'Agents of SHIELD' Season 4 Update: Tension Increasing Between Coulson and Mace; More Secrets and 'Office Politics'

By JC Santos

Nov 23, 2016 09:50 AM EST

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Season 4 continues with an "inhuman" as the director focused on creating deterrents against inhumans. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new director Jeffrey Mace is "The Patriot" — the first inhuman director — and the first inhuman who "plays by all the rules." This is truly great PR for S.H.I.E.L.D. and probably an immense headache for Agent Phil Coulson. Actor Clark Gregg playing as Coulson stressed that the tension between Coulson and Mace would "only get worse."

Gregg continues that Coulson has been with S.H.I.E.L.D. since its inception and he has probably memorized and understood every aspect of the organization. The tension between the two in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" Season 4 will increase is not because Mace is an inhuman but simply because "he's got focus groups and seems to make a lot of decisions by committee" and "Coulson is very skeptical of that."

However, Clark Gregg said that Mace is a great character to have in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Season 4 as the reality that being inhuman, "it just doesn't happen to heroic, perfect people." He said that "it seems to have happened to a guy who is kind of a 'Madison Avenue' putz in a way."

Director Jeffrey Mace's sternness and "rulebook" attitude could mean the sirens of 'office politics' are clanging. Team Coulson would probably face huge bureaucracy in Season 4 and more methods to squirm their way out of the rules.

But Jeffrey Mace's clean outside image has a darker secret. While Ghost Rider defeated him after Mace chased after him and Quake, he has some strings he can pull. That is, unless Jemma decides to pull to plug on Mace's directorship.

Jemma knows Mace's secret regarding the Vienna incident to which the latter had made efforts to keep it quiet. These include the destruction of all of Jemma's lie detector tests. Sooner or later, Coulson's hunch about something "off" with Mace may just pay off.

We'll have to wait and see. Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." returns to ABC on November 29.