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

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Season four of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been quite the wild ride, one filled to the brim with exciting episodes and stunning reveals. But despite all the incredible twists and turns we have enjoyed, there's one secret that the show had yet to address, what exactly is Director Jeffrey Mace hiding? We know he's an enhanced individual, and we know his abilities, but the show continues to imply that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to this man.  

Well, the powers that be finally decided that it was time to quite messing around with Jeffrey Mace and all of his secrets, making last night's episode, 'The Patriot' the big reveal that we've all been waiting for, and well...the show did it in classic fashion, by putting our characters into the toughest of situations and away from the prying eyes of headquarters in order to reveal the stunning fact that Director Mace...is just a regular everyday Joe who just so happened to be recruited for a job. 

As it turns out, after the events of last season, when it was decided to return S.H.I.E.L.D. to the public eye, General Talbot came to realize that there were no qualified enhanced candidates to take the all important Director gig...so he simply created his own. Using a new and improved version of the serum that Daisy's father used to create Mister Hyde, Talbot was able to have a bonafide super human, one that could run the day to day operations of S.H.I.E.L.D., could kick ass and save the day when necessary, and most importantly...become the bridge that the government needed to finally create some trust for the Inhuman community.

But thanks to the always charming Senator Nadeer and her little band of Watchdogs, Mace's secret is out in the open now, but rather than allow Jeffrey to resign in disgrace over the fact that everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. now knows he's a fraud, Coulson saw a golden opportunity, one that could mutually benefit the both of them; Mace stays on as Director, handles the political malaise that Coulson simply doesn't have a stomach for...and Phil gets to get take over the operational side of the business and just like that it seems as though all is well in S.H.I.E.L.D. once again. But alas, there's still the matter of the May android running around HQ...and the fact that she now knows exactly what she is.

It's Radcliffe's worst fear come to life, because if the May-Droid now has a complete understanding that she's not human, well his quest to get his hands on the Darkhold just became all the more complicated...which let's be honest, isn't exactly a bad thing. When all is said and done however, kudos to this episode for taking the time to explore Mace and what his character is all about, and I'm glad that he no longer has to hide behind this ugly secret and that he's going to be hanging around the office because Mace has kind of grown on me as the season has progressed. Either way, this really was a nice little break from the madness and chaos of season four, and I'm sure it won't be long before the action, adventure and thrills return. Until next time. 

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