“Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” Season 4 Episode 17 Recap: “Identity and Change”
“Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” amps up the Framework action, delving farther and deeper than last week. Welcome to the fray, Mack and Radcliffe.
We’re back to the Framework in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD this week. Actually, we never really left …
Not-So-Short Summary
“I knew I wasn’t crazy!” Coulson exclaims after Skye lays it all out for him. Too bad Hydra is sending a team to take Coulson in and they have to duck out early. Simmons and Coulson head to Ward’s rendezvous point while Skye goes back into Hydra to find a location on Radcliffe.
MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “What If…” – Hail the New World Order! Daisy and Simmons uncover secrets and lies in a world gone mad. With Hydra in control, they are our only hope to save everyone, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, APRIL 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Jennifer Clasen)
BRETT DALTON
May snags her before she can leave. She gives Radcliffe’s coordinates to Ward to take them to Simmons.
Simmons and Coulson find the Resistance where Jeffrey Mace resides. He’s a super badass (more than in reality). The way SHIELD HQ has been altered in this reality is haunting. It’s a refuge for Inhumans.
We get our first look at Mack in the Framework! And his daughter, Hope! She’s a mechanic like him, already tinkering with things she shouldn’t. He calls her Spark Plug!
Too bad their moments don’t last, as May and Skye’s mission takes them to Mack’s house. He’s in a lot of trouble. And oh man, he makes the comments to Skye that he knows she’s Daisy Johnson and they’re both SHIELD agents, but it’s just a set up by May. Ugh, even I fell for that one!
MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “What If…” – Hail the New World Order! Daisy and Simmons uncover secrets and lies in a world gone mad. With Hydra in control, they are our only hope to save everyone, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, APRIL 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Jennifer Clasen)
CHLOE BENNET
Unfortunately, they have Skye.
Ward, Coulson, and Simmons find Radcliffe, and it’s funny because Radcliffe immediately thinks Ward is Hive. He very much knows he’s in the Framework and also knows he’s dead.
And too bad (it’s a recurring theme this episode) Madame Hydra and Fitz show up on Radcliffe’s doorstep minutes later. He’s ticked that she put herself into the Framework and messed with the nice equilibrium he created. She’s ticked at how she was treated in the real world.
Radcliffe tries to appeal to Fitz’s other nature, trying to turn him against the lies Madame Hydra has fed him before he kills Agnes in cold blood. It doesn’t work and he kills her anyway. Simmons jumps up and screams in outrage–and was I the only one who saw a glimmer of recognition on Fitz’s face at the sight of Simmons in person?
At SHIELD HQ in the aftermath, Mack shows up to tell them how he tricked Skye into revealing her true nature. “I’m here to help,” he tells them.
Post-Credits Stinger
Daisy waits in a Hydra cell when Fitz arrives to tell her she’s actually a potential Inhuman. And torture her some more.
Badass Moment of the Week
Skye kicking some butt in the elevator. We only see the start of it, but Marvel does like their badass elevator scenes.
Best One-Liner
“Apparently in the real world, I have a robot hand!” Coulson tells Simmons. He had so many good one-liners this episode.
Framework Coulson might be my favorite Coulson because he so wants to be in the know, but isn’t quite there. And still trying.
MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “What If…” (ABC/Jennifer Clasen)
MALLORY JANSEN
Madame Hydra finally shows Fitz a picture of Simmons and it has zero effect on him. Hey, at least in this world, Aida gets her mad scientist actually loving her unconditionally. When she explains Simmons to Fitz, she claims she crossed over from the “other side.”
I like the lie this version of Aida is feeding to Fitz about the “other world” and how she was treated as less than human because SHIELD won the war.
Also, might I throw out there that I hate this Fitz? Which translates into Iain De Caestecker is a fantastic actor.
Related Story: “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” and “Marvel’s Inhumans” Won’t Cross Over Either
Next week’s Agents of SHIELD looks to ramp up the action of Hydra versus SHIELD. Who will fall and who will turn into a potential Inhuman?