History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS4E14TheManBehindTheShield

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A rare heroic example. Coulson tells Ivanov that he has no personal meaning to him, doesn't know who he is, and the mission that has formed the basis for the Superior's obsession with Coulson was merely one of hundreds he'd carried out and he can't even recall what the 0-8-4 was that he and May were sent to retrieve. [[ActorAllusion Bonus points]] for this case of the trope involving Creator/MingNaWen, participant in the original {{Trope Namer|s}}.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A rare heroic example. Coulson tells Ivanov that he has no personal meaning to him, doesn't remember him, and the mission that has formed the basis for the Superior's obsession with Coulson was merely one of hundreds he'd carried out and he can't even recall what the 0-8-4 was that he and May were sent to retrieve. [[ActorAllusion Bonus points]] for this case of the trope involving Creator/MingNaWen, participant in the original {{Trope Namer|s}}.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A heroic example. Coulson tells Ivanov that the mission which has formed the basis for the Superior's obsession with him was merely one of hundreds he'd carried out and he can't even recall what the 0-8-4 was that he and May were sent to retrieve. [[ActorAllusion Bonus points]] for this case of the trope involving Creator/MingNaWen, participant in the original {{Trope Namer|s}}.

** Franchise/{{Rambo}} is referenced by Coulson. Creator/SylvesterStallone will appear in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''.

* SpottingTheThread: Even before she receives the LMD alert Simmons realizes ''something'' was wrong with the mission because the timing of when everyone re-assembled didn't make sense based on what the others reported they did and where they had been.

* TooDumbToLive: Even though he knows Aida is a superhumanly strong robot and literally saw her ''punch a man in the stomach up to her forearm'', Ivanov ''still'' has the balls to threaten her. '''Twice.''' He also tries to best Daisy in a straight fight, assuming that she only relies on her powers and not realizing she was trained by one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the MCU. Result? He is critically injured and would certainly die if Aida still didn't have a use for him.

* TranquilFury: Ivanov is clearly furious, when Coulson tells him that, despite his MotiveRant, he's "just a redshirt". However, he doesn't go into a rage.

* OhCrap: Mace when he wakes up and sees Aida looking at him. [=FitzSimmons=] reaction upon learning that Coulson, Daisy, Mack, and Mace have been replaced with [=LMDs=].

* CombatPragmatist: Daisy isn't shy to use her powers against Ivanov, making an otherwise challenging battle a CurbStompBattle for her once she gets pissed enough.

** Franchise/{{Rambo}} is referenced. Creator/SylvesterStallone will appear in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''.

* CelebrityParadox: Mack refers to The Framework as Franchise/TheMatrix, which co-starred Creator/CarrieAnneMoss, who plays Jeri Hogarth in the Marvel Netflix shows, as well as Creator/HugoWeaving, who played Comicbook/RedSkull in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''.

* CallForward: in the earlier flashbacks when Phil Coulson was a much lower level field agent, May criticizes his inability to maintain eye contact when telling a lie, suggesting he wear sunglasses. Aviator shades would be a trademark of the character from at least ''Film/{{Thor}}'' on.

* KirkSumamtion: Coulson delivers a nice one to the Superior in EvilPlan.

* KnifeNut: Ivanov shows off once again how skilled he is with knifes, both in combat and for torture.
* MacGuffin: The 0-8-4 found in the Russian mine. Its sole purpose is to be something that S.H.I.E.L.D. and the SVR have to fight over.
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Coulson's Russian in the flashback scenes is... spotty.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Jeffrey is on the receiving end from Ivanov's goons.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Jeffrey delivers one to Ivanov during his interrogation.

** Coulson tells Ivanov he's just another [[Franchise/StarTrek redshirt]] trying to interfere with Coulson's saving the world.

* ShutUpHannibal:
** Coulson delivers a nice one to the Superior.
--->'''Coulson:''' As far as I'm concerned you're just another redshirt, like so many others, who tried unsuccessfully to stop me from saving the world. [[BadassBoast 'Cause that's what I do.]] So cool origin story, bro. But this means ''nothing'' to me.
** Daisy gets one herself when he calls her a cheater for having powers. She counters that he's just playing by the old rules and uses her powers to collapse the ceiling on him.
* ShutUpKirk: Despite all the ShutUpHannibal speeches he got, Ivanov [[InsaneTrollLogic persisted in believing his theories]], even until his death.

* TooDumbToLive: Even though he knows Aida is a superhumanly strong robot and literally saw her ''punch a man in the stomach up to her forearm'', Ivanov ''still'' has the balls to threaten her. '''Twice.''' He also tries to best Daisy in a straight fight, assuming that she only relies on her powers and not realizing she was trained by one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the MCU.

* TranquilFury: Ivanov, when Coulson tells him despite his MotiveRant, he's "just a redshirt".
* TheUnfought: Between Coulson and Ivanov, justified (see ButForMeItWasTuesday).

** During the raid on Ivanov's base, Coulson, Daisy and Mack were all captured and replaced with [=LMDs=] - and the rescued Director is also an LMD.

* CelebrityParadox: Mack refers to The Framework as Franchise/TheMatrix, which co-starred Creator/CarrieAnneMoss, who plays Jeri Hogarth in the Marvel Netflix shows.

Coulson and SHIELD race to find May and Mace, and Coulson finds out that everything the Superior has been responsible for is a result of a mission he carried out years ago.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A heroic example. Coulson tells Ivanov that the mission which has formed the basis for the Superior's obsession with him was merely one of hundreds he'd carried out and he can't even recall what the 0-8-4 was that he and May were sent to retrieve.
** [[ActorAllusion Bonus points]] for this case of the trope involving Creator/MingNaWen, participant in the original TropeNamer.

