Agents of SHIELD (7×04) Out of the Past Review

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

Synopsis: Agent Phil Coulson comes to a realization about the importance of July 22, 1955, in the S.H.I.E.L.D. history books. (IMDb)

The Agents of SHIELD genre hopping continues with an entertaining noir episode with some important ramifications for the future of the MCU.

After an EMP took out LMD Coulson near the end of the last episode, he’s not exactly functioning properly. He now saw in black and white as the team happened to end up on July 22nd, 1955 a day that would gain Agent Sousa infamy as his death marked a major moment in the history of SHIELD. As such, Out of the Past saw Coulson narrated the story in the style of a noir (at least his internal monologue was as a result of his malfunctioning). The team would inevitably have to deal with that moment and suffice it to say that it took a different turn.

The actual story started with Coulson in an interrogation room as Sousa interrogated him (he kept his abilities to himself). He used his knowledge of SHIELD history to his advantage by talking himself out of the situation and onto Sousa’s final mission which was to deliver a device to Howard Stark. A fun running gag began with Coulson calling Enoch for help. He was still a bartender at a tropical themed bar and had since (he had 24 years) developed technology that could contact the zephyr. Coulson needed to communicate with the others while brushing off Enoch’s question about rejoining the team (Coulson wouldn’t be the only one though Enoch got increasingly ticked off). Meanwhile, it was up to the team to fetch the device though they were obviously not the only interested party.

While they did retrieve the device, Deke got abducted in the process. The device itself wasn’t that impressive. Deke was abducted by Wilfred Malick who did not recognize him (who Deke also saved back in 1931). To save himself, he reminded Malick of their past which worked this time (it won’t be the last we see of Wilfred Malick). Meanwhile, Sousa was getting restless (not quite trusting Coulson) but Coulson continued to talk his way out of it. The Chromicons were of course on the train with them and presented an offer for the device in exchange for charity (which got rejected). Another party showed up on the train before being stopped by the team who arrived just in time. Sousa was then taken back on the zephyr where Coulson came to the conclusion that he was killed for trying to expose Hydra who he suspected has infiltrated SHIELD for which he was determined to prove (and for which we know to be true especially since his supervisor was Malick).

As Sousa stormed out on the team, they intercepted him and devised a plan to fake his death in order to keep his name in the history books while saving a good man’s life (where Coulson took Sousa’s place). After spending some time in the water and subsequently drying out, Coulson was back to normal and saw in color. He then explained to Sousa, who got iced, everything and he was surprisingly receptive. In other news, the trouble with May was that she could feel the emotions of others by touching them. By the end, the team got whisked away to the 1970s.

However, the last scene of the episode was of the Chromicons seemingly forging an alliance with Wilfred Malick.

The impact of Sousa living remains to be seen but the genre hopping in service of this final season’s story is starting to come together and it will be exciting to see whatever new Easter eggs are going to show up next though the ultimate goal should be to provide a satisfying conclusion first and foremost.

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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.