Line #22 Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS4E5Lockup


1	S.H.I.E.L.D. goes to Eli Morrow to learn more about the Darkhold. Their plans hit a snag when Lucy has the same plan, and proceeds to turn the prison holding him into a chaotic situation.
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4	!!Tropes in this episode:
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6	* AmbiguouslyEvil: Jeffrey meets with Senator Nadeer, and while he holds his own for a while, her insinuation that he's lying about his past gets him to make a deal with her.
7	* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The Watchdogs are using prisons as recruiting stations, and as shown previously, they're not picky about race.
8	* BadLiar: Simmons is preoccupied with her upcoming lie-detection test, noting to Fitz that there are about 212 micro-expressions that can indicate a lie, and she knows that she's a horrible liar.
9	* BoringButPractical: Someone managed to hide the Darkhold for years from HYDRA, SHIELD, and a host of other interested parties. How did they do this? They buried it in their basement.
10	* BroughtDownToBadass: Even though Daisy is temporarily unable to use her powers due to the injuries she took on in her time away from SHIELD, she's still capable of handling a crowd of Watchdog thugs.
11	* CallBack:
12	** Mace's mandatory lie-detector tests are conducted using [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E19TheOnlyLightInTheDarkness Fury's very thorough]] lie detector that checks at least 96 variables to determine a lie.
13	** During a polygraph test, Simmons admits to having worked for HYDRA - as a S.H.I.E.L.D. mole. This not only references the time she worked for HYDRA as a S.H.I.E.L.D. mole, but also references how Ward bypassed the test once saying that he worked for HYDRA because of HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., everyone on S.H.I.E.L.D. technically worked for them.
14	** Jeffrey mentions that more Inhumans were killed during the blackouts than humans. Curiously, he fails to mention that the Watchdogs were behind those attacks rather than the Inhumans.
15	** May compares Daisy's self-exile to her own backstory, even referencing the cubicle she was found in at the start of the series.
16	** Coulson and May make a few references to T.A.H.I.T.I.
17	* ChekhovsGun: Simmons' tells Fitz that there are over 200 micro-expressions that indicate a person is lying (presumably these are variables that Fury's lie detector checks). She later tells Mace that she knows he is lying about his involvement in Vienna because of the same micro-expressions.
18	* CombatPragmatist: Daisy uses quite a few things in the cafeteria for her advantage, like a plate or a fridge.
19	* ContinuityNod:
20	** The U.N. bombing in Vienna, seen in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', is mentioned here. Jeffrey claims to have been present and saved lives, though Simmons knows he's lying.
21	** A female agent, Simmons, is getting a boss off her back by threatening to expose his fake heroism. [[Series/AgentCarter Peggy Carter]] had done that already.
22	* DeathAmnesia: Coulson suspects that because Project T.A.H.I.T.I. erased his memories of his resurrection, it probably also erased anything he saw when he died. As a result, he keeps asking May if she saw anything when Radcliffe and Simmons stopped her heart. She finally admits that she did see something.
23	-->'''May:''' I saw you.\
24	'''Coulson:''' ''(stares in shock)''\
25	'''May:''' [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Don't let it go to your head.]]
26	* DeathSeeker: While Daisy has started to physically heal, her emotional scars still run deep. She decides to stay behind to hold off the Watchdogs in a [[SenselessSacrifice completely unnecessary]] (but awesome) HoldTheLine moment. May calls her out on this at the end of the episode, noting that Lincoln wouldn't have wanted her to kill herself because of him, but Daisy doesn't budge.
27	* ExactWords:
28	** Simmons confidently declares "I'm not going to be fired today", and Fitz compliments her on not betraying any uncertainty in her facial expressions. Once he's gone, she mutters to herself that there's no way she'll be fired because Mace will have her thrown straight into jail if she fails the lie detector test.
29	** During the test, she bluntly says that she worked for HYDRA, then clarifies that she was undercover. When she's asked if she knows anything that should be shared with the Director and loses her cool, she tries to play it off as an "extremely broad" question, but is saved from having to explain further when Mace prematurely ends her test.
30	* FakeUltimateHero: The official story is that Jeffrey saved lives during the Vienna bombings, but Simmons reveals that's not actually true. We don't find out ''what'' happened and Jeffrey wants it to stay that way.
31	* FalseReassurance: Fitz insists the ghost antidote isn't that bad. You just have to inject it right into your brain stem with a hook and needle combination. Mack appropriately quips "[[AfraidOfNeedles Oh hell no]]" upon seeing it.
