As Daisy continues to resist the attentions of her captors, Mace and Coulson plan a mission to find a very special HYDRA prisoner. Meanwhile, we get treated to a little more insight into exactly how Fitz became who he is in the Framework, and Gemma tries desperately to explain truths that nobody in the resistance wants to hear.

Another week, another ‘Agents of HYDRA’ title card – this season has now had three title card shifts over its course, and it’s committed to each one of them with a distinct ‘phase’ of proceedings, all still cleverly tied into the central arc. Oh how very far we seem from Robbie Reyes and his persona vendetta now, yet the Darkhold is still there in the background, driving this new dystopian nightmare in which we find our heroes trapped.

As I’ve mentioned before, what’s fascinating with this segment is that the writers have gone to the trouble of giving us three-dimensional, grounded alternate versions of people we know, rather than just simply ‘make everyone who’s bad good and vice versa’. This is expressed nowhere as vividly as in the marked differences in Fitz, while still retaining some of the essential qualities we recognise. For all that his cruelty and willingness to inflict pain and even death in this reality represents a marked difference, there is still a recognisable fierce loyalty to those he loves, a brilliance of thought and a determination to win the day. No wonder it’s so heartbreaking for Gemma to see him in this light.

What we do get is a bit more background into what it is in the Framework that has been altered to make Fitz as he is. It’s telegraphed fairly baldly (and arguably has been for a while) but it’s still a satisfying slotting into place of the ‘what’ – all that arguably remains is the ‘why’ – as in why this one change created quite the monster he’s become.

Mace is another standout here – here we see the fantasy Mace had in the real world come to life for him in the Framework – in this reality he really is an Inhuman with super strength, and he unflinchingly and instinctively acts to use it to help others. This bears out the truth of the Mace we ‘know’ – a man who wasn’t what he appeared, but who did genuinely and desperately want to help people, and was willing to go to any lengths to do so.

What’s become increasingly inescapable is the political leanings of the show and those who write it – wait for a verbatim quote from the real world to up and smack you in the face in this episode. It’s clear that the writers aren’t afraid of drawing parallels between the current state of their home country in the real world, and the dystopian, HYDRA-controlled nightmare in which our protagonists find themselves. It’s not subtle, and your mileage may vary, dependent on your own political views.

However, real world politics aside, this is still feeling more vital than SHIELD was in danger of becoming at points in Season 3. This is starting to feel like a show in which anything can and does happen, and where nobody is safe – that tension underlines everything, and makes you care when the big moments happen.

The sting is well worth your time, and that’s all I will say – anything more would be ruinous.

Verdict: Plunging ever deeper into the darkness, this is now a show giving the best in the genre a run for their money. Agents of SHIELD may no longer be tied to the MCU movie-verse, but it’s arguably starting to operate on a par with it, involving arcs, increasingly higher stakes and all. 9/10

Greg D. Smith