Agents Of SHIELD Ratings Rise

We knew fans were extremely excited to see last night's Agents of SHIELD episode, "The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D," and it turns out that excitement was reflected in the ratings. The episode was set in the 1980s and featured some hilarious homages as well as Deke (Jeff Ward) performing Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)." According to Deadline, the Marvel series had its biggest audience in four weeks with 1.41 million viewers. That's only a smidge lower than it was at the beginning of June when it came in only second to Pixar's Up.

We love to see the show's ratings rise, even though we don't have to deal with the renewal stress of previous seasons. The fact that Agents of SHIELD has made it to its seventh and final season on its own terms is quite remarkable and well deserved. In fact, last night's episode was yet another "totally excellent" hour that further proved the show is still fresh after all these years.

The big winner of Wednesday night in ratings was CBS' new reality competition, Tough as Nails, which received 4.07 million viewers. Other successful shows included NBC's Chicago Med (3.58 million viewers), Chicago Fire (3.56 million viewers), and Chicago PD (3.49 million viewers).

There were so many iconic '80s throwbacks in the new Agents of SHIELD episode, including Coulson living inside a TV a la Max Headroom, Deke copying the exact look from Loverboy's "Turn Me Loose" video, and robots that looked almost identical to the ones from Chopping Mall, which you may recall was referenced a couple of times back in season four.

While this week's Agents of SHIELD episode will be hard to top, we're extremely excited for the upcoming eighth episode of the final season, which is titled "After, Before." The episode will feature the long-awaited return of Dichen Lachman as Jiaying, otherwise known as Daisy's mother. The plot is set to follow May and Yo-Yo as they visit Afterlife with the hopes of helping Yo-Yo figure out why her powers haven't been working since her encounter with the shrike.

We have to assume Yo-Yo and May are visiting Afterlife in the early '80s, which means we'll likely be seeing a softer Jiaying. We know that Doctor Whitehall ripped her apart for her powers in 1989, which Cal previously claimed is what turned her into a villain. Interestingly, Daisy wasn't featured at all in the teaser, which leaves us wondering if she'll get the chance to be reunited with her mom.

Agents of SHIELD airs Wednesday nights on ABC at 10 PM EST.