- Nope. -- Agent May? Damn. And this is really a place you want to go back to? I know, Trip, it’s a freaking travesty. And their loss. But I don’t remember real Trip being this much of an aspiring player.

I've been nothing but a good father. If by “good” you mean toxic, then sure.

You're now the face of the Resistance. -- That's really not my style. I'm really more of a "work in the shadows" kind of guy. -- Really? That's how teaching 10th grade works best, from the shadows? I love that their dynamic is reminiscent of what we saw in the 4x14 flashbacks, him being kind of a dork and she snarking about it. Except young May was a much happier, almost carefree individual of course, so her teasing had a different bite.

How does the existence of an alternate reality come up in casual conversation? -- I'd like to think it's because we were bonding, though I don't really want to speak for her. 😂😂

But Fitz won't come with us now. We've lost him. -- No, we haven't. We will figure something out, but first, we have to get back to the real world before Aida makes us disappear. Okay? -- Okay. See, this is a true okay. You should have really learned how to spot the differences, Daisy.

Maybe it's your turn to suit up. The people could use another Patriot to look up to. -- Not gonna lie, I'd look pretty damn fine in that suit. -- Yeah, you would. Take care of yourself. Daisy gets to say goodbye to Trip. It’s not much but it is something.

It's not magic, May. It's science. I wish I had kept track of all the times one of the show’s scientists - and I think it’s mostly Simmons - made similar remarks because there were quite a few.

Wake up! There is no back door, just like she's not Moses about to take you to the Promised Land. -- That's it. What if I quake that thing? -- And part the Red Sea. -- They did not just go and use the Bible against me. 😂😂😂😂

The layout for the FS scenes in the steel mill is somewhat odd, with Simmons, Fitzler and Radcliffe having their dramatic confrontation while Daisy and Mack are on the other side...waiting? Somehow unaware of what’s holding Simmons up at gunpoint? Watching and just hoping for the best? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Its name is Aida. Artificially Intelligent Digital Assistant. And stop making excuses for it! Not making excuses for unapologetic villains is good advice.

I love you. -- And you mean nothing to me. I want to hear you say it. "I am nothing to you." Say it! Say it! Fitzler twisting the knife in the collective heart of the FS fandom...he’s rather talented at it, isn’t he? 🤭

She laughs at my jokes. We watch movies together. And when she's sad...when she's sad, I hold her. No. She's real to me. -- I understand. And she really does, as evidenced by how she’s interacted with Hope and most of the NPCs throughout the arc.

Listen to me, Fitz. None of that is your fault. -- I wanted to do those things. It felt natural. I think I'm a bad person. I bet Coulson was having S3′s flashbacks right about now. Happily, Fitz's instinct to atone for his perceived sins away from the people he's been put in a position to hurt will be nipped in the bud. Unhappily, he will be separated anyway and it's not going to be pretty.

It's just, you know in "The Wizard of Oz," at the end, how Dorothy goes to Kansas? Yeah, well, that's where they went, a place like Kansas. -- Does that mean we're going to Kansas, too? --  Nah. We're gonna stay right here. Everything I need, it's all right here. I hadn’t realized this before but here Mack basically told his daughter the truth, that their world is a fantasy, but in a gentle and kid-level way. And that was pretty neat of him, wasn’t it? I'm all the more convinced that a true happy ending for Mack involved a baby and not Fury cosplay.

#agents of shield #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aos 4x20 #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #alphonso mackenzie #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #holden radcliffe #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching No Regrets

Three episodes in and the Framework finally keeps its promise of a better world: Trip is alive, as heroic and radiant as we had left him saving the day in San Juan, even though beige is not his color and some Hydra goon stole his boots.

Oh, Trip, how I have missed you all these years. Your positive attitude, your easy-going nature, your grace under pressure and your smile. I bet the show would have killed you anyway at some point, even if you had stayed and got the development you deserved, because you are that character, but everything would have been a little bit brighter with you around. It’s a privilege to have you back, if for too short a time.

Sadly, even your mighty powers of sunshine can’t quite dissipate the desaturated direness of the Framework.

While Daisy is busy being tortured - another day, another trauma to compartmentalize - Jeffrey Mace goes out the (super)hero way, keeping a building up until he can’t.

The Framework might be a fake world but the price to pay to be the shield (or the blocker, as he called his role in 4x13 with more than a little foreshadowing) is just as steep as in the real world.

His death triggers Gestapo!May’s realignment to May’s moral priorities, which leads to Daisy’s freedom and powers, both essential factors for the team's eventual escape from the virtual world. So he didn’t exactly die in vain but his loss still hurts, especially knowing how the virtual world will be gone in a few episodes, making all the effort he put into saving it from Hydra twice as meaningless.

My favorite thing about Daisy’s second Terrigenesis is the smirk.

She knows what’s coming and can’t wait to open her special can of whoopass on all deserving individuals, starting with a certain puppetmastering android. The difference with her first Terrigenesis, marked by terror and loss, couldn’t be more pronounced. And the difference with how she will get her powers back next season is a guaranteed whiplash. 💫🤬

My other favorite thing is that May is the one that makes it happen. 

In the real world, May’s relationship to all things Inhuman is complicated and painful enough: there’s Bahrain, there’s Andrew and there’s Daisy herself, who she must have feared could become her second Katya at least twice (S2 and the Hive crisis).

In the Framework she carries the guilt of hundreds of lives lost because of one Inhuman she saved and that has numbed her and blinded her to the evils perpetrated by Hydra. Yet when she starts to question everything she’s believed in until now, what is her first act? Trust the Inhuman with destructive powers. It’s strategic - Ophelia targeted “Skye”, she therefore must be important - and completely flips the script for everyone.

Coulson, for his part, continues to reassert himself over the meek propaganda teacher, charging in to free kids he knows, on an intellectual level, aren’t “real” but are definitely so to him on the emotional one. Professor Coulson failed them, Coulson won’t, mission priorities and orders be damned.

The rescue starts the chain of events that leads to Mace’s death and, once again, it’s a blessing that Coulson is not a young woman of color, or we would never have heard the end of how emotional and reckless he is from the usual quarters. 🙄😈😉

Wall of Valor:

It’s tempting to say that Mace was a fabricated hero in the real world and a real hero in the fabricated world, but Real Mace had sacrificed himself for the team, too, (4x13) and his demise works well with Coulson’s words to Mike Peterson in the pilot, how powers don’t make the heroes but what one chooses to do with them does (“it’s not what they have that we don’t. It’s what they do with it”).

It’s the human factor that matters, not the superhuman one. And Mace was always a good human, even when his heroic credentials were a fake and his methods to sedate mentally-compromised specialists a little questionable.

As Director, he was terrible at planning field operations - remember how he wanted to send YoYo alone to pick up a highly radioactive thingamabob against Eli Morrow? - but had a knack for PR and buttering politicians up, which was, after all, his true area of expertise. Once he stopped performing and lost his smarmy, too-friendly-to-be-true veneer, he revealed himself to be a genuinely likeable guy.

He loved his sports metaphors and always tried his best to smooth interpersonal conflicts and look for common ground. Given how the team’s unity will be tested and broken next season, his input going forward would have probably helped.

Stuff:

My Spanish is mucho bueno. Almost on par with Daisy’s Russian, I’m sure. 😂 (In the real world Coulson knows “vacation-Spanish” so maybe Professor Coulson does too. In which case I retract my jab 😁).

Rescuing Skye is not the mission. Well, obviously, since Coulson is not in charge.😁

What happened to you, Fitz? He had a bad childhood.😈

Binary ones and zeroes can’t die, nor do they feel the cold. [...] We’re wasting time. [...] Mace is risking his life going on these pointless missions. Yes, on all counts.

I got to ask, what is it about [Ward]? Every time I see him, I get this weird itch, like hives. Did we get along? -- Well, you crushed his chest with your cybernetic arm and left him for dead on an alien planet, so no. 🤣

Oh, lookie over there, Terrigen crystals. Terrigen crystals that don’t contain any trace of the toxic alien metal the Diviner was made of, to be precise.

This is made from various metabolic enhancers, gorilla testosterone, even a dash of peppermint. aka Cal Johnson’s recipe for superstrength and psychopathy.

“A team that trusts is a team that triumphs?” That's a little cheesy. *drinks* I’m sad, I think this is the last one.

I realize how it sounds. No one wants to hear they're just an avatar in a digital prison, but sometimes that happens, and here we are. 🤣🤣

You don't know me at all. -- Not well enough, apparently. Well, you guys were too busy being suspicious and he was too busy keeping up his charade for any true bonding to occur. It’s understandable.

I don’t need proof. This can’t be real. Because the man I love would never execute someone in cold blood. Fitz would never do that. -- He did. The real Ward would have rubbed this in with immense glee.

Beaten to within an inch of her life. Nevertheless, she persisted. This is a riff on something Mitch McConnell said when Elizabeth Warren was silenced in the US Senate. If anyone was still doubting that Fitzler is fully playing for the dark side, this clinched it. 😉

Fitzler, don’t you see that Ophelia doesn’t want you around while she speaks with Daisy? Don’t you wonder why? I thought your toxic dad taught you not to trust anyone. This would be one of those times to apply that lesson.

You know, I asked for a mani-pedi. Got tortured instead. BT Dubs, your psycho-prison sucks. Beaten within an inch of her life, nevertheless she sassed. Miss Daisy Johnson, everyone.

The convo with Aida is an underrated hero moment for Daisy, who refuses the temptation of an illusory life with Lincoln in a parallel to S3 when she had instead asked Hive to give her back the illusion of happiness he provided. She also calls Aida out as the Puppetmaster of the digital misery and, as usual, I'm not inclined to disagree with her assessment.

And what do you get out of all of this? -- What everyone else has. A choice. This sounds very poignant but with Daisy in that condition I can’t contemplate anything but Aida’s painful demise. 😡

And is Hope's mother here, as well? -- No, no, it's just me and Sparkplug. Yeah, about that... Where is Hope’s mother? I had assumed they separated due to the strain of losing their child but maybe not. Or maybe she isn’t there because Mack doesn’t regret the end of that relationship since he’s in love with someone else now. 

His co-worker spotted him hiding some contraband in his locker. A camera. -- Was there any film in it? -- No. No film. It was an antique, actually. They’re talking about Trip and you just know the “antique camera” was a vintage spy gadget from his Grandad’s Howling Commando’s kit.

How about that story on Bakshi News the other day? That Inhuman they found with lion paws for hands? So weird. Just the paws. This would be Johnny Horton who had already been mentioned in S1 by John Garrett as the first prisoner he had escorted to the Fridge.

Everything here tastes like tofu! Put me out of my misery already! Well, this is a twist. I thought everything’s supposed to taste like chicken. 🤭

I didn't think Fitz was capable of doing something like that. And he’s gonna keep surprising you... 

What if I didn't need to kill her? What if maybe she wasn't lying or maybe she was mentally ill or something? “What if” “Maybe”. Now, that's your mother talking. -- Sorry, father. -- There she is again. Not that it was ever in doubt, but clearly Mrs. Fitz is by far the better parent. I wonder what might have happened if in this one moment of doubt Fitzler had been conversing with somebody less toxic and more human being.

And in a hard world, we cannot afford the luxury of what? -- The luxury of sympathy. -- Exactly. We don't buckle to guilt or womanly sentiment. Everyone needs the strap across their back now and again. Teaches respect. You know that. You've felt it. Fine. He did have a bad childhood. Given all that’s being going on in the Triskelion’s upper floors even before Skimmons hacked in, my sympathy meter for the Doctor is still stuck on *very low*.

