The team lands in Area 51 in 1955. They must stop the Chronicoms from detonating a bomb that will destroy a major S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Tropes:
- The '50s: The episode takes place in 1955.
- All Women Are Lustful: The girl in the cold open.Boy: This is where I saw it, the flying saucer.
Girl: Really? I thought that was just a line to get me up here.
Boy: You did?
Girl: I did. And I'm up here. - Anal Probing: What Deke and Mack threaten to do to Sharpe, if he doesn't keep quiet.
- Apologetic Attacker: Jemma, Coulson, and Daisy all apologize to Sousa as they shove him in a cell and escape.
- Area 51: The Quinnjet is spotted landing... just north of Groom Lake, Nevada, home to Area 51.
- Ascended Fanboy: Back in Season 2, Simmons was revealed to be a big fan of Peggy Carter, one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. In this episode, she and Coulson have to infiltrate the Area 51 S.H.I.E.L.D. base to stop the Chronicoms. For her cover, she impersonates Peggy to gain access, and is shown clearly loving every minute of it.Coulson: You're enjoying this way too much... Peggy.
- Let's be honest; Coulson also gets to geek out over old SHIELD tech.
- Auto Erotica: The girl in the opening thinks her date was merely using alien sightings as an excuse to get her alone in the middle of nowhere, not that she minds. He was actually being serious, but isn't so foolish as to ignore her offer. Unfortunately for them, the Zephyr chooses this moment to pop into their time.
- Beneath Suspicion:
- One of the Chronicoms is disguised as a white woman secretary, someone so beneath notice in this time period that even Jemma and Coulson never consider she might be one.
- May and Yo-Yo are able to walk into the base as pilots because woman pilots were perfectly normal at the time, though as May notes their job was to fly targets for the male pilots to shoot at.
- Big Damn Heroes: Sousa, though he almost dies himself, saves LMD-Coulson from the Chronicom.
- Bluffing the Authorities: Done twice, first by LMD-Coulson and Simmons to get into the Helius facility; then by Daisy to con Sousa into thinking she's CIA.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Daisy argues that trying to kill Freddie in the previous episode was the right call, as she was trying to prevent the havoc that would be wrought by HYDRA; Mack and Deke point out that it wasn't her decision to make, that it would have done the Chronicoms' work for them, and Deke in particular is angry because he was the one who would have had to pull the trigger.
- Breaking the Bonds: LMD-Coulson snaps his handcuffs effortlessly the moment Sousa is distracted.
- The Bus Came Back: MCU-wise, as Agent Daniel Sousa shows up after the cancellation of Agent Carter in 2016 after its second season.
- Call-Back:
- Deke notes that Enoch had sacrificed his life in a now-erased timeline to power the Monolith, and realizes the Chronicoms could repeat that trick to power up the Helius device, which they indeed attempt to do.
- Daisy also mentions her past as a member of the Rising Tide when she mentions the conspiracies were right about Area 51 being a S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
- Cassandra Truth:
- Daniel Sousa has noticed hints of HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., but doesn't have enough concrete proof to convince anyone that the threat is real, since even he doesn't know it's HYDRA specifically (at least, not yet). This becomes important in the following episode.
- Sharpe runs into the diner ranting about future alien communists after Mack and Deke fool him into thinking he was abducted by aliens. The waitress just writes him off as another crackpot, this being a fairly common occurrence near Area 51.
- Chekhov's Gun: The EMP device that the scientist shows to Simmons and Coulson early on proves to be this, as Simmons powers it up in the climax to defeat the quasi-robotic Chronicoms and power down Helius.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When Daisy calls Wilfred Malick "the Grand Wizard of HYDRA", Deke retorts that "Grand Wizard" sounds cool, clearly ignorant of the significance of the title as that of the head of the Ku Klux Klan.
- When Agent Sousa catches Coulson on the bus and orders him arrested, Coulson's reaction at first seems like an Oh, Crap! expression, but then he says, "Agent Sousa! I'm a big fan!"
- Continuity Nod: Daisy mentions Agent Sousa helping take down Hugh Jones and the Council of Nine, which happened in Season 2 of Agent Carter.
