‘Agents of SHIELD’ season 4, episode 12 review: Pick a Koenig, any Koenig

There was an episode of “Agents of SHIELD” like no other on Tuesday night, and there are so many reasons for that.

For one, we had Coulson getting romantic with a robot! The LMD May was finally revealed to everyone tonight, mostly because of Fitz and Simmons’ research of Robo-Radcliffe making them realize that there was a false version of Melinda running around. Unfortunately, Phil didn’t realize that before it was too late, and LMD May already had control of precisely what it was that the real Radcliffe wanted.

What made this particular twist so amazing is that it wasn’t exactly as though this May was a terrible person. Instead, it was more that she was controlled to fulfill orders, and once those said orders were fulfilled, she no longer served the purpose. With the Darkhold we know just how dangerous Radcliffe can be, especially with his own evil organization all around him. He’s got the Russians and the Watchdogs lending him a helping hand, and the simple response to this is “well, this can’t be good.”

Still, it’s okay watching the villain succeed when this villain is as interesting as Radcliffe is. While his entire endgame is not entirely clear just yet, that’s fine when you’re enjoying the journey. The best Radcliffe scene, real or otherwise, was the back-and-forth with Fitz where he did everything in his power to get under the guy’s skin.

Three cheers to Patton Oswalt – It’d be wrong if we were to not pour a little bit of praise on Patton tonight, who came back and brought us some wonderful things in the return of the Koenig brothers to the show. They were irrelevant, varied, and a lot of fun. Also, we loved their explanation of being “technicians” more so than LMDs, and also them going completely meta on Daisy in talking to her back people online ‘shipping her and Black Widow with the name “Quack” attached to it.

Also, the Koenigs were the protectors of the whole secret at the center of the episode in the first place. While it was a little random to have them show up, be incredibly relevant, and then depart in a single episode, we’re glad that the show made the most of whatever they spent to get him to appear in this episode. They feel almost like the show’s manifestation of its own fans, irreverent and interesting and willing to lend a helping hand in their own way. For fans, “their own way” is simply watching the show and doing so live.

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As a whole, we’d say that this episode as incredibly funny at times, which is saying something given that there was a lot of serious subject matter at the center of it including giving so much to people who really shouldn’t have any of it. We’re just glad that the LMD May secret is finally out, since it gives Coulson now the ability to find the real May — and maybe figure out those feelings in the process. Grade: B+.

Next week – Get ready to see the original inspiration for Aida, plus a whole lot more. You can read some more about it just by heading over to the link here. (Photo: ABC.)