If the superstrength cocktail lasts for about an hour, wouldn’t it have made more sense to take it once she had reached her destination rather than when departing?

You feel that, don't you? The way he loves his kid? -- Of course -- Then doesn't that make it real? How rude of you to ask such pertinent questions! 

Coulson. What's he thinking? He’s feeling.🤗

Jemma volunteers to go on one of those pointless missions she was complaining about, with FW!Ward of all people, to protect Mack from going instead. 🤗

This is Agent May. There are kids in here. Why the hell are there kids in here? I’m thinking this is more evidence of Aida’s manipulations because otherwise how is she like #3 in Hydra and doesn’t know what they’re really doing in those “Enlightenment centers”? Clearly “Ophelia” made sure she wouldn’t find out.

Is it true, that you’re an Inhuman? -- Yeah. Powerful enough to bring this whole damn place down. And yet, to my eternal disappointment, you’ll settle on just yeeting Aida out of it. *sigh* I was really looking forward to a quaked Triskelion.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #antoine triplett #jeffrey mace #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #alphonso mackenzie #grant ward #aida #holden radcliffe #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #aos 4x18

[ryder616]

Rewatching What If

It’s “careful what you wish for, you might just get it” hour on AoS, and Skimmons have a front row seat after sneaking in without paying the ticket.

Not only the world inside the Framework is significantly worse than the real one, none of the people who have had their biggest regrets erased are in any way happier for it.

Gestapo May simply traded one crushing regret for another.

Professor Coulson is a lonely, paranoid guy.

Dad Mack (Mack Daddy? *googles* oh. Yikes. 😬 No. 🤦‍♀️) comes the closest, but he’s raising his adorable daughter in the equivalent of nazi Germany.

SuperMace is living a life of constant loss while carrying the responsibility of the world on his shoulders against terrible odds. (kinda sounds like the protagonists of this one show I obsess about and, let me tell you, they are utterly miserable a good chunk of the time. 😁)

Radcliffe - not being able to cure Agnes was likely his biggest regret and the Framework has become that cure - is trapped with no hope and the full knowledge that his inventions have been twisted far beyond anything he might have wanted.

And Fitzler... well, I sense much fear in him. And anger. And hate. Such is the path of the dark side. 🤭

So if the purpose of the Framework was to provide happier lives, I feel we can say with a certain level of confidence that it failed spectacularly.

Of course, even before Aida’s wish to become a real girl made things exponentially worse, happier lives weren’t the primary goal, despite Radcliffe’s lofty ambitions.

When May was the only prisoner, the simulation was being constantly tweaked to keep her from fighting back. And this is exactly where everyone is: compliant and harmless to the program, even the Patriot because the Resistance is still working within the confines of the simulation and has no chance to hurt the overall structure of the Framework or impede Aida’s plans without the knowledge forthcoming from the real world.

Skimmons Co-Op gamers AU:

Ah, that special feeling when you boot up a game for the first time and begin learning about your character and their world, either thrust into a brand new life to roleplay or a blank slate with nothing, a nameless prisoner or, say, recently returned to life by magic or tech... 

Daisy and Jemma, for some reason, are entirely unenthused about the experience, yet the Framework is an amazing game and I say we should acknowledge Aida’s (and Radcliffe’s, and Fitz’s, and of course the Darkhold’s) prowess as a developer. The world building is top notch, the NPCs feel alive, choices most definitely have consequences (/nudge Bioware) and the gameplay is diverse with already plenty of action in the first hour. Granted, the tutorial is a little lacking, as they’re basically left on their own to figure out how to play, but that’s clearly a feature. Plus, they are pirating the game. Buy the damn thing before review bombing it on Metacritic, right? 😁

Even without fully appreciating the masterpiece they’re playing, Skimmons sus out fairly quickly why things are so out of whack, once they get over the initial shocks and the important business of deciding who had it worse: Jemma, who woke up buried in a mass grave, or Daisy, almost literally in bed with the NPC of her murderous, double-crossing former crush whose face is the same of her most haunting nightmare.

They both agree on option two, but as a starting point for a CRPG, dead in a mass grave is a bit of a classic. One more for the music box, eh?

Stuff:

Aida’s Framework is clearly a RPG, while Deke’s S6 Framework is more like an old school shooter, all corridors, cheesy banter and highly sexualized female eye-candy (🤬). From Golden Age Bioware all the way back to Duke Nukem 3D. As for S5′s Framework, we didn’t see much but I’m going with The Sims, Adult rated.

Daisy’s and Jemma’s regrets do not feature in the Framework at all and this is not an opinion. They hacked into the simulation, Aida never scanned their brains and didn’t update the program to fit them in. 

I’m fascinated by FW!Skye’s apartment. Would these be Daisy’s choices in interior decor, too, I wonder? It doesn’t feel like her, but I don’t know what would, so I’m just pausing a lot and checking everything lol. The highlight is what looks like an antique Chinese wardrobe, which suggests that FW!Skye, while unaware of her true origins, might have known about her ethnic background. And of course there’s the hula girl on the dresser.

You're on another planet this morning. Not yet!😁

Skye... there are things about me that you wouldn't like if you knew. Real Ward told her the same thing in 1x19, and a few minutes later she discovered Eric’s body. Fun!

Kill me already. There, there. *pats Daisy* Don’t worry, it gets worse.😁

FW!Ward may be fighting the fascists rather than helping them but he’s a pretty bad boyfriend when you think about it from FW!Skye’s side of things: he’s been lying to her for years and he’s working for the organization that’s been trying to kill/neutralize all her friends and co-workers. And the “it’s just not the right time” speech? Dude. You’re supposed to be good at this, what tired bunch of lame excuses was that?🤣

FW!Lincoln died during Fitzler’s experiments and his power will be one of the many in organic!Aida’s arsenal.

I don’t care what you’ve hacked. [...] Do I have to get you drug-tested? I feel like Gestapo May and FW!Skye were stuck in early S1 mode. If both of them had been working for a slightly more fascist organization, that is. I’m also intrigued by the implication that FW!Skye might have had a habit of lighting a joint or popping a happiness pill every now and then. She was working for Hydra in a green-tinted dystopia with a sad all-in-one office pc and no smartphones. I’d want to loosen up too. 😉

Simmons having to crawl out of her own grave is certainly an experience. Between that and her middle name being Anne, my Buffysense was tingling.

I think it’s because Elizabeth had a cold, but her raspy voice really fits someone who just dug herself out of the ground.

You make art? Fascinating. So incredibly lifelike. [...] You have dreams. This is all so real. So many computational layers. For the time being, Simmons is maintaining a healthy detachment, very aware of existing in a simulated world.

They can test for Inhuman DNA, pre-Terrigenesis? Interesting. So in the real world you can’t do that?🤔

Hydra-issued citizen's card. But I know for a fact that your name isn't Jason Rajan, so I wonder, who made it? Ha! You cheater! Your character is not supposed to know that! 😂

Not one smartphone. Yes, I noticed. Even the Hydra agents are using BlackBerries or whatever. As living in a fascist dystopia wasn’t bad enough, they’re all stuck with monochrome 320 x 240 screens.

Our friend here went hiking. -- Oh, yeah? In a dumpster or...? A fascist with a sense of humour!

Coulson’s “history” lesson is even more chilling because the guy we know would be horrified listening to himself spouting that stuff.

I'm sorry if she killed an Inhuman child, but if it saved everyone else... I think this puts to rest any notion that Daisy ever blamed May for the Katya situation. Back in S2 she brought up Bahrain - perhaps a tad indelicately 🤭 -  to make the point that Inhumans had reasons to be wary of S.H.I.E.L.D. and humans in general. Which they did and still do.

Hail Fitzler. Another one with a penchant for dramatic entrances, I see. You really want to stop smiling, Daisy. A grimace is far more appropriate. Punching him repeatedly would also be a-ok, believe me.

I know I sound like a lunatic, but you have had your mind wiped and implanted with false memories. Honestly, with all the fictional stories we have that revolve around exactly that, if someone said this to me, I wouldn’t think they’re crazy and my reaction might actually be excitement.

Coulson has a hula girl and Simmons thinks it’s because of T.A.H.I.T.I., but it’s likely because of Daisy instead. And the fact he’ll remember her name is a strong indication of that. Cal also had a hula girl. It’s a Daisy’s dads thing to do.

Your memory's been rewritten before! You are Phil Coulson, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and your subconscious knows that! This is why Coulson will (partially) remember and the others will not.

You're not even real, you rogue piece of code! Yeah, but he’s a smart rogue piece of code. Petition for Burnell to be in the player’s squad for the Framework RPG.

And for the record, Hydra? They’re all nazis. [...] every last one of them. And don’t you let anyone forget it. No worries, I won’t. ✊

Fitzler’s experimentation space is enclosed in a plastic tent, reminiscent of the makeshift operation room in 5x14 (or, rather, the other way around,).

This is crimes-against-humanity wrong. -- These are Inhumans. Fitzler’s mindset here, besides being abhorrent, helps explain why simply asking for Daisy’s cooperation in 5x14 won’t factor in the plan, despite being the avenue any sensible person not currently experiencing a psychic split with a nazi alter ego would have gone for first. Inhumans are pieces of meat to him, tools, not people. What they want or feel doesn’t matter.

Skye, you never leave early. You've been pissed at me all morning. Your attitude at work here sucks. It's like I woke up to a totally different person. Pissed at Ward, pissed at Hydra... sounds about Daisy.😁

Among Coulson’s news clippings there’s Doctor Winslow (Cal’s new identity after T.A.H.I.T.I.) arrested for subversion - he was experimenting to make Inhumans - Felix Blake being celebrated as a hero and Bakshi winning a Lifetime Achievement Award. He also has an ad for a String Quartet’s concert (with a note about a cellist), a calendar with a picture of a car that looks like Lola (and it’s the month of May), sketches of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s eagle and of course pages of “It’s a magical place” writings.

I saw that you were dead. Wait. Are you still dead? -- No, I'm feeling much better. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣   

Coulson gave me up, didn't he? He's completely different, Daisy. You wouldn't believe it. After the day she's had? I think she just might.

Everything's worse here. I woke up buried alive, was ditched on the side of the road, nearly arrested, and found Coulson brainwashing the young. -- It sounds bad, but wait till you hear how I woke up. -- [...] And [Ward] is who you woke up with? […] This isn't the Framework. This is Hell. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

You know, my father always said you have to have trust to be betrayed. Ah yes, your new, and definitely not improved, role model. 😬 Maybe this is the one good thing that came out of the Framework, in a really twisted way, because after everything Fitz may have felt less bad that in the real world his douchy dad didn’t stick around.

And what did they do to Fitz to make him such an ugly person here? -- Well, that one's easy. They stole [Jemma] from his life. Daisy and her OTP. But, no, it’s not the lack of Jemma that turned him into a nazi. And thank Asgard for that, because it would have been very disturbing.

In the comics Madame Hydra is Viper, aka Ophelia Sarkissian, a Hydra-raised supervillain. The name and the green aesthetics are the only things she has in common with AoS Madame Hydra. Although we don't know what kind of backstory Aida gave herself in her special brand of self-insert fanfic, so 🤷

I won't stand by as they try to destroy everything that we have built. I have to protect that. I have to protect you. Fitzler or Fitz, at the core there’s always the fear of losing his beloved.

You're the person that I go to when things get heavy. And this world is scary, and nothing makes sense, and... you're the closest thing I have to family. The last time Daisy had voiced this sentiment aloud was in S2,  speaking of Coulson to her mother.

