Appearances
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Doctor Holden Radcliffe
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) (Apparent death)
- Aida
- Melinda May (LMD) (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Eli Morrow (Death)
Other Characters:
- Peng (First appearance; dies)
- LAPD
- Ultron (Mentioned)
- Unnamed Inhuman (Mentioned)
- Senator Ellen Nadeer (Mentioned)
- Spirit of Vengeance (Mentioned)
- Doctor Lucy Bauer (Mentioned)
- Doctor Joseph Bauer (Mentioned)
- Gabe Reyes (Mentioned)
- KEJH
- The Devil (Mentioned)
- Santino Noguera (Mentioned)
- Watchdogs (Mentioned)
- Momentum Labs (Mentioned)
- Previous Ghost Rider (Mentioned)
- SSR (Named only)
- Agent Eric Koenig (Mentioned)
- God (Yahweh) (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Inhumans
- Bears (Mentioned)
- Demons (Mentioned)
- Life-Model Decoy
- Sheep (Mentioned)
- Ghosts (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Earth-199999
- Earth
- United States of America
- Los Angeles, California
- Playground
- Los Alamos (Mentioned)
- Sokovia (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- Hell (Invoked)
- Earth
Items:
- Sokovia Accords (Mentioned)
- Quantum Batteries
- Darkhold (Appears on screen)
- Shotgun-Axe
- Demon core
Vehicles:
Synopsis
Working his way up the Periodic Table, Eli learns how to use matter taken from the Earth's core and from other dimensions to create plutonium. He then focuses on creating compounds, such as water. However, he is not yet aware that his power gained from the Darkhold is behaving this way, instead believing that he is simply creating matter from nothing.
Mace reluctantly agrees with Coulson to let Quake, Ghost Rider, and Slingshot search a building located near some unusual forms of seismic activity. However, a booby trap separates Daisy and Elena from Robbie. Robbie goes in alone to confront Eli, and Eli traps Robbie inside an interdimensional portal box with the plutonium inside. Robbie attempts to break free, but Zarathos seems reluctant to help out at first. However, Robbie reminds Zarathos of their deal enough to keep himself alive - after being fatally stabbed twice by Eli's carbon stalactites.
With help from Aida, the other SHIELD agents attempt to trap the plutonium in the other dimension before it can be detonated - which would wipe out most of the city. Mace and Coulson discuss the trust issues that have developed, and Mace admits that his concerns with SHIELD public relations are a primary driving force behind his questionable recent actions. At Phil's suggestion, Mace forms a plan with his SHIELD agents to set a trap for Eli. Phil himself goes into the field to confront Eli, informing him of the physics behind his new power. Eli becomes distracted by his anger at Phil insinuating him to be a fraud in his effort to "become a god." He attempts to murder everyone in the room, with help from some gangsters. Yet, Elena arrives in time and foils this plan. Amidst the chaos above, the SHIELD agents below are also ambushed by gangsters. Aida is shot, and begins imitating the behavior of a real woman who had just been shot. Fitz and Simmons ward off the other attackers, while Daisy attempts to absorb the seismic activity Eli is causing in order to keep the bomb from going off.
Phil sees an opportunity to save Robbie, and throws Robbie's chain at him in an effort for Robbie to pull his way to freedom. Zarathos finally agrees to help, and Robbie gains extra strength from manifesting as Ghost Rider. However, he soon sees his wounded uncle and is distracted by the need to settle his final score. He drops the chain, and then grabs Eli into the chamber with himself. Eli is seen fighting in vain to keep himself from being incinerated by Ghost Rider, right as the chamber collapses into the other dimension. The team sees Eli go up in flames, but assumes Robbie also died. Phil later comments to Daisy that there is still a slight chance that Robbie might find a way to return, in spite having apparently been sent to Hell.
The team goes to celebrate the fact that Ghost Rider helped them eliminate everyone involved in Eli's evil scheme, as they further plot how to fix their public relations and end global persecution of Inhumans. Mace also provides a cover story for the media, allowing Daisy to cease having to live as a fugitive. Simmons issues Daisy a new security lanyard, further ensuring that she can safely return to life as an agent.
Meanwhile, Radcliffe and company are encouraged by Mace to take Aida back to the lab and reprogram her - so as to erase the Darkhold from her databanks. Aida instead rebels, knocking May unconscious and then using her DNA to construct an LMD. The LMD returns to Coulson and acts as though all is well, as Aida stores the real May in a closet. When another SHIELD agent gets too close to discovering that the Darkhold has found a way to corrupt Aida, she kills the agent with a quick neck snap. She promises to May that she'll get her "all cleaned up."
The teaser for the follow-up episode shows Aida on a quest to bring down SHIELD and replace all its human agents with LMDs.Cast
Notes
- This is the midseason finale of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fourth season.
- When Coulson suggests Daisy should be the Inhuman face of S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of Mace, she replies «Maybe in the comic version» - a reference to her main counterpart who has been the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in her universe.