After seven seasons, the final Marvel TV Studio series is ending. The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are gearing up for one more mission, and the final season premiere was earlier this week. In case you don’t remember what happened in last year’s season 6 finale, Coulson ultimately said his goodbyes and was soon brought back as an LMD, May got severely injured, and the Chronicoms jumped to a different time with the agents following them. It’s been nearly a year since it all went down. Now Daisy, Mack, and everyone are back, just not in this time period.
Find out what happens in the season 7 premiere of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “The New Deal.”
No distractions when Marvel’s #AgentsofSHIELD is on 🤫 The final season is starting NOW! RT if you’re watching. @clarkgregg pic.twitter.com/0LIrrk8Gp8
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 28, 2020
In 1931 New York City, three men show up at the police department, and one of them tells the officers he’s a sentient Chronicom from the planet Chronyca-2. Police Captain Dole tells them to beat it, but they open up a briefcase. Two of the Chronicoms fire blasters at the officers while the leader takes care of Captain Dole. He takes down the captain as he asks what he wants. The Chronicom uses a device on him, leaving him faceless and the Chronicom with a brand new one, Captain Dole’s. A guy walks into the station, and the Chronicom tells him he’s early while the other two stand behind him, showing their real, almost skeletal-like faces. The Chronicoms raise their blasters as the man screams.
We won’t be erasing this from our memory 😱😱😱 #AgentsofSHIELD pic.twitter.com/0gvHXXCwh1
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 28, 2020
Meanwhile, on the Zephyr, the agents are trying to make sense of this new Coulson. Jemma says he has Chronicom hardware, which makes him their most advanced LMD. Mack points out that Coulson would want them to consider the ramifications, but Daisy turns him on anyway. Coulson greets them, wondering why no one is talking. Jemma tells Coulson he’s missed quite a lot and that the last scan of his brain was from the Framework. Coulson realizes his arm feels different. It’s fixed. It doesn’t feel the same; he doesn’t feel the same. Jemma explains to Coulson what happened carefully, but Daisy comes right out and says those three words. “You’re an LMD.” Coulson starts remembering everything that has occurred. Mack tells Jemma to do something, and she notes that it’s two years of information all at once. As Coulson remembers more, Mack has had enough and shuts him down. Coulson or not, Mack says anything LMD-related is a Director-level decision.
Jemma says the Chronicoms want to take Earth and fears only S.H.I.E.L.D. can stop them. They plan to eliminate S.H.I.E.L.D from history, and if they hadn’t jumped when they did, the fight would have ended before it ever began. Deke wonders if the Zephyr’s a time machine now, and Jemma says, in a sense, it is. S.H.I.E.L.D won’t exist until the ’50s, so why 1931? Jemma has no idea what the Chronicoms are up to or how to find them, but they’ve prepared the best they could.
Meanwhile, Mack turns on Coulson and tells him the Chronicoms want to destroy them. They scanned Fitz and Jemma’s minds, and they have Fury’s Black Box. To get ahead of them, they need Coulson. There could be a clue only he could recognize. What does Mack think? “You taught me that a Director has to trust his team.” Can Mack count on Coulson? “I’ll do anything for you guys.” Mack says they need to find the Chronicoms before they change something, but Jemma comes in saying they already have. A report over the radio talked about three bodies found without faces.
“It’s time to suit up.”
Marvel’s #AgentsofSHIELD: 1931 style 😏 pic.twitter.com/D4skaikNMa
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 28, 2020
Wearing 1930s clothing, Mack, Coulson, Deke, and Daisy venture out into the city. New sights, new sounds, and definitely new smells. Deke mentions he got the clothes for just 13 bucks. He loves it there.
“It’s the Great Depression. A decade before Pearl Harbor. Almost four decades before Apollo 11.”
Imagine if they saw Daisy’s powers or Coulson’s gears. Mack says they want to keep history on track, not send it off the rails on their own. That’s why Daisy’s worried about the butterfly effect. Just walking down the street, they could’ve already changed the course of events. Deke comes up with another theory that lets them dabble here and there without drastically changing history, but Mack knows where this is going. He tells Deke he will not be filing any patents, and Deke says he will tread ever so lightly … until he bumps into someone.
“First time in the big city.”
Understood? 🤔😂 #AgentsofSHIELD @jeffward1230 pic.twitter.com/5MglgHwH2y
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 28, 2020
Deke brings out badges that he printed out, and the four get to the scene, but a police officer stops them. Coulson holds up his badge, saying they were asked to assist. Mack asks the officer if they found some bodies without faces, and after the officer nods, Mack says it happens all the time in Canada. The officer lets Daisy and the others pass. Once inside, they investigate, and Coulson grabs a whiskey bottle with a swordfish on it. He remembers the first year at the Academy, the history course — right around when the SSR became S.H.I.E.L.D., there was a warehouse nearby. An old speakeasy where the password to get in was “swordfish.” Daisy and Deke stay behind to check out the “erased” while Mack and Coulson look into swordfish.
Mack and Coulson start walking; this place is supposed to be under an old post office and down some stairs. “Well, I hope they’re serving.” They find the place, knock on the door, and Coulson says the password. In the speakeasy, Coulson tells Mack that there was an SSR asset who kept the peace and was always behind the bar who went by “Gemini.” When the two get to the bar, the bartender tells them he’s never seen them before. “Never felt compelled to drop in,” Mack says to the bartender. There’s been an incident involving a man that might’ve worked there. Coulson adds that they were hoping to talk to the man in charge, Gemini. The bartender casually says he’s around, brings out a gun, and points it at Coulson and Mack.
