S07.E01: The New Deal

[Cranberry]

Quote

Coulson and the agents are thrust backward in time and stranded in 1931 New York City. With the all-new Zephyr set to time-jump at any moment, the team must hurry to find out exactly what happened.

Airdate: May 27, 2020

 

[rmontro]

Sounds fun.  Anybody know how many episodes there are supposed to be this season?

[Raja]

15 minutes ago, rmontro said:

Sounds fun.  Anybody know how many episodes there are supposed to be this season?

13

[swanpride]

Can't wait! I really missed AoS….though it will be sad when the last episode airs. Hopefully it is extremely successful, at the very least in streaming. Because I still want an "Agents of Swords" follow up.

[thuganomics85]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is finally back, baby!  I've really missed this show and it was amplified by everything that has been happening this year.  Looking forward to another season of fun, and I hope it finishes things strongly!

So far, I thought it was a pretty solid return.  The team being stuck in the 1930s is a fun idea, and I like the twist that instead of saving FDR from the Chronicoms, they have to save... Hydra?  Because, yep, if there is no Hydra, there would be no S.H.I.E.L.D.  I have to imagine there would have to be some conflict over the team willingly helping Hydra continue to form, while knowing the damage and brutality it will eventually accumulate under its banner.  It would be hard to resist the temptation to change things for the better, despite the warnings of ripples and rivers (thanks for the metaphors, Deke!) 

LMD Coulson is officially a thing now, and it isn't surprising that there is a lot of mixed emotions going on here.  I don't blame Daisy for jumping in headfirst to reactivate him, but I don't see this being easy, despite his carefree attitude so far.  Although, I'm perfectly fine with him keeping the dad jokes.  The New Deal bit made me laugh quite a bit.

While I doubt the show is really going to go too deep into discussing the social and political issues of this time period, I'm glad they at least addressed that a lot of people are going to react unfavorably to Mac and, to a lesser extent so far, Daisy.

Fun seeing Patton Oswalt as the original Koenig who runs a speakeasy, even if he was a dick.

Glad Enoch is still around!  And Yo-yo's got new hands!  I'm sure Natalia Cordova-Buckley is glad not to have to cover her normal hands and arms anymore.

Fitz might be somewhere else right now, but when Simmons started torturing that Chronicom, I could imagine him sensing it and going "Yes, Jemma!  Do it!  Make me proud!"

Fun seeing Nora Zehetner as the Hydra agent who gets shot.  I also recognized the bartender (not Freddy, but the one who pulled a shotgun on Mac and Coulson) as Drake from iZombie.

So, Melinda is awake, but something seems to be off about her?  It's never easy, is it?!

[HerkyJerky]

Well, I did recognize Freddy.  He plays Paxton in "Never Have I Ever".  Cool!  From my new favorite show to my old favorite show!

Btw, what did Quake say right before she slugged the guy with the metal pipe in the kitchen?  I couldn't make it out.

[Lantern7]

I didn't know this was coming on until a few hours before airtime. Also, would I be weird for thinking we should've had a recap special? Not for all six seasons . . . just the past few years. "Wait, I thought Coulson was dead." "I remember Coulson was a formless alien that took Coulson's appearance because reasons!"

So, basically, the team is in Prohibition-era New York, and their enemies are the Chronicles  Chronocopias Chronicons Chronicoms. Wait, with an "m"? Anyway . . . Enoch's people . . . are trying to abort Hydra so that SSI and SHIELD never happened. Why don't they just admit that 1. This season would officially divorce this series from the MCU? And 2. It's also an excuse to bring in Patton Oswalt as an ancestor of those wacky Koenig brothers.

Wait, so Fitz is gone gain? And May is different now? Like I said, I'm lost. At least they can get great period-appropriate outfits from the Waverider Zephyr, as well as the invaluable assistance of Gideon Enoch.

ETA: Yeah, I know that the series is already separate from the MCU. I'm just saying it should be made official or something.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Lantern7

[Raja]

I just happen to be in the middle of a rewatch of the Sarah Conner Chronicles and wouldn't you know it the soundtrack directly quoted their drum beat as the story was one of their's with AoS characters. Perhaps a bit more of a recap of the Chromicom side of season 6 was due.

