Josh recaps Season 4 Episode 18 of Agents of SHIELD, titled No Regrets, where SHIELD tries to track down Daisy, and Fitz’s regret is revealed! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
- His thoughts on No Regrets, Episode 418 of Agents of SHIELD
- Her thoughts on Agents of SHIELD, Season 4 Episode 18: No Regrets
SHIELD Matters in the Framework—To Mace At Least
On this episode of Agents of SHIELD, we continue in the Framework, beginning with Coulson and Mace trying to figure out where Daisy is. They stage a car cash on the road so that a HYDRA prison bus stops to investigate. With some subterfuge, Mace and Coulson are able to take down the HYDRA agents and search the bus. The only things on the bus are dead bodies. Luckily none are Daisy.
Back at base, Simmons is becoming increasingly frustrated with dealing with this fake world, but Coulson tries to tell her to keep a lid on it, as these people who are in this world aren’t like him, with the ability to see glimpses of the real world.
Meanwhile, Mack seems on board with joining SHIELD and begins by assisting with repurposing the captured prison bus and removing all of the HYDRA plates, and replacing them with others so that it can be used to get into the base. Mace plans to head into HYDRA to investigate a tip they received regarding HYDRA’s plan.
Becoming increasingly frustrated with these missions, Simmons breaks down and tells Mace and Ward about the real world, and how all of these side missions do not really matter. Mace remains straight faced throughout the explanation, but in the end tells Simmons that he can’t believe what he is doing doesn’t matter. Meanwhile, Ward questions Simmons’ sanity, asking her why the other world isn’t the fake world. Simmons, frustrated, leaves. Meanwhile, Mace tells Ward to figure out what is going on with Simmons.
Daisy Has a Bad Day, But Learns About a Back Door From Radcliffe
As for where Daisy is, she is still being held in a interrogation room, and Evil-Fitz is interrogating her about the other world. Daisy tries to plead with Fitz, telling him this isn’t who he really is, and that the other world is the real one, but Fitz is not able to see the truth. Fitz acknowledges the other world, but insists that Daisy is the evil version from that world that has replaced the Daisy in this one. Fitz then takes a break from the torture, and talks with AIDA, remarking that she will not break.
AIDA then has her own conversation with Daisy, and tells her what she did within the Framework, taking away a person’s “one regret”. AIDA explains she didn’t intentionally make the world the way it is, but this is the way things turned out when that one regret was taken away. AIDA then offers Daisy a life with Lincoln, but Daisy tells AIDA that what people want isn’t always what they should have. AIDA then proceeds to explain her desire for this place—which basically is that she is free to make her own decisions here.
Next door to Daisy, she can hear Radcliffe, who seems to have regret for what he has created. Daisy asks Radcliffe if there is a backdoor that he had put into the Framework, and Radcliffe says he has, and tells Daisy about it.
May Takes Down Mace, But Seems to Have a Change of Heart About HYDRA
May then shows up to talk with AIDA, and May volunteers for a mission to take down the Patriot, which could be a little hazardous to her health. May seems on board regardless, and we learn that this hazard is a special serum that enhances strength for about an hour. We also learn that Fitz’s father is much closer to Fitz in this universe than in the real world, and he briefs Fitz on something called the Looking Glass.
We also see Fitz reflecting on his decision to kill Agnes. There is just a slight glimmer of regret it seems here, when Fitz admits he might not have to have killed Agnes. But his father tells him to snap out of it basically. I think we know why Fitz is the man he is today now.
Meanwhile, Coulson is trying to get into a HYDRA re-education facility with the bus that was stolen before. He is able to get past security after a tense couple of moments as Coulson waits for his forged security clearance to go through. Inside the facility, Coulson and Mace discover many imprisoned men, and they begin freeing them. One of the men turns out to be Antoine Triplett. He was killed in a previous season in the real world, when the Terrigen mist hit him. Triplett searches for his boots, which he finds on a now dead HYDRA Agent. Apparently he has some intel on a camera hidden in the boots.
May, meanwhile, gets her dose of strength-enhancing serum so she can take on the Patriot. Fitz injects her himself, and we see that May gets pretty amped up from the serum.
Mack then gives Simmons a history lesson on HYDRA, which is basically that HYDRA has wiped history from the textbooks. Meanwhile, Ward wants to know why Simmons hates him so much, and Simmons tells him that Ward killed a lot of people in the real world. Ward apologizes for his evil counterpart. Ward then mobilizes a team to join Mace and Coulson, and Ward is about to ask Mack to go, but Simmons volunteers in his place.
