'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' season 4 updates: Show addresses continuity error with Avengers storyline; that moment the Philinda kiss finally happened [Watch]
Original air date on ABC: February 7, 2017
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 4 Episode 12, titled “Hot Potato Soup,” addressed the minor continuity issue that tied into the “Avengers” storyline in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Life model decoys (LMDs) were initially mentioned in “The Avengers” in a scene involving Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg).
Spoiler alert! This article contains potential "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." spoilers. Read on if you would like to know what happens before the new episode airs.
At the time, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was spending some quality time with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) at the penthouse of Stark Tower. Coulson appeared to announce the arrival of Loki on Earth. He was hoping to recruit Iron Man back into the Avengers to help battle the threat. Stark attempted to avoid a discussion with Coulson, saying that he was merely a Tony Stark LMD and not the real version.
At the end of “ Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 3, Comic Book noted that Dr. Holden Radcliffe seemed to have invented the LMD, although it was years after Tony Stark talked about it in the “Avengers” scene. There was apparently an error in the exact timeline when LMDs first came into being, which “Hot Potato Soup” finally resolved.
In the “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” episode, an LMD project was shown to have been commenced at the agency before Dr. Radcliffe started his own experiments. Agents Eric, Sam and Billy Koenig (Patton Oswalt) worked on the original project. Although they looked very similar, the technicians were quadruplets, not LMDs. Their fourth brother is Thurston.
The recent revelation also hinted that Tony Stark, son of S.H.I.E.L.D. co-founder Howard Stark, could have accessed many of the tech projects that the agency worked on many years before. He would have been referring to LMDs, which he already knew about, to avoid a conversation with Coulson in “Avengers.”
In “Hot Potato Soup,” the brewing romantic relationship between Coulson and Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) finally came to a head. It was shown that Melinda was replaced with an LMD, with hidden feelings for Coulson. The two shared an intense moment together and kissed before being interrupted that they had to deal with some trouble. The moment was captured and shared on the show's official Twitter page.
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will air next on Feb. 7, 2017 on ABC in the US. In Australia, fans can watch on SyFy. More updates and details are expected soon.