[swanpride]

That was great!!! I mean, I realised that Freddy was important pretty early on, but I didn't see that coming, even with having seen the trailer. But it would explain sooooo much.

Though I can't wait seeing them jump into other time pockets.

[jette]

It's Aos meets Timeless!   Bittersweet given that both series will be dunzo. 

[swanpride]

So, some random thoughts what I liked the most about the episode…

For one, the score...when they are ´walking the streets, investigating, there is this constant drumming, which just on its own makes you feel anxious. Great way to keep up the suspense.

Two, they obviously had a lot of fun dressing up Daisy. Great costumes.

Three, I really like how they play with the trope that someone important needs to be rescued. Because that is the route any other show would have picked.

[AimingforYoko]

I like that Mac understood he had to take a bunch of crap for the mission, but he's human and by the time that waiter stepped to him, he'd had enough. "Lazy what? C'mon, finish that sentence!"

[Raja]

10 hours ago, swanpride said:

That was great!!! I mean, I realised that Freddy was important pretty early on, but I didn't see that coming, even with having seen the trailer. But it would explain sooooo much.

Though I can't wait seeing them jump into other time pockets.

I din't see it at all. Even though Malick as the American head of Hydra which believes in aliens might be important in the AoS story why would  Skynet terminators, Chromicom hunters go after Sarah Connor  it would be the Red Skull which you would need  to stop the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D? 

But then we have the green serum.  and the time shift to the late 40s and Agent Sousa as the S.S.R. does become S.H.I.E.L.D.

[blueray]

I'm glad the show is back, but I probably needed a "previously on" because there were somethings I just forgot about. Like what happened to YoYo. I still don't actually remember but I could look it up. It was something to do with the aliens last year but that's all I remember.

Anyhow, for this episode. I liked the character stuff and Coulson's comment about being a superhero. I like that he is getting a chance to have "powers" and I enjoyed both his scenes with Daisy and Mack. I wish we got more of those before everything went down with the Chromicom stuff went down. Like I honestly wanted to know what would happen if Coulson had a drink. I'm guessing he can but it wouldn't have any effect and does he have taste buds? I missed Fitz and still don't really get why they can't be together. The information that the Chromicoms have would have been in the past not their current memories. So if someone else is calling the shots they won't know what their plan is?

Edited May 28, 2020 by blueray

[Whimsy]

12 hours ago, HerkyJerky said:

Well, I did recognize Freddy.  He plays Paxton in "Never Have I Ever".  Cool!  From my new favorite show to my old favorite show!

Btw, what did Quake say right before she slugged the guy with the metal pipe in the kitchen?  I couldn't make it out.

I recognized that actor from Never Have I Ever too!

Daisy said something about "1930's baseball reference here".  Totally paraphrasing. 

I know Deke annoys a lot of people, but I've always liked him.  I don't 'ship him and Daisy romantically, but I do love their banter.  I chuckled when Deke hot-wired that car, looked at Daisy all pleased with himself and she was like "Yeah, I'm proud".  It was all in the delivery.

I HATE when Fitz is separated from everyone else.  Admittedly, Iain De Caestecker is my favorite actor on this show (another YMMV, I know), and his storylines are usually still pretty strong, but I like my team together.  That's why I like that Coulson is back, even if it's unrealistic.  

I'll be really sad when this show is over.  Even though I have watched all of the Marvel movies (I re-watched every one in chronological order right before watching Endgame), I don't care at all that this is not following that timeline. 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

why would  Skynet terminators, Chromicom hunters go after Sarah Connor  it would be the Red Skull which you would need  to stop the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D? 

Killing Hitler in 1931 would prevent the Nazis from funding HYDRA to begin with. Then the team would have to save Hitler...

[swanpride]

Yoyo got infected by one of the shreek (sp?) towards the end of last season, but they killed Izel before it could really take. So, good call not having her run around before they checked her.