Daisy? *sniff* Yes. Yes, you paranoid, propaganda-spouting, soap-making conspiracy nut. Come here, let me give you a hug. You’ll be alright.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #aos 4x16 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #jemma simmons #leo fitz #aida #grant ward #alphonso mackenzie #holden radcliffe #the framework #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching Identity and Change

It’s day 2 of Skimmons’ Co-Op session and things have taken a turn.

Our questing duo has acquired a new companion, bringing their party to a total of four: their increasingly flustered selves, Professor Coulson - who majored in conspiracy theories and minored in home economics - and of course FW!Ward. Daisy is tentatively trusting him after he saved their skin twice. Jemma steadfastly refuses to.

As most things Simmons after S2/S3a, I suspect this has to do with Fitz. If the virtual world is so “upside down” that Ward could be a trustworthy ally, it may also be so “upside down” that Fitz is lost in his new persona. I don’t think Jemma was prepared to consider the possibility, let alone accept it.

Hail Fitzler:

If the Mengele-like approach to science and the Richard Spencer’s haircut hadn’t been enough of a shock already, Fitzler murders Agnes, tortures Daisy and Radcliffe and professes his love to Ophelia with all the dramatic flair we have come to expect from his non nazi edition (“I’d cross the universe for you”).

I’m not saying we should celebrate the real Alistair Fitz’s lack of parental instinct but, clearly, there are worse things than being abandoned by your dad at 10, if these are the results of him sticking around.

Unlike Professor Coulson and Gestapo May, Fitzler won’t wake-up to the evil realities of the virtual world and do something about it. That’s probably a part of why, once disconnected, Fitz will be so affected by his second life that he will eventually embrace his Framework persona.

There are at least two good reasons for Fitzler’s inability to break his social programming (given the context and Radcliffe's beliefs, it seems like a better way to put it than “stop being a nazi a-hole”, but either works for me 😁):

1) His life changed from an earlier point in time than everyone else’s and having his father in his life likely means that he lost his mother. If not her presence, certainly the impact of her influence: in the one single moment of doubt Fitzler will exhibit, FW!Alistair will rebuff him with “that’s your mother talking”. Whatever contributions FW!Mrs. Fitz was able to make in raising him, they were not valued nor heeded.

2) Aida needs him and has adjusted things accordingly. She inserted herself in his life, taking over Jemma’s role as kindred spirit and life partner and likely encouraged his despicable ethics: they serve her purpose and she’s an android who has learned hers from Radcliffe.

Stuff:

Amy, we've been over this. Until first bell, this is my time. I guess Daisy has been telling Coulson “the gist of it” all night since it was dark when she popped up in his car and he was leaving the school, and now they’re in class and school’s about to start. Also, Amy is Clark Gregg’s daughter as I imagine anyone who may be reading this already knows.

Hydra used Cambridge to take control, in the name of law and order... to justify everything. How depressingly familiar.

I would’ve figured it out a long time ago if it wasn’t for the mind-control soap [...] That blue soap everyone uses? Hydra loads it up with chemicals. It seeps into our bloodstream. Implants false memories into our brains. They want us to believe this is a magical place. But don’t worry, I’m clear. I make my own soap now. Did they really make a soap joke while depicting a fascist dystopia run by neo-nazis? Huh.

Mack’s fashion sense as a dad has reversed to his pre field agent days: plaid shirts over henleys and jeans.

They busted my neighbor for a laptop last night. Meanwhile, the place is getting more dystopian by the minute...

Apparently, in the real world, I have a robot hand. Pretty cool, right? [...] Bona fides? I always wanted to do that. Absent saving-the-world duties, Coulson’s full dorkiness is loose. 😂

I hate to say this, but I think we can trust [Ward]. -- Until we can’t. Betraying those closest to him is his signature move. And I hate to say this, but Real!Ward betrayed you but he never betrayed Garrett. Following to the bitter end a guy who murders and enslaves people isn’t exactly the best credential, but it is a precedent of his capacity for enduring, if entirely misplaced, loyalty.

If you were able to get through to Coulson, then surely I could get Fitz to remember me. [...] This reality may be upside down, but Fitz is still Fitz. Tsk, tsk. Obviously Jemma never watched the Mirror Universe episodes in Star Trek. Disappointing.

Daisy, it's too dangerous. -- I'll be fine. The last time you said you were fine, you had a broken arm, a broken soul, and had almost gotten yourself killed, so forgive me if I don’t find that reassuring. 

Who is she? -- No one. She doesn't matter. She's plotting against me. Well, that went from 0 to 100 fast. Too bad Fitzler is too whipped to question it.

You'd really do anything for me, wouldn't you? -- I'd cross the universe for you. I’d advise against that. The universe-crossing shortcuts opener is currently powerless, would rather chuck your girlfriend into a black hole, and also ships you with someone else.😁

Madame Hydra’s restricted files? You have lost your mind. -- The soap made me do it. Despite placing a lot of trust in this version of Ward, Daisy’s discomfort and irritation around him are palpable. So of course she resorts to sarcasm and sass, her default mode when things are not fine.

I’ll be fine. Go. Concern increasing...

For the season, it's been unusually rainy.  -- Rain or shine, the man with the umbrella is always ready. Seriously? Could your secret code be any more obviously a secret code? 😂

And hello SuperMace. I can tell by your scruffy stubble that you carry a Heavy Burden(tm).

I can't believe it's really you. The Patriot! The Inhuman leader of the Resistance. He's kind of a big deal! So, here's how it goes, then: May's the Warrior, Mack's the Protector, Fitz’s the Romantic, and Coulson is the Fanboy. 😁

Got to say, the whole Rebel Alliance aesthetic's really working for me. And of course Mace doesn’t fully appreciate the compliment, as one would expect from a man with his disturbing opinion of Han Solo (4x06).

And believe me, we will defeat these terrorists, and we will make our society great again. I would make another drinking game out of all the shade the Framework arc throws at right wing American politics and personalities, but current events don’t make it all that amusing any more.😞

Tell you what, how about if we make some popcorn and watch a video? -- “Chopping Mall"? -- Again with that silly robot movie? Okay, who are you and what have you done with Mack? Oh. Right. “Chopping Mall” was referenced in 4x09 and also parodied in 7x07, apparently to the dismay of its director who didn’t appreciate the homage and called it plagiarism.🤦‍♀️

I'm sorry. With all that's going on, I can't send a team today. -- Then send us. Already sounding like the Coulson we know, isn’t he?

You are not crazy. -- I live alone and make my own soap. -- It's quaint. Hipster, even. -- That's not how my ex-wife saw it. The ex-wife is Audrey, right? He had the string quartet clipping the previous ep...

I was their slave. Treated as less than human. You know...you are not wrong. Unfortunately, all the kidnapping, murdering, torturing and future plans for genocide and world domination have greatly diminished my sympathies.

Daisy just can’t help it with her big heart. She comforts Hope, reassures Mack his virtual daughter is okay and feels all the feels, realizing too late she’s being played.

Oh, Jemma, if only you knew the trials and tribulations I've endured. I daresay she doesn’t much care to know at the moment. Once again, my dear doctor, you are terrible at reading a room.

Catch up later. We need to move. Indeed. I hate it when characters who are supposedly in a hurry stand around to talk. Grab Radcliffe and drag him to the Quinjet, you can berate him on the flight back!

Going down? This was a low blow, AoS. Daisy wins a 1 vs 4 elevator fight without her powers and you barely showed her throwing a couple of punches. Why do you hate me?

Aida sort of killed me, as well. She found a loophole. I mean, it was really rather clever. If I weren’t dead already, I’d be impressed. Again, I don’t think your guests want to hear about her cleverness.

You put yourself into the Framework. You’ve been manipulating it ever since. The whole thing is an unmitigated disaster, and all you do is lie! -- Sometimes it’s okay to lie to save a life. You taught me that. As much as it serves to mitigate the guilt he must be feeling about the whole deal, the accusation that Aida manipulated things in the Framework to suit her aims makes complete sense. And we see her feeding a distorted and self-serving version of the truth to Fitzler in this episode after all. Her rebuke, though, is perfect. Radcliffe really can’t shift all the blame on her.

Skye! What happened? *narrator’s voice* She was, in fact, not fine. 😠😩

He’s gonna kill her. -- Fitz would never do that. -- Are you sure? Completely sure. That’s why it’s devastating.

Today, for the first time, I couldn't look my little girl in the eye. I need to make that right. I’m here to help. The world may be “upside down”, but Mack is still upright.🤗

You don’t want to do this. -- Yeah, I do. I guess you don’t know me at all. You know, when you say it like that, looking straight into the camera, one might take it as you’re speaking to the audience....

#agents of shield #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aos 4x17 #phil coulson #daisy johnson #melinda may #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #alphonso mackenzie #jeffrey mace #grant ward #aida #holden radcliffe #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching Wake Up

This is the episode when my feelings toward Radcliffe started to change from “oh, well, he’s being corrupted by the Darkhold” to “I don’t care what books your read, MF, how dare you!”.

Because the stuff he puts May through is despicable and he does it with the self-satisfied smile of someone who thinks he’s doing her a great favor. And that’s not coming from the Darkhold, that’s him.

First she’s trapped in Groundhog Day, Spa Edition, then she has to fight the same fight over and over and over, and no matter how much (and if really) May “thrives” on conflict, fighting for your life like that is surely still painful and traumatic. And finally he “fixes” her biggest regret and, even more so if it hadn’t gone horribly wrong, that would have been something terribly cruel to wake up to.

Then add all the crap the rest of the team will have to endure plus the long term consequences of that and, well...Radcliffe’s one of my favorite AoS villain and I enjoy every minute he’s on screen but he’s also awful and I hurl a lot of abuse at him. It’s complicated.🤭

I really wanted this episode to be AoS’s Game of Death. That’s the Bruce Lee movie in which he fights his way up a tower, encountering at each floor a new, more challenging and with a different fight style than the last, opponent. It’s basically like a video game, each level a harder boss fight.

Forget Nadeer’s vitriol, Coulson’s reckless decision-making - but the plan would have worked without Radcliffe’s interference - and even the Mace and Daisy scene, a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of her childhood and how it affects her still.

Just May, floor after floor - let’s say four, one for each act - kicking a different, increasingly more powerful ass, until the Framework reveal. I mean, it was such the perfect setup for it. *whines*

Stuff:

Aida, I want you to access your information cache. Locate the Sunset Protocol. [...] Activate it. How much in advance had Radcliffe planned for something like this? He had a protocol ready to go maybe a day at most after glimpsing at the Darkhold.

Hope you liked your facial, Melinda -- No. *punch* 🤣🤣🤣

Question: why does it matter if the original May is dead or alive? Oh, dear... I think we can all agree that when androids start asking these type of questions, it’s time to deactivate them or run for the hills. If only Radcliffe shared Mack’s taste in movies...

We have to show the world who she really is. -- And it’s well past time. Daisy now represents S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m so thorn. On the one hand, Daisy’s awesomeness is being publicy acknowledged and my heart swells. On the other, I want the Sokovia Accords thrown into molten lava and if it had been up to me she would have stayed independent. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. is now legitimate. We have to remain above reproach. -- You mean like juicing our Director so he can pretend to be Inhuman? Well, obviously when he said “We”, he meant you, not him. 😁

This is politics, Phil, which means politicians. They are a festering cesspool of toxic-waste fires. 🤣🤣🤣

I enjoy you. -- Yeah? -- I mean, sure, you're an engineer, and you're smart, and... your insides are great. But this outside, these arms... they don't even seem real. I hear you, girl. And, if I recall, so does Fitz. Maria Hill would also be a member of the Mack’s Arms Appreciation Society, if she met him.

