'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: 'Broken Promises'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

When we last left Coulson and the gang on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. they had once again accomplished wonders, saving the world from the terrors of the Darkhold with a little help from the Ghost Rider and in the process, they were able to heal and reunite their team.  But despite that happy ending, danger was still around every corner. After all, Doctor Radcliffe's prized Android Aida was influenced greatly by the mysterious book, going so far as to kidnap Agent May and Senator Nadeer was still out there, filled with hate for the Inhumans, setting the stage for a wild couple of storylines, all waiting to be resolved once the winter break came to a close.

Well last night signaled the end to that break with 'Broken Promises' hitting the airwaves and holy cow ladies and gentlemen...this stellar season continued in style because this episode delivered on so many levels, dropping one incredible surprise twist after another our way. Case in point, Senator Nadeer's storyline, where we learned that the mystery man who spent seven months inside the Terragenesis cocoon was her brother Vijay and well...dear old Ellen couldn't live with the fact that her brother had become an Inhuman and arranged for his death in an out of the way location...by making use of the Watchdogs. Yes you read that right, it turns out that Senator Nadeer is the one funding and pulling the strings on this particular group, but she's not the mastermind of their machinations, that's reserved for someone known as The Superior and despite S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best efforts to save Vijay, he eventually died at his sister's hands, demonstrating just how far the Senator will go to be free of the Inhuman threat.

While all of that was going on, the bigger issue at hand, specifically getting rid of the Darkhold, was being dealt with back at Headquarters where Director Mace made a couple of important calls regarding the book. First and foremost, the book was to be delivered to an agent who could make the cursed thing disappear quickly and second...that Aida's hard drive was to be wiped clean to make sure that any and all knowledge of the Darkhold disappeared and well...that's when things got interesting. Because Aida had evolved beyond the control of Dr. Radcliffe and set out on her own to possess the book, making use of her own technical prowess to disable HQ and infiltrate it, wherein the Android May became her pawn, eventually revealing the location of the Darkhold to Aida. But thanks to a hacking backup plan put in place by Fitz and Simmons, Aida was unable to escape and after a brief moment of sentient lament from Aida, she was defeated at last by Mack and it seemed as though all was well. 

But clearly, the theme of the back half of season four, is that nothing is quite what it seems and as if it wasn't enough to introduce one new threat with the mysterious 'Superior', we were also treated to another wholly unexpected big bad...in Doctor Radcliffe. It turns out that the Aida we saw go rogue tonight was nothing more than a pawn as well, designed to try and get the book for Radcliffe, who was clearly briefed on what secrets the Darkhold actually holds and the fact that it could help make mankind immortal and well...Radcliffe wants that power and with a reconstructed Aida at his side, or the original one, the show was a touch vague on that, and an android spy in May, it's only a matter of time before he gets his hands on that book and undoubtedly unleashes hell since we already know its contents are nothing but trouble. 

Either way, what an absolutely fantastic way to kick off the second half of the season. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and it's so wonderful to see this show finally find its stride and every single twist and turn last night was epic to say the least. I love the fact that Doctor Radcliffe never truly 'reformed' from his disturbingly curious ways and it's clear he will be one formidable villain as the season rolls on, and I'm dying to know more about The Superior as a whole. Sadly those discoveries will only come with time, but it will be worth the wait and on one last side note, I do hope we get more team ups with Mack and Yo-Yo, their entire Terminator/killer robots shtick was downright hilarious and necessary to lighten the mood and heck, kudos to the show for the Chopping Mall reference as well. Until next time.

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