S.H.I.E.L.D. must deal with the disappearance of several agents after Eli Morrow's experiment.
Tropes in this episode:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Darkhold, specifically stated to almost "read your mind" and show you what you really want to know, is implied to have not just taught Aida how to make an interdimensional gateway, but given her true intelligence or driven her to design one, as the final shot has her assembling a brain using the gloves that she made the portal with.
- Analogy Backfire: Mace says that, in respect to finding out as much information as possible, they have to "sharpen the axe, then chop the tree." Mack then notes that he already has an axe that is plenty sharp, and a shotgun.
- And I Must Scream: Nadeer's brother has been alive and conscious for months during the botched Terrigenesis process, as his terrified heartbeat seems to confirm. Once Simmons manages to calm him down, she's able to pull off enough of the cocoon to talk to him.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Daisy points out how quickly Jeffrey is writing off Fitz, Coulson and Robbie as dead despite all the crazy stuff that has happened so far in their world.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Mace is pissed that Mack left the Zephyr before it took off, and without wearing a helmet to boot.
- Artistic License – Chemistry: Carbon doesn't look like that.
- The Bet: Mention is made of a wager Coulson made with Fury over who's led the crazier life, with a ten year old bottle of expensive scotch on the line. Apparently dying and being brought back by the T.A.H.I.T.I. project won the bet, as Coulson tells May if they survive this mission, they'll drink it together.
- Broken Pedestal: After seeing the truth about his brother in the last episode, Gabriel now also has to cope with his uncle being a horrible person.
- Computers Speak Binary: The Darkhold's pages always appear written in the language that the reader is most familiar with. So when Aida, who is an AI, reads it, the pages are written in binary code for her.
- Continuity Nod:
- After reading the Darkhold, Aida designs an inter-dimensional gateway, and builds a portal within it. The process is very similar to the Geometric Magic the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj use to cast spells in Doctor Strange (2016), and the finished portal is identical to those conjured by their Sling Rings. The dimensional disruption that nearly engulfs Coulson resembles the Mirror Dimension from Doctor Strange as well.
- The physical apparatus holding the portal resembles a device in Agent Carter, which enabled individuals Just One Second Out of Sync to be seen and heard. And Coulson, Fitz and Robbie's experiences in the "other dimension" are very similar to Jason Wilkes' in that series.
- As if anyone didn't know by now, Coulson died that one time. He mentions while reviewing the security tape of his disappearance by Eli's machine that he hates watching his own demise; surely he's had to watch footage of Loki stabbing him before as well.
- Cry into Chest: A tearless example. Fitz is distracted from threatening Jeffrey by Jemma's return to the base, and while she's obviously about to start crying, she doesn't actually weep.
- Deal with the Devil: Robbie makes a new deal with the Rider, who is unwilling to carry on their original contract after spilling the blood of all those who Robbie wanted vengeance against. Robbie promises the Rider to instead settle the Rider's own scores, provided the Rider helps him settle his last one with Eli.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Coulson, Fitz, and Robbie are depicted in a sepia-like color palette to identify that they are in an alternate space that does not interact with their previous world.
- Demonic Possession: The Rider abandons Robbie and possesses Mack, as he is unwilling to be Dragged Off Back To Hell with Robbie. Robbie convinces him to abandon Mack, who won't be able to sustain the Rider for very long, in exchange for agreeing to become a much more permanent host.
- Despair Event Horizon: The Rider tells Robbie that Mack has lost hope, which initially seems to be this trope. It's subverted later when Mack is seen waiting by the portal holding a photo, looking sadly at it. The photo itself isn't seen, but printed on the back is "Hope 4/18/06", meaning Mack lost someone named Hope.
- Didn't Think This Through: Mace agreed to loan Simmons to Senator Nadeer to help her brother, then finds that Nadeer is unwilling to accommodate him when he needs Simmons back ASAP. She does return Simmons once the job is done, but the situation is resolved by then.
- Dimensional Traveler: The Rider is able to move between dimensions and interact with beings on the other side, as shown when it leaves Robbie to possess Mack and later reverses the process. Aida also appears to be vaguely aware of Coulson and Fitz before reading the Darkhold, and can definitely see them after doing so.
- Dragged Off to Hell: Coulson, Fitz, and Robbie are trapped in a different dimension and slowly slipping into what is implied to be Hell. The Rider says he escaped from there and has no intention of going back.
- Electromagnetic Ghosts: Fitz, Coulson and Robbie aren't dead, but merely trapped between dimensions like Lucy and the others. The difference is their condition is so advanced they can't interact with their environment at all, except moments where they're incredibly desperate, then electronics respond. Robbie's car turns on its left turn signal as he's shouting for Daisy to go that way, and Aida picks up on Fitz's pleas that she read the Darkhold.
- A Father to His Men: Jeffrey is furious when Nadeer won't let him talk to Jemma and he immediately tries to get her back. He also takes on the responsibility of informing families of the "possible" death of agents.