Look. I'm sorry. I know it's bad timing. Bad timing? No, no, I’m sure running out of the room just a few minutes after the, ah, lemons bumping (dear god) did not give her a bad impression.

Keep calling me reactive, Phil. Half the time, I'm reacting to the steaming pile of fart-pebbles you hand me. -- And the other half, you're not giving me the full story. We're like the odd couple here. I’m sympathetic to Talbot’s position in this debate and I have a feeling that if it were coming from anyone else, Coulson wouldn’t be bristling so much against it. Unfortunately, of his main advisors, one is a robot currently questioning the meaning of life, another’s busy mourning his daughter, and Daisy is the apple that doesn’t fall far from the tree and the least likely to back a call for caution, especially given who they are going against.

General, the assets belong here. And for the record, Nadeer tried to kill several people, including me. Coulson is right. We need to get ahead of her. -- Yeah, but you have to say that, don't you? Mace’s former puppet master accuses him of being a puppet. Ah, irony.

I'll just tell the truth. I'm good at that.You? Ouch. Reminder that Daisy really loathes people who misrepresent themselves. Ask Miles or Ward for references.

Coulson's been saying since day one that you're the real deal, and I've learned to trust his read on people, so... “The Real Deal”, this has been a recurring expression and theme over the course of the show and this season opened with an episode called “The New Deal”. 🤔

And listen, with me... sometimes it's...Sometimes I think it's an act. Oh, oh, oh, my EMOTIONS!!!!

Jeffrey, I'm surprised to see you. [...] Surprised to see him not dead, you mean? Diplomacy, thy name wasn’t Skye and it’s most certainly not Daisy either. 😂

Isn't it better to learn things organically instead of all at once in a report? -- No, all at once. Much better. Private person, secrets? Same thing. Must be even tougher with May. If it's better to get to know each other in tiny, slow, annoying pieces [...] then you two will never get together. Elena continues to be an absolute delight, and clearly ships Philinda.

I know you're upset about Aida. I'm in a strange position.I don't want to intrude on you while you're... processing. But I also want you to know you can talk to me. Well, last time he tried to do that, she kinda bit his head off but this is as approachable as it can get. So I’m glaring at both of them. Just a little bit.🤏

Agent Johnson, let's discuss your theft of more than $7 million [...] Has the U.S. government recovered those funds? -- The money has been distributed to... worthy causes. Indeed. Including widows, small children, housekeepers and security deposit + advance rent for British scientists. 😁

So you took the entire justice system into your own hands. Well, duh. What part of rogue vigilante did you not understand? Please watch the show, Senator Hateful.

It appears S.H.I.E.L.D. really is a criminal organization after all. And again, duh. They’ve been doing plenty of illegal stuff since Fury was in charge. Seriously, watch the show!

So, 1) how did they not prep a better answer for the bank robberies? 2) the hearing had a lot of press so if the Avengers still didn’t know Coulson was alive, they surely must after this. 3) did Daisy ever signed the Accords? The hearing was interrupted and in four episodes they’ll all be wanted fugitives again until the end credits of S5.

I love how Mace is like “everything’s fine guys, no worries, really, I mean they’re gonna drag us and charge us and stuff, but it’s all good” while Talbot is rightfully fuming.

This is the program's end. We're coding more, but we can't keep up with you. I am not surprised. I am *so* not surprised that I could have called it way back in S1 if I had known about this episode.

Fitz... did you turn on Aida's ocular receptors? -- Okay. Okay, yes. I see where you're going with this, and you're not wrong ... As opposed to being right? 😁 Nah, I’m messing with you Fitz. I mean, I think you should have told her, but as long as you don’t bring up her not telling you about her undercover mission at Hydra again, we’re good *pats Fitz*

I assure you, the real Melinda May is fine.She's safe and healthy... and under my protection. [...] Please, believe me, everyone is gonna come out of this all right. Wanker.

Hope was my daughter. And she died. Mack’s development hasn’t been a steady stream like for other characters, but when they focus on him it’s always a knockout, have you noticed?

I was reckless. Why didn't I listen to him? I wouldn’t worry, Phil. You’re not a young WoC, so we’re not gonna hold these type of things against you. 😈

There might have been safer ways to demonstrate Radcliffe was a LMD but I, for one, can’t argue against such a flair for the dramatic. It’s like Daisy breaking Sarge’s neck to confirm he couldn’t die. Agents of D.R.A.M.A.Q.U.E.E.N.S. 😁

I'm easing her pain. You absolute wanker. 🤬

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #aos 4x11 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #jeffrey mace #holden radcliffe #aida #senator nadeer #text post #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching The Man Behind the Shield

Young Philinda retrieving 084s under the cover of the night in Soviet Russia, the Superior Bigot getting a thoroughly deserved trashing with both words and actions, a fun little spy chase across two continents, the built up of the LMD paranoia that will blow up in Self Control and Davis being Davis.

What’s not to love?

Well, maybe poor Mace having a terrible day. That’s not awesome.

The Superior Bigot is also a Superior Dick, pardon my French (/nudge Sousa), because all the cuttings and the beatings were absolutely unneccessary for Aida to learn of Mace’s regret. Not to mention that, given the situation he finds himself in, regretting the lack of superpowers could be entirely contextual. I mean, if he was sipping a mojito, soaking up the sun on a nice Mediterranean beach instead of being tortured in a cold concrete room, he might have had a different answer, you know?

The Way They Were:

Baby Coulson & Baby May own this episode. It’s nice to see Coulson without the weight of the world on his shoulders and the effects of the last two years living in the grey area. He’s a dork with no game speaking terrible Russian who strives for subtlety but can’t quite pull it off just yet, but also brave, competent and self-confident, if easily flustered by brazen specialists he finds attractive.

And then there’s pre-Bahrain May: cocky, thriving on danger, having a blast teasing her nerdy partner, even pranking him by making him sweat a little before she rescues him. On a mission she has asked to be assigned to because of course. It’s Coulson and she’s gonna keep him safe.

Stuff:

I think [the sparring match] might play out a little differently in real life. This sounds very meta, as Clark has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Unless your intention is to shred the most advanced human mind of this or any century, I suggest you think twice before forcefully removing him from the Framework. Programmed for over the top flattery, I see.🙄

[Looking over the Superior’s conspiracy board] This is why I don’t have Facebook. AoS, always ahead of the times.

Daisy is cute in her lesser beanie. I liked the one she was wearing early in the season better and nothing can beat the Superior Beanie, aka the purple one she was wearing in 1x18.

Melinda May had a bangs phase, which makes it 3 for 3 for the OG team’s women.

I don’t need you throwing off my game -- You have game? -- I have what some people refer to in certain parts of the world as game. -- It’s cute that you think that. Oh, that burns.😂

I’m placing you under arrest in the name of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ah, well, then I guess we’re done here. They’re all gonna handcuff each other, any minute now!

I know you’re not a bad person, Fitz, but this gear has been used for some really bad things. You’ve got to think about the implications of what you create. Mack’s caught a lot of flack for his criticism here but I daresay that it’s more about the recipient of his words than his actual words.

You can’t bluff, Phil. You’ve got nine different tells...eyes darting all over the place. [...] You should try sunglasses. Phil Coulson’s sunglasses origin story!

Don’t worry. I’m good with my hands. -- Not how I remember it. The bra story that sparked a thousand fics. 😄

I was programmed to observe human behaviour. Yours is...different. The d-word you’re looking for is despicable.

Four guys at once. Should be fun. The exhuberance of youth 😉 (2x04).

What are you gonna say to [the Russian soldiers], anyway? -- There’s a biohazard contamination. Bio always works. But here, it doesn’t! “Bio always works” was on my wishlist of “like father, like daughter” callbacks. Alas.

[The dead soldiers] were my comrades. They were my brothers. I had to dig up their bodies just to pay my respects. Wait, isn’t that backwards?

Conspiracy theories... from the man who literally mounted a conspiracy to have men in masks kill Inhumans. Yep, he’s a hypocrite. One of his lesser offenses, truth be told.

You claim to fight for others, for humanity. I think you lost yours a long time ago. And to answer your question, I do have one regret. That I don’t have superpowers of my own that I could use to kick your ass. Mace’s ability to keep it together in torturous captivity is quite impressive, especially considering he’s not a trained spy.

A bazooka to take down a wall when you’ve got Quake right there? 🤨 I guess Mack needs his fun, too.

I’ve waited a long time for a face to face. And you’re going to regret it. For a shorter time.

All of these things you've done, all of the energy spent, the hatred. And you know what the funny thing about it is? I have no idea who the hell you are. I've been on hundreds of missions in my time.This one you're so upset about, I was sent to retrieve an object. If I'm being honest, I don't even remember what it was. As far as I'm concerned, you're just another red shirt like so many others who tried unsuccessfully to stop me from saving the world. 'Cause that's what I do. So... cool origin story, bro, but this means nothing to me. This remains one of the most satisfying verbal takedowns in the show and it couldn’t have happened to a more contemptible guy.

I’ve been waiting a long time for a face to face. Ok, ground rules: let’s not have Daisy repeat the bad guy’s words. Please?

This isn't about admiration or forgiveness. -- The butcher does not seek forgiveness from the animals he slaughters. -- Have you ever read “Animal Farm”? Literary humor, too? 😍

What, you’re gonna go take on a killer android? -- I’ll take Davis. -- Concern only slightly lessened. -- Thanks. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

We've been running all over this place. It's a bloody labyrinth. -- Pray we don't run into the Goblin King. Is everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. a nerd? Because I’d like that.

Comms have been wonky, going in and out [...] we’ve been trying to reach you [...] -- Finally. I’ve been looking for you guys everywhere [...] -- The timetable of this mission is bothering me. Uh-oh. My foreshadowing sense is tingling.

There’s occasionally some confusion about the LMD detection report. The number of LMDs detected refers to the total of LMDs that went through the door (“compile all report totals”), not the people in the picture. It’s four because it’s counting the FitzBot who went through earlier.

[checking the partially buried Ivanov] Scans indicate low levels of life function. Good. Pity, actually. Sometimes I’m a little appalled by Daisy’s lack of killer instinct.😁

This guy is really not my type. -- Already start asking questions? -- Oh, yeah. He's a shrink. Well, thank you AoS. Now I’m heartbroken about Andrew all over again.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #aos 4x14 #agents of shield #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #jeffrey mace #alphonso mackenzie #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #agent davis #anton ivanov #aida #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #text post

[ryder616]

Rewatching Lockup

Enter the Darkhold. The one single reason why most of S4 wasn’t just fighting the Watchdogs before everyone finally went on vacation while a team of non-murdery, well mannered androids kept up with the day to day of stopping bad guys from doing bad things until the next apocalyptic crisis.

I mean, remove the Darkhold and:

Robbie Reyes isn’t Ghost Rider because the hit on Eli’s car is never placed as the Bauers aren’t obsessed and kinda evil. Which is a negative for us but definitely a positive for him.

Eli Morrow never gets delusions of godhood nor does he assault anyone, so Robbie and Gabe have their uncle and all is well.

Holden Radcliffe is never tempted to steal which doesn’t exist and his obsession never triggers all the events that culminate in AIDA trying to take over the world.

AIDA never evolves past Radcliffe’s and Fitz’s standard level of brilliance. She’s “just” an exceptionally advanced android but can’t exceed her programming to such dangerous lengths (uncomfortable questions about the use of possibly sentient AI would have had to arise though).