The notion that what was most likely Gideon Malick's father had contact to time travellers makes sense to me because it would explain the weird devotion his family had to their "religion".

Fitzsimmons can't be together because the Cronicons would have an easier time to predict their moves if they were due to the scan they made of their combined brains. I guess they can't disconnect the data they have? In any case, the real reason is naturally that Ian is busy with another project again.

[tennisgurl]

Welcome back Agents of Shield! Its been a long time and I could use a recap, but its great to see you again! The team going back to the 30s should be a fun change up, and you can tell that they are relishing getting everyone into their period clothes and getting into 30s style hijinks like hanging out at speakeasy's and Coulson fanboying over FDR. And now they have to save...Hydra. Because no Hydra, no Shield, and no Shield, means lots of bad things. 

"Freddy Bottles" is just the most 30s name that ever 30s, so of course its actually not his real name. Fun seeing another Koenig pop up, an ancestor of the current Koenig siblings, and seeing some actors showing up who I know from other stuff in the 30s storyline. 

Not even the Kree were evil enough to make alcohol illegal! 

Coulson being an LMD is certainly going to be tough to adjust to, and while he seems to be rolling with it, I am kind of waiting for the full on freak out. It wouldn't surprise me if, at some point, he gets upset that Daisy and the team didn't just let him finally die. 

Glad that Enoch is still around, and that Yoyo got some nice new hands! With all of the tech they have now (they managed to make Coulson basically a robot) its not surprising that they have that option now, but the whole sequence was really well played, especially when Yoyo was touching her own face and feeling it with skin for the first time in ages. 

I know that Fitz has to be separate from everyone for now, but I hope its very temporary. Can Fitz and Simmons just get a few days together?! Just a day or two? 

[Quickbeam]

I freely admit I missed a couple of years of this show but when I heard Patton was back, I had to watch. It was a lot of fun even though I am lost on the canon side of things. Plus lighter with a little humor. Prohibition humor, it never gets old. 

[swanpride]

Wait...you mean you basically jumped from season 4 to season 7????

[blueray]

38 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

I freely admit I missed a couple of years of this show but when I heard Patton was back, I had to watch. It was a lot of fun even though I am lost on the canon side of things. Plus lighter with a little humor. Prohibition humor, it never gets old. 

Wow and I thought I was confused lol. You should go back and watch seasons 5 and 6 before watching this season. They are good seasons and are worth watching. It's all on netflix I believe.

[greekmom]

4 hours ago, blueray said:

I'm glad the show is back, but I probably needed a "previously on" because there were somethings I just forgot about.

Agreed. A short recap would have been awesome. Can you imagine if they had Michael Peña (Luis) from Ant Man do his famous storyline?  That would have been EPIC.

I didn't like the fact there is no Fitz and Simmons is really on the fence of having a nervous breakdown.  How long was she and the rest of the team separated that she was able to work on the ship?  

I guess I'm ok with LMD Coulson . I mean we don't have a choice since writers really wrote his character in a corner.  Glad that Yo-Yo has more realistic looking hands.  I liked Patton being back on the show.

I am hoping we see Agent Carter, Stark or Jarvis make a cameo.  Maybe Coulson can get his full set of Captain America cards - mint condition.

[Enigma X]

I just watched and enjoyed it. I really do hate time travel but this was fun. I also hope Fitz is able to reunite with the gang soon.

[clack]

Can see we'll be subjected to a lot of misconceptions of Depression-era culture. 

It was the norm for black men to dress elegantly. By 1931, women had already been NYC police detectives for 20 years. Etc.

Edited May 28, 2020 by clack

[blackwing]

9 hours ago, blueray said:

I'm glad the show is back, but I probably needed a "previously on" because there were somethings I just forgot about. Like what happened to YoYo. I still don't actually remember but I could look it up. It was something to do with the aliens last year but that's all I remember.

