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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has in many ways delivered everything us geeks and nerds have ever dreamed of; epic and powerful superhero stories that take our breath away with stunning visuals that leave our eyes wide in excitement. But despite its many accomplishments and its many spinoffs, at times the MCU is greatly lacking when it comes to intimate storytelling, specifically in the fact we rarely get an opportunity to dig deep into the psyche of the characters and what they are feeling when it comes to the particular trials and tribulations they are going through.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to this storytelling void and well, it's received a free pass from the fans because it's Phil Coulson and his buddies doing incredible things week in and week out as they save the world from those who would do it harm. So imagine my surprise when I tuned in last night to see an episode that decided to completely and utterly break from the norm, and finally give us an intimate story, where the characters are struggling internally with the events around them and well, that made 'BOOM' one of the finest episodes season four has offered up to date as we saw both Director Mace and Agent Coulson battle their feelings and try to make peace with them during some trying times.

When it comes to Director Mace, his struggle was simple...where does he fit in at S.H.I.E.L.D. now that the secret is out that he's not an Inhuman, just a man who needs a serum for his strength, and that struggle was compounded by the fact that his serum has become a hazard to his health. There is now a chance that the next time he uses it, he could suffer from a heart attack and for a man that wants to make a difference, all of these revelations were downright crippling. He is desperate for a purpose, and the fact that he was unable to do more than sit back and watch the team try and figure out who killed Senator Nadeer was more than he could bear so when the opportunity arrived to spring into action, he took it, risked his life with the serum once again and found himself captured by the Superior for his efforts.  

While Mace dealt with his inferiority complex, Mack and Coulson spent their time in Spain searching for a woman named Agnes, who as it turns out was once the love of Radcliffe's life and the model for Aida and she was the key to finding the wily doctor and more importantly to Coulson...Agent May. But alas, Agnes wanted no part of helping Phil find Radcliffe because she is dying from a rare tumor and wanted to live her days out in peace, leading to fury from our favorite agent, to the point where he was ready to arrest her to get the answers he needed to find May. But Mack's wisdom and demands that Coulson handle this in gentle fashion eventually led to the dying woman agreeing to help Phil and a brief confrontation with Radcliffe before Agnes gave in to his promises of life eternal, escaping with the mad doctor. But what matters here is that Phil showed just how much he cares for May, and how much her not being around is ripping him to pieces and the most beautiful moment of the night came from the hope and glimmer in his eyes when he came to realize that May is alive and well.

Yet what was also fascinating about this episode is that it wasn't content to just let the heroes explore their feelings, the villains have a heart as well, and that was never more evident than it was with Radcliffe, who opened up big time about Agnes and how much she meant to him and hate the guy or not, it was heartbreaking to see him watch Agnes slip away in the closing moments of the show and well, when all is said and done, this was an outright beautiful episode. One that mixed action and adventure and heart together in magnificent fashion and I honestly hope that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does more of this in the future. It added a level of depth I've never seen before when it comes to this series and adding more of this can only further enhance an already stellar season. Until next time.

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