Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S4 Ep5

Well, that was intense.

The plot has definitely moved along as a result of this episode. Secrets have come to light, people (ahem, Daisy) have had some sense maybe talked into them, and oh yeah, an evil book that has the power to destroy the world has been brought back into play. So that’s not great news.

First off, Daisy and Robbie join the SHIELD team that’s supposed to extract Robbie’s uncle Eli out of prison before Lucy the Mad Scientist Ghost gets to him. See, she’s already driven her husband crazy to get the location of the Darkhold out of him. But we discover that Lucy can no longer read the Darkhold, which seems to work by “reading” its readers. She needs Eli to do that for her.

Nice to see them working together again. Also, is Philinda actually going to happen this season??

I suppose every show needs at least one prison riot during its run. This ep was S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s turn. Not only is this prison full of new Watchdog recruits eager to take out some SHIELD folk, but it’s also full of people crazified by “Lucy and the whole Peanuts gang,” in Coulson’s words. Good thing Fitz and Dr. Hannah have developed a cure for that that doesn’t involve killing the victim and bringing them back to life. Lucy spices things up by letting a bunch of prisoners out. But Mack and Robbie still manage to get to Eli first. Things might have ended okay – except Robbie can’t quite control the Rider inside him. It/he sees one more member of the gang who shot him and Gabe, and just has to light the guy up.

Meanwhile, Simmons is very nervous about her polygraph test, what with the secrets Fitz was keeping from her (Aida, mostly), and Daisy reappearing, etc. But first she helps coach Director Jeffrey Mace through a live interview, with Senator “I Hate Inhumans and Am Secretly Funding the Watchdogs” Nadeer debating him. He does well – even though he also reveals his Inhuman nature due to Nadeer’s maneuvering. But Nadeer has blackmail footage of Daisy and Ghost Rider at the prison to show him afterward. We don’t know what she wants, but it’s probably not good. It’s also not good that the Director is being blackmailed from two sources now: Nadeer and Simmons. Simmons knows something about one of Mace’s so-called heroic acts that paints him less favorably. I don’t think it’s a good idea to back this guy into a corner. Let’s hope he strikes back at Nadeer before Simmons, at least…

I hope you know what you’re doing, Simmons. Mace doesn’t seem like a guy you can cross with impunity.

Other things: Daisy, you really should listen to May. As she said, she invented the whole keeping everyone at arm’s length for their safety thing. And aww, of course Coulson will never give up on her. I’m just betting he and the rest of the team will get through to her before the end of this Darkhold op. Which is going to be much more difficult now, BTW, since Eli seems very intrigued by the evil book when Lucy shows it to him. Uh oh. Also, I’m intrigued to hear we’ll be learning more about Ghost Rider’s origins in this universe next week. Plenty of flashbacks, I’m guessing!

What did you think of this week’s riotous ep? Let us know in the comments!