I remember clearly what happened with YoYo... she swallowed one of those alien disease birds.  Even though we were all like "with her powers she should have easily avoided it".  Where I'm having trouble is that I am drawing a complete blank on what happened to May.  And how they ended up in the 30's to begin with.  Daisy wanted to save Coulson so she pushed a button and the ship went through a wormhole?  I'm lost.

[Quickbeam]

6 hours ago, swanpride said:

Wait...you mean you basically jumped from season 4 to season 7????

Yeah, I got lost after the other world rabbit hole thing. The one where everything was gray-green? I couldn’t keep everyone straight in my head. I drifted away. Mostly my husband hated how convoluted it got. I may go back and marathon the missing seasons.

[Raja]

On 5/28/2020 at 6:53 PM, blackwing said:

I remember clearly what happened with YoYo... she swallowed one of those alien disease birds.  Even though we were all like "with her powers she should have easily avoided it".  Where I'm having trouble is that I am drawing a complete blank on what happened to May.  And how they ended up in the 30's to begin with.  Daisy wanted to save Coulson so she pushed a button and the ship went through a wormhole?  I'm lost.

When May, Sarge and Izel were fighting in the temple to stop the aliens from coming through the monolith porthole Sarge stab a sword through May and she went the opposite way through and through miraculous healing stopped the invasion off screen and popped back to earth.

Meanwhile Simmons in the lighthouse battle with the Chromicoms shows up to pick up the other team and grab some monolith slices to power their time and space bus.

Daisy pushing the button was to activate the Coulson super LMD.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Raja

[marykat71702]

Definitely could have used a re-cap. Didn't even realize the show was back, but it popped up on my Hulu. I didn't remember what had happened to May, either. It's getting a little convoluted for me, and has been for a while, but I really like the cast so I'll stick with it and hopefully everything will make sense eventually.  <shrug> 

[swanpride]

Oh, I am pretty sure that this last season is for fans who actually remember what happened the last six season. They will throw in as many easter eggs and fan service as possible without undermining the story they want to tell.

But yes, the last season was a little bit convoluted.

[blueray]

11 hours ago, blackwing said:

I remember clearly what happened with YoYo... she swallowed one of those alien disease birds.  Even though we were all like "with her powers she should have easily avoided it".  Where I'm having trouble is that I am drawing a complete blank on what happened to May.  And how they ended up in the 30's to begin with.  Daisy wanted to save Coulson so she pushed a button and the ship went through a wormhole?  I'm lost.

That's right, wow I forgot about that. It made no sense that she couldn't grab it with her powers. And May got stabbed and fell through some sort of portal which healed her so she could still have a badass fight. But not completely as she was still ill at the end of the finale. Now sure what's with her now, was she just chilling on the ceiling or was their a ledge involved?

[swanpride]

Maybe she is just practicing social distancing.

[foxfreakinmulder]

19 hours ago, greekmom said:

A short recap would have been awesome. Can you imagine if they had Michael Peña (Luis) from Ant Man do his famous storyline?  That would have been EPIC.

Hahahahah I love that! I need a recap because I don't remember last season and I'm too lazy to watch the end of season 6 again. I remember when you didn't have to because shows didn't have these long breaks in-between seasons it was just a summer break and during that time it had a rerun of the season, ah the good old days ;-) 

I'm so happy the show is back and I will miss it when it's over. I just hope we get Fitz sooner than later.

[MisterGlass]

I enjoyed the fast pace and the fun touches.  I was glad to see everyone except of course dear missing Fitz.  Since there are only 12 more episodes I hope they bring him back quickly.

I'm under the impression that at least five years have passed since Fitz and Simmons jumped.  Simmons' hair and make-up are severe and aimed at aging her.

On 5/28/2020 at 12:21 PM, Raja said:

why would  Skynet terminators, Chromicom hunters go after Sarah Connor  it would be the Red Skull which you would need  to stop the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D?

That green vial may well be the stolen super soldier serum that creates Red Skull.

ETA: I loved the vintage title card!

Edited May 30, 2020 by MisterGlass
Addition

[Raja]

6 minutes ago, MisterGlass said:

I enjoyed the fast pace and the fun touches.  I was glad to see everyone except of course dear missing Fitz.  Since there are only 12 more episodes I hope they bring him back quickly.