** Coulson and May needle each other over their respective SHIELD Academies (Coulson was Communications, May was in Ops), referencing what we saw of the Academy system [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E12Seeds way back in Season One]].
* CallForward: in the earlier flashbacks when Phil Coulson was a much lower level field agent, May criticizes his inability to maintain eye contact when telling a lie, suggesting he wear sunglasses. Aviator shades would be a trademark of the character from at least ''{{Film/Thor}}'' on.

* CelebrityParadox: Mack refers to The Framework as Film/TheMatrix, which co-starred Creator/CarrieAnneMoss, who plays Jeri Hogarth in the Marvel Netflix shows.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Ivanov was obviously quite attached to his old unit, referring to them as his ''brothers''.

* FromBadToWorse: At the start of the episode both May and Mace are in enemy hands. By the end of the episode, they're ''still'' in enemy hands, but now along with Coulson, Mack, and Daisy, and these five now have LMD replacements who have infiltrated SHIELD. The only plus side is that the Watchdogs side of the enemy faction seems to have been dealt a crippling blow, although Radcliffe's Framework is now growing, so effectively he's getting ''stronger''.
* ImStandingRightHere: When Fitz is worried about Simmons going after Aida on her own, she counters by saying she'll take [[RedShirt Agent Davis]] with her. Fitz says that only makes him feel slightly better, to which Davis -- who's standing right in the doorway -- gives a deadpan "Thanks".

* MacGuffin: The 0-8-4 found in the Russian mine. Its sole purpose is to be something that SHIELD and the SVR have to fight over.
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Coulson's Russian in the flashback scenes is... spotty.
* MythologyGag: Coulson's ShutUpHannibal dismissing Ivanov as a redshirt can be considered a reference to Ivanov having no counterpart in the comics.

** Mack refers to The Framework as Film/TheMatrix.

** ShutUpKirk: Despite all that, Ivanov [[InsaneTrollLogic persist in believing his theories]], even until his death.

** ShutUpKirk: Despite all that, Ivanov persist in believing his theories, even until his death.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Ivanov is quite skilled in combat, easily taking down Jeffrey and even briefly holding himself against a power-using Daisy. Aida seems to take his threat very seriously when he tells her to unhand himself unless she wants to lose her hand.

* CombatPragmatist: Daisy isn't shy to use her powers against Ivanov, making an otherwise challenging battle a CurbStomp for her.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Coulson and May in the flashback, something Coulson himself lampshades while distracting the Russians.

** May talks about her latest civilian boyfriend, a shrink -- possibly Andrew Garner.

* CombatPragmatist: Daisy isn't shy to use her powers against Ivanov, making an otherwise challenging battle a cakewalk for her.
* ConspiracyTheorist: Ivanov is convinced that Coulson has been running a decades-long plan behind the scenes to render Earth vulnerable to alien threats.

* CurbStompBattle: No matter how much of a BadassNormal Ivanov is, it's quite clear from the beginning how much out of his league he is against Daisy. She briefly stops using her powers, [[CurbStompCushion making the battle a little even for a short while]], but then swiftly knocks him out with another shockwave.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While not quite "evil" ''per se'', even a self-proclaimed non-judgmental AI like Aida is thoroughly disgusted by Ivanov and his pointlessly brutal actions, calling him filth and looks clearly pleased Daisy's beatdown left him near death.
* FreudianExcuse: Ivanov's hatred of people he feels have had power given to them instead of earning it came from being a boy in the Soviet Union who watched his father kowtow to another man just because that man's father was a rich aircraft designer while his father worked hard for little pay as a miner.

* OhCrap: [=FitzSimmons=] reaction upon learning that Coulson, Daisy, Mack, and Mace have been replaced with [=LMDs=].
* OriginsEpisode: Ivanov's, though not in a particularly obvious manner. He was one of the mooks that May beat up towards the end of the flashback. It's not even immediately clear to the audience which one.

* TooDumbToLive: Even though he knows Aida is a superhumanly strong robot and literally saw her ''punch a man in the stomach up to her forearm'', The Superior ''still'' threatens her. '''Twice.''' He also tries best Daisy in a straight fight, assuming that she only relies on her powers and not realizing that she was trained by one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the MCU.

* VillainousValor: Despite being obviously at a disadvantage against Daisy, Ivanov still insists on fighting her rather than trying to even the odds somehow.
* VillainRespect: Ivanov holds some degree of admiration towards Jeffrey for refusing to denounce S.H.I.E.L.D..

* MythologyGag: Coulson's ShutHupHannibal dismissing Ivanov as a redshirt can be considered a reference to Ivanov having no counterpart in the comics.

* BigEntrace: Daisy announces her arrival by blowing apart the blast doors to the room Ivanov has confronted Coulson in.

* VillainRespect: Ivanov holds some degree of admiration towards Jeffrey, giving him the chance to denounce S.H.I.E.L.D. as an alternative to dying.

* ForMeItWasTuesday: Heroic example, as Coulson barely even remembers the mission that ignited Ivanov's StartOfDarkness.

* FreudianExcuse: Ivanonv's hatred of people he feels have had power given to them instead of earning it came from being a boy in the Soviet Union who watched his father kowtow to another man just because that man's father was a rich aircraft designer while his father worked hard for little pay as a miner.