- Contrived Coincidence: Daniel Sousa, of all people, just happens to appear at the worst possible time, blowing Simmons' cover as Peggy Carter.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Naturally, since the episode is set in the '50s, racism is prevalent:
- A waitress gives Mack a very dirty look while serving him his food.
- Daisy makes note of the segregated bathrooms after Coulson gushes about witnessing the time of the Space Race.
- Sharpe is quite quick with the racist barbs, calls Mack "Boy", Yo-Yo "Mamacita Caliente" (hot mama), and May an "Oriental". And upon seeing Deke, immediately assumes that he's their leader.
- The team plays on his racism later when they send Deke in to interrogate Sharpe because he's white. Sharpe doesn't buy that Deke's an ally, but he lets slip information about Helius just to brag that he's trying to steal worthless tech.
- Didn't See That Coming: The team didn't anticipate someone who knew Peggy Carter personally would show up in the middle of an infiltration op.
- Dutch Angle: Most close shots inside the Chronicom ship are slanted, to accentuate the inhumanity of the alien robots.
- Eagleland: Sharpe is full of passionate, uber-patriotic praise for America as he faces intimidation by what he assumes to be Communists.
- Foreshadowing: Simmons mentions she could easily modify the base's EMP to be more effective. By the end of the episode she does exactly that in order to disable Helius.
- Godzilla Threshold: Mack reluctantly allows May to go into the field because they need the manpower in spite of her lack of emotion. This ends up backfiring when May's emotions come back as they're trying to smoke out the Chronicom.
- Good Old Ways: The technology in the base is too old for Daisy to hack into, being hardwired directly into the panel.
- Hero Antagonist: Daniel Sousa, who uncovers Simmons' and Coulson's deception and has them locked up.
- Heroic BSoD: May suffers from one during the middle of the mission.
- I Can Explain: Mack says this to Sharpe when the latter escapes confinement and finds himself aboard the futuristic S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel... and then promptly slugs him out cold. He can explain; he just doesn't want to.
- Irony:
- Simmons insinuates that one of the male scientists is a Chronicom, commenting that any of them could be mistaken for emotionless robots until STEM fields have a more diverse population. One of the two Chronicoms present is disguised as a white woman secretary, pretty much beneath notice in this setting. The other one was actually one of the scientists, but Simmons didn't get to interrogate him due to Sousa's interference.
- The team is reluctant to put May in the field because she's in emotionless kill-bot mode. When they're forced to, May briefly becomes a liability because her emotions choose the most inopportune time to reassert themselves.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!":
- Simmons is overjoyed at getting to see S.H.I.E.L.D.'s early tech development facility (though the '50s-level tech doesn't do much to impress her). She's also clearly enjoying her guise as Peggy Carter.
- Coulson is a huge fan of Agent Sousa, and can barely contain his glee at meeting him even as Sousa arrests him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Mack and Deke pretend to be alien abductors and threaten Sharpe to never reveal what he saw or they'll "probe" him. Sharpe runs back to the diner claiming he was abducted by aliens, but of course no-one believes him, which is what Mack and Deke were counting on.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Sousa calls Simmons's accent the worst fake British accent he's ever heard. That was an occasional comment from the fanbase early in the show's run. (Although Elizabeth Henstridge actually is British, she speaks with her natural Sheffield accent, rather than the RP or Cockney accents many American viewers would be more familiar with.) Sousa, of course, is also accustomed to hearing Peggy's upper-class London accent.
- Meaningful Background Event: Throughout Coulson and Simmons' vetting of the science team, the last man in the lineup consistently displays Chronicom-like behavior. (This particular scientist in a bow tie maintains his perfect seating posture with a blank stare straight ahead, and never fidgets at all.) Unfortunately, Sousa interrupts before Simmons gets a chance to question him, allowing the Chronicom to surprise Daisy later on.
- Nerves of Steel: Credit where it's due, Sharpe holds up to interrogation extremely well, not being the least bit intimidated by anything the team tries. The only thing that really shakes him is seeing the Zephyr's advanced technology up close, and being led to believe that he was abducted by aliens.
- No-Sell: Sousa's attempt to disable a Chronicom with his cane is totally ineffective.
- Nostalgia Filter: Coulson is initially pretty enthused about being in The '50s, citing the era's technological and cultural leaps forward. Daisy points to a sign marking which restrooms are "Whites Only" and "Coloreds Only" as proof that the era isn't so great.
