Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S4 Ep9 – Broken Promises

I must admit, I did not see all those twists coming. Well done, show.

The midseason premiere picks up right where we left off, with May held captive (drugged) by Aida so that May’s LMD can do her work. Aida wants the Darkhold. She also doesn’t want to have her hard drive erased, oddly enough, now that the Darkhold has apparently led her to become self-aware. So, she basically shuts down the base.

I don’t enjoy watching Fitz get thrown around – but at least he was mostly okay.

Meanwhile, Director Mace is working with Simmons and the newly-reinstated Daisy to rescue the Inhuman that Senator Ellen Nadeer is holding captive. They know it’s her brother, Veejay. It’s pretty clear that this mission isn’t sanctioned by the UN, but it’s also pretty clear that the Director really does want to build trust with his team. After all, “A team that trusts is a team that triumphs” – as Daisy stops him from repeating. Heh. They quickly discover that Senator Nadeer is, in fact, in league with/controlling at least some of the Watchdogs. But Veejay decides to go with his sister, not SHIELD. This is in spite of said sister nearly allowing the Watchdogs to kill him. It seems he’s made the wrong choice, though, when Ellen shoots him in the gut while they’re in a helicopter. The Watchdogs drop him out of the chopper with a weight attached, into a lake. That’s when the first twist I didn’t quite predict happens. Oh, I was pretty sure Veejay wasn’t actually dead. I didn’t know he was going to re-cocoon himself, though! That’s certainly interesting. What does it mean for his Inhuman powers? I look forward to finding out. I also look forward to him very possibly helping SHIELD take down his sister and the Watchdogs.

At the base, Coulson, Fitz, Radcliffe, and Fake-May are trying to stop Aida, with help from Yo-Yo and Mack. Or at least, everyone except Fake-May is. Or is she? She seems to actually want to stop Aida when the two androids come face-to-face. Maybe Aida programmed her too well? But anyway, Aida’s in control, and soon uses the perhaps-unwitting LMD to find the location of the Darkhold. But before she can escape the base, Mack uses his favorite weapon to behead her. So that’s that.

These two are awesome. I could listen to them banter about ’80s robot movies allll day.

…Except it’s not, really. It seems that Dr. Radcliffe’s brief glimpse of the Darkhold turned him evil (unless he wasn’t ever really reformed in the first place, which is also possible). Honestly didn’t see that coming, though I should have. He sent that Aida model on her mission to get the Darkhold, and programmed her to seem self-aware. But he still has another model – and he still has May drugged and hidden away. The not-so-good doctor is pretty confident that his May LMD will eventually let him get his hands on the Darkhold again. Then he can use it to help humanity get past the limitations of mortality. Because that always ends reeeeeal well.

So. Wow. Maybe Fitz will get suspicious of Radcliffe? Seems sadly unlikely now. And how long will it take for Coulson to notice something’s up with Fake-May? I, um, hope nothing is consummated before that happens. Gulp.

What did you think of the midseason premiere? Which moment surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments!