'Agents of SHIELD' Season 7 Episode 7 Review: Deke Squad, killer Mack and a cheesy '80s plot make a fun watch
Spoilers for 'Agents of SHIELD' Season 7 Episode 7 'The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D'
Much-needed comic relief comes in after two intense episodes. The 1980s boasted of some great music and 'Agents of SHIELD' brings in some fancy themes, an old-fashioned action team drama and some badass robots as enemies. Sybil has escaped and gets a new lease of life after preserving her memory and uploading it onto a robot. Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) may have lost his physical form too, but he's managed to upload himself onto a hard drive and guide Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward).
Mack MacKenzie (Henry Simmons) is in a state of depression and has lost all aim and a sense of duty. Deke puts together a team called 'The Deke Squad' that uses a rock band as a cover while being SHIELD operatives. There’s Roxy Glass (Tipper Newton), a 'covert ops' specialist; Tommy and Ronny Chang (John and Matt Yuan), better known as 'The Chang Gang'; Olga Pachinko (Jolene Andersen), a Russian demolitions expert, and Cricket, the drummer who's always spoken about but has no exact defined skillset.
The plotline is typical cheesy with Deke perpetually trying to convince Mack to join and lead the team, and it takes a Sybil attack for him to get into the groove. In the end, it's all well that ends well as the team thumps the robots. In the meantime, Yo-yo (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) and Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) set off to meet Mack and Deke after the Zephyr manages to land in the '80s — 20 months after their previous disappearance. The duo is introduced to the Deke Squad, so we might see more of them eventually.
For all the fun and the 'Stranger Things' vibe we get with the blood splash and theme, the one takeaway is the respect Deke has for Mack. While the former wasn't someone the team couldn't come to trust initially, Deke eventually settled in to become an integral member and there's a sense of loyalty and faith he has in Mack. That comes in as the main plotline, making the episode a relaxing watch. The question in the minds of fans will be, "How will Coulson get a new body?"
The simplest theory is that whiz kids, Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and Enoch (Joel Stoffer) might upload Coulson's consciousness in another android body. Well, we won't be surprised if Coulson just wakes up and says, "Ah, it's good to be back!"
'Agents of SHIELD' airs on Wednesdays at 10 pm ET on ABC.