The Framework is just a very advanced training simulation. And maybe, later, a videogame, hopefully without demeaning, sexist NPCs.

The Superior is still a jerk and can be dealt with accordingly, dropping a ceiling on his head. Excellent outcome all around.

Jeffrey Mace is still alive and his unrelenting cheerleading makes S.H.I.E.L.D. the most popular government agency in the land.

Daisy might not have rejoined S.H.I.E.L.D. without all that business of saving downtown Los Angeles, which is an increasingly appealing scenario.😏It seems plausible, however, that she would have eventually found her way back just the same. With no Darkhold, no Eli and no Ghost Rider, the Watchdogs would have been a priority for S.H.I.E.L.D., too, after the blackouts. Paths would have kept crossing regardless.

May isn’t infected with the sickness of the ghostly zombies, doesn’t die and never stars in Groundhog Day at the Spa.

Jemma doesn’t live the trauma of killing the Fitzbot nor does she crawls out of her simulated grave like she’s British Buffy.

Mack doesn’t relive the trauma of losing his daughter.

Coulson doesn’t have to make any deals with opportunistic Spirits of Vengeance and is still very much alive.

Fitz never develops a nazi alter ego. Everyone’s happier, including the fandom.

Talbot is never shot by the Daisybot so all the bad stuff that happened to him after that probably doesn’t, and he’s still alive.

Having finally had the opportunity to take a goddamn break, our well rested and slightly less traumatized heroes maybe get wind of the missing gravitonium early and nip that other insanity in the bud.

With both the LMD and the Framework crisis not happening, maybe we get to find out if Vijay Nadeer ever made it out of the water. 😱😁

Stuff:

What if we spent all these years doing the science instead of looking for shortcuts? If we did the actual work...things would have turned out a lot better for all parties involved, I can tell you that.

I need to get off this plane now. -- That should put you in... rural Utah. And you think you're pissed off now... 🤣

Daisy is keeping to herself in the Quinjet...😢 If people could just stop chastise her for a minute and just give her a hug...

I keep my distance because it's what's best... for everyone. -- I'm starting to see why. Et tu, Robbie?

Props to Davis and Prince who apparently have no issues whatsoever taking orders from the wanted vigilante their agency has been chasing for half a year.

Right now, we're the only ones going in, and we'll be outnumbered. -- Works for me. Of course it does. 🙄

Oh. Well, see, I was under the impression it was the coaches who called the plays. And that's why American footballers need those little radio things in their ears to tell them what to do for the few minutes that they're on the field. Shading American Football, a common European pastime. 😁

We're here to, uh... rescue you? I mean, it’s May vs some prison guards. What did you expect?

Things that cannot be unseen: Clark, Ming and Chloe breaking out in an impromptu dance party with all the extras in the cellblock. Another case of “damn you, bloopers!” (but also thank you 😉)

If I release the door, all the doors in cellblock A open. Why would it work this way? Maybe they should have left Daisy on the Z1, less suiciding and better hacking...😂

It's our policy not to comment on ongoing operations, but I can assure you that S.H.I.E.L.D. has the situation completely under control. Yup, totally. They’re just at the “plan turns to rubbish” stage of things.😁

This is my fight, not yours. When begging a Spirit of Vengeance to take you out doesn’t work, try a racist mob.

I had forgotten how good the cafeteria fight is. Another one for the top shelf.

Appropriately, the thing that finally convinces Eli to go with Mack and Robbie is the mention of the “book”. I imagine that immediately rang all the alarms for people familiar with Eli Morrow from the comics.

There's no dog whistle needed, George. Just the word "Inhuman" is frightening enough, and yet they choose to define themselves that way. Headcanon: it was ancient humans, back when the Kree were on Earth and Hive was young, who called them Inhumans disparagingly and they adopted the monicker in a show of defiance.

BTW I miss the days when I thought Nadeer’s unending stream of poisonous hate was a bit on the nose.

You know, you never did tell me what you saw when you died. -- Really? Now? Is it because it smells like death in here? -- You saw something. -- You want to know what I saw, Phil? I saw you. Don't let it go to your head. And the Philinda Alert State goes all the way back to Defcon 5, assuming it hadn’t already reset after both Rosalind and Andrew were fridged.😉

It's like I always say: a team that trusts is a team that triumphs. *drinks*

He's right, you know. A team that trusts is a team that triumphs. *drinks*

Ah poor Santino...the guy was just chilling with his book while chaos erupted all around him.

I know what you're doing. Trying to distance yourself from everyone else so they don't drown in your wake? I invented that move. It’s not Daisy who needs this explained to her, me thinks...

What'd you say to [Daisy]? -- Nothing she didn't already know. Yep.

This is S.H.I.E.L.D. working with a former Agent, now known as Quake, a walking weapon of mass destruction. Why, thank you, that’s so nice of you to notice!

We're not sure what the hell [Ghost Rider] is, but we do know he's a cold-blooded killer. Says the woman who’s going to kill her own brother...

Poor Mace. He was having a great day and then, first Jemma straight up blackmails him to be extempt from the testing (which was awesome but not if you’re him) and now Nadeer does the same to get him to help her with her brother’s husk. No trust and no team spirit anywhere that he can see.

#aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield #aos 4x05 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #jemma simmons #robbie reyes #jeffrey mace #alphonso mackenzie #leopold fitz #senator nadeer #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #text post

[ryder616]

Rewatching Uprising

Remember when Coulson told Talbot the very hard-earned lesson from his “indexing is cool” days that “nothing good ever comes from putting people on lists”? Well. The Watchdogs got their deplorable paws on the Inhuman Registration List - Hellfire and I are going to have words about that next ep 😁 - and now seventeen are dead, plus all the collateral damage, potential deaths and other unpleasantness during the blackouts.

It’s really not a good look for S.H.I.E.L.D. that the Watchdogs have been ammassing resources and manpower for months with them none the wiser. Other than a certain former agent currently emoing all over L.A., nobody was apparently paying any attention.

However, confronted with his first real crisis, Director Mace acquits himself well, holding the fort against political pressure long enough for the field team to get to the bottom of the mess. Then he looks heroic and reassuring on TV. It’s his job and he’s doing it.

Riding High:

So you think that if you right whatever wrong your uncle was trying to fix that you can get rid of... it. -- Or else I have to ride with it forever.

The conversation Robbie and Daisy have in the car about the Rider must have been a HUGE deal for Robbie. He has kept this terrible burden to himself for years and here he's talking about it for the very first time, and with someone who is uniquely equipped to understand what it might feel like being him, having scary abilities, a consuming drive that is not yours and the weight of the lives taken. In the span of a few minutes he’s opening up about his desire to end his supernatural partnership. For a taciturn guy, it’s a lot.

Maybe this is partly why he makes it his priority to take care of her arm and leaves Gabe alone with her without hesitation. Both the Rider’s stare and his own observations surely tell him that she’s not a threat but he still trusts her with the most important person in his life. And she’s, ah, a little militant, wanted by the law, and with a death wish, so not exactly the safest person to be around if we’re honest.

He has shared this huge, overwhelming part of himself with her already, so they aren’t really strangers anymore, despite how short their acquaintance is.

She’s Got the Powers:

Superspeed’s potential for mischief is very high and it’s especially fun when YoYo unleashes it on enemies like the Watchdogs, who are just a bunch of hateful bigots. I’m sure she would have been able to tight them all in knots even without the guys’ help, but the rest of the crowd was an unpredictable danger, scared and prejudiced as they seemed to be.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

I’m grateful the show never tried to give the Watchdogs anything to sympathize with: the foot soldiers are interchangeable cannon fodder, the named ones like the guy-that-goes-boom (his name actually escapes me atm lol) aren’t given any sad backstory, with their predicament just screaming “karma is a bitch”, and allies like Nadeer are also 100 % awful.

Blake was the only one who elicited sympathy but he squandered it when he decided motivating a bunch of thugs through their worst instincts was a swell idea.

As for the Superior’s origin story, Coulson will give it the perfect amount of care: none. That dude should have just gotten a life.

Stuff:

This is really bad. No more blended drinks. #priorities

Lincoln Campbell. He was one of the good guys. -- I know, and we owe him a great debt. *pats Mace*

A team divided is a team defeated. *drinks*

I like to vet my vengeance demons before I hop in a car with them. Hey! Daisy watched Buffy?

So it should be quick and easy. You guys never learn, do you? 😂

We’re lucky this car’s pre 1980, no electronics. It’s also a scientifically impossible self-healing car so I’m thinking a little EMP wouldn’t trouble it regardless.

Calm down before you go all Carrot Top again. 🤣 

It's a shame to see something this nice in the hands of someone who can't take care of her. Sit down, “homie”. Both the car and the girl are way out of your league.

Robbie is wearing a thick hoodie under his leather jacket. It’s one of his regular comics looks but it’s funny because people were dressing lighter running around Siberia.

[Elena] is at a bachelorette party. She's probably having a good time, dancing and drinking with all those sexy Latino guys. -- No, I’m not taking that bait. Don’t worry, Mack. The only sexy Latino guy in this episode is nowhere near YoYo.

Elena, you really need better friends. Actually, you do have better friends. So ditch these ones without regrets. Yikes.

Coulson’s fanboying over the Ghost Rider. A mood.

I think I know how to solve our problem. We’re gonna have to kill [May]. I hope you weren’t really trying to scare me, AoS, because I’m not a noob, alright? I know nobody important is going to die in episode *3*. Pfffff...

We're making compasses. Oh, come on. It's rudimentary science.Yeah, no big deal. Just rudimentary science. Maybe saving the day. Shades of “and by luck, I mean unappreciated genius” from the Pilot, but cockier. I like it.

If we shut it down and reboot it, then the parts of her brain that have been hyperactivated should reset back to default. -- This is crazy. Nah. Just crazy science, saving the day. 😉

Ready when you are, slide rule. 🤣

X marks the spot. Professor Slide Rule has watched Indiana Jones.

Someone should hug May in every episode because 1) she deserves it 2) her reactions are always a treat.

If [Daisy]’s your real name. -- I’ve had a few. -- One of them Quake? Brace yourself, Daisy. You’re famous.

Robbie needs good people around him and that’s not you. Totally on board with Gabe’s assertive protectiveness of his brother *hugs Gabe* and having someone with bank robberies and destroyed bridges to her name around your loved ones would give anyone pause but damn, if it isn’t open season on making Daisy feel like crap.

She's the one who makes contact. And Daisy doesn't want to be found, so you should respect that. Thank you, YoYo. Your level-headedness in the matter is once again much appreciated.

I liked working in the shadows. Well, then I have good news for you, Fitz. This newfound public acceptance won’t last past episode 15. You are not going to like why. 😬

That should be you up there. -- No. I'm right where I belong. Daisy went for the nuclear option but it looks like Coulson is dealing with the Hive debacle in an analogous way. He felt responsible for Hive being on Earth in the first place, probably feels like he failed hard and that everyone will be better off if someone else is making the hard decisions.

We’re all on the same team, because a team that trusts is a team that *drinks*

#aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #agents of shield #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aos 4x03 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #robbie reyes #jeffrey mace #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #text post #lost

[ryder616]

Rewatching Meet the New Boss

After one episode of being badmouthed in absentia, Jeffrey Mace makes his official debut and it’s obvious why the gang is not enchanted.

