Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Hot Potato Soup Review

The Darkhold up for grabs on this week’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., an important turning point, but what direction did it go in? Titled “Hot Potato Soup," it was clear that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team isn’t great at playing hot potato. Let’s hope they have a successful mission again soon. The episode opened with the Koenig brothers (both played by Patton Oswalt) hanging out at a casino where they were cornered by two Russian guys. They had instructions to kidnap Billy, but they didn’t realize he had a brother that looked just like him. They randomly picked and somehow ended up with the right brother. They took him onto a submarine where Radcliffe was also being held, or so it seemed. Radcliffe was actually working with them and hoping Billy would just reveal where the Darkhold was if he thought they were on the same side. Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Instead, Radcliffe took control of Billy's mind to find where the Darkhold was hidden. Back at the base, Sam Koenig showed up to tell the team what had happened and Coulson realized that all of the Koenig siblings could be in trouble. He went to find the “original Koenig,” aka LTK, Billy and Sam's sister. They had been passing the Darkhold to each other in order to make it harder to find. However, the last person to have it was Billy, which meant Radcliffe would soon know where it was. Billy had hid it in a super secret location called the Labyrinth, so Coulson, Robo May, and Sam hurried off to get there before Radcliffe and his Russian friends could get to it. While Sam was retrieving the Darkhold, Robo May and Coulson shared a kiss, which was pretty unsettling, with Coulson not knowing she was a robot. I could have done without that part. She was emotionally manipulative enough to get the point across without getting physical. When Sam came out, he handed the Darkhold to Robo May, not realizing she was an android. Then her programing kicked in and she pointed a gun at Coulson when he said he would take the Darkhold. At this point, Coulson FINALLY figured out that Robo May was not the real May. It’s about time! Daisy showed up just in time to take Robo May out with her Quake abilities and they once again had the Darkhold… for a second. Before long, Radcliffe and his Russian friends showed up and there was a showdown, which ultimately ended with Radcliffe getting away with the Darkhold. Probably not the best outcome. While this was all happening, Simmons, Fitz, and Mack were back at the base dealing with Robo Radcliffe. Who is by far the creepiest of the androids. They were trying to figure out the programming of this enhanced robot who seemed to know way too much information, including facts about Fitz’s past. Fitz came up with the idea to open Robo Radcliffe’s skull and inside was a brain composed of light, but still functioning as a corporeal brain. It was the one Aida was seen making after she read the Darkhold. Once they figured that out, they decided to dispose of Robo Radcliffe. However, through Robo Radcliffe we did learn that Fitz had an emotional abusive father, which was an interesting bit of information. I wish this show focused more on the characters. This little piece of Fitz’s past reminded me that we barely know anything about the S.H.I.E.L.D. team even though we’ve been watching them for over three seasons.

Final Thoughts:

- Overall it was a strong episode, but I can’t help but feel like the S.H.I.E.L.D. team hasn’t been very successful in completing missions this season. Coulson pointed out that they now know the Russian guys are the ones helping Nadeer and the Watch Dogs with a mutual hate for Inhumans, but losing the Darkhold seems like a big loss, especially now that it is in Radcliffe's hands. - Once again Mack’s dialogue was the best. My favorite lines were, “The only thing worse than a robot is a possessed one.” and, “I like to hear robots scream.” - The multiple Koenig thing wasn’t all that interesting to me. They should leave the clone characters to Orphan Black. Tune in next week to ABC 10/9c to see if the team can finally find the real May.