The S.H.I.E.L.D. team continues to leap ahead through time, bringing us into the 70’s. What new twists and time traveling turns await our tenacious team? Quite a bit, all things considered.
1. That 70’s S.H.I.E.L.D.
As always, I love how the show adjusts its opening credits based on the era the team has gone to. This time we get a 70’s style intro, featuring a narrator calling out each of the stars and little animated screen wipes to accompany it. It’s a great touch.
While the locations remain similar to previous episodes, particularly as they return to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base that was once Koenig’s speakeasy, you can see how the designs have changed to match the era. Things like the background music and Sousa’s confusion about bell bottom jeans adds to the setting nicely. Oh, and the classic S.H.I.E.L.D. jumpsuits that Coulson and May have to use are a nice callback to older uniforms worn by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the comics.
All in all, they’re making great use of the time travel to take us on a trip through time.
2. Time Shock
Speaking of time travel, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team picked up a new member when they saved Sousa’s life. But that’s still quite a lot for him to take in. He begins questioning how time travel works. Is this a closed loop where he was always saved and taken to the future, or did history change? Will there be any major timeline differences? There are many questions, and it makes him think this is going to be his “last stop.”
The fact that the mechanics of time travel are more than a little ill-defined is definitely a cause of concern for him, but as predicted, it does put him in an interesting position with Deke. Both are men out of time, and neither had time to prepare or asked for them to be where they are now. Hopefully this will give us more character development for both down the line.
Also, I did enjoy the scene where Daisy shows off a smartphone to Sousa.
Speaking of time travelers: Enoch is back on the team, he has a nice black turtleneck and classic car, and he has every reason to be annoyed at everyone for leaving him there for 40 years. Enoch is quickly rising up the ranks of my favorite characters thanks to these past few episodes.
3. Patrick Warburton is Back
When Patrick Warburton first appeared as General Rick Stoner in “All the Comforts of Home,” I was ecstatic and hoped we’d see more of him later on. Well, my wish came true. His video message in his first appearance even talked about how the Lighthouse was like “The 1980’s came early,” so it makes sense they’d be able to meet him in person in the 70’s.
As far as his character goes, it’s hard to get a read on him. He cites regulations to decline buying May a drink, but he’s also been entirely fooled by Malick. When Coulson tells him about the time traveling robot aliens, he seems to believe them and asks for more details, but May sees through it quickly (thanks to her new emotion-sensing powers, which I will need to analyze in more detail later) and has to knock him out.
So where does Rick Stoner stand? Will we somehow get Fallen Angel in the 70’s? Perhaps we’ll get more from him in the episodes to come, and I would not mind that at all.
Seriously, Patrick Warburton just overflows with charisma.
4. Project Insight
It’s amazing how a time travel episode in the final season of the show can feel more connected to the Marvel cinematic universe as a whole than the entire past season did.
Thanks to some future knowledge shenanigans from the Chronicoms, Wilfred Malick is still alive and well respected within S.H.I.E.L.D., to the team’s surprise. As soon as his speech starts talking about using targeting satellites and pinpoint telemetry to stop enemies before they pose a threat, it was easy to make the connection to Captain America: Winter Soldier.
Project Insight is launching a few decades early, and there’s no Captain America around to stop it. If there is a Bucky, he’s still on ice and brainwashed to carry out Hydra’s assassinations (but let’s be real, it would be amazing if he had a cameo this season). Fortunately, Coulson and his team know exactly what Project Insight is up to. Unfortunately, they can’t exactly prove it.
Continued belowOf course, the Project Insight hit list also includes some familiar names, including Bruce Banner. Killing the Hulk before he exists will undoubtedly have big effects on history as well, although in this case it’s really just a name drop. They could have named any Avenger or their parents and it would have served the same purpose, but if Bruce is a child in the 70’s, then he’s as good a target as any.
Basically, this is the first time in a while the show has felt connected to the Marvel movies to any extent, especially with the return of old plots and schemes.
5. Dire Straits
To say the episode ended with a few complications would be an understatement. May and Coulson are captured, as are Daisy and Sousa. In fact, it looks like Whitehall is going to be reappearing with his Hydra branch, since there’s a little talk of transferring powers afoot.
Meanwhile, Mack and the rest of the team managed to shoot down the Project Insight satellites, but at the expense of revealing their location. Oh, and Mack’s parents are being held in a prison cell.
Sure, Deke shot Malick, but he had some sort of mysterious envelope given to him by the Chronicoms. Whatever it is, Yo-Yo is pretty worried when she looks at it.
So it’s safe to say we’ve got cliffhangers all around on this episode. We’re only five episodes in to a 13 episode season, so things are only going to get crazier from here.