I'm under the impression that at least five years have passed since Fitz and Simmons jumped.  Simmons' hair and make-up are severe and aimed at aging her.

That green vial may well be the stolen super soldier serum that creates Red Skull.

ETA: I loved the vintage title card!

Five years, interesting choice 🤯

[paigow]

The serum Red Skull used was developed in Germany. It makes no sense for it to be in NYC. The Steve Rogers version was not ready until 1941-42

[Raja]

14 hours ago, paigow said:

The serum Red Skull used was developed in Germany. It makes no sense for it to be in NYC. The Steve Rogers version was not ready until 1941-42

When you use MCU political organization it makes more sense. Like the centipede formula for Mike Peterson/Deathlok in the first AoS episode came from Hydra getting their hands on A.I.M's  extremis and working with that base component if we presupposed an American head of Hydra getting the green serum to a peacetime German head of Hydra and there the  Red Skull is created and a German/Hydra defector brings back an almost ready serum to America and it is perfected for a 1942 test on Steve Rogers.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Raja

[SnoGirl]

I really really hate time travel stories. I really hope they can get out of this timeline cleanly. However, if watching time travel means we get to see Coulson-even as an LMD, geek out about seeing history play out while traveling through History, I’ll cope with the time travel. Coulson loving all things vintage is what I loved about him in Season One, so it was enduring to see that side of him again.

Anyone know how long Ian was out for during this season? I hate that the team being split, even if its just Fitz in a different period of time. Also, did May know Enoch last season? I really should have done a rewatch...

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, MisterGlass said:

That green vial may well be the stolen super soldier serum that creates Red Skull.

 

That was my first thought but it’s too early. 1931 is still a few years before Erskine is forced to develop the serum for Hitler. 

[StarBrand]

I liked the fact they didn't even try to convince LMD Coulson that he was anything but, although I did feel bad when two years' worth of memories overwhelmed him.

But this does allow for LMD-Coulsen to completely geek out over meeting famous people from history-just wait until he meets Agent Carter.  He has an advantage that no other agent has-absolutely no fear of death. Plus, being slightly superhuman...

May is....something different. Wonder how she'll react to LMD-Coulson.

[Raja]

11 hours ago, StarBrand said:

 

May is....something different. Wonder how she'll react to LMD-Coulson.

Her first appearance when Coulson recruited her to drive the bus had her saying but Phil died. I wonder if she comes down from her perch thinking but I died in a full circle moment?

Edited May 30, 2020 by Raja

[StarBrand]

3 minutes ago, Raja said:

Her first appearance when Coulson recruited her to drive the bus had her saying but Phil died. I wonder if she comes down from her perch thinking but I died in s full circle moment?

I think it's interesting that LMD-Coulsen and May now have the same experience....being dead, and brought back. But until next week, we don't know how much this May is different....

[MisterGlass]

2 hours ago, paigow said:

The serum Red Skull used was developed in Germany. It makes no sense for it to be in NYC. The Steve Rogers version was not ready until 1941-42

2 hours ago, Dani said:

That was my first thought but it’s too early. 1931 is still a few years before Erskine is forced to develop the serum for Hitler.

You're both right that 1931 is early, and it isn't clear how it would fit in with Dr. Erskine's story from the first Captain America movie.  It's more that I feel like any neon colored fluid in a Marvel property is some kind of super-soldier serum. 

Perhaps @Raja is right, and Dr. Erskine's first formula will turn out to be a derivative of this stolen one.

It occurs to me that if they did animal trials before the Captain America test there should be some super mice around in the 1940s.

 

[Lady Calypso]

I thought this was a solid premiere, even if I forget pretty much everything that happened in season six. I was able to piece together what I think I remember that happened.

I like the time travel aspect for this season. Going back in time, I think, is working better so far than them going to the future. 

