Agents Of SHIELD Season 7, Episode 1 “The New Deal” Recap And Review

It’s hard to believe it’s been nine months since last season of Agents of SHIELD ended. (You can read a recap on the final two episodes here). A lot has happened to the team these last few seasons, including trips to the future and space, deaths of agents (with clever loopholes to bring them back, in a way), and now a trip to the 1930s.

The reason for this journey to the past is because the Chronicoms, an advanced semi-robotic race, have stolen Nick Fury’s black box and are determined to destroy SHIELD by changing the past. No one said being a SHIELD agent was going to be easy.

Warning: There will definitely be spoilers for Season 7, Episode 1 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD below.

(All images courtesy of ABC Studios).

The Police Lose Face Over Their Run In With Chronicoms

Some hunter Chronicoms arrive in 1931. They come across some shady police officers and use their tech to literally steal their faces. They’re determined to take over Earth. These identities will allow them to infiltrate an upcoming event to kill someone crucial to the formation of SHIELD.

Coulson Is Back…Sort Of

Phil Coulson actually died in the Season 5 finale. It appeared he was back in Season 6, but that’s another story. At the end of last season, Simmons showed Mack and Daisy they built an advanced LMD of Coulson with help from Enoch, the friendly Chronicom. As soon as Daisy saw “Coulson,” she couldn’t resist hitting the button to activate him.

This Coulson has his memories from his last scan in the Framework. He’s been updated with the events that occurred since. He struggles at first dealing with knowing he died and came back along with the fact that he knows he’s not human. Daisy tells him to take a breath, and he questioned, “Do I breathe?”

Mack shuts him off, saying activating an LMD is a director-level decision. Despite Coulson not wanting to come back in this fashion, they need his knowledge of SHIELD history to prevent the Chronicoms from succeeding in their plans. Coulson agrees to help them with whatever he needs.

They also find out the Zephyr is now sort of a time machine, Fitz has to be someplace else they can’t know about, May is in a stasis pod after getting impaled by a sword, and Yo-Yo has to be under quarantine since she had an alien lifeform inside her. Simmons also offers Yo-Yo new and advanced arms to replace her other prothetic ones.

Time For A Stroll In The City

Mack, Daisy, Coulson, and Deke head out to investigate the strange death of the police officers with missing faces. They understand they have to tread lightly and try not to change the past. In order to get into the crime scene, Coulson says they are Canadian mounties and they use toy badges Deke managed to find for them.

Inside, Deke uses a device to scan the bodies’ real faces. Coulson notices some bottles of whiskey with a swordfish logo on the cap. He had heard of an old speak easy where the password to get in was “swordfish.” Mack and Coulson leave to check out the location.

More police arrive, but it turns out it’s the Chronicom. Recognizing Daisy and realizing SHIELD followed them, one asks Daisy to help him check out a suspicious truck in the back alley, which leads to a fight. Deke manages to finish his scans inside and realizes the other new officer has the face of the dead cop. Daisy and Deke manage to leave in the truck with an unconscious Chronicom. They head for the Zephyr in the hopes Simmons can extract information from the hunter.

Nothing Easy About The Speak Easy

Coulson and Mack are able to enter the secret drinking establishment. When they ask to speak to the man in charge, the bartender, Freddy, pulls a shotgun on them. They are questioned about the disappearance of Jimmy Bottles, who met with the police officers, and their sudden appearance at the club.

Coulson decides to test a theory. Since he’s already dead, he rushes forward to grab the shotgun. He takes a shot in the shoulder but easily shrugs it off as Mack takes care of a couple others. Just then, the boss arrives.

There’s Something Familiar About The Boss

The boss is an ancestor of the Koenigs. Mack and Coulson discover they were only supplying a party for the governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mack and Coulson know that F.D.R. is going to become elected the President in the next year. Soon after, he plays a role in green-lighting the creation of SHIELD. He must be the Chronicoms’ target in their plans for destroying SHIELD.

Mack and Coulson work the party as Daisy and Deke pose as guests. F.D.R. gives a speech and heads towards a side exit to leave. Coulson and Mack are surprised when he isn’t attacked.

Freddy the bartender was also working at the party. A lady goes up to him and tells him she’s his contact. Apparently their fathers worked together and she shows him a little case with some vials of green liquid. This is when the Chronicoms posing as police attack. The lady is shot, but Mack and the others just found out Freddy was the target after Simmons managed to get the hunter Chronicom to talk.

After a big fight with the Chronicoms, they bring the lady to the speak easy so Simmons can meet them and help her. Freddy hasn’t arrived yet. Koenig says he doesn’t matter because he’s a nobody. It turns out his full name is Wilfred Malick. He’s Gideon Malick’s father, one of the leaders of Hydra who worshipped Hive (killed in Season 3, Episode 17). In order to save SHIELD, they have to save Hydra.

Thoughts

The show is off to a great start with the Season 7 premiere. Agents of SHIELD has managed to shake up the status quo pretty much every single season. It seemed crazy and ambitious when they took the cast into the future, and now are taking more risks by going into the past.

The great thing about being in the past is there is still the inclusion of futuristic technology. Despite the era, the show won’t feel dated since Simmons and Enoch brought advanced tech, and, as Coulson put it, for the first time, he and Daisy are both superheroes.

There are other mysteries and plot threads being developed. Yo-Yo gets a clean bill of health and will be able to go into 1930s New York. She has her new hands to explore, which are more advanced than what was first built for Coulson’s missing hand. May also leaves her stasis tube and hides from Enoch at the end. Is there reason to distrust Enoch or is there some side effect from getting stabbed and thrown into the dark dimension? And of course we need to find out where Fitz is and why he and Simmons can’t be together.

It’s a shame this is the final season and that it’s shortened to 13-episodes again. Regardless, it’s a joy to have had the show last this long, and we have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.