Only two of the top agents left at SHIELD base are human, and the LMDs replacing the others are determined to hunt them down and add them to the Framework. With the LMDs closing in, can our heroes fight their way free and save their friends? Eleswhere, AIDA continues her work to protect the Framework by any means necessary, causing Holden to question whether she is to be trusted.

The damp squib that the last episode ended on is forgotten here as we get an action-packed instalment full of intrigue, surprises and a whole lot of action. Having discovered that there are multiple LMD agents on the base just after they returned from their mission against the Superior, FitzSimmons try desperately to work out a plan of escape. Not so easy when there are killer robot doubles of all your friends wandering about the place.

Meanwhile, the May-bot isn’t quite so sure she’s down with what these new guys are selling. Being an earlier iteration with a different core mission, the May-bot retains a lot more of the sense of May’s actual identity. The new ones – programmed as self-aware from the get go and having much different parameters – are much changed, affecting how they act and what they are prepared to do in order to fulfil their core objective of introducing everyone into the Framework. This leads to tension, and in this show tension with May involved doesn’t usually end well.

Elsewhere, AIDA is fretting over how best to fulfil her twin primary directives of keeping Holden safe and protecting the Framework. The android has been becoming increasingly self-sufficient and intuitive – her plan for the Superior is stark evidence of this – and it’s getting increasingly difficult to know who’s the real driving force in the team of her and Holden. This episode gives some answers – not the expected ones and definitely not in the expected fashion.

Back at SHIELD base, the tense hunt through the corridors plays out as a series of amazing action sequences, emphasising the growth of the two central protagonists. By turns claustrophobic, explosive and physically pounding, by the time the finale comes you’re letting out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding. It’s tense, edge of the seat stuff, and proves that a TV budget doesn’t mean you’re always limited in the scope of the set pieces.

Acting wise, the two central protagonists at SHIELD base are the shining stars of this episode. The dialogue exchanges between them drip with the emotion and resonance that only characters you’ve watched grow together through thick and thin can provide, and both actors step up to the plate, giving life and depth to those words. The action sequences work beautifully as well, and it’s definitely one of the strongest episodes for both.

As things draw to a close, we are treated to a glimpse of the various realities inhabited by the denizens of the Framework, some scarier than others, and the sting reveals to us the next stage in the evolution of the Superior.

Verdict: Wow! Epic is the best single word to describe this episode. Packed with action, emotion, tense scares and huge twists, this is an inspiring return to form after last week’s over-emphasis of ‘Phillinda’. Though there’s still a bit of that here, it’s dialled back and not nearly so annoying. Thoroughly good stuff. 9/10

Greg D. Smith