AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Roundtable: Self-Control

It’s the last of the LMD arc portion of Season Four, and Roz, Rueben, and Karen have some things to say about “Self-Control.” We have a bit of a hiatus now, so you’ve got time to leave your thoughts in the comments and participate in the conversation!

Looks like the last of the SHIELD-based LMDs, but we still have AIDA to deal with. It ain’t over til the fat lady sings (sorry, opera joke), so what’s the next step in her evolution?

Roz: I suspect she’ll go full HAL 9000 soon, but I hope without singing Daisy. Or maybe that’s funnier now that I think of it. (Karen: it kinda is)

Rueben: I had an inkling that the show would take AIDA in the direction of her wanting to become more “real,” but the methods being used are downright scary.  I have to agree with Roz, she’s gonna go really bad before all is said and done.

Karen: Did we not warn Radcliffe? I mean seriously. Mack and Yo-Yo saw this coming down main street. Once he got obsessed with the Framework I knew he’d be a goner. Not only does she want to be more, but now she has free reign to do whatever she pleases. Recipe for disaster. Go get ’em Daimma! (I don’t know what their ship/teamup name would be)

What was the biggest surprise for you in this episode?

Roz: LMD!Fitz and that confrontation with Simmons. Close second is WARD!

Rueben:  Yeah, Ward was a big surprise, but seeing May in the framework standing inside a Hydra building. What the h*ll!!!  And, Jemma in the framework is dead.  That is SO not good for our Jemma who was infiltrating the framework.  My mind was just spinning after that framework montage.

Karen: I truly had no idea what was going to happen in this episode, and it was refreshingly shocking. Fitz being a turncoat, LMD!May realizing she should be loyal to the real Coulson, Radcliffe “dying,” and then all the unrealized realities in the Framework. CRAZY! I think the biggest surprise was seeing Wade again after all this time.

I’d like to get specific for a sec. I find myself asking why Daisy doesn’t use her powers just a little bit more when she’s up against an enemy like LMD-Mace. Do you have theories?

Roz: I think she’s scared of hurting herself without the gauntlets, but other than that I’ve no idea.

Rueben:  I have to agree with Roz that she doesn’t want to get hurt without her gauntlets, but she took quite the beating from LMD-Mace regardless so it might have been better for her to use her powers against him.  Otherwise, like Roz, I’m stumped as to why she didn’t just unleash herself.

Karen: Yeah, I’m glad that I’m not the only one that doesn’t get it. She could use them a little more, right? I mean, later on she got shot – her powers might’ve prevented that from happening… because DUH.

How Westworld-y was that room full of Daisys? What’s the deal with that? Were they trying to make an all-Daisy army?

Roz: I figured the army was meant to kill all the Inhumans as they came on board so it was efficient but again, that’s just a guess.

Rueben:  I’m in the minority (those who haven’t watched Westworld) so I can’t comment on that part, but it was creepy seeing all those Daisy’s.  Do they have a Coulson or Mack army too or does Aida have a weird fixation on Daisy.  It just seemed very strange that they created some many duplicates of her without giving us a reason why.  Also, giving the explosion that LMD-May created at SHIELD, what survived that.  How wide spread was the explosion.  So many questions!!

Karen: It’s cool Rueben, you got the gist of what I was asking. I just wasn’t sure where they were going with multiple copies of the same person. It doesn’t make sense if the strategy is to replace that person and impersonate them. It was a head-scratcher moment for me.

Now that Daisy and Jemma are inside The Framework, we’ve seen our first montage of the lives of our heroes. Some shocking things here, yes, but how will our dynamic duo be able to infiltrate and get back out unscathed? Any theories?

Roz: I hope so because a dead Jemma is not a good thing. I have no theories right now at all.

Rueben:  I can’t even begin to surmise how Daisy and Jemma are going to be able to complete their mission.  Jemma in the framework is dead so where does real Jemma go?  She told Daisy before they went under that to die in the framework they die for real so…that ominous and frightening.  And, how will Daisy handle it being Ward and not Lincoln.  I don’t think there is any chance of getting out unscathed at all.

Karen: Out of both of them, I think Jemma might have the advantage since she’s dead in that timeline. She can skulk around without being noticed, and go incognito. She won’t get her own storyline either. Daisy gets an idyllic vaca though, so she might be a harder sell on conversion back to reality.

Our VIP/Favorite Scenes/Additional Thoughts/etc. are below.

Roz: Just how AU is this Framework arc going to be? I mean, HYDRA is still alive and well and all of Cap2 might not have happened as we want it.

Rueben:  Watching Jemma take out LMD-Fitz was hard to watch but oh so very dramatic.  The hug between Daisy and Jemma – when proving they were both real – was tear-jerking.  Seeing Coulson in the framework with a normal life was strange, to say the least.  This was a really good episode, but just leaves us all with so many questions.

Karen: LOVED The Framework montage. Pretty weird to see the unfiltered dreams in each of our main character’s heads’. I Also dig that Jemma and Daisy are going to be the saviors. Two young women that have gone through so much that they can’t help but bond in a viceral way, but have yet to do so, because they work in different areas – both physically and skill-set. Let’s see how they do up against AIDA – who has the biggest flaw of all, arrogance.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesday 10/9c on ABC – It returns in April.