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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
There’s a time to be civil and a time to be Sybil. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s seventh episode of its final season is titled “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D;” it is written by Brent Fletcher, and directed by Jesse Bochco (NYPD Blue).
Some spoilers ahead for those who are not up-to-date with the series or not caught up with this episode. If you haven’t done either, get to that now, then return to this article!
Let’s go, Deke Squad 👊 #AgentsofSHIELD pic.twitter.com/BT7Wc0Xbuh
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) July 9, 2020
This week’s episode of the series pays homage to some 1980s films, especially those in the time travel genre. The cinematography is just okay, but the transitions between some scenes are taken from the wipe from frame to frame in the Star Wars franchise. The episode follows SHIELD Director Alphonso “Mack” MacKenzie (Henry Simmons) grieving the loss of his parents from the previous episode. He and Agent Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward) are left behind in 1982 and must live in 1983 until the other agents are able to make a return.
Shaw revives the consciousness of Chronicom Life Model Decoy Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in a Max Headroom fashion, with implications that Chronicom predictor Sybil (Tamara Taylor) has also survived the wipeout of the robot race in the previous episode. Her recreation of the Chronicoms and their attack on the SHIELD Lighthouse headquarters is reminiscent of the Terminator franchise as well as the prominent peak of the slasher genre of the 1980s.
Shaw also takes from dramatic media such as his taking credit for Simple Minds’ hit song “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club. The bar at which he performs with his band members is called Swayze’s Bar, a reference to a similar plot point in the television series Supernatural. Mack refers to Shaw as “Peter Pan,” poking fun at the popular boyish Disney character who bands together with a group of misfits. The Deke Squad band member Cricket might be a reference to Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio, a comical character who accompanies the protagonist, but this may be a reach.
Aside from Terminator, another major influence of this episode is taken from Back to the Future Part II, in which character Marty McFly is stranded decades in the past and must gather help from unforeseen allies to return to his time period. Adding to this, Mack’s (and his brother’s) new childhood home with their uncle has a striking semblance to McFly’s home in the BttF franchise. Nathaniel Malick (Thomas E. Sullivan) receiving aid from Sybil is similar to Biff’s getting help in the latter two films of the time travel trilogy, that is, with Sybil’s time stream paralleling the Sports Almanac as the focal object driving the plot of the narrative.
The episode returns to the importance of leadership and teamwork, while also concentrating on the theme of the time travel genre. Mack reminds Shaw that time is vital; he says, “None of this makes any damn sense. We can’t understand it. That’s why no one should ever mess with time no matter how bad things get. The past is sacred.” He also states that good men should not kill “even if you think it’s right.” The organization enlists a diverse group of new members–including two Asian twins and a Russian woman. Overall, “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D” is a seemingly simple episode but has its emotional stakes at some parts. It pays homage to the 1980s as it nearly oversaturates itself to the brim with nostalgia.
7.8/10
What do you think? Have you seen this series? If not, do you plan to binge it sometime in the near future? Let us know! For more Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., action, science-fiction, and Marvel-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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