Now, a new clip from the next episode offers a tease of how the test shakes out. Plus, executive producer Jed Whedon offers insight to the scene featured in the clip.
The clip [above] certainly doesn't seem to bode well for Simmons, with the machine flagging a query about having kept secrets from leadership and the Director showing up shortly thereafter to call her away, but by now Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans know that such scenes are not always what they seem. With so many other major plot threads converging, it's likely that Simmons has been pulled away on some other urgent business in order to draw out the suspense over Aida for a few beats longer (or add yet more tension to an already tense scenario for our heroes).
Offering more insight into Simmons' situation in the scene, Whedon told EW:
Simmons has never been great at lying. She did do a little spin undercover, but she was basically playing a scientist and all she had to do is be really enthusiastic, so it puts her in a tight spot. Not to mention she just found out that her boyfriend has a secret robot, so I have a feeling that could still get a little complicated for her. I do think there will be repercussions for Fitz’s actions.
Introduced in unfinished form at the tail end of last season, Aida (Mallory Jansen) is a humanoid body for Radcliffe's pre-existing A.I. protocol that he's been secretly improving with help from Agent Fitz - the secrecy being necessary because (as revealed earlier in the storyline) artificially-intelligent androids are banned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe following the events of Age of Ultron. With the secret now looking to be soon revealed, the question now becomes what the punishment might be for violating that ban - and also what becomes of Aida, who was beginning to show troubling signs of learning to lie herself.
The impending reveal also adds another wrinkle to the main running plot of the season, which has centered on activities at a mysterious Los Angeles physics laboratory including experiments with the cursed book The Darkhold that transformed several of its employees into malevolent spirits and may have played a role in the transformation of Robbie Reyes into Ghost Rider - a change he insists happened as a result of striking a deal with the devil. All of which is playing out as S.H.I.E.L.D. moves to re-legitimize itself as a public institution and combat the anti-Inhuman Watchdogs militia.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 continues with "Lockup" on Tuesday October 25th @10pm on ABC.
Source: EW