32	* FantasticRacism: Towards the Inhumans, from Senator Nadeer, who is now revealed to be a leader in the "human first" movement (i.e. hate group). The debate with Mace has her treating the Inhumans as AlwaysChaoticEvil and completely disregarding any evidence that shows them in a good light.
33	* FoundTheKillerLostTheMurderer: The incident which crippled Robbie's brother was a paid hit, and since he already unleashed the Rider on everyone who was directly involved, he has no leads as to who commissioned it.
34	* GilliganCut: When Nadeer questions Jeffrey about the operation at the prison, he asserts that "S.H.I.E.L.D. has the situation completely under control". The next shot shows Coulson, May, and Daisy scrambling to get away from an entire cellblock of Watchdog-affiliated prisoners.
35	* GreatBigBookOfEverything: When Lucy and Joseph uncover the Darkhold, it generates text on exactly what they want to know in their native languages. It backfires slightly for Joseph, showing up in German because he was presumably born in Germany, but never learned to read it.
36	* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Continuing the show's tradition, all of the agents except the main characters wear full combat armor. The main characters wear whatever they happened to have on them at the time; Mack takes it up to eleven by wearing just a t-shirt. It's actually {{justified\|Trope}} for some characters who don't really need to worry about getting hurt, and it's not like armor is going to stop the ghosts. Still, they acknowledge that armed and likely crazy guards are in the facility, so the lack of even a proper BulletProofVest is notable.
37	* {{Hypocrite}}:
38	** "The team that trusts, triumphs." Director Mace seems to miss the fact that his continuous security screenings of Simmons at the very least provides the impression that he doesn't trust her, which is why nobody on Team Coulson trusts him.
39	---> '''Jeffrey:''' A team that trusts is a team that triumphs. But trust must be earned with random non-invasive testing.
40	** There's also Nadeer, who accuses S.H.I.E.L.D. of working with criminals, one of whom (Robbie, to be exact) she calls a "cold-blooded killer", while she herself is working with The Watchdogs, an organization of murderous criminals.
41	* InternalReveal: Jeffrey reveals himself to the world as an Inhuman.
42	* ItIsDehumanizing: When Fitz refers to Aida as a 'she', Simmons is quick to correct him and label her as 'it'. Given that she referred to Aida as a 'she' in the previous episode even after realising she's an android, it suggests this may be frustration with Fitz and the lie detector test she must soon take, rather than any particular statement of her views on androids.
43	* ItsPersonal: Jeffrey reveals himself to the world as an Inhuman because he wants the witch hunt for his people to end.
44	* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: Mack doesn't wanna let Robbie in on the mission to raid the prison because the Rider tends to be this. The fact that the Rider only attacks the guilty isn't much of a reassurance in a place where just about ''everybody'' is guilty of something.
45	* KillItWithFire: Ghost Rider roasts two of Lucy's henchmen and the Fifth Street gang member.
46	* LockedInAFreezer: Daisy stuffs one of the Watchdog-aligned prisoners in a fridge during the prison cafeteria fight. Presumably non-lethal, though we aren't shown that guy getting out.
47	* ManipulativeBastard: Senator Nadeer threatens to make public footage of Coulson and May with Daisy and Ghost Rider in order to manipulate Mace.
48	* MisplacedRetribution: The last member of the gang that had Robbie and his brother shot is not only reformed, but had ''nothing'' to do with the hit at all. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Robbie doesn't care.
49	* MythologyGag: During his debate introduction, Jeffrey is referred to as a "patriot", a nod to his comic book persona of The Patriot.
50	* NewscasterCameo: George Stephanopoulos of Creator/{{ABC}}'s ''This Week'' hosts the debate between Nadeer and Jeffrey.
51	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
52	** Daisy's staying behind needlessly forces Coulson and May to backtrack to help her, leaving Mack and Robbie without backup. Of course, [[UnwantedRescue she didn't ask for them to save her]].
53	** Robbie's need for revenge leads to Dr. Bauer kidnapping Eli.
54	** Also one retroactively for Robbie, as he killed every single gang member who could have told him something about the people who ordered the hit in the first place.
55	** Jemma not telling Jeffrey about Coulson, Daisy or Robbie allows the unscrupulous Senator Nadeer to blackmail him for the sake of PR.
