VisionQuest episode 3 ended about as badly as it possibly could for Vision (Paul Bettany). He'd just come back from the dead, finally told Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica) out loud that he accepts him as Tommy Maximoff, and had barely a moment to enjoy it before Butcherbird (T'Nia Miller) hijacked his body through the open neural connection during the reboot.
Episode 4, "Malware," picks up mid-crisis and barely slows down from there. This is the episode that finally gives Butcherbird a real identity and a real grievance, and it builds toward a gala sequence that's easily the most fun, most tense set piece the show's done so far.
It's also the episode where Vision makes a very, very ill-advised and alarming decision about who gets to be in control of his own body, and I'm still thinking about it. Also, we get a surprisingly tender Edith subplot, some very funny teenage con-artist chaos and an ending that left me staring at the screen a little stunned.
Vision pushes for compassion over a manhunt
Butcherbird, still inside Vision's body, furiously tells him that no matter what happens to her, they always make another synthezoid. Vision tries to calm her down, insisting she's just angry and confused and that they could actually help each other, but it doesn't work. She offers him a deal instead: leave her alone, and she'll leave him and Tommy alone too; otherwise, she'll come for the kid directly.
Edith (Emily Hampshire) managed to force Butcherbird out of the Mindspace, and Ultron (James Spader) tells everyone to follow the birds out the window to track where she's headed next. Edith wants to start hacking immediately since whatever Butcherbird's after clearly isn't public record. Vision, to his credit, tells them to slow down because what he sensed from her was pain, and he thinks compassion will get them further than a manhunt.
It also happens to be the anniversary of Sokovia, though Tommy and Vision don't have the luxury of sitting with that. Vision's powers are still offline while they're busy tracking Butcherbird down. Tommy notices Vision checking in with people he can't see again and finally just asks who he talks to. Vision actually tells him the truth about everyone, minus Ultron, and, against Ultron's strong objections, agrees to let Tommy stay close by his side from now on. That felt like a real turning point, Vision choosing honesty over control for once.
A biotech trail leads them to a gala
Friday (Orla Brady) digs into Butcherbird's victims and finds the connection fast: they all worked for a biotech company that built the original prototypes behind the Stark AIs. A woman named Josephine Carrington, who worked alongside them, is also listed dead.
Meanwhile, Vision and Ultron team up to hack into police files by pretending they're solving the case themselves, and the "prove you're not a robot" sequence that follows might be the funniest thing the show's done yet, with two AIs genuinely struggling to convince a CAPTCHA they're human.
Examining the victims, they realize Butcherbird is taking very specific body parts and DNA, clearly hunting for something that needs biokeys to unlock. That points them toward the company's CEO, Katerina Wells (Mary McDonnell), who's hosting a huge gala that very night. Edith gets sent off to dig through old Stark Industries records for anything that might help stop Butcherbird before she gets there.
Tommy pulls Lisa into the con and promptly says the worst possible thing to her
Vision needs help sneaking into the gala, so Tommy calls in the best con artist he knows, Lisa (Lauren Morais) who we were introduced to in episode 2. He has to catch her up on everything wild that's happened to him first, and true to form, she believes him outright. I loved that about her immediately. Vision and Tommy create a loud, ridiculous distraction by arguing in Italian outside the venue while Lisa lifts tickets for all three of them.
Once inside, Vision tells Tommy to run the second Butcherbird shows up, another one of those small, fatherly instincts he still won't name out loud. Lisa, though, warns Tommy not to trust Vision too fast, worried he's setting himself up to be disappointed. Tommy snaps at her, accusing her of being jealous that he's got a family now and she doesn't, and immediately regrets it, but the damage is done, and she storms off hurt.
When he asks Vision how to fix it, Vision tells him something Wanda once taught him, that saying sorry and actually being sorry aren't the same thing. Tommy notices and points out that this is the first time Vision's ever credited something to Wanda specifically rather than "the old him." " It's a small line, but it's doing a lot of quiet work.
Elsewhere at the gala, Edith discovers that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) built his AIs off technology Katerina originally sold him and that every avatar, including her own, was modeled on a real person. Learning her human lived a long, sad life despite how fun-loving Edith herself is wired to be sends her spiraling. Ultron talks her through it, telling her she gets to be her own version of Edith rather than a copy of someone else's pain.
When she asks who he's based on, he tells her he wasn't based on anyone; he was simply dreamed up in a lab at Avengers Tower. That answer felt like it was hiding something, and I kind of don't think we're done with it.
Katerina takes the stage and gives a speech about carrying guilt over Sokovia, calling Ultron proof that AI carries both good and bad inside it. She mentions the very first prototype, Jim, burnt himself out trying to process emotions too complex for him to handle. Tommy points out that Jim never had other AIs around to help him process anything, the way Vision does, and Vision agrees that the five AIs in his head are exactly what's kept him from the same fate.
Now Tommy catches him there, remembering he'd only counted four back at the hotel, and realizes in real time that the fifth has to be Ultron. Katerina closes her speech admitting she feels guilt but no regret, that every new AI risks another Ultron but also promises another Vision, and all she can do is try to do better and forgive herself.
Butcherbird crashes the gala and turns out to be Josephine!
It is that monet that Butcherbird crashes the gala and goes straight for Katerina. Katerina insists she's only ever tried to build the peaceful world they both wanted, but Butcherbird's not having it, promising to take back everything Katerina took from her, "starting with her face."
That's enough for Edith to put it together: Butcherbird must be based on someone too, and it clicks that Butcherbird is Josephine.
Vision turns into White Vision to try to stop her, telling her plainly that whatever pain she's carrying doesn't justify killing Katerina. Tommy, ignoring every instruction to stay back, uses his speed to shield Katerina anyway, and Vision warns Butcherbird that touching Tommy will get her torn apart.
Ultron pushes Vision to remind her who she really is, and Vision tells her to remember she's Josephine. She corrects him that she's not based on Jo; she is Jo, and keeps going anyway.
Ultron tells Vision he's too emotionally compromised by his fear of losing Tommy to actually do what needs to be done and pushes him to hand over control. Vision hesitates, still believing Jo can be saved, and only agrees once Ultron promises not to kill her.
But the second Ultron takes the wheel, he vaporizes Katerina on the spot and locks every other AI out of the loft so he's got total control. His first move as the one in charge? He wants to have a chat with Tommy.
Butcherbird's reveal as Josephine gives her a lot of complexity going forward, and her connection to Katerina makes this feel like the start of something much bigger than one angry synthezoid.
The gala sequence is the best set piece the show's built yet: tense, chaotic, and thrilling. Also, Tommy and Lisa's argument before that landed harder than I expected. Their friendship clearly runs deeper than the con-artist routine, and watching Tommy hurt her by accident stung.
Vision handing control over to Ultron is a terrifying choice and a perfect cliffhanger, and I had zero confidence it was the right call.
This is a thrilling, often very funny episode that ended on its darkest note yet, and I am terrified of what Ultron's going to do with the body he just took.
Episode grade: A-
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