What I’m Watching: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 4, Episode 11 “Wake Up” (B)

This whole android-May thing is taking a while to play itself out, and every time someone figures a piece of it out, they don’t even really come close. Aida calmly asking Radcliffe why they don’t just kill the real May was disconcerting, but I think what we found out by the end of the episode – that Radcliffe is in league with Senator Nadeer – suggests that’s he really not much of a good guy. You’d think that Fitz could have found a safer way to test out his theory that the Radcliffe in custody was an android than shooting him in the head, since that would have been a problematic mess to clean up, and it’s a shame that he doesn’t realize that May is also an android, something that she realized but can’t share because of her mission-driven programming. The notion that anyone can be replaced by an android version of themselves is a new direction for this show after its previous focus on what it means to be inhuman. It’s unlikely that, after going through the same simulation endless times, May is going to be able to break out of her situation now that she’s trapped in the memory of rescuing Daisy in Bahrain, close enough to what actually happened for her not to suspect that something is wrong. Out in the real world, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not in good shape, and even Talbot isn’t in a position to be able to help them out. I’m not sure why we’re getting this focus on the newfound relationship between Yo-Yo and Mac, but I suppose it’s interesting to see another side of them.