As the team adjust to another new time period, it becomes clear that the Chronicoms have followed through in their threat to Coulson.

After last episode’s noirish affectations and black and white palette, this week’s instalment couldn’t feel more different as everything gets slightly more garish, with the gang now finding themselves in the 70s. But it isn’t just the fashion and the music that’s causing them issues – a trip to the secret SHIELD hangout bar yields no sign of Enoch but ample evidence that the Chronicoms are still messing around with history in ways that will have some awful consequences.

It’s odd, because the big plot point here actually ties in very closely to the wider MCU universe of the movies, and it’s been a while now since the show actually did that. In fact I think the last time we had overt, direct links was all the way back in season 1 – maybe now with the show coming to and end and the Infinity Saga all wrapped up onscreen, the writers and Disney just figured ‘What the hell?’

But I will say that plot point actually lands pretty well, feeling like the first time the Chronicoms (and the writers) have really engaged with the possibilities of the situation in which they find themselves. By interfering and preventing certain key events while accelerating others, the Chronicoms really do seem to have gained the upper hand. And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also grabbed themselves a great piece of leverage to keep the scales tipped firmly in their favour.

At the periphery, there’s various bits of small character stuff going on. Enoch is a welcome sight and his entrance is perhaps one of the cheekier things the show has tried. Souza is struggling to come to terms with the vastness of the situation into which he’s been thrown. Simmons is struggling with something, though at this point it’s not clear exactly what. As for May – she’s still feeling everyone else’s feelings on contact and not feeling anything from/for Coulson which is going to be an interesting dynamic to resolve.

Verdict: For the first time this season, it feels as though the show is actually reaching for the sort of big ideas it used to do really well. Hopefully this will continue. 8/10

Greg D. Smith