WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D," the latest episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The latest episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saw Mack Mackenzie and Deke Shaw are marooned in 1982, with the former still recovering from killing the Chronicom versions of his parents. However, while the plot might have been a bit dour, the episode embraced the spirit of the 1980s, throwing out a number of pop culture references.
Here are some of the episode’s most recognizable references to classic moments from '80s film and television.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
The episode’s title is an obvious wink to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which saw its titular high school doofus friends use a phone box-shaped time machine to help them ace a history class and preserve the future where their band’s music aids humanity's salvation. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current season also features time travel and characters messing with history.
War Games (1983)
Chronicom leader Sybil survived Coulson’s explosion from the last episode by uploading herself computer software, then coaxes a lonely engineer to bring her online. Her response to coaxing him into doing this, "Will you help me," resembles the iconic "Shall we play a game?" text from War Games, which sees a teenage hacker inadvertently access a U.S. military computer and, mistaking it for a game, sets off false alarms about incoming Soviet missiles. Even S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new title sequence matches that neon green computer text being typed on screen.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
When Mack finally gets out of his depression and checks out where Deke’s band is playing, he’s treated to a very early rendition of “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” While the Simple Minds song won't release for another few years, it served as the iconic credits theme to John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, one of the defining '80s teen movies. This is a very Deke move, trying to manipulate the laws of time to gain some credit for things he knows will become popular in the future.
The A-Team (1983-1987)
The A-Team remains a beloved and often referenced 1980s program. As Deke lists off all the members of his band/amateur S.H.I.E.L.D. team (Roxy Glass, “The Chang Gang,” Olga Pachinko and Cricket), there are name text boxes that resemble The A-Team's font. In both cases, there's a team of specialists who solve missions through unorthodox and explosive methods. Deke clearly wants to see himself as John “Hannibal” Smith (i.e. the guy with the plan), while Mack, with his overgrown beard, might be the B.A. Baracus stand-in.
Max Headroom
This episode reveals Agent Coulson is alive, albeit as a hard drive hooked up to a television set. With his bright face and line-based background, Coulson’s appearance is a clear callback to '80s "digital" icon Max Headroom. Based on a British TV movie turned American series, Headroom was a virtual clone recreation of television journalist Edison Carter, who lives in in a dystopian society run by ratings-obsessed television conglomerates. With his electronic stutters and snarky demeanor, Max existed as cyberpunk cross between a virus and TV personality, embodying the decade’s obsession with untapped media power.
Weird Science (1985)
Sometime after Sybil is brought online, she coerces the engineer who "saved" her to build a new robotic body while engaging in what he believes to be a romance. This idea of falling in love with a machine gives off significant Weird Science vibes, a 1985 sci-fi comedy where two high school outcasts try to design the perfect virtual fantasy woman, only for a bolt of lightning to supercharge their computer and bring her to life.
Chopping Mall (1986)
The retro Hunters Sybil builds to hunt Mack and Deke were clearly inspired by this cult classic. Chopping Mall is about a group of mall security robots who, after being damaged by a storm, short-circuit and begin murdering employees and customers alike. Sybil’s Hunters share those robot’s red oval-shaped visors and disturbingly polite demeanors, but are surprisingly deadly, murdering Cricket with saw blades and uzis.
Short Circuit (1986)
Short Circuit feels like another sci-fi movie that inspired Sybil's robot body, even if it's about a robot who turns good. The film follows “Number 5,” a prototype military weapon who, after being struck by lightning, develops sentience and attempts to run away from his government creators. You can see traces of Number 5 (later naming himself Johnny 5) in Sybil’s hand designs and spinal structure, which have a semi-humanoid quality to them.
The Terminator (1984)
Hunter’s POV, which resembles a T-800's red, data-laced HUD, is shown when he chases Mack and Roxy. It's an obvious callback to James Cameron’s The Terminator, which set the bar for all future movies about killer robots and time travel. Still, Sybil's robots aren't nearly as durable and are easily destroyed by explosives.
Commando (1985)
Mack's re-embrace of his S.H.I.E.L.D. director status is achieved in the most '80s way possible: A suit up montage. This feels like a throwback to the iconic Commando scene where Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix gears up with a ton of heavy-duty weaponry before taking on an entire island of soldiers to rescue his daughter. Here, Mack shaves off the majority of his beard, puts on a Deke Squad uniform and grabs his iconic shotgun axe, which he later uses to blow up Sybil’s robot body.
The Predator (1987)
A brief moment where the camera zooms into Mack and Zeke gripping hands can't help but invoke Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers' "epic handshake" from Predator, which iconically devolves into an arm wrestle match for no other purpose than to show off their enormous biceps.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final season airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.