Once again, the show delivers an awesome episode, this season is firing on all cylinders! Though in the name of fairness, when I first watched this episode I didn't think of it as highly, because a lot of it is set up that gets pay off in later episodes, so it didn't feel satisfying right away, this true for Mack's story more than most, but also May's , Talbot and Fitz's scenes took a whole new meaning when you know what is being set up..so it is very hard to judge the episode on its own.
Even without hindsight, there is much to love about it, the Talbot & Coulson dynamic is still iconic, Ming Na killed it this episode, she's just so good, and the last scene in the episode is just heartbreaking and really brings the character of May a full circle, I think she shines in s4 as a whole, despite it being more subtle than other characters in the forefront, but it's hard to deny how influential the character is to the events.