- Godzilla Threshold: It's a zigzagged trope with The Darkhold. May and Fitz certainly believe that fellow agents trapped in other dimensions is worth opening the Tome of Eldritch Lore but Mack and Coulson insist that they will never be that desperate.
- His Name Is...: Twice Fitz nearly reveals that he knows Mace is working with Nadeer on the side, once to Coulson and once to Mace himself, but each time he gets distracted. He does at least tell Coulson that Mace is a traitor, though he fails to explain why.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Eli dispatches the four agents who attempt to stop him on his way out by generating spikes from inside their bodies.
- Internal Reveal:
- Fitz discovers that Mace is colluding with Nadeer.
- Radcliffe reveals to May (and Fitz to Coulson simultaneously) that Aida is an android/gynoid. Coulson is angered with Fitz; May just accepts that Aida is a tool that they can use.
- Just One Second Out of Sync: Eli's machine going off throws Coulson, Fitz and Robbie into a dark Alternate Dimension where they can see and faintly hear the normal world, but can only interact with objects personally connected to them in subtle ways.
- Lethal Harmless Powers: Eli can manipulate elements — so far only in the form of pure carbon. He manages to kill four people by conjuring spikes of carbon into their bodies from halfway down a hall.
- Literal Metaphor:
- When urging the team to prepare instead of acting rashly, Mace uses the phrase "sharpen our axes." Mack retorts that his axe is plenty sharp... and a shotgun.
- Unintentional on Daisy's part, but when Mack rides off she asks, "What's gotten into you?" A little later, we see exactly what did, in fact, get into him: the Ghost Rider.
- Moral Myopia: Coulson calls Fitz out on illegally helping to create Aida, and Fitz then calls him out on breaking the rules all the time as the director, which Coulson writes off as I Did What I Had to Do.
- My Skull Runneth Over: When given the Darkhold, Radcliffe gives one page a quick skim and immediately gives up. The scope of its knowledge is too great for any human to bear; as he puts it, if the internet is a garden hose, then the Darkhold is Niagara Falls. Aida's robotic brain, however, can efficiently process the information (printed in binary for her), allowing her to assemble a dimensional portal.
- Mythology Gag: Mack is hardly the first Ghost Rider to put on a leather jacket and ride a motorcycle.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: By the end of the episode, Aida is effectively a robotic artificially intelligent magitek sorcerer.
- Noodle Incident: May references "the Glasgow assignment," after which she and Coulson vowed to open an expensive bottle of liquor if they ever had a worse assignment.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Mack, by far the most reasonable and law-abiding member of Team Coulson, punches out an agent and rides off without permission, you know something is off. The agent in question also gets thrown across the hangar bay by that punch, which indicates that something has happened to Mack.
- Once More, with Clarity: Two segments of the episode are played first from the view of the SHIELD agents. The next segment then replays everything from Coulson, Fitz, and Robbie's perspective, as they observe events unfolding around them. It ends up revealing extra details and intel not shown the first time (Coulson and Fitz segments), and explains odd moments at other points (mainly Robbie segments).
- Parting-Words Regret: Fitz fears he won't see Simmons again, because they had a big argument.
- Shout-Out:
- A subtle example, but the background music when Daisy is chasing Mack with the Hell Charger is fairly reminiscent of Junkie XL's score to Mad Max: Fury Road.
- The effects of the portal look very similar to the Tholian Web from Star Trek: The Original Series, from an episode where Kirk is knocked into another plane of reality and is believed to be dead.
- While Daisy cannot see him in the car, Robbie shouts at her to turn left.
- Status Quo Is God: Mack's possession by the Spirit of Vengeance only lasts for a few scenes and by the end of the episode, Coulson, Fitz and Robbie are restored to this dimension while Simmons is back in S.H.I.E.L.D.
- The Stinger: In the final scene, we see Aida obsessively creating a human brain-shaped hologram.
- Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: The Darkhold's contents (and by extension abilities such as Eli's and Aida's) seem to be either this or Scientifically Understandable Sorcery. It feeds into the MCU's general theme of science and magic being two sides of the same coin.
- Trapped on the Astral Plane: After Coulson, Fitz and Robbie got caught in an explosion created from a Darkhold experiment, they are stuck and falling into Hell Dimension. They see the real world in a sephia tone, which gradually gets darker, and can't interact with it except for subtle influences in electronics.
- Watch the Paint Job: Daisy borrows the Charger to chase after Mack, and leaves a rather nasty scratch on the side when she scrapes it in an alleyway. She reminds herself that it's a magical, self-healing car, but Robbie bemoans the fact that he needs to be bonded with the Rider for that power to work.
- Wham Shot: Aida building a brain using the techno-magic she developed from the Darkhold.
- What the Hell, Hero?: As he's fretting over potentially dying and his last conversation with Simmons, Fitz calls out Coulson for stepping down and allowing Mace to take charge, especially since Fitz knows Mace is (as he sees it) a traitor (which he fails to adequately explain). Coulson calmly points out that he wasn't exactly popular with the government for running a rogue agency right under their noses, and had to cut the deal to make sure S.H.I.E.L.D. could continue.