56	* NoEndorHolocaust: The debate between Nadeer and Mace reveals that the only human deaths during the blackouts of ''Uprising'' were two people killed in the helicopter crash Yo-yo witnessed in Miami. Apparently, in seven major cities, only one aircraft was in flight when the {{EMP}}s hit, and not a single person was killed in the street violence we saw in L.A., or in a hospital when their power went down, or incorrectly killed by the Watchdogs (who, in Miami, were ready to execute a man for being able to do a simple card trick).
57	* OhCrap: The Rider frightens the prisoners so much that they willingly go back into their jail cells rather than provoke him.
58	* PassiveAggressiveCombat: Jeffrey and Simmons engage in one when Jeffrey wants her to undergo another Lie Detector routine, with Simmons pointing out him lying about his past.
59	* PhlebotinumHandlingRequirements: The Darkhold can only be read by the living. Lucy kidnaps Eli to get around that.
60	* PoorCommunicationKills: Coulson's keeping Director Mace in the dark about what measures he's taking in regards to the Darkhold case (and possibly that there '''is''' a Darkhold case) leads to Mace being blindsided by Nadeer having pictures of Team Coulson working with Quake and Ghost Rider. She looks almost gleeful to have something on him.
61	* ProperlyParanoid: Mack doesn't want Robbie anywhere near the prison since he believes that he can't properly control the Ghost Rider. He's partially right; the ''Rider'' can control himself, but ''Robbie himself'' loses it when he meets the last member of the Fifth Street Locos. He ends up staying behind to kill the guy, and Eli is kidnapped because of it.
62	* ReformedCriminal: The gang leader was trying to reform, having abstained from the riot. That, and admitting he had nothing to do with crippling Gabe, failed to save him from Ghost Rider.
63	* TheReveal:
64	** The "random" drive-by shooting that left Gabe crippled wasn't random at all. Someone ordered a hit on Robbie.
65	** Jeffrey isn't as clean as he'd like people to believe. Apparently, he's lying about his past, and his meeting with Senator Nadeer leads to him offering her some type of deal to stay quiet about it.
66	* RevengeBeforeReason: Robbie abandons his uncle to take care of the last remaining member of the gang that attacked him and his cousin, despite his not actually being involved in it. This gets Eli kidnapped by Lucy.
67	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When one prisoner's cell explodes in a storm of hellish flame and a figure stalks out of the inferno with a [[FlamingSkulls Flaming]] SkullForAHead, ''every single rioting prisoner'' in the vicinity desperately scrambles back into their own cells and close the doors in a panic.
68	* ShieldBash: Coulson does it with his holographic version of Cap's shield on one of the guards under Lucy's influence.
69	* ShoutOut:
70	** When Coulson sees that Lucy has brought friends, he refers to them as "Lucy and the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' gang."
71	** Robbie and Mack also make a few references towards {{Franchise/Ghostbusters}}.
72	* SlaveToPR: Jeffrey's need for both S.H.I.E.L.D. and himself to look good creates a pair of problems in this episode:
73	** He can't have the public knowing that S.H.I.E.L.D. is working with Quake (who the world thinks is a terrorist because of her crusade against the Watchdogs) and Ghost Rider (a SkullForAHead murderer) and this allows Senator Nadeer to blackmail him.
74	** Simmons persuades Jeffrey to exempt her from future lie detector tests because she knows that he didn't really save people at the Vienna bombing.
75	* ThrowingOutTheScript: Jeffrey has Jemma feed him facts through an earpiece to keep up with Senator Nadeer, but when Nadeer accuses him of being unfit, he turns it off and reveals himself as an Inhuman to counter her.
76	* TranslatorMicrobes: The text in the Darkhold appears to the reader in their mother tongue, even if multiple people with different mother tongues are looking at it at the same time.
77	* WhatTheHellHero: Jemma is mildly miffed that Fitz kept Aida a secret. Fitz counters he did it because he'd knew she'd have to tell the director.
78	* WorfHadTheFlu: Daisy is still recovering from her last bout of self-inflicted bone injuries and isn't sure if her new gauntlets can keep her from re-aggravating them, so she has to go the entire episode without using her Quake powers. This leads to her getting beaten up and nearly strangled by a bunch of unarmed common criminals.
79	* YouShallNotPass: Daisy tries to stay behind to hold off the Watchdog-aligned prisoners, though it's also partly because she knows it's a fight she'll lose eventually. Coulson and May manage to swing back around and rescue her.

Context Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS4E5Lockup