Fondness for corny platitudes aside - I’m totally making a drinking game out of it - until he flexes his (fake) Inhuman muscles he comes across as the poster boy for appearance over substance: the self-deprecating humor feels forced, the compliments condescending, his priorities with playing politics and P.R. inevitably ring minor compared to what the agents have faced before he came along and his friendly boss routine is probably triggering all kinds of trust issues, considering how they’ve been dealing with one form of betrayal or another pretty much constantly for the past three years.

In hindsight, he behaves like someone who’s feeling out of his depths “putting on an act full time”, as he will later say, might.

Worst of all, though, he’s not Coulson. He’s stepping into the shoes of a best friend and a beloved mentor and it was never going to be easy, even if his qualifications for the directorship hadn’t been built on a lie.

Meanwhile in L.A. things are heating up and it’s not the fault of the guy whose head lights on fire.

I honestly have no clue how one should deal with grieving people with severe PTSD and suicidal tendencies but I strongly suspect that yelling at them about your pain isn’t in the manual.😒

To his credit, Mack tries a softer approach and only abandons it when the anger he feels for Daisy’s behaviour is compounded by the anger for Elena’s underhanded support (#teamyoyo 😉)

Fitz...well, Fitz can’t get past his own feelings, can he? And sees a betrayal (🙄) where there is only fear and the - certainly misguided - attempt to protect them, from her current self-destructive spiral but most of all the convinction that she is the problem (“Everyone who gets close to me ends up dying” 5x20).

It’s natural to be upset that Daisy didn’t stay and let them help her - then again, she has a right to grieve as she sees fit, not as other people want her to - and her current life choices are no doubt worrisome but the result is more guilt being piled on someone who is already blaming herself for every single thing that went wrong and is very obviously, very visibly, breaking under that weight. Metaphorically and also quite literally.

That she can’t articulate her reasons - that “I’m doing what I need to” is so loaded though, kudos to Chloe - isn’t an excuse because she shouldn’t have to.

On a practical level, Mack’s plead to “come home” is unrealistic and dangerous. In the current situation she can’t just go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. as if nothing happened, especially not with Mace in charge. She’d be arrested and handed to the military with a one way ticket to the Raft. So, really, they are making her feel worse for nothing.

Riding High:

Robbie contemplates murder, against the Rider’s better judgment no less, but ends his day saving Fitz and striking a partnership with the same woman he was thinking of killing only a few hours earlier. The beginning of a beautiful...something.🤗

May’s Boundless Badassary:

Hours or possibly even a full day after she’s been “touched” by Lucy Bauer and seeing zombies, May is only now starting to crack. Her resilience never fails to impress. And of course her first instinct is to protect everyone. Then she knocks out her entire strike team plus Coulson and it takes the juiced-up Mace to stop her. No wonder Piper is charmed.😁

Quaking in Her Stylish Boots:

Watching Daisy on her own in early S4 feels like watching a more experienced pre-S.H.I.E.L.D. Skye in action, with infinitely more baggage and even less respect for legality.

The lone snooping gig, the easy charm to ingraties people she needs information from (Canelo here), the same mix of cockyness, zeal and vulnerability (with, appropriately, much darker undertones) and of course investigating the weird.

Skye had the same drive to right wrongs and make a difference but lesser tools (no spy training, no Hate Fu and no superpowers) and none of the oppressive weight of self-imposed obligations and misplaced guilt Daisy is currently cracking under. Skye was reckless out of youthful idealism. This Daisy is self-destructive. Skye was looking for her family and Daisy is running from hers but for both it’s about lost homes. And finding them again.

She’s Got the Powers:

Daisy busts out of the ropes quaking a small shockwave from her body, confirming that she doesn’t strictly need to aim her hands to resonate with the world around her. She also “flies” again, propelling herself in spectacular fashion on top of the Hell Charger.

Stuff:

This room ... does it seem...? -- Like it was decorated by someone who needs to unclench? Poor Mace. He can’t even furnish the place without getting grief. 😂

Move. -- He doesn't appear to be moving. Cecilio, the big dude who doesn’t flinch under May’s stare, is my new hero. I mean, I know he has like 100 kg of muscles over her but still. He looked the Cavalry in the eye and did not blink. 😮

I try to live by a simple rule: a team that trusts is a team that triumphs. And here we go. The drinking game begins. *gulp*

It seems there's something to do with physical contact, but how is she incorporeal? -- Maybe a multidimensional event caused it. -- Like Tobias Ford. Reference to the technician “ghosted” in the explosion of a particle accelerator (1x09).

I'm stuck. Assignment for the Director. -- Seriously? -- Oh, you know, “a team that trusts is a team that triumphs”. *gulp*

What I don't have is the anonymous, unlimited funding you seemed to have before. [...] Our budget hinges on the U.N. and the Sokovia Accords and on impressing the House Appropriations Committee. Being legitimate again sounds like a veritable hassle, doesn’t it? I’d wonder how Mack dealt with the problem, except we don’t even know for sure if they were fully legitimate again in S6 so 🤷

Piper. Get the squad ready. Training in 10. -- Yes, ma'am. -- “Ma'am”? -- Is there a different title you'd prefer? Commander? Sir? -- Let's just stick to “May”. -- I can do May. I can do that, May. Oh, the Freudian slip! 😂

May’s smile while Coulson is nerding out about Peggy and the SSR is a big mood.

Threaten me all you want. You think I'm afraid to die? -- I think you want it. No doubt. You got a death wish. Coming back to find me after I let you live. I feel very confident that she would have come back even without her current negative outlook on this bothersome thing called living. But point absolutely taken.

You know, we're not so different, you and me. Yeah, you just feel bad for the dead in your wake. I don't feel anything. -- If that were true, you would've killed me by now. Circumstances are quite different - for one thing Daisy isn’t being tortured - but this reminded me of Bobbi coolly seeing through Ward’s self-delusions while held captive. And here Daisy coolly sees through Robbie’s facade. The Rider is the merciless killer, he, on the other hand, cares, even if he tries not to.

I said I'm not what you are. -- You're enhanced, and you just said that we're not that different. I'm sorry, but you just said that....like 10 seconds ago. With an upbeat delivery, this would totally be Skye.

Great idea. -- But maybe not the best idea, Director. [...] What happened? -- There was an incident. Blood everywhere. Not a great time. 😂

Creepy -- You ever notice we never get to check up on a bright-lit place filled with nice, friendly people? Just wait for Season 5, Mack. Abandoned labs and interdimensional ghosts will feel like a picnic on a sunny spring day.

As sedating delirious people goes, Mace’s method seems especially unsafe.

I said the new Director should be a powered person the public could trust. And they came up with you. Careful, Phil, he may get the wrong idea and think you don’t like him 😁

There's no one better than you, truly. But when it comes to May and Daisy, you can't be objective. And to that, I take exception. Well, that makes one of you. Also, the last guy who played the objectivity card with Coulson ended up dead as a statue. Literally.

Your friends with you? -- No. I left them. -- Good. He’s known her for like a day and Robbie has already reached the last stage of Daisy Johnson stanning. 🤣😉

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #aos 4x02 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #robbie reyes #jemma simmons #alphonso mackenzie #leopold fitz #jeffrey mace #text post #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #lost

[ryder616]

Rewatching The Laws of Inferno Dynamics

Here’s my nomination for coolest episode title in the entire run of the show. And it’s a pretty entertaining episode, although maybe not the heavyweight one might have expected for the closer to the Ghost Rider’s arc.

Possibly because we aren’t done with the Rider yet and the bigger priority was finalizing the Prodigal Daughter’s triumphant return.

Director Mace deserves a lot of credit. His plan to deal with Eli was a disaster in the making but his talent as a spin doctor turned a different kind of disaster into a triumph:

He got S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most powerful asset back and in a way that indebit her to him a bit. Even if Daisy, being Daisy, won’t agree nor care for it. I could have told you that, Jeffrey. 😄

He made all his other star players happier, because part of their grumpiness in dealing with him was definitely a product of the scars left by the S3′s fallout.

He’s temporarily declawed Nadeer, since her “S.H.I.E.L.D. is working with domestic terrorists” card is now useless.

And the entire thing is one hell of a publicity and goodwill boost for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Inhumans. They saved Los Angeles and they now have another photogenic superhero to feed to the masses.

It is a bit unrealistic that, after all the hell Daisy raised while on her own, the only one who will still be put off by that is Senator Evil Nadeer, a character so unlikeable I would find her objectionable even if she quit politics and started adopting stray kittens (which is a testament to how brilliantly the actress portrays her, in my book).

There was definitely more mileage out of this story but S4 crammed almost three seasons worth of plot into a single one and understandably some stuff fell to the wayside.

Ridin’ High:

Robbie and the Rider don’t get to do all that much this time around but they still look and sound great while doing it. And the final blow to Eli is all theirs.

For Robbie, however, it’s a truly awful day. Not only his once beloved uncle is a lost cause, had he not been forced by circumstances into making another, much more comprehensive deal with the Rider last ep, eliminating Eli might have at least rid him of his ghostly companion. Assuming of course he had it right, and settling his last score would have infact freed him.

Now he’s heading to a hellish dimension to settle the Rider’s scores and one shudders to think what kind of creatures the Spirit of Vengeance might hold a grudge against.

She’s Got The Powers:

Daisy absorbs an impressive amount of seismic vibrations, helped by her new and improved guantlets (thanks, Fitz!). However that ends up “overloading” her and she opts to “discharge” all that extra energy in a very dramatic fashion, rising up in the skies, to avoid bringing down a building or two. If there was a better way for the show to foster her return to the fold, I don’t know it and I don’t care.😁

Stuff:

Not the best time to engage in a salary dispute, I gather...

We need the big guns on this one, and Yo-Yo, Daisy, and Reyes are the biggest guns we have. The new Secret Warriors. For five minutes. 😢

Tough, isn't it? Not to be the keeper of all the secrets? Remember when you lied to her for most of S2 about the Theta Protocol? Well, even if you don’t, I think she definitely does, Phil.

Meanwhile, I'll be playing chauffeur to a robot. I think this is the last time we’re seeing the real May while conscious, until the end of the Framework arc (excluding flashbacks of course).

Director just wants you to keep a low profile. There's a lot of media out here. -- I don't answer to him. Vigilantes don’t give a damn about optics, Part I.

Morrow's men retreated inside a few minutes ago. -- All of them? -- Yeah. Strange. I think the word you’re looking for is ominous.

Radcliffe’s lanyard is green. 🤷

I'm not being cold. I just got hit by a giant fireball, I lost my favorite jacket, and you're treating me like a niña. The fact that Elena sounds equally upset for her ruined jacket as she is for the giant fireball is one of my most favorite things in the entire show. 🤗

Robbie's down. I'm going in. Daisy’s “friend-in-trouble-here-I-charge” reflexes are as sharp as ever and they kick in just as hard for Robbie as they have and will for her longtime friends.

You realize we're trying to hide you from the press, right? -- a) I don't care. b) that wasn’t me. Vigilantes don’t give a damn about optics, Part II.

Guys, the problem is bigger than you think. I should hope so, there’s plenty of running time left!

The “demon core”? Seriously? -- You cannot make this stuff up. Yeah, Mack, we can’t blame writers for this one. Physicists, as it turns out, are just as bad (good).

From high school to grad school, no one believed in me! They thought I was cheating.They thought I wasn't capable! Shut me out. Well, guess what ... guess what I'm capable of now. I found myself sympathizing with Eli a lot more this time around. All his pent-up frustrations, they made him even more vulnerable to the Darkhold’s lure, no doubt.

Robbie... I am becoming a god. -- You better be. Because the devil is coming for you. This line practically writes itself. Major chills.