At the re-education facility, May confronts Mace and the two duke it out. Unfortunately for May, the serum begins to wear off, and Mace is able to get the upper hand.
Coulson at this time has found a facility where children are being brainwashed. May sees the building that the SHIELD agents are in, and orders the Quinjet to strike. The rockets severely damage the building. Inside, Coulson, Simmons, Ward, and Triplett are looking like they might be buried in rubble, but Mace is able to save the day, and supports the building enough for the children and SHIELD members to escape.
Agent May comes in though, and seems set on taking Mace down. But seeing there are children in the facility that SHIELD is trying to save seems to put hesitation in May. She allows the SHIELD agents to rescue the kids, and escape. Unfortunately, Mace does not make it out though, and the building collapses on him.
We get a brief view of the real world here, when we see AIDA shut off Mace’s life support systems. It seems here the Matrix is real—if you die in the Framework, you die in the real world.
In the final scene of the episode, we see that May might finally be coming around. She pays a visit to Daisy and provides her with a Terrigen crystal. Quake is back, it seems.
His Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD, Season 4 Episode 18: No Regrets
I really like where SHIELD is going for the most part this season, and especially in this last third of it. It has been interesting seeing the how things would play out in the alternate universe. It is really hard to see Fitz this evil though. He is one of my favorite characters of the show, and to see him be so cold-hearted is very tough. But now that we see some of the reason why that Fitz is the way he is, it sort of makes sense. I am worried for Fitz though—as I wonder if getting free from the Framework could come down to Simmons and SHIELD having to kill Fitz to get out. I don’t think that would actually happen, but I think it would be teased for sure.
It was sad seeing Mace go down. At least he had a hero’s death, but at the same time, it feels terrible he died for something that really doesn’t matter, as Simmons is right —what happens to the people here doesn’t matter for the most part, if they aren’t one of the SHIELD agents that are “jacked in”.
There are some things to be happy about though—May seems to have come around, despite her being the one who essentially killed Mace. Also, Triplett is back! Sadly, I am guessing there will be some heart-felt goodbyes when the “real” people leave the Framework, as I doubt there is a way for Ward and Triplett to escape this world.
There is one thing that is bothering me with these episodes though. We know SHIELD did exist at some point in the Framework, so I wonder when the exact date of the fall of SHIELD was. The reason I wonder is what happened to all of the superheroes? Where is Iron Man? Captain America? The Hulk? I suppose the ramifications of the changes in this world could have caused events to unfold that either killed or had the heroes never come to be, but it seems like someone like Iron Man would exist, given how long ago his character came about, but I guess putting too much thought into this takes away from enjoying the show, so I will do my best to not talk about this for now! Either way though, I am excited to see what happens next!
Her Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD, Season 4 Episode 18: No Regrets
We asked for it and we got it. Now we know what Fitz’s regret is – not having a good relationship with his father. Before a few episodes ago, I don’t think we had ever heard anything about Fitz’s father. Apparently, he isn’t such a great person, judging by how Fitz reacted in the episode when the LMD Radcliffe was talking about Fitz’s father. It seems that Fitz wishes that things were different with his father. In the Framework, it appears that he and his father have a very good relationship. Unfortunately, that relationship has had a negative effect on Fitz, turning him into an evil person – like his father. We can see that there is a glimmer of the old Fitz there, when he reexamines having killed Agnes. However, his father puts that out of his head quickly. Hopefully sometime soon Simmons and the other SHIELD members can appeal to that side of him.
As expected, like in The Matrix films, if you die in the Framework, you die in real life. (Although if you die in real life, your consciousness can live on in the Framework.) When the building fell, I wasn’t convinced that Mace necessarily died. It cut away, so there may have been a chance that he got out somehow at the last second, but we just didn’t see it. Stuff like that happens all the time. But then we saw him flatline in real life, so apparently he really is dead. Which is sad, because I was just starting to like him.
In any case, at least it looks like we’re starting to get May to come to her senses, since she delivered the Terrigen crystal to Daisy. Now Daisy will have her powers back, which should be a great help to SHIELD. But anyway, I am continuing to enjoy this season, and expect that the story will continue to be compelling!
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 4 Episode 19: All The Madame’s Men
Preview of Season 4 Episode 19 of Agents of SHIELD
