Tracking down Morrow, as well as mercenaries he has recruited, S.H.I.E.L.D. corner them in a warehouse, but after Elena is injured in an explosion, Robbie enters the building alone. He discovers that Morrow has built a highly unstable demon core to make himself even more powerful, despite its potential to destroy Los Angeles in a nuclear explosion. The danger is increased by a series of tremors throughout the city, and Fitz deduces they are being caused by Morrow, who is not creating matter from nothing after all, but is stealing energy from the Hell dimension, causing inter-dimensional disturbances. Morrow impales Robbie on carbon spikes, trapping him inside the demon core, and defends his actions, insisting he deserves godlike power after being underestimated and condescended to throughout his life. Coulson reveals to Mace that AIDA is an android. Despite his anger at Radcliffe's deceit, Mace has May bring in Radcliffe and AIDA, sending them into the warehouse to rebuild their portal generator under the demon core, so as to send it to the Hell dimension. While Daisy tries to contain the tremors, Coulson confronts Morrow and reveals the true nature of his abilities to him, distracting him while May, Mack, Elena, and Mace get into position. The agents attack Morrow and his men, and Robbie traps Morrow with him in the demon core as Fitz, Simmons, Radcliffe, and AIDA send it to Hell. Mace subsequently tells the press that Daisy was undercover as a vigilante combatting the Watchdogs on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s behalf. He also reveals Nadeer's blackmail to the other agents. Mack and Elena begin a relationship, while Coulson reassures Daisy about Robbie's fate, revealing he knows of a previous Ghost Rider who escaped from Hell. He also confides that he had hoped Daisy would one day become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director. Sent by Mace to retrieve Radcliffe's LMD work from his home, S.H.I.E.L.D. technician Nathanson discovers a captive May, who was abducted earlier by AIDA and replaced by an identical LMD, which possesses May's memories and personality, but lacks awareness of its true android nature. To keep her secret, AIDA murders Nathanson.
Production
In November 2016, Marvel revealed that the eighth episode of the season, and mid-season finale, would be titled "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", to be written by Paul Zbyszewski and directed by Kevin Tancharoen. Main cast members Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson / Quake, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie, and John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe were confirmed to be starring in the episode. Also revealed was the guest cast for the episode, including Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, Jason O'Mara as Director Jeffrey Mace, Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes, Mallory Jansen as Aida, Patrick Cavanaugh as Burrows, Jose Zuniga as Eli Morrow, Blaise Miller as Agent Nathanson, Coleen Sullivan as reporter and Steve Suh as Peng. Cordova-Buckley, O'Mara, Luna, Jansen, Cavanaugh, Zuniga, and Miller reprise their roles from earlier in the series.
Release
"The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" was first shown in the United States on ABC on December 6, 2016. It began streaming on Netflix, along with the rest of the fourth season, on June 15, 2017.
Reception
In the United States, the episode received a 0.7/3 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 0.7 percent of all households, and 3 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 2.37 million viewers. Within a week of its release, "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" had been watched by 4.49 million U.S. viewers, just above the season average of 4.22 million.