Remember, I gave you a chance to leave. Whatever happens next is on you. Villains always have a skewed concept of responsibility, don’t they?

Aida thinks? -- Maybe about “electric sheep”. Blade Runner reference, to the title of the book. It’s also ironic because the May that’s asking is the Maybot.

I think it's time the public sees the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in action. Walk with me, Phil. I've got a plan. Mace is fully back to his smarmy persona. He had toned it down a little, being a bit more himself, but now he’s putting on a performance again, as the confident and competent Director. Thor preserve us. 🤭

They might be a little snug, but they've got me close to full strength, so...thank you. -- You're welcome. Olive branches are being extended. This is nice. And a bit awkward.

No love for your new Director? -- He's a lying weasel. -- We don't trust him. -- Really? What'd he do? And just like that, the Bus kids are back. 🥳 🥂

Mace’s “plan” underscores how out of his depth he is with the tactical side of things and Mack was never shy about his opinions with Coulson or anyone else in charge. Mack’s also being the kind of protective toward Elena that’s annoying and I’m happy the show had her call it out twice.

The gauntlets can absorb a wide range of infrasonic waves. Better to shield your bones from further damage. Excellent, thanks for the info. Filing it for future complaints.😁

Ever since I took over, you've been running around on this plane, doing what you want, whenever you want! Yes. That’s what all the cool S.H.I.E.L.D. agents do, though not necessarily on a plane. Have you not been paying attention?

Why the hell didn't you just come to me in the first place? -- Now, why would I do that? In case you haven't noticed, Phil, we're not a team that trusts. We're not a team at all. *drinks* and also 🤣 at the look Coulson and Daisy exchange.

But we damn well better become [a team] if we're gonna stop Eli Morrow from blowing up half of Los Angeles. -- Oh, that. Right. Fitz figured that out. Drops the mic, struts off stage, exit left. She enjoyed that.

Thankfully, Ghost Rider’s scientifically impossible self-healing extends to clothes. There’s already been one cool leather jacket fatality too many in this episode.

I can't believe she's a robot. She's so lifelike. -- Thank you. I'm learning. I really feel for AIDA at this stage. She’s done nothing but helping, has directly saved at least three people, not to mention being instrumental to stop a good chunk of Downtown Los Angeles from going kaboom.

Daisy’s deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression will never not crack me up. Good thing Mace was there and ready because I’m not sure she’d have been able to articulate much that was coherent.

Regardless, I don't think we've seen the last of Mr. Reyes. *sigh* How I wish this was true past 4x22.

I love that Coulson offers Daisy an alternative to fully rejoining. He’s a cool dad.

I thought the new face of S.H.I.E.L.D. should be an Inhuman...didn't mean him, though. -- [points at herself] Yeah, right. Maybe in the comic book version. 😒 I’m not saying anything. Nope. Nothing. Well... No. No, I’m good.😇

Mack obviously belongs to the “show, don’t tell” school of romance. And I guess this is it for the non fraternization rule. 🤭 A team that loves is a team that...?

Your official lanyard. [...] Level blue. -- Thrilling, isn’t it? -- What does that mean? -- We have no idea. 🤣 I think level blue is the “do whatever the hell you want” level, as Coulson’s is also blue. And really, what other level would be appropriate? 🤣 

Greetings, Mr. Nathanson. The time has come for you to face your Redshirt destiny. Bright side, nobody will rudely order you out of a room ever again.

[a team that trusts] is a team that triumphs. Yes, Director. *drinks*

And there goes the bottle of Haig. If FitzSimmons are the cursed couple, Philinda must be the “one of us isn’t really us” couple: they steer toward the romantic while May is a LMD, and now we’re at our second Coulson-who-isn’t-really-Coulson scenario. I’m so glad I don’t really ship anyone on this cruel show.

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #agents of shield #aos 4x08 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #robbie reyes #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #jeffrey mace #holden radcliffe #aida #eli morrow #text post #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4

[ryder616]

Rewatching Broken Promises

“Android, robot ... it doesn't matter what you call 'em.The end result's always the same. They rise up against their human overlords and go kill crazy.”

This episode, and the entire idea that Aida had been “upgraded” by the Darkhold and we were about to witness the classic tale of the robot gaining sentience and rebelling against their creators, must be one of the smuggest sleight of hand AoS has ever pulled. And a double sleight at that, because Aida will eventually gain sentience and rebel against her creator.

So here’s this episode, with a story that is seemingly hitting all the killer android clichès, punctuated by Mack’s hilarious, over the top - and, in retrospect, very deliberately so - string of fictional robots references, while the Scottish Dr. Frankstein Sr. and Dr. Frankestein Jr. have the grand ole debate about synthetic and organic life.

Until everything is turned on its head in the last five minutes with the revelation that it was Radcliffe, all along, playing with his toys and manipulating everyone, in his yearning for the possession of the Darkhold. Smeagol, rather than Frankstein.

They basically trolled us, in the best way, and I’m really hoping S7 is a season long adaptation of this precedent to time travel.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All:

Vijay Nadeer is the “broken promise” of the episode on a meta level: tantilizingly sinking at the bottom of a lake (or ocean, I’m never clear on that) wrapped up in a new Terrigenesis cocoon, basically just missing a “to be continued” thrown in there for the full vibe. Only to never appear again as his true self.

Somewhere across the multiverse, AoS spread the incommensurable riches of S4 over 3 seasons and Vijay, and so many other bits and pieces, got the full treatment.

In our much crueler timeline, he serves to give Senator Nadeer a compelling motivation and amp up her awfulness. And, maybe, to demostrate one of the biggest hits for the playlist of Inhuman powers Fitzler will compile for Aida.

It’s not at all a new idea that his real power is reactive adaptation: “evolving” new abilities to counteract an immediate threat.

That’s because the powers Vijay displays - superhuman reflexes and the protective cocoon when he’s dying/dead - are too different from each other to realistically (ahem...lol) belong to the same power set.

When Aida quickly heals from bullet wounds later in the season, after she’s become a “real girl” and a walking Inhuman powers compilation, that particular feat comes seemingly out of nowhere. None of the Inhumans we’ve seen on the show have been capable of that, as Jiaying required the “life-force” of other people to heal. So it seems like a decent guess/head canon that it’s actually Vijay’s ability at work.

Stuff:

New AoS drinking game: robot movies/shows references! Not my wisest idea because they are...many. 🥴

“First of all, that thing is not a “she” ... it's a damn robot. And second of all, what's the matter with you two chuckleheads? Have either one of you seen a movie in the last 30 years? The robots always attack.” Oversweeping reference to the genre *drinks*

Not to question Her Hatefulness, also ‘cause I’m scared of her, but wouldn’t slipping some poison in Vijay’s drink, rather than arranging for a kill squad, have made for a safer and overall less traumatizing murder for both parties involved?

I'd have a much better idea where she was hiding him if the Director hadn't insisted I wear a hood before going on assignment. Just awful. -- It's hard to breathe in those things, huh? Ah, the good old days when kidnapping hackers out of their vans was the highlight of working for S.H.I.E.L.D....

Speaking of the Director, here comes his little Smithers now. With Nathanson dead, Burrows has no more competition for the Most Picked On Redshirt award.

The Director would like a word with Quake. -- My name's Daisy. Cheer up, Daisy dear, it’s at least your second best fake name, c’mon.

As it was entirely predictable, Daisy is hardly impressed with the P.R. ingenuity displayed by Mace on her behalf (and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s)

You already had plenty of publicity. Destruction of public property, assault, armed robbery... Meh, the real robbery is having been deprived of watching all that mayhem unfold. Such a shame. 😌

Look, we’re a team now, and I have a saying: a team... -- I read the motivational poster in the bathroom. *drinks* (this game’s still ongoing!)

Mace vs Daisy, a tally: Expected gratitude? Miss. Not losing patience in the first 30 seconds of the conversation? Miss. Humor to break the ice? Miss. Impressing her with a display of modesty for his own (fake) heroic background? Miss. Delivering his catchphrase? Big, big miss. Finally founding common ground with something that matters to her? Score! Mace the Pace was only 1-6 from the field tonight but still managed to clinch a hard fought win for the team, with a long distance shot that caught Quake by surprise! 🤭

We simply wanted to make a few upgrades, that's all. [...] -- I made a few upgrades of my own. Nothing worse than auto-updating software, am I right?

S.H.I.E.L.D. is one of the main reasons the world has the problems it does. -- There you go...painting with a broad brush again. Seriously, poor Vijay. Even without her fratricidal tendencies, Her Hatefulness would be the sister from hell.

Oh, hey, the Boom Guy. Karma is a bitch, Boom Guy. You just wait... 😈

This isn't some Johnny 5 we're talking about. This is a bloodthirsty murder-bot on the loose. *drinks*

If we catch her, I'm sure we'll get some crazy-ass Roy Batty explanation. *drinks*

I wonder what Sousa would think of Jemma’s southern accent. 🤭

So, you're Margaret's replacement. -- As if anyone could replace Margaret. And indeed, her attempt to “replace” Margaret “Peggy” Carter won’t be entirely successful.

Jemma is much tougher than I had originally given her credit for. -- Yeah, well, being in S.H.I.E.L.D. will do that to you. I think Simmons has been kidnapped like three times since I've known her. -- Really? -- Yeah, well, only twice on this planet. 🤣 🤣 🤣 (and there’s more coming!)

Looks like your creepiness finally works in our favor. Shouldn't be too hard to find your beautiful “Weird Science” sex-bot. *drinks*

This right here ... it's exactly how “The Lawnmower Man” ends. *drinks*

Simmons and I have built a non-Internet server to power the base in case we ever got hacked again, which seems to happen all the bloody time, doesn't it? He’s so, so done...🤣 You know, I’ve suspected for a long time that the Grumpy Cat’s mug was Fitz’s. I think I’ll make it my official headcanon.

Radcliffe built a humanoid robot that's about to attack the base. -- Why would he do that? Has he watched no American movies from the '80s? Robots always attack. -- I've been saying that all day. Clearly made for each other.

All right, gear up. The robot apocalypse is finally here. *drinks*

Radcliffe failed to mention [Aida] had ninja programming. If it’s any consolation, he failed to mention a great many more things... 😂

What if reading the Darkhold somehow made the emotions that Aida was mimicking... real? -- Well, I get how the book can pass knowledge along to its reader, but human feelings? I mean, that's like something from one of Mack's movies. [...] Aida is still just an android. -- Yeah, but is she? She has her own experiences, her own thoughts. Now she even has free will. How, then, is she not a living being? -- It's just a theory. -- A theory we both know to be true. Radcliffe is pretty good, especially for an amateur at this, working Fitz to push him to the conclusions he wants, first playing the skeptic, then steamrolling to the point once he’s been “convinced”. However Fitz is not an amateur at this. He’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, one who’s been manipulated by better liars in his time, and will therefore catch on.

I'm surprised to see you here, Director Mace, especially in the company of Quake, a known terrorist. -- [...] Agent Johnson here is a national hero. I get the feeling Daisy’s bristling at the second descriptor more than the first.

Well, if you have nothing to hide, I'm sure you wouldn't mind us taking a quick look around. -- Actually, I would mind. When you’re planning fratricide but an unlawful search crosses the line.

