The “Agents of SHIELD” are still reeling from the reveal that the May they know is a Life Model Decoy. While Coulson and Mack go looking for answers about just where Radcliffe could be hiding, Daisy and the rest of the team take on the investigation of a supposed bombing in Senator Nadeer’s office in “boom.”
Meet Agnes
For anyone who thought that Radcliffe just plucked the image of Aida from thin air, you were wrong. Instead, the inspiration for Aida’s appearance comes from a woman he knew named Agnes whom Coulson and Mack meet while tracking down some of Radcliffe’s old contacts in an effort to find May.
As it turns out, she wants nothing to do with him.
Agnes has a brain tumor in a spot deemed inoperable -- making her the one problem Radcliffe can’t solve. He bailed on her, so she decided to live out what she has left of her life on her own terms. You can’t blame her for wanting to find a little beauty in what’s left. You can, however, blame Coulson for emotionally manipulating her to cooperate with SHIELD. It’s cruel to make her spend what time she has left with someone who hurt her so badly, but Coulson has always been someone who puts his own team before anyone else.
'You’ll never be Captain America'
While by now we all know that the apologetic reminder from Simmons is a nod to Mace’s comic book origins as he was a Captain America follow-up, “BOOM” is a little heavy-handed on the reminders that Mace isn’t Cap.
We’re told over and over that the serum is too dangerous for him to use, and we even get a nod to just what kind of role Coulson played when he teamed up with super powered people -- he was the sacrifice that motivated the rest of them.
Why bring this up? Guest stars don’t usually last long on “Agents of SHIELD,” and these all feel like hints that Mace isn’t going to survive the season.
If he doesn’t, who takes up the director mantle next? We know that Coulson wanted Daisy to be in charge, and she is one of the most recent directors of SHIELD in the comics, so she seems like a possible candidate. (To be honest, I’m really tired of Mace’s sports metaphors.)
Shockley is an Inhuman
In a nice bit of poetic justice, one of the characters who has been so vehemently anti-Inhuman is actually an Inhuman.
When Shockley tries to check if Senator Nadeer carries the same gene as her brother, he inadvertently triggers his own terrigenesis, and he’s more explosive than usual. I would have preferred to see Nadeer deal with her own transformation, but Shockley is almost as fun.
He doesn’t tell his Superior or any other lackeys about the new development -- likely because he’s too ashamed -- but when in SHIELD’s custody, he’s ready to turn on his abilities with apologies to his friends, willing to take SHIELD out at the expense of revealing himself. Bonus: he actually turns into a flammable gas before becoming a solid again instead of dying when he explodes.
Fitz and Simmons make the best team
The duo doesn’t get a ton of screentime in this episode (and really, you’d be hard-pressed to actually know they’re a couple this season), but what we do see of them reminds us how well they work together.
The two of them get back to their science-filled banter of season one days while figuring out that Shockley is an Inhuman just in the nick of time.
Seeing the two of them gang up on Daisy as the solution to their Shockley problem, when she doesn’t think she can do it, is also a cute reminder of the friendship the three share, despite Daisy being MIA for so many of the first episodes of the season. The reminder of the great chemistry amongst the trio was a nice light-hearted moment.
The verdict and what’s next
“BOOM” had something of a season one case-of-the-week vibe to it, and that’s not a bad thing. It felt streamlined and light despite being connected to the larger story arc.
4 out of 5 stars.
We already found out a bit more about Mace in “The Patriot,” but next week’s “The Man Behind the Shield” sees the team having to rescue him and Coulson in danger.
