Preview — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 4: Out of the Past

“This was the day Daniel Sousa became the first fallen agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

As it turns out July 22, 1955, holds great significance for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 4, “Out of the Past”, and for S.H.I.E.L.D. itself — it’s the day our hearts broke into a thousand pieces.

Well actually, it’s the day Sousa attempts to expose Hydra’s presence in the agency and is promptly taken out. Regardless, this sudden revelation from LMD Coulson does feel a bit like kicking Agent Carter fans when we are already down for the count.

That being said, this may just be the season’s gutsiest moves yet thanks to an intriguing catch-22 time paradox and an excuse to go full noir thanks to Coulson’s genre-bending glitch.

Don’t let the aesthetics of a black and white filter fool you into thinking this episode is going to a fun one-off. The stakes have never been higher — the possibility to upend what we know about MCU on the small screen has never been greater.

Sousa’s involvement with Hydra once again puts the events of the Captain America films at the forefront of this exchange, playing with the possibility of exposing Hydra long before Nick Fury realizes it’s too late and setting into motions a new turn of events for our agents to play with.

There is also the greater possibility that Sousa will still die at the hands of Hydra and that it will be the Winter Soldier who pulls the trigger. This is a long shot, sure. But Howard Stark met a similar end at the hands of Hydra and one has to hope if Sousa does die its a Soviet slug, no rifling that ultimately does the job.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is toying with killing off one of Agent Carter‘s finest, but the series also has a prime opportunity to close the door on one of the cancelled show’s greatest mystery: who killed Jack Thompson?

Just as Chad Michael Murray’s character began to show he had redeeming qualities under all that toxic masculinity he was killed at the end of Agent Carter Season 2 and the mystery surrounding the redacted files stolen from his suitcase died with him. Now, with another SSR agent’s life hanging in the balance, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has the opportunity to give Agent Carter a proper burial.

This season may be about the Chronicoms, but Hydra has been quick to steal the spotlight at every turn and I’m inclined to let them. For how much turmoil Hydra has caused our favourite characters over the years, they have an odd way of giving the smaller budget Marvel projects the fan-fare they deserve.

In a world of black and white, Carter and S.H.I.E.L.D., there is but one constant — those pesky Hydra.

Check out the photos and promo video below for a preview!

Episode description: It was just another average morning on July 22, 1955, when Agent Phil Coulson realized the importance of that day in the S.H.I.E.L.D. history books. With a chip on his shoulder and a genre-bending glitch in his system, he’d set into motion a chain of events that would hopefully preserve the timeline as we know it and ensure those pesky Chronicoms get the ending they deserve. What could go wrong?

Photos from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 4:

Promo video:

 

What are your hopes for this episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and be sure to catch up with our review of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 3, “Alien Commies From the Future,” right here.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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