Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 18, "No Regrets," REVIEW (SPOILERS) and Episode 19, "All the Madame's Men" EXPECTATIONS


Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com

So obviously my plans for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t come together quite the way I expected them to.  I didn’t watch it yesterday; I watched it today.  I’m not going to post a separate article with expectations for tonight’s episode; that will be at the bottom of this (somewhat abbreviated) review.

That being said, the “Framework” pod of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes has not disappointed me yet!  I kind of expected both “twists” in this episode, but they were handled in such a way that I wasn’t too disappointed at being unsurprised.


Positives:

  • I knew that Fitz’s one regret was going to be never having known his father.  They certainly didn’t do enough to show how knowing his father changed Fitz’s character so drastically, but I expect that to be coming in the next few episodes (particularly tonight’s).
    • Having said that, I do like that we can still see some of the “real” Fitz shining through the avatar in his regret over killing Agnes.  He felt unredeemable in the previous episode; he appears redeemable in this one.
  • Mack and his daughter have become my favorite new relationship explored in the series.  I wonder if this (establishing Mack to be happy in the Framework) is setting him up to be the next casualty.
  • I was expecting Mace to die in the Framework as soon as it was revealed that he was the “Inhuman Leader of the Resistance” and a true American hero.  However, the way in which he died defied my expectations.  I was expecting him to choose to stay in the Framework to fight AIDA while everyone else escaped, not die to save a child.  The circumstances of his death were very much something I could buy and accept.
  • The best part of his death, in my opinion, was that it brought May to her senses (in a relative sense) in that she realized Hydra was truly evil.  That she stole a Terrigen Crystal and used it to transform Daisy so she could bring Hydra crashing down was pretty awesome (and a great outcome to connect to Mace’s death).
    • This begs the question:  does Terrigenesis work the same way in the Framework as in the real world?
  • Ward’s apology to Simmons was a nice touch, especially if the Framework is the last time these two characters interact
  • I loved their decision to bring Tripp back in the Framework

Negatives:

  • Fitz’s father feels like too much of an AIDA construct at the moment.  When he talks, it sounds like AIDA is just putting on a Scottish accent to push Fitz in her direction.  Given that Radcliffe actually knew Fitz’s father, I was expecting Radcliffe’s memories to be used in constructing that character, making him a little more independent.  But I suppose this may be part of what Radcliffe meant when he accused AIDA of manipulating the Framework.
  • Why did AIDA leave Radcliffe and Daisy so close together?  The only way this works is if AIDA shuts that backdoor before they can use it.

Things to Look For (Expectations for Tonight):

  • We will learn a whole lot more about Fitz’s father tonight
  • Coulson will be in charge of the Resistance
  • May will join the Resistance and bring a whole bunch of Terrigen Crystals with her (which could give them their own Inhuman Army
  • After her Terrigenesis, Daisy will pretty much take the Triskelion down
    • I half expect to find out that AIDA has manipulated with Daisy’s avatar so that when she undergoes Terrigenesis it gives her completely different abilities than in the real world

So there’s what I thought of last week’s episode, and that means I am finally caught up.  Expect a review of tonight’s episode tomorrow, followed by a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” article for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on Thursday, and maybe an Iron Fist review of Friday.

What did you think of last week’s AoS?  Did you expect Mace to be killed?  Let me know in the comments!

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