The LMD arc has really made the show better than ever, as this week’s episode produced more interesting developments,
A new Inhuman has entered the battle between SHIELD and the Superior and Radcliffe, and what he does literally blows everything sky-high.
Meanwhile Coulson needs the help of a woman with a connection to Aida to find May.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Once upon a time, Radcliffe (John Hannah) had a girlfriend named Agnes (Mallory Jansen), who looks a lot like Aida. She had a tumor that couldn’t be removed, and he left to find a way to overcome death. That led to his LMD Aida (also Jansen), and his plans to make a virtual world called the Framework.

Coulson has tracked Agnes down to Spain where she paints and plans to live her final days. However, he needs her to lay a trap for Radcliffe. He uses the “Agent May” card, comparing Agnes to May in terms of facing death down.

Mac isn’t sure about this, because he thinks Coulson is obsessing too much on May, who may not be alive as far as they know. She is, still trapped in the Framework. Coulson isn’t giving up, and it’s proof if he does find her, their relationship may change.

Agnes contacts Radcliffe via e-mail, and Aida is stunned to learn she was modeled after someone else. No sense of jealousy, though…. yet. Radcliffe calls Agnes and offers her a chance to live in his Framework world. Coulson was hoping she’d lead him to Radcliffe, but instead she agrees to go with Radcliffe. Cloulson and Mac are left behind, dodging a hail of bullets. Coulson isn’t discouraged, though. Know he knows May is alive and that they will find her.

Meanwhile, the Superior (Zach McGowan)  is still planning to get rid of all Inhumans. He’s got new Terrigen crystals (thanks to Radcliffe) that don’t hurt humans and reveal who will be an Inhuman. He sends a Watchdog named Shockley (John Pyper-Ferguson) to Senator Nadeer’s (Parminder Negra) office who breaks a crystal, because he thinks she could have the Inhuman gene. She doesn’t, but Shockley does, making him a walking time bomb if he vibrates the right way. He explodes and kills the Senator and then reconstitutes himself to normal. He winds up nude like the Terminator and he thinks it’s cool. Shockley doesn’t want to let the Superior know just yet, and claims Nadeer turned.

That twist is a shame because fans were expecting a possible reunion between the Senator and the resurrected brother she shot to death a few weeks back, and how that might bring her down. Vijay might come back to help SHIELD, but that depends on how he’ll take the news of what happened to his sister.

Supes also wants to beat Daisy and Director Mace (Jason O’Mara), because he’s supposedly an Inhuman. Actually, it’s due to the super serum he’s been taking. Simmons learns the serum might kill Mace at any time. It’s a risk he’ll have to take, though. He doesn’t want to “fumble the ball”, like Atlanta did last Sunday.

Daisy leads a team to find and capture Shockley, and she succeeds. Daisy learns almost too late of his volatile personality when he tries to explode. He’s ejected off the quinjet just in time, still in action. It comes down to a showdown between Daisy and Shockley, where she forces him to explode to wear him down. It takes a toll on her just as Mace finds some of Supes’ men are coming to get her. That’s when Mace takes a shot of the super serum to slow down Supes’ men, and then winds up being captured. It shows how he’s willing to play a role in SHIELD even if he’s not Captain America 2.0. Somehow he’s got to stay on the show as a regular agent. As for Daisy, she’s got what it takes to be a future Director, but that’s ten years away. As for Shockley, he’s sealed in a containment tank after it sucks him in while he’s in ash mode.

We see Agnes put in the Framework, and looking at the print Radcliffe gave her which she destroyed in real life. Agnes physically dies while her consciousness will remain in the Framework. It’s similar to what happened to River Song in Doctor Who’s “Forest of the Dead”. Aida quietly takes Agnes’ necklace and puts it on herself, which may suggest Aida will try to evolve from LMD to Agnes 2.0. As for May, her face twitched. Could Framework Agnes lead May back to the real world? It’s a possibility.

The Superior still plans to stop at nothing to get rid of Coulson, ait would be a big step forward if he uses Mace as bait next week.