Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD: The 10 greatest episodes of the show (so far)

3. Season 4, Episode 15: “Self Control”

Once the LMD storyline kicks off in season 4, every episode seems to get more intense as LMDs start infiltrating SHIELD and replacing agents with robotic replicas of themselves. “Self Control” is when this all comes to a head. In an almost claustrophobic hour of television, the tension is ratcheted up to a 10 and beyond as the minutes go by. This is an amazing episode that has everything you could want: intense emotional sequences, movie-level fight scenes, and mind-blowing visual effects.

We start with FitzSimmons entering a lab, fully aware that SHIELD has been comprised by the LMDs, when an LMD scan alerts them that one of them is a replica. In one of the most taut scenes of the show, Fitz and Simmons argue back and forth over who is themselves and who isn’t, culminating in the revelation that Fitz is, indeed, an LMD. LMD Fitz stabs Simmons in the leg and knocks her unconscious, but she gets the upper hand when she comes to and is forced to stab to death the robot that is wearing her lover’s face.

Simmons and Daisy eventually find each other, though they are initially wary of one another’s identities. Daisy offers to quake Simmons just enough so Daisy could feel Simmons’ bones and Simmons could feel Daisy’s powers, but Simmons is resistant until Daisy pulls her in close for a hug/small quake to the back. The relief and joy the two feel knowing that they are real and palpable is extremely touching. They develop a plan of escape, with Daisy taking on the LMDs and Simmons finding any agents who are still real and locating the hardware to allow them access to the Framework along the way.

Daisy’s fight scenes with the Coulson, Mace, and Mack LMDs are some of the best of the series. She uses a combination of hand-to-hand combat and her powers to blow them to pieces, but not after she is shot twice. She makes her way to Simmons, who found Davis and Piper (Briana Venskus) and they head to the hanger to board the Zephyr. They’re intercepted by LMD May, who defies her orders and lets Daisy and Simmons escape. LMD May, who is sitting on a pile of explosives with a detonator in her hand, faces off with LMD Coulson, with Wen delivering one of her best monologues of the series, even though she’s a robot:

"“You were right, our programming is different. Are you afraid to die? Because I am. I know I’m not real, I’m all phantom limbs, but that doesn’t make the pain less real … my impulse to keep Coulson safe and close, that desire? That came from me. And I’m sorry to say, you’re not him.”"

LMD May triggers the explosives, taking the base and LMD Coulson down with her.