Welcome to the Framework.
Full spoilers for Marvel's Agents of SHIELD continue below. And considering this was one doozy of an episode, read on at your own risk.
Well, that was certainly one of the best episodes of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD that has ever aired, and without a doubt the best episode of Season 4 to date. We knew going in that "Self Control" would conclude the second "pod" of the season, "L.M.D.," and kick off whatever storyline would lead us to the end, but Hydra running the world? Certainly did not see that coming.
In our preview for tonight's big episode, Jed Whedon told me that one of the challenges of this season was trying to stay one step ahead of what SHIELD's smart audience expects. Most of us probably assumed that the show would be sending its main characters into the Framework, but I doubt many of us expected what we'd find inside. (If you did, claim your kudos in the comments!) Hydra in charge?! Simmons is dead?! Skye Daisy and Ward are an item?! This truly is the Upside Down.
I could spend an entire review just talking about the implications of the cliffhanger finale and what that means for what's coming next. But beyond a killer set up for the third and final arc of the season, "Self Control" was a great episode across the board. It leaned into and paid off relationships that its been fostering for years now, while also twisting them and allowing us to see them through a different lens. The Daisy and Simmons team up against the world was particularly fun, but even L.M.D. May putting a stop to L.M.D. Coulson, and Simmons having to kill L.M.D. Fitz, had a lot of emotional weight and resonance.
"Self Control" also just looked great. The special effects used this week were top notch, with the standout being Daisy's destruction of the L.M.D. Coulson and Mack models. It's clear a lot of time and effort was put into making this big showdown as badass as possible, and it worked. Considering most TV shows aren't working with film-sized special effects budgets and need to turn around these scenes on a much tighter deadline, it's always rewarding as a television viewer to see these come together in such a great way.
Agents of SHIELD has done a great job of staying a step ahead of audience expectations this season, and that played out in an important way with the reveal of who was and wasn't an L.M.D. (I'm pretty sure Fitz has been a decoy since Aida first captured him and Radcliffe earlier this season, by the way.) The series also used our expectations of these characters against us. Ming-Na Wen has done a lot of fantastic work as L.M.D. May, but her turn at the end of the episode was incredibly earned and also showed that we are more than just our programming, robot or not.
Similarly, SHIELD has done a great job showing there are shades of grey to these robotic versions of our main characters; even with Aida killing her maker and assuming the main "Big Bad" role, I'm hesitant to actually consider her a villain. If anything, she's one of the most sympathetic characters on the show in her quest to be more human. That's important as Agents of SHIELD gets into touchier, more political material with what it's doing with the Framework and Hydra. Sometimes the Big Bad can just be the darkness inside of humanity.
So what comes next? Brett Dalton is back as Grant Ward, Hydra is running things, and there's a lot of other differences sure to be revealed about what's changed in the Framework. There's going to be the question of whether the core SHIELD cast even wants to leave the Framework. Wasn't the whole idea that this would be a better, happier, more peaceful life for them? I can't even imagine where the show is going next after it pulled the rug out from under us here, and that's the best feeling when watching Agents of SHIELD.
The Verdict
"Self Control" is hands down the best episode of Season 4, and one of the best episodes Agents of SHIELD has ever delivered. It offered great, emotional character moments, solid twists, impressive effects and one heck of a cliffhanger ending. The only downside is having to wait to find out what happens next.
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