After “Self-Control,” arguably the best SHIELD episode to date, and it’s set-up of the alternate/virtual reality known as the Framework, I was pretty excited.
Most of the shows I’ve been watching this season have had an episode that dealt with alternate timelines and “What If?” scenarios. The Flash had its Earth-2 episodes last season and “Flashpoint” this season, the cast of Arrow spent some time in a blissful version of their world during November’s crossover, the Legion of Doom rewrote reality itself on Legends of Tomorrow, even Legion got in on the act with an episode that saw the main characters trapped in a dreamscape version of a mental hospital. So, it was time for SHIELD’s take on the concept, and the results so far have been both rewarding and, dare I say it, monotonous, at the same time.
To recap a few things: The ending of “Self-Control” saw Daisy and Simmons plugging themselves into the Framework so they could find and save Coulson, Fitz, May, Mack and Mace. In this brave new world, HYDRA rules the world, with Aida and Fitz (who are an item here) running the show and May serving as their ruthless enforcer. May’s choice to save the little girl in Bahrain led to a Civil War-esque disaster, which in turn led to Inhumans being feared and hunted. Coulson’s a teacher, Mack’s a father and raising the daughter he lost in the real world, and Mace is the enhanced leader of what’s left of SHIELD. Upon their arrival, Daisy discovers that she works for HYDRA along with her very-much-alive boyfriend Grant Ward, and Simmons quickly realizes she was murdered at some point because she gets to freaking dig herself out of a grave. The two meet up and find out that their escape route has been compromised by Aida, which means they have to find a different route of escape with their friends, and things…they happen.
The best aspect of the arc thus far has been the amount of detail put into these new versions of the characters One of Radcliffe’s intentions with creating the Framework was to rectify the regrets of those who are plugged in, and even though the regrets of some of the main cast were hastily set up in the run-up to this batch of episodes (ie. Fitz’s daddy issues), they get major payoff. Speaking of Fitz, he’s the character whose change is the most evident. Rather than ignoring his father as he did back in the good ol’ world, this version of Fitz is inspired by him. There was, presumably, no Simmons to steer him away from any dark paths he considered going down. May’s the one whose changed the least, but there’s a tragic element to that statement: no matter what she chose to do back in Bahrain, things would turn dark for her no matter what. Poor Melinda.
The world of the Framework is also pretty detailed. It feels lived-in, and I think that’s thanks to both the world-building within the Framework and the world-building in the regular MCU. The first episode, “What If,” does such a good job of getting you comfortable, or as comfortable as you can be in an evil, virtual version of a TV reality, that it feels like we’ve been there for much more than 4 episodes, but in a good way.
All of the callbacks are fun too, of course. From returning characters (Ward! Trip! Bakshi! Oh my!) to references to old throwaway lines (The legendary guy with the lion paws), the celebration of the series so far is pretty much half of what’s making these episodes so entertaining.
Now, onto what I’m not liking.
We’re 4 episodes into the Framework arc, and I’ve felt like their episode-to-episode stories have been treading water. These installments don’t seem to have the momentum that the “real world” ones do. I feel like I’m contradicting myself by saying this, since I love the fact that we’re spending more than one week in the Framework, but I’m wishing things would move faster, but I just think there should be more to the story than “Stop HYDRA and escape.” It just feels a little too broad, unfocussed, and isn’t allowing each episode to have its own identity. Speaking of the “Stop HYDRA” mission, I wish that Coulson’s realization that escaping to the real world means stopping HYDRA in the Framework would’ve come earlier. That would’ve done a lot to get me invested in things at the time.
Another reason that I’m already eager to get back to reality is to see how our characters’ actions in the Framework carry over to the real world. Like, Fitz killing an innocent woman isn’t something he or Simmons would get over too easily, Mack wouldn’t take leaving his daughter behind all too well,and May’s been under for so long now that it’ll be interesting how she reacts to what’s happened during her nap.
Hopefully, all these questions and concerns will be dealt with as our time in the Framework begins to wrap up. There’s already 3 episodes left in the season. 3! Already!
Oh, and in case you missed it…You-know-who’s back for the finale…
Noah
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