The Chromicons are getting the upper hand over the agents this week as they help HYDRA burrow into SHIELD, and plan something that might be familiar to anyone who saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The story arc is also borrowing from seasons four and five in different ways, and shows the Chromicons have less respect for the timeline than SHIELD does.
SPOILERS BELOW
The episode starts with opening credits right out of a Quinn Martin production.
After that, LMD Coulson and Agent May discuss how she still expresses emotions of those around her, but not her own. The not-late Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokai), meanwhile, is having problems getting used to “elephant pants” and the 70s in general.
They get to the SHIELD speakeasy, which now looks like a proto-sports bar. They meet General Rick Stoner (Patrick Warburton), now with the group. Danny’s surprised because he didn’t remember Stoner being that good of an agent.
He’s announcing a new project called Insight which supposedly will make the Earth safer.
That is, until they meet his partner….Wilfred Malick (Neal Bledsoe)!
HYDRA’s practically merging with SHIELD, with help of the Chromicons. They just don’t want Earth as a new home. They want Earth because they can.
Also, the real purpose of Insight is to protect HYDRA from enemies, even in the future. Naturally, the Chroms take care of that. That’s why they’re targeting a kid named Bruce Banner as well as a still prominent Peggy Carter. The missiles are supposed to kill them, and any other threats.
Sound familiar? It does if you saw this scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
It also means the Chroms can ruin the timeline in their favor, just as long as SHIELD is destroyed. Malick was also supposed to die in 1970, but they decided to give him three bonus years.
We also meet his two sons, heir apparent Gideon (Cameron Palatas) and Carpenters fan (but still devious) Nathaniel (Thomas E. Sullivan), who also was supposed to be dead at this time.
In fact, he has more of a role when he witnesses Daisy’s Quake power and has an idea.
Fortunately, Enoch (Joel Stoffer) is back with a pretty sharp ride highly recommended by Consumer Reports. His entrance also shows he could have done well in the TV detective boom of the 70s
The team splits up to get more information. Mack and Elena head for the Lighthouse (the team’s old digs), and discover some unauthorized SHIELD agents planning something. May, meanwhile, also finds out Insight won’t be ready for three years, namely the Bicentennial. That’s a pretty appropriate time
However, the Chroms are on to SHIELD, and decide to force them to jump ahead in time.
One guess where they wound up.
Yes, the Chroms are planning the deadliest fireworks display ever.
Meanwhile, Sousa is getting impatient over dealing with spying after “death”. He has a tough time protecting people if he can’t get the whole story. The agents are trying to carefully give Sousa just enough of the future. The exception is Daisy, who actually shows him a smartphone.
What does it mean for the season? Is he doomed, or can he come back to 1955 somehow without knowledge about the future. Some fans have admitted DaisySou (yes, that’s what I’m calling this proto-romance) is a cute couple, but for how long?
It may be brief. Nathaniel catches them trying to break into his dad’s computer, and zaps them with a Chromicon gun. Always fear Karen Carpenter fans.
And is Fitz ever coming back? Simmons says he will, but there’s three small lights glowing in her neck. Also, she’s telling Enoch she is “slipping” and forgetting things. That’s causing a lot of doubt if she’s the real Simmons, or maybe a future descendant. As long as Deke exists (since he is their grandson), there’s a chance. If he suddenly fades out, FitzSimmons fans will leave in droves. They’re pretty impatient already.
Speaking of Deke, he decides to kill Wilfred for living too long. Wilfred is not worried, because his pals the Chromicons claim they can predict anything SHIELD is planning and prepare for it even before they think of it. That’s thanks to their “predictor”, Sybil. In fact, they give a picture of “the future” to Elena. The look of her face suggests it’s the worst case scenario. This may remind some of the second half of season five, where the agents had to break a time loop prevent the destruction of Earth. If the Chroms can rig things because they’re from the future, maybe from way past 2020, how can the agents win?
It doesn’t stop Deke from killing Wilfred, though.
Mack tries to stop the launch of Insight satellites by flooding the base, but the Chroms knew this would happen. That’s why they kidnapped his parents, knowing they’d die if he does it.
This is the one bad move the episode makes. Forcing Mack to hold off on the attack by suddenly putting his parents in harm’s way seemed too far-fetched. It may prove the Chroms are way ahead, but they should have come up with a better idea.
At least May’s ability to know if Stoner believed their story about an alien invasion (he didn’t) worked much better.
They’re forced to blast the missiles just above the base, but it may convince the 70s version of SHIELD that they are the enemy. It’ll be tough on them until they head to the 80s. Before that, they have to save the HYDRA hostages.
Finally, Nathaniel tries to talk to Daniel Whitehall in prison because he wants to know how Daniel tried to take powers from an Inhuman.
Yes, we mean Daisy’s mom, Jiaying.
Of course, he also has to dispose of Danny.
It may be a call back to season four, but it may add more context to Elena’s frustrations towards not recovering her super-speed power. Could Nat really take Daisy’s powers away? It probably won’t end well for him, but at least she would still be a worthy agent with or without powers.
Still, we still want that Quake movie, and Elena to be the really fast woman we all love. Disempowering them would be an insult to them and us.
Next time, Elena might reveal what was in that picture from the future. It may be scarier than meeting herself in season five.