Back with Daisy and Deke, Deke is still scanning the erased. A siren can be heard outside as a car is approaching. Daisy looks outside, noticing it’s more cops. The Chronicom acting like Captain Dole says they have to maintain their cover since the bodies were discovered quickly. Daisy goes outside to try to stall. The Chronicom recognizes her as Quake. The lead Chronicom says he’ll play the part of police captain while the other two isolate and eliminate all members of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Chronicom police officers go up to Daisy, and she introduces herself. One of the officers tells her there’s a suspicious truck out back and wants her to inspect it. The other officer goes into the building where Deke is. “Nothing to see here but era-appropriate police work.” Deke notices that the person that came in was a police officer, but he starts to strangle Deke, wondering how many agents there are. Outback, Daisy sees the officer holding his gun up and starts to fight him. Deke manages to get away, as does Daisy.
At the speakeasy, Coulson says they’re not there to cause trouble. The bartender wants to know what they did to Jimmy Bottles. They’re nosing around when he went missing. Mack says they didn’t kill him, but somebody did. Coulson tells him they need his help finding the ones who did. Coulson walks up to the bartender and grabs his gun, while Mack does the same with another guy and starts fighting them. Coulson points the gun at the bartender and tells him they were hoping to talk to the man in charge. They hear a familiar voice behind them and see that it’s Koenig. But not one they’ve already met — Ernest Hazard Koenig. Coulson tells Koenig to tell his goons they come in peace.
If only it were that easy. 😅 #AgentsofSHIELD @pattonoswalt pic.twitter.com/zY8ykgHgzk
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 28, 2020
Coulson and Mack sit down with Koenig, and he tells them he’s a businessman, a man of the people, and brings up that Freddy, one of the workers at the speakeasy, is from the streets; he brought him in. If Koenig is such an upstanding citizen, why was his man bribing someone with a crate of booze from his illegal bar? A bar that Coulson and Mack just happened to walk into looking for a drink. Coulson says there’s a new gang in town, ruthless killers, and all they want is to take them out and keep things the way they are. Koenig reluctantly gives in, telling them he’s supplying a party, and they pay the coppers to look the other way and keep the peace. The Governor of New York will be coming in, aka Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who is elected President the following year. A few years later, FDR forms the SSR, which becomes S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson tells Mack with the Chronicoms running security, they’ll be the only ones armed.
“It’s easy to assassinate the president when he isn’t president yet.“
Coulson and Mack are bartending at the party, and Deke and Daisy walk up to them. Daisy doesn’t recognize any of the cops standing in a group away from them, but at least one other cop they never ID’d. Mack says if they’re Chronicoms, they’re waiting for FDR. “And when he gets here, there’ll be a whole New Deal.” Mack tells Daisy she and Coulson post up by the door, and when FDR shows, they get close and keep him safe. Later, Daisy apologizes to Coulson, saying he didn’t want to be brought back, and she knew that. It was a lot for Coulson, and he’s sure it was a lot for Daisy, which it was. FDR is then officially welcomed on stage. Coulson points out that he’s walking, telling Daisy about Prohibition and his polio.
Save the day first, Coulson. 😉 #AgentsofSHIELD @chloebennet pic.twitter.com/H2OohpqjMy
— Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (@AgentsofSHIELD) May 28, 2020
Daisy can’t help but feel that something’s not right. FDR is exposed. If the cops are Chronicoms, why are they waiting? Coulson suggests that maybe exposure is the problem, and they notice that FDR is leaving. The service entrance, it must be the way he came in. Daisy says the Chronicoms are going to hit him as soon as he’s out of sight. Daisy, Coulson, Mack, and Deke quickly try to catch up with FDR, and when they do, he isn’t in harm’s way. Daisy apologizes, saying Coulson’s a big fan. FDR is wheeled away, and Mack wonders where the Chronicoms are.
“We’re missing something here.”
A woman shows up at the bar, and Freddy wonders if she needs a drink. The woman tells him she’s his contact. Freddy thought she wasn’t going to show. She tells Freddy they need somewhere quiet to talk, so he follows her. Chronicoms are hiding, getting ready to shoot. Jemma comes in over comms, telling Mack it’s not Roosevelt. The Chronicoms are after someone else named Freddy. Freddy asks the woman why she wanted to see him. She says she has a job for him. “A second chance, you could call it.” The woman shows Freddy a few small beakers, telling him if he can deliver it to the docks, her employer will reward him. It’s the future. But Chronicoms come up behind them and start shooting, saying that Freddy is the thread. Daisy comes by and uses her powers on them. Coulson, Mack, and Deke get to Freddy, and Deke tells him they’re saving his life. Mack will keep Freddy safe and meet back at Koenig’s. Coulson joins Daisy in the fight against the Chronicoms, and after a few minutes, the two successfully get away.
Daisy and Coulson show up at Koenig’s before Deke, Mack, and Freddy do, and Coulson tells him that the gang has Freddy. Koenig says they were not after his dad’s money. When old man Malick jumped out that window, his debts were paid. Daisy and Coulson recognize that name, and Koenig says his full name is Wilfred Malick, as in father of Gideon Malick. Future head of Hydra in America. Coulson says if the Chronicoms kill Malick, Hydra is stamped out before it ever takes control, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is never formed. To save S.H.I.E.L.D., they have to save Hydra.
On the Zephyr, Enoch notices that May’s pod is empty, but there’s no May. Enoch tries to call out for May, saying he’s there to help. May is hiding on the ceiling.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT on ABC and is available to watch On Demand and on Hulu the following day.
