Agents of SHIELD Season 4 Episode 12: Hot Potato Soup Review

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis:  The Koenigs are back, and the fate of the world is in their hands. (IMDB)

Writer: Craig Titley

Director: Nina Lopez-Corrado

Rating: TV-PG

Running Time: 45mins

And it all came crashing down, not literally of course. The return of Patton Oswalt as Billy and Sam Koenig lightening things up a little but still worked well alongside what has been a dark season so far. In this episode, we learn that Coulson tasked Billy to dispose of the Darkhold which made him a target at the beginning of the episode when a group of Russian gunmen attacked him and Sam in an arcade before kidnapping Billy. They did not realize that there were two of them.

The previous episode hinted at a larger presence behind the scenes known only as “The Superior”. We got our first glimpse at him (Zach McGowan) here. His motives may not be the clearest yet but he wants to destroy the Inhumans and what made them what they were. He believed the Darkhold was the key in doing so. He didn’t like machines either as he preferred to do things the old way. He was surprised when he learned that Aida was a machine after seeing her beat up the other Russians.

Realizing that Billy was an LMD, Radcliffe and Aida worked on him to get hold of his memories to try and figure out the location of the Darkhold. SHIELD managed to make the connection between the Russians, Nadeer, and Radcliffe and figured that “The Superior” was related to the Russian general who betrayed Bobbi and Hunter.

LMD Radcliffe was revealed at the end of the last episode and he continued to wreak havoc here. This new Radcliffe was highly uncooperative despite Fitz, Simmons, and Mack’s many attempts. Fitz tried to crack LMD Radcliffe’s programming but it was much too complex for him. What didn’t make it easier was his taunting of Fitz about his father. This Radcliffe claimed to have known his father and kept bringing up Fitz’s past. Fitz did not have the greatest relationship with his father, which he kept secret up until that point.

If it were not for Simmons, they would not have found his quantum brain (that Aida was working on several episodes ago). This led them to make the connection to May and they figured out that she was an LMD as well. The reveal was only a matter time as fake May was beginning to crack, getting closer to Coulson while wanting so hard to tell him but her programming didn’t allow it. Kudos still to Ming-Na Wen and her performance, showing fake May’s inner struggle.

After meeting a third Koenig brother, we also learned that Sam and Billy Koenig, along with their sister LT Koenig (Artemis Pebdani), passed the book around amongst each other until it was stored at a secret SHIELD facility known as the Labyrinth. Once they arrived, Sam went to fetch the Darkhold before the Russians arrived, who also found the Labyrinth. Sam gave May the Darkhold and her programming kicked in, not allowing her to give it to Coulson. There he realized that May wasn’t who he thought she was. She was already acting strangely and this just confirmed it. Daisy, who learned the truth, saved Coulson and got the book back.

After disposing of the Russians, Billy had the book and saw that fake May was hurt. As he went to help her, fake May took the book again before Radcliffe came and took it back. Fake May wanted to go with him but she had outlived her usefulness to him. Back at the base, they decided to burn LMD Radcliffe but they kept fake May as she appeared to be the only key to finding the real May.

The last reveal of the episode was “The Superior” and his research. He believes he knows what was responsible for all the strange, alien things that have happened.  He showed Radcliffe a blurry picture of Coulson at the site of these strange, alien things but he also had evidence that he was dead. Radcliffe told him that he was not dead and that he could help him get to Coulson.

Overall, this was another great episode, featuring great dual performances by Ming-Na Wen and Patton Oswalt. The fake May storyline ended but it gave them a quest to find the real May and gave them a new enemy in “The Superior”, along with Radcliffe and Nadeer.

Score: 8.5/10

If you liked this, please read my other reviews here and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, follow me on Instagram, and also like me on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.