Agents of SHIELD (7×01) The New Deal Review

For our review of the last episode of Agents of SHIELD, click here.

Synopsis: Coulson and the agents are thrust backwards in time and stranded in 1931 New York City; with an all-new Zephyr set to time-jump at any moment, the team must hurry to find out exactly what happened. (IMDb)

So we are back for one last go-around with Agents of SHIELD and it looks like before we get to the end, we have to go back to the beginning. Time travel in series can easily run the risk of being gimmicky but this does not appear to be the case at least so far. After several seasons that were admittedly out there (the series could not depend on the MCU as much as fans would have hoped), this final season is becoming something more normal which is nice to see.

The New Deal began with the sequence foreshadowed in the season 7 trailer where a group of Chronicoms interrupted 3 crooked police officers working with a bootlegger before stealing their faces in order to assume their identities and blend in. Meanwhile, we continue with where the season 6 finale left off, on the zephyr as the gang went back in time to 1930s New York City and the new Coulson LMD was about to be revealed. This Coulson who acted just like the old Coulson but was an LMD which Daisy let him know of right away. His last brain scan was during the framework therefore he had to be filled in with all the events that have happened since then for which there were a lot. All this news was overwhelming to say the least.

The zephyr was on autopilot, unexpectedly following to Chronicoms to 1931 where they had some sort of plan (though their ultimate plan was to go back through history to eliminate SHIELD). It is unclear how long Fitz, Simmons, and Enoch worked to get them to where they were. Fitz and Simmons were separated to stay away from the Chronicoms (she did not know where he was). Now on the ground, Mack, Coulson, Daisy, and Deke investigated the earlier attack (plus a fun conversation about time travel while Deke was unhappy about prohibition). Coulson’s knowledgebase noticed a possible lead in the form of an old SSR safehouse which was also an illegal speakeasy. Meanwhile, Yo-Yo appeared to rid herself of the shrike and also got some new arms for her trouble (after getting over some initial uneasiness, feeling again made her emotional).

Daisy and Deke stayed at the crime scene as the latter used some future tech to identify the faceless cops. Of course 2 of the Chromicon culprits showed up just in time to put up a fight but one was ultimately sidelined while another was taken hostage. Meanwhile, Coulson and Mack investigated the speakeasy and were not well-received (Coulson got to test his body out). It was run by another Koenig named Ernest. Ernest Koenig was set to supply a party hosted by then governor of New York Franklin Roosevelt. As he was the one that ultimately set the stage for the formation of SHIELD, it was believed that he was the Chromicons’ target.

The party was surprisingly uneventful despite Coulson’s Roosevelt fangirling. Meanwhile, Simmons led the interrogation of the captured Chromicon that hinted that the target was actually Ernest Koenig’s young associate Freddy (Darren Barnet), an alleged nobody pulled from the streets, who joined the gang at the party. Freddy was given a mysterious green vial from a woman (Nora Zehetner) asking him to deliver it somewhere in order to restore his family name to its former glory. In fact, Freddy was actually Hydra founding member Gideon Mallick’s father. In order to save SHIELD, the gang would also have to save Hydra.

The last scene was of Enoch checking on May’s life support pod (where she was recovering from her injuries from last season’s finale) empty as she lurked from up above.

So that was exciting. The new Coulson who was more like the old Coulson gives the characters another chance to say goodbye to him after missing out on his previous death. That dynamic will be fun to see once again. Where’s Fitz? Will the time travel storyline act as a greatest hits or a history lesson? Maybe, but they better end in the present.

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.