Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (AoS) may not have had the grandiose visuals or world class writing of its big screen counterparts, but it played an extremely important role in Marvel’s media catalogue. It was the connective tissue of the larger organism that is the MCU. It was there to guide the universe along between film ventures, and to give Marvel fans something to enjoy during those gaps. Moreover, it was head and shoulders above most broadcast television series in this day and age.
While few episodes could claim to be of Emmy-winning stature, there is one that truly stands out from the pack; one that I return to time and time again. And that is Season 7, Episode 7, entitled “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D.” To understand why, it must be explained that many Marvel fans today, including myself, are children of the eighties. We grew up at a time when Marvel was confined to the pages of funny books, which we read while listening to A Flock of Seagulls on MTV. Therefore, the nostalgia of tying the MCU into a hilarious eighties-centric setting, as done in this episode, is ambrosia for my generation of fans.
The proceedings take place from 1982 to 1983, where Deke (Jeff Ward) and Mack (Henry Simmons) are stuck after Coulson (Clark Gregg) blows himself up along with all the Chronicoms in order to save humanity, and the Zephyr One takes off through time/space without them.
While Mack holes up in a small house and drinks himself into obesity and long-beardedness, having unfortunately just lost his parents to the Chronicoms, it’s Deke that steals the show and gets the nostalgia train running. He starts a band and steals all of the upcoming eighties songs that are about to hit the charts before they’re ever produced.
This all comes to a head when Deke tries to snap Mack out of his funk by inviting him to a happy hour at Swayze’s Bar (ref: the 1989 Patrick Swayze movie, Road House). Little does Mack know that he’s about to be treated to a performance by the Deke Squad! Deke and a conglomeration of nitwits, all dressed in full glam rock gear, play a rendition of “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” butchering the lyrics along the way (“Or if the knife stabs into your heart, Daisy!”). Still, Deke doesn’t have a bad voice, and seeing him hamming it up on stage to that classic eighties gem is a moment any AoS fan should remember fondly for years to come.
Another hilarious, yet disturbing scene comes in the form of Mack being introduced to the new Coulson. It seems his hard drive had survived the aforementioned explosion, so Deke wired it to a VHS player and cathode tube TV. Voila! Coulson is presented as a 16-bit digital head floating in a faux 3D background a la Max Headroom. He describes his existence as that of “a bunch of 1’s and 0’s trapped in a digital hell.” I don’t recall Headroom ever expressing such complaints.
It’s not long before some rebuilt Chronicoms attack the new S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Unfortunately for them, in the eighties, the only robotic engineering available is that which culminates into something looking like an original Nintendo R.O.B. of the time - a tiny, adorable robot on treads with weak plastic grippers for hands. Sadly, Cricket, the cokehead drummer who never really has any idea what’s happening, is the first to be saw-bladed in the gut. But after a heartfelt moment in which Mack is finally snapped back into action by the touching realization that Deke had been looking in on his recently orphaned, pre-teen self and his brother this whole time, giving them school supplies, toys, and even a bitchin’ drum kit, the team pulls together and defeats their cute, little opposition.
The Zephyr eventually comes back for the lost trio of agents, but no doubt, the lessons learned stay with them. The glam rock look is stylish on no man, a living digital head on a screen isn’t so amusing to the head itself, and Nintendo R.O.B.s are not just harmless toys! Hey, don’t you forget about this episode. Sorry, had to say it.