Agents of SHIELD season 7, episode 4 review: Out of the Past

In “Out of the Past,” Agents of SHIELD season 7 episode 4 tried to change history. Spoilers follow.

Agents of SHIELD season 7, episode 4 went dark. Not quite to the levels of season 4 or season 6 as far as content, but literally, yes, as “Out of the Past” paid homage to the 1940s/1950s noir detective movies.

In the last episode, “Alien Commies from the Future,” Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and the Coulson LMD (Clark Gregg) got to indulge their nerdy sides by interviewing scientists at the secret SHIELD facility at Area 51 in the mid-1950s.

They were doing this to stop the invading alien Chronicoms from blowing up a bomb and thus taking out SHIELD’s braintrust before they could even get going.

It was successful, though not before they got into some hot water with SHIELD LA branch chief Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj of Agent Carter and Dollhouse), though Daisy (Chloe Bennet) got to channel Skye in disguising herself as a CIA operative.

Nifty ‘50s secret agent stuff

Shortly thereafter, it is July 22, 1955, one of the first dates SHIELD Academy recruits memorized in their history books: The day Agent Daniel Sousa became the first of the fallen Agents of SHIELD.

It happened on a dark and stormy night, when suddenly a shot rang out….but we’ll get to that soon enough.

Yo-Yo and Deke are sent to fetch an important package, only to be ambushed by a Chronicom and Deke to be kidnapped.

Meanwhile, Coulson tries to keep Sousa from being murdered, while Enoch (Joel Stoffer) adds the levity to this noir-style episode as the weary switchboard operator (day job working at a bar called the Cozy Canoe).

Drop it

On the train on their way to deliver the gadget to Howard Stark, Sousa and Coulson chat for a bit about their personal histories before a pretty woman nearly sets Sousa up for an ambush.

Thankfully he’s saved by the arrival of Daisy and Mack and the bar fight quickly wraps up. But not before they hatch an escape via  a Quinjet (conveniently sitting on top of the train).

Sousa, as expected, is wowed by the Zephyr’s technology, which leads to some grimly humorous dialogue, but in general he’s determined to go through with his mission to point out the rats that are within the SHIELD ranks.

“….From a certain point of view…”

This mule-headedness, or honor or duty or whatever you wanted to call it, leads to our team changing history and hoping it won’t ruin things too much. Because what Coulson was to the Avengers, Sousa was to SHIELD.

Coulson realizes that yes, Sousa DID die that night, but not because the Russians shot him, as everyone supposed, but rather because HYDRA operatives couldn’t risk being squealed on. So, therefore, there’s just one thing to do: Make some new history.

Meanwhile, Deke talks his way out of getting shot by the now-grown-and-very-frightening Wilfred Malick by revealing that he protected him on the train ride 24 years earlier. Malick agreed to let him go, though not before Deke accidentally allowed a random goon to be killed instead.

Summary

At the hotel that night, Coulson knocks Sousa out with an ICER before dressing up in his clothes and getting shot in the back himself (and then drowned in a pool for good measure). The real very alive Sousa then becomes a part of the team on the Zephyr after Coulson explains that he’s joined the “technically you don’t exist anymore” club.

Or as he put it, “History says that you’re now dead. And also that you’re also a hero.”

The Zephyr then jumps again, drafting in the Chronicoms wake, and they arrive somewhere around 1973 judging by the radio finding a rock station.

Back in 1955, a Chronicom offers an alliance of sorts with Malick, citing their mutual goal of crushing SHIELD.

In the C plot of this episode, Simmons and Yo-Yo tried to diagnose May’s new and alarming lack of emotion, and the equally confusing inability to control them sometimes, which they figured out was picking up on others’ emotions through physically touching them.

Basically, Agents of SHIELD season 7 episode 4, “Out of the Past,” paid brilliant homage to the 1940s/1950s noir detective thrillers based on the novels by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and the rest of those authors.

 SHIELD shrapnel

• The final season is now a third of the way complete, and we have no idea what or where Fitz (Iain De Caesticker) is. Enoch did say the time-traveling idea would change his and Simmons’ mortal destinies forever (in “The Sign/New Life“), but this is a bit concerning.
• This episode takes place over about 24 hours following the previous episode, so the initial radio advertisement (for a local Nevada car dealership) must have been on the air for a while.
• “Were women allowed to drive in the 1950s?” Deke’s ignorance is entertaining at times, though Yo-Yo’s surprise and frustration is understandable. “Going back in time is cool and all, it’s just…the 1930’s were really racist and sexist,” Deke processes aloud. “And now we’re in the 1950’s, and it’s….still pretty racist and sexist.”
• “We’re…off the books.” Mack nods confidently. “You guys must be…way off book,” Sousa replies in wonder. “You have no idea,” May shakes her head. But, of course, they can only be off book because there is a book to follow in the first place, a nice callback to the first season.
• Deke wouldn’t be that bad of a toaster salesman, honestly.
• Agents of Nothing (“Providence”, 1.18), Agents of the Status Quo…symbols, like Captain America’s shield, can be flexible sometimes. Cause they’re humanity’s last hope and line of defense, as Coulson said outside the Providence base.
• The train scene was also a nice callback to “TRACKS” (1.13), which is fitting as it seemed like everyone got shot.

Agents of SHIELD season 7, episode 5, “A Trout in the Milk,” will air on ABC on Wednesday, June 24 at 10 p.m. ET.