Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 4, Episode 18 Review

"No Regrets" is an episode that at least on first viewing I'm not entirely sure how to feel about. The episode handles the death of one of the main characters in Director Mace, but its also an episode with a resurrected Ward that also features a guest appearance form resurrected Agent Triplett, meaning that the show can't entirely provide the death sequence it otherwise would have. Perhaps this really is the end for Mace, but the show has proven the death isn't the end, with the only dead characters not brought back being either villains or Lincoln (who, let's face it - nobody wants to see back again). Mace was a good character, and to see him go out in an episode like this is a great idea, it's just that I couldn't feel the weight of his death knowing that he'd probably come back at some point. Maybe he won't, but I just didn't buy it in the episode.
That being said though, his death benefited the arcs of both Framework May and Fitz, the former of which decides to change sides, giving Skye/Daisy the Kree crystal she needs to become an Inhuman at the end, and the latter of which resolves his doubts about his actions. We even get to finally meet Fitz's father in the episode, who is played brilliantly by David O'Hara (who is probably best known for appearing as Harry's ministry disguise in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1), and works really well to expand on Fitz's character in both the real and Framework worlds.
However, on the downside this episode showed Simmons trying to convince Ward and Mace about the Framework's fictitious existence, but once again she's going about it all the complete wrong way, making herself sound unbelievable. It frustrated me so much that she acted so angered at no one believing her when she basically turned around and said "this world's not real" a hundred times. Um....how is that meant to convince anyone? It's really bizarre given she had to work undercover at Hydra back in Season 2, she just can't convince anyone.
Overall though, "No Regrets" is a strong episode of the series. It gives Coulson a chance at redemption and turns it into a story about Mace, but aside from a clunky story in places, the episode worked well on the whole. Not as strong as previous installments, but good all the same,

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