I like the LMD Coulson. Better than whatever the hell Clark Gregg was playing last season. I like how self aware LMD Coulson is and how he knows that this isn't what the real life him would want, but he also wants to help save the world for the umpteenth time. I could see him helping and then asking Mack to shut him down for good, though. That would be entirely in character of Coulson. And since we do get old Coulson back, I'm super excited to see more of him. He had some excellent moments with Daisy and Mack. I feel like the show hasn't had as much of Coulson/Daisy as they used to so I'm glad we seem to be getting back to that.

FitzSimmons wouldn't be FitzSimmons if they weren't separated by time and space. I'm actually getting quite sick of that plot point but I also assume that this is Iain's choice, since he didn't even APPEAR here, nor do we know when he might show up. So, if this is an actor's choice, I get it, but it's still just the same old, same old. These two simply cannot catch a break.

So, YoYo gains some new artificial arms. I guess that's to cut down on the budget with her mechanical arms? I get it and I can't be mad. Plus, I like the reason for YoYo being resistant to it. It still made sense for her to do it while acknowledging that this is still a part of her.

Savng Hydra. Now that's a total 180 back to season 1 roots, in a way. I'm excited to see where it leads.

Also, May! Hi, you're clearly not ok so....I'm just gonna watch and see what happens.

Overall, decent premiere. Some very solid character moments that I enjoyed. Even Deke, who typically annoys me, wasn't a total comedic goofball dumbass as he usually is. They seem to be starting to get back to the person they introduced back in season 5, with a more serious and intellectual side to him. Also, if they completely drop the stupid Daisy crush, that's more props to the show.  

Enoch, as always, is a treat. He's been a great character to see evolve and grow over the last couple of seasons.

[Terrafamilia]

17 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

That green vial may well be the stolen super soldier serum that creates Red Skull.

My first thought was that it could be some early version of that Kree juice created from that corpse which HYDRA got a hold of and the SSR recovered in WWII.

[paigow]

Is there some early version of Oscorp? Norman is not around, but maybe some other Osborn developed an experimental Green Goblin serum that only works on chimps that was stolen before human trials could start.

[Raja]

23 minutes ago, paigow said:

Is there some early version of Oscorp? Norman is not around, but maybe some other Osborn developed an experimental Green Goblin serum that only works on chimps that was stolen before human trials could start.

There is little to zero chance they use some legacy of a character already being used in the movies because of real world rights.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Hydra? Again? Is it really that hard to come up with something new? The idea that the Earth would be helpless without SHIELD was already a dumb excuse for time travel and now we got another twist - save Hydra. No wonder the Chronicoms are in such dire straights - their evil plans are so stupidly convoluted. LMD Coulson is not too bad so far and this episode wasn't quite as bleak as most of the previous two seasons but the weaknesses that have plagued the show throughout its run are still present. For instance Daisy first using her powers then needing to have a hand-to-hand fight with the enemies so that Coulson could jump and save her. Or yet another torture scene, this time of a robot but still.

[swanpride]

...why should they come up with anything new in a season which is clearly designed to visit the "highlights" of shield history? Hydra needs to be there.

[Jodithgrace]

Yeah, i could have used a recap, especially since I spent most of last season, never quite understanding what was going on. 

Don't Fitzsimmons have to get together at some point to, you know, conceive a child? Deke is their grandchild, right? At this point I would expect Deke to start fading out, like Marty McFly! 

I kind of like the fact that they can never quite get rid of Coulson. He began the series resurrected from the dead and cannot seem to stay dead for more than a couple of episodes. For me, he's the heart of the series, so bring him back all you want. 

[Orbert]

I liked how Gemini turned out to be Koenig.  I try to stay spoiler-free, but I'd accidentally read that Patton Oswalt was back, and when they said the name "Gemini" I thought of twins, and all the multiple Koenigs we'd seen before.  But then the guy pulled out a shotgun and we got a good look at the double barrels as he said "You want to see the twins?"  Misdirection?

I don't know, because Koenig shows up and Mack goes "Koenig?" and he just says something about how his reputation precedes him.  Clever. But why is he Gemini, and actually referred to as "the twins"?