Someone needs to make Radcliffe watch all the "Terminator" movies. -- Even “Salvation”? -- He brought this onto himself. 🤣 🤣 🤣 *drinks*

She did not just go all “Maximum Overdrive” on us. *drinks*

I always worried that robots would try and kill me one day. -- Really? We grew up different. -- Even got a special provision in my life insurance for death by robot. -- Are you serious? -- Yep.If this goes sideways, my brother's gonna be one rich dude. 🤣 🤣 🤣 Mack taking his sci-fi this seriously is one of the most relatable things on the show for me. I, however, am #teamrobots.🤖

Fitz just moved the Playground’s network to a pair of 1980s Apples and I don’t know whether to be impressed or horrified to be honest. 😂

I did not kill anyone here. That was intentional. -- You murdered Nathanson. Yes, and it’s a terrible loss. Who are they going to boot out of the lab to have private conversations now? Burrows mostly hangs in the director’s office.

Roll credits. Not technically a reference but ...*drinks*

I think it's time the Superior sends some men of his own. Ugh, don’t remind me of that guy. I’m not drunk enough yet.

Okay, here's another one ... have you ever watched “Chopping Mall”? *drinks*

Ah. How's Radcliffe holding up? -- He's taking it pretty hard, actually. Aida was his life's work. She was kind of... like a child. -- “Small Wonder.” *drinks*

She played her part to perfection, right down to my little speech about how the Darkhold was making her a real girl. Oscar-worthy stuff. Though poor Fitz ...he was quite down in the dumps afterwards. But I had to protect myself ... switch to the long game. And it suddenly clicked who Radcliffe reminds me of...it’s not a good comparison. For Radcliffe. 😈

#aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield #aos 4x09 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #jemma simmons #jeffrey mace #leopold fitz #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #holden radcliffe #aida #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #text post

[ryder616]

Rewatching The Ghost

I was really looking forward to move on to Season 4, after the heartwrenching heaviness of the last stretch of S3.

Granted, it’s not exactly fun and games here either.

If brooding was an energy source, Daisy and Robbie could power up the entire northern hemisphere just by existing. And Daisy is basically looking to committ suicide by proxy (😩) which is not my idea of a good time BUT!

Ghost Rider. Quake. Teaming-up. Soon. *incoherent screaming*

Yes. I am this shallow. 😁

Meanwhile, another team-up is in progress and this one will have far more overarching consequences, once a certain dark book enters the fray.

I am of course referring to the Scottish Society for the Emancipation of Digital Personal Assistants and Sexy Androids aka the second collaborative effort between Glasgow natives Dr. Holden Radcliffe, PhD, and Dr. Leopold Fitz, PhD (and their first joined project was the Framework 😬).

Radcliffe, who according to the stipulations of his pardon should not be doing any unsupervised experimentation, has spent the summer doing plenty of unsupervised experimentation. Crazy thinking, here, but maybe someone should have kept a closer eye on him instead of worrying about rogue vigilantes whose only true crime is the abuse of dark make-up. Just saying 😁.

The result of Radcliffe’s tinkering is a stunning humanoid body for his very own Siri. However, while the uncanny valley has been traversed, and then some, the Turing test is still quite a few builds away.

So he entices Fitz’s help, who clearly does know better since he is initially very reproachful. His disapproval, however, doesn’t last two conversations. There is cutting edge science to be made, Radcliffe is a friend and a budding father figure, the still mysterious new Director is not very trustworthy at the moment and A.I.D.A. is even more fascinating when she’s fully clothed, making grand declarations about saving lives.

And it is a tempting proposition: androids taking the bullet, as it were, for flesh and blood agents. If they had had that, friends may not have died. A friend may not have left.

You know the saying...the road to fascist mind prisons is paved with good intentions.

Stuff:

The suiting up scene is pretty cool if a little voyeuristic. This is when the show had been given a later timeslot and coincidentially we get an ass shot. Also, Daisy is studiously keeping her suit zipped just low enough. Rogue vigilantes are sexier, got it? Well. Ok, yeah, they kinda are. 🤣

Beating up white supremacists and shielding civilians from bullets. That’s my girl.

Ghost Rider and his Hell Charger must be some of the very best SFX this show has ever done. His musical theme is also pretty great and, speaking of actual coincidences given Gabriel Luna’s latest (?) role, has a bit of a Terminator feel to it (also Bear McCreary scored the Sarah Connor Chronicles so that’s probably why).

If the munchies was a superpower, they'd be signing the Sokovia Accords as we speak. It’s not? Disappointing.

Mack and Coulson seem very comfortable in their new(ish) field partnership, bonding over the technological feats of the Zephyr One and table games. They also look quite upbeat considering they’ve been chasing after the Earthshaking Wonder for at least six months with nothing to show for it.

Piper is the teacher’s assistant and the loud drill sergeant all rolled into one.

The new director hadn’t even been on screen yet and he had already managed to skyrocket near the top of my blacklist, in such lofty company as Robert Gonzales and Agent Calderon Asshole. Of course, he didn’t stay there *hugs Mace*

Not to be insensitive to the plight of racist scumbags, financial institutions and road infrastructures but, yeah, I’m totally insensitive to it. The Watchdogs are getting a beating? Awesome. They’re a terroristic hate group that’s been murdering innocent people and apparently nobody else is doing a thing about them which is gonna bite everyone in the ass later. Money is being taken from them and their rich donors and redirected to better uses, like funding Polly and Robin Hinton and generously tipping housekeepers? Outstanding. Robin Hood would be proud. A bridge collapsed? Well, that’s bad, I suppose, but unless Mace was spinning more P.R. in 4x10, that was the Watchdogs’ doing and Daisy just kept it from killing people. So, Daisy, attagirl! *insert youredoingamazingsweetie.gif*

The gang’s suspiciousness toward the new director comes close to match the level of Daisy’s current brooding. May doesn’t like him, Fitz doesn’t trust him, Simmons has actually been working to keep an eye on him and Coulson and Mack don’t look nor sound particularly enthused with him either. In retrospect, they were laying it a little thick. I should have guessed the new guy was going to be a decent fellow.

First look at the Framework, that other little science project Radcliffe and Fitz have been collaborating on, this one with full disclosure, intended as a training simulation for field agents and possibly romantic getaway for overworked British scientists. Another great idea that will backfire spectacularly. *glares at the Darkhold*

Poor Nathanson. Nobody that matters seems to like him.

Heard you got a promotion. -- Oh, yeah, and a title. -- Yeah, Special Advisor to the Director in Science and Technology. -- Or SADIST. [...] -- [the director] [...] calls [the random lie-detector tests] his Widespread Infiltration Monitoring Program. -- Or WIMP. Fitz is reveling in the involontary comedy of these acronyms and I’m all here for it 🤣🤣

Shotgun axes and exploding pens. Mack has dimensions even where weapons are concerned. 😉

It's classified. -- Right. Everything is these days. Like every day before Director Dad was in charge, no?

Daisy leaves a fat stack of cash for the housekeepers of whatever place she was renting or squatting in (or maybe it was a motel). Stealing from the racist scumbags, giving to the working people. It’s Skye 2.0, #vanlife included, and I’m all for it. This would be my favorite Daisy ever if she wasn’t also trying to get herself killed. And apparently apply all the black eyeshadow available on the planet. Which is probably related to issue #1.

The Sokovia Accords seem to require treating Inhumans who work for the government as former inmates on parole. Elena (and anyone else) deserves better.

Just ask me to dinner again.-- You know the rules about fraternizing with assets in the field. The new director re-implemented fraternization rules? That’s gonna work out well for everyone, I’m sure.🤣

The Sokovia Accords also require a frakton of paperwork - the approval of a UN subcommittee, no less - for “enhanced individuals” to partecipate in field operations which must work brilliantly in a crisis. 🙄

What the hell? [...] I meant...What.The.Hell?! These are the most articulate non articulate three words ever. 🤣

With the - partial - exception of Coulson, Elena is pretty much the only one who seems to respect Daisy’s choices and won’t try to guilt trip her into coming back, expressing only concern for her well being and actively supporting her. Possibly because she hasn’t known her as long as the others and their friendship hasn’t crossed into found family bonds.

I think I may have stumbled upon a serial killer. -- Ooh. Fun. Yup! I wish Daisy would see it that way.

There's only one thing I want. [...] Nothing to lose. I really don’t like the sound of that. 😨

I don't get the new color-coded security-level rainbow of...what's it called? The “Spectrum of Security” It’s like Mace is making a deliberate effort to be as uncool as possible. 🤣 Also, ok, orange has both red and yellow, so it’s higher. That makes sense. What about blue? Blue is a primary color. Do they go by color temperature for those? Blue is colder than Red, so it’s lower? Or the primary colors are the heads of departments and they have equal clearance? So Red=Blue=Yellow but Orange is above Red and Yellow (what about Blue?) and Green is above Yellow and Blue (what about Red?). Or are they going with the additive model, so it’s Red, Blue and Green on equal footing? But orange doesn’t encompass neither blue or green, so how is Simmons above all the other departments heads?🤪 What.The.Hell?!

I'm mostly in the dark these days. Why don't you ask the Director? Since you're one of the few people allowed or willing to do that. Ouch. Gee, May, first you’re worried Daisy is turning into a serial killer and now you’re kind of accusing Simmons of selling out? You don’t have to assume the worst of them, you know. Oh. Right. Fair enough. 😁

Coulson’s new robot arm has a “see-through-walls” tech that looks exactly like the backscatter of Centipede’s mechanical eyes. Nice bit of continuity.

Is it me or is everyone dressing a little too heavy for Los Angeles in September (going with the airdate)? Daisy’s punishing herself, what’s everybody else’s excuse?

No! I don't deserve to die! -- Everyone says that. Not everyone...😔

Yeah, those Chargers are hard to find. Between Fast and Furious and Dukes of Hazzard, they wrecked a lot of them. Apparently this line is factual. The AoS cars people had a hell of a time finding a working Charger, specifically for the reason given here.

I think the Director broke up the band on purpose. -- Of course he did! As soon as Talbot gave the location of this base to the president, things changed. I knew we'd be divided, undermined, kept in the dark, so I have been clawing for as much power as I can possibly grab to keep a modicum of control over any of this. After all we've been through...Indeed. You should know better, May. This is top shelf Simmons, Grand Theft Toolbox form.

Uh, sorry. What's your name? -- Robbie. But she doesn’t give him hers. Cheeky Daisy, playing tourist in a junkyard in the middle of the night. Bit overconfident about her social engineering skills and natural charm, there, eh?

So. You got the devil inside you too? Before the team-up, must come the dust-up. It’s in the official rulebook for Superheroes’s meetings, you know.😁

Ooh, you don’t wanna open that box, mate...

These guys might kill somebody besides each other. -- Yeah. Us. Mack cementing himself as the most sensible of the lot. An increasingly lower bar to meet as the years go by, if you ask me.😁

May’s team is scarily efficient.

You don't get to decide who deserves to die. -- I'm not the one who decides. *sighs with elation* You guys are making me so very happy.😂

Do it. I deserve it. And here’s a new experience for the Rider and Robbie both, “finally” someone who thinks they deserve to die. Daisy, please kindly notice how the fiery-headed demon who burns bad people for a living snubs your request and take the hint, okay?

The gangsters in the warehouse were affected almost immediately by Lucy. Unlike May, who’s keeping the paranoia at bay admirably for now, just like she was able to hold the Staff of Anger Mismanagement way back in S1 (twice!) without losing control. She’s not the Hate Fu master for nothing.

The ground team is checking for contagion, but hopefully, whatever messed with these guys' heads is no longer an issue. It’s like you guys say these things on purpose...

#aosrewatch #aosrewatchs4 #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aos 4x01 #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy johnson #robbie reyes #jemma simmons #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #leopold fitz #holden radcliffe #aida #rewatchingaos #rewatchingaos4 #text post #aos