AGENTS OF SHIELD Roundtable: “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D”

A new episode from the final season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD aired this week on ABC.

Here’s the synopsis for the latest episode, “Adapt or Die”:

After being unexpectedly stranded in 1982, Mack retreats to his childhood home to process the death of his parents, while Deke gets to work scouting a chart-topping group of new agents. With no idea if or when the team is coming back for them, time seems to finally be on their side, at least until the killer robots show up.

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D” – MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Join NiceGirls Roz, Christie, Karen, and Ruben as we discuss the episode, using our ratings system known as SASSY – S(tupid), A(wesome), S(o) S(o) and Y(Your Thoughts):

STUPID

Roz: Oh lord! That poor guy who ended up building Sibyl just did all the things I expected from a lonely nerd, but I didn’t want that to happen.

Christie: There things I enjoyed about this episode, but it was just a little TOO cheesy for me. I feel like this is probably the weakest episode of the season.

Rueben: That guy, Russell, was played by Austin Basis, who was part of the cast of Life Unexpected, the recent remake of Beauty and the Beast and was a member of Ghostfacers – the embedded “hunters” in Supernatural. He’s a personal favorite of mine, and I was delighted to see him in the episode. But was taken aback by the brutal death of his character. I guess that was the show’s homage to 80’s slasher films, but yikes!!

Karen: Rueben! THAT’S where I know him (Russell) from! Talking about him here, tragic. Was he a little bit of a caricature? Yeah. But he didn’t deserve to meet his end that way.

AWESOME

Roz: I’m all for the Deke Squad! I don’t know why but watching him change history with music was a bright spot in what turned out to be a weird episode.

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D” – JEFF WARD

Christie: I love the fact that Deke made Mack his axe rifle and was watching over Mack’s younger self. Also, Coulson as Max Headroom was hysterical.

Rueben: It was a weird episode, but as a teenager of the 80’s, I identified with all the little nuances: the Battlestar Galactica/Cylon/Knight Rider red light on the robots; the music – c’mon: Deke “wrote” Don’t You (Forget About Me), Walk Like an Egyptian and Here We Go Again (please!); the clothing (and may I say Mack’s beard was out of control, and if they were in the 80’s for 20 months and he was drinking as much as he was drinking wouldn’t he have put on some weight?!); the Short Circuit reference by Mack to the Sibyl robot; Coulson looking like Max Headroom; and the over-the-top use of blood like the 80 slasher films; one of the robots even said “Exterminate” (Doctor Who fans would be screaming over that). So, yes again, it was a weird episode, but they got the 80’s cliches so precise.

Karen: Rueben, I think we’re on the same page here. I graduated in ’86, so this episode was like seeing into my past. I’ve always been a Deke fan, and having him as a large part of this particular episode was AMAZING. Deke singing? Check. Deke in 80’s clothes? Check. Deke caring for Mack during a difficult time? CHECK. Helloooo Karen!Cougar. I’m also a huge fan of Max Headroom (the actual show, not just the coke commercials). So seeing a nod to Matt Frewer here was joyous!

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SO SO

Roz: Stupid Nathaniel! How the hell didn’t he die last week?

Christie: So “ripples not waves” is long dead but Mack is still bringing that up and blaming troubles on Deke? Deke has a whole band living at the Lighthouse! Where is the real SHIELD and do they know what’s happening? How are they going to close all these streams down? Looking back at the explanation of time and alternate realities in “Avengers: Endgame”, they have messed everything up so bad. How will they fix this?

Rueben: OMG, I hated to see Nathaniel back, and with a Max Headroom-like Sibyl on the TV screen with him. Groan!!

Karen: Again, I still feel like there are a few plotlines that could use tightening, and it continues in Mack & the D.

YOUR THOUGHTS

Roz: We’re half-way through and I still think we’ve got too many questions and not enough answers.

Christie: I’m with the ladies. This episode would have been fine if we had even a few extra episodes this season, but we have only a few episodes LEFT! It feels like a waste. I don’t see how they wrap this series up satisfactorily.

Rueben: I agree, Roz. There aren’t too many episodes left, and too many questions. They need to get on the ball and start wrapping things up, getting us some answers and bringing all the loose strands brought together. We need to have a conclusion not any cliffhangers.

Karen: Same here… HURRY UP ALREADY! Let’s see a tiny bit of convergence. I still don’t have a clear idea of the overall arching story.

[Photo Credit: ABC/Jessica Brooks, Mitch Haaseth]

I want to fit in a plug for my friend, Michael Ahr over at Den of Geek. His previews and reviews of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are amazing.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back next week on Wednesday, July 15 at 10/9c on ABC.