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

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 4, Episode 15 “Self-Control” (B)

In theory, this was a cool episode, but I do think that this show is seriously in danger of losing its sense of reality. I know that’s kind of the point, and the end of the episode indicates that we might be headed in the right direction. Fitz and Simmons pointing guns at each other was an intense way to start, and Fitz cutting his wrist only to get the upper hand on Simmons was even more serious. The news that Daisy hadn’t yet replaced was mildly affirming, but these guys had tough odds to beat from the outset. I did think that these replacements seemed awfully obvious in their robotic nature, but that was explained later on by Aida telling Radcliffe that they were missing a key piece of the human emotion. For me, that was the best part of this episode, that May was able to be convinced by Simmons and Daisy that she shouldn’t do what she was programmed to do, and that she had the ability to choose. Releasing gas to reveal the replacements was clever, and it’s a good thing that they were able to convince a few allies that they were actually the good guys. What I want to know is what our friends are going to be like when, by the end of the season, they finally come out of stasis. Will it be like “Inception” where they’re unable to accept that they’re actually awake. Most worrisome was Aida’s murder of Radcliffe, converting everything to android control which makes the future of any universe on this show sure to be a very dark place.