Agents of SHIELD Season 4 introduced a very important new character: Jeffrey Mace. He’s an inhuman known as The Patriot in the comics, so at first we thought he'd be an ally to Coulson and team SHIELD. But he's proved to be more of a pain in the ass. He’s a very stern SHIELD director who likes to play by the rules--which as every AoS fan knows, isn't Agent Coulson's style.
But he may not be the goody two-shoes he wants everyone to think he is. Mace's first conversation with Agent Coulson suggested he's hiding something. Jemma was the first of the team aside from Coulson to catch on, but she’s kept her findings a secret for now. Looks like that won’t last for long. A photo tweeted out by Mark Kolpack, Agents of SHIELD visual effects supervisor, revealed the title of season 4 episodes 11-14 (courtesy of Heroic Hollywood ). Two of the episodes suggests we’ll be learning a lot more about Jeffrey Mace’s past.
The midseason premiere episode for Season 4, also called LMD for short, is “Broken Promises.” The following episode has been revealed as “The Patriot.” The next four are: “Wake Up,” “Hot Potato Soup,” “BOOM,” and “The Man Behind the Shield.”
The Patriot is Jeffrey Mace’s first alias in the comics, but he eventually goes on to take Captain America’s mantle when Steve Rogers goes missing. “The Man Behind The Shield” could be referring to Mace’s stint as Captain America. Hopefully, the episodes include flashbacks to Mace’s mysterious involvement with the UN bombing in Vienna during the signing of the Sokovia Accords, as seen in Captain America: Civil War.
Mace’s heroics and inhuman abilities are part of the reason he got him the job as SHIELD Director. When Coulson resigned, he wanted Steve Rogers to become the head of SHIELD, but this was during the time Captain America went MIA after Civil War. Mace, Coulson said, was the next best thing. While Coulson’s request for someone powered ultimately resulted in Mace being appointed director, it was also obvious from the start that the two have some sort of history together. There’s been tension and mistrust between them since the first episode of Season 4.
When we asked Clark Gregg about Mace’s leadership so far at New York Comic Con, the actor said their relationship is “not too good.”
“‘The team that trusts is the team that triumphs,’ the director says. So far I don't think [Mace] feels a lot of trust between he and Coulson,” Gregg explained. “I think that’s only going to get worse. He’s finding it difficult to follow orders from someone who doesn't know nearly as much about SHIELD as he does.”
Any ideas on what Mace could be hiding? Let us know in the comments below! Agents of SHIELD returns to ABC on Jan. 10.
