'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: 'The Real Deal'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK... 

We all have our lucky numbers, those all-important digits that we hope bring us some measure of good fortune or success, and while they don’t always bring us what we hope for, we hang on to them none the less because hey, you never know. But, in some circles, there are indeed numbers that signify success through and through and in the television industry, that number is 100. Because in T.V. land, when a television series reaches 100 episodes, that’s considered to be quite the milestone. It means that a particular show has beaten the odds in a business where shows come and go, and wouldn’t you know it, last night Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reached that incredible milestone.
 
Yes, that’s right, a tale focused on the adventures of Phil Coulson and his friends and surrogate family finally reached this momentous occasion and as I settled in to watch the big one-hundy, I was curious as to how exactly ‘The Real Deal’ would celebrate and honor the rich and powerful moments that this series has brought forth over the past five and half years and in unexpected fashion, this particular tale pulled off such a feat by going to some deeply emotional and philosophical places. And the catalyst for all of that was to force the audience and what’s left of the team to face the fact that Phil Coulson is indeed dying thanks to his deal with the Ghost Rider.
 
That admission allowed for the team to speak their minds on what Phil means to them and how hard it will be for them live without a man that has meant so much to them and my goodness, these gentle moments featured some of the finest acting this show has ever seen and in all honestly, the scene between Daisy and Phil is one that sticks out the most in my mind when it comes to that because the performances that Chloe Bennet and Clark Gregg delivered brought tears to my eyes to say the least. But, rather than spend a full hour saying goodbye to Phil, there was a mission to accomplish. Because the explosion that happened at the end of last week, caused a rift that was unleashing creatures from another dimension that preyed upon everyone’s fears and with Phil facing the end, he volunteered to be the one to close said rift.

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This is where the series paid tribute to its history and brought forth some philosophical moments as well, simply because Phil was forced to face his fear of death, and ponder upon what his life and his legacy and it was quite the incredible treat to see the series focus on something such as this, because it’s just so rare to see in comic book related stories and I think it’s incredible that they took the time to do so since it added some powerful gravity to Phil’s situation. However, regardless of the power of that moment, there was still a day to save and thanks to an awesome surprise cameo from Deathlok, Phil accomplished his goal and it was super cool to see the show provide quality flashbacks and other cameos in this segment of the story as well.
 
Yet, while this one could have ended on an incredibly somber note, it instead found a way to celebrate life in beautiful fashion by giving the fans something I think we’ve all been waiting for since the beginning of the series, Jemma and Leopold’s wedding and this was just a lovely way to end the episode because…it’s about freaking time these two tied the damn knot. However, in classic S.H.I.E.L.D. fashion, there was one last surprise waiting for us at the end of this one, in that, it was revealed that Deke actually has some important ties to this group of heroes after all, since an investigation by General Hale revealed that his genetic makeup features markers from both Fitz and Simmons, making the man family and forcing our minds to toy with the notion as to whether or not the team can save the world after all…
 
Because Deke’s presence at the wedding, and his delivery of a ring that will be passed down for generations, lends credence to the theory that they’re stuck in a temporal causality loop. But, while time will tell on that matter, in the here and the now, what a great episode this turned out to be. I honestly think that this one will be looked upon as one of the finest the series ever had to offer, and it served as a wonderful reminder as to why we love this show so much; it’s incredible characters. They’re the reason we’ve tuned in for five wonderful years, the epic stories they experience, have just been a bonus. Either way, it really has been one hell of a ride when it comes to this show, and I cannot wait to see what other incredible moments and epic surprises await us from here on out. Until next time.    

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