- Offscreen Breakup: For whatever reason, Sousa and Peggy don't seem to be a thing anymore. Most likely Peggy was off running S.H.I.E.L.D. with Howard Stark.
- Oh, Crap!: Simmons has a very understated one when she realizes who Sousa really is and that he saw right through her disguise.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: Daisy describes Malick as the "Grand Wizard" of HYDRA, but Deke doesn't get the reference since he hasn't been in the past long enough to be familiar with The Klan.
- Red Scare: Fitting the time period, Sharpe is incredibly contemptuous of the team because he assumes that they're all Communists (Mack, Yo-Yo, and May all being people of color doesn't help).
- Remember the New Guy?:
- This episode introduces Sybil, a Chronicom Predictor.
- Daniel Sousa can also come off as this for viewers who did not watch Agent Carter.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: The agents correctly determine they're in 1955 after hearing a radio commercial for the new '55 Thunderbird, although technically they could have arrived in late '54, as that's when the '55 Thunderbird was first released.
- Screaming Woman: Fitting with the '50s Alien Invasion movie theme of the intro, the girl in the car mistaking the Zephyr for a flying saucer lets out a long, shrill scream.
- Secret Test of Character: Deke tries to pass off the previous interrogations as this to Sharpe. Unfortunately, he doesn't buy it.
- Self-Destruct Mechanism: When the Chronicoms are disabled by the EMP, they melt on the spot to avoid any chance that the humans of the time period might discover their true nature.
- Shout-Out:
- Coulson and Simmons's interrogation tactic to find a Chronicom was a Voight-Kampff test. Coulson uses a specific question from the novel (about a person coming across a turtle in the desert, flipping it onto its back, then doing nothing to help it) on an old lady, with... mixed results.
- A reference to Days of Thunder is also made.
- Spanner in the Works: The team's plan to infiltrate the base with Simmons posing as Peggy Carter would have worked perfectly... if they just hadn't run into the one agent there who worked with the real Carter.
- Spot the Imposter:
- Jemma and Coulson need to root out the Chronicom among a group of scientists (and later arriving visitors for the test), so they deliberately try to elicit emotional reactions, knowing that the Chronicoms won't be able to convincingly fake them. This doesn't pan out because the two are captured before they can get to everyone.
- When May and Yo-Yo are sent in after Jemma and Coulson are captured, they chuck a couple of tear gas canisters into the control room to drive out all the humans, since any Chronicoms in the room won't be affected. This gets one of the two Chronicoms, though she escapes due to May's Trauma Button going off.
- Spotting the Thread: HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't entirely undetectable, especially so early in the organisation's history; by the time this episode takes place, Sousa can tell that something is amiss, although he hasn't entirely zeroed in on who the culprits are.
- Suicide Attack: The female Chronicom tries to use herself as a power source for Helius, even though she'll be stuck at ground-zero when it goes off.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: Simmons explains that the Zephyr is following the Chronicoms by "drafting" with them through time and space.
- Trauma Button: May's gets pressed when the tear gas limiting her visibility and people bumping into her jolts her into remembering being attacked by Izel's priests; she has a panic attack and can't follow the Chronicom they're after.
- Uncertain Doom: In the climax, LMD-Coulson is knocked out by the EMP device, and his eye changes color. However, the teaser for the following episode reveals he's fine.
- Underestimating Badassery: The team initially mistakes Sharpe for a paper pusher who will crack easily. Turns out he's actually very good at resisting interrogation.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: A black man and a latin woman having lunch at a diner in the fifties? Unusual, except it's in Nevada, where people of color are expected to associate regardless. Coulson and Daisy having lunch? A little more unusual, except that the Asian-American population was heavier on the west coast. Even so, Coulson and Daisy would probably have raised a few more eyebrows.
- Wham Line: When Coulson reveals the plan for how to get Simmons onto the base: "She's my boss." Cue Simmons impersonating Peggy Carter.
- Wham Shot: Agent Daniel Sousa arrives.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Mack chews out Daisy for ordering Deke to kill Freddie because that would give the Chronicoms exactly what they want. They're not here to save lives, they're here to save the future.
- He also calls out Deke for following her orders instead of his own. "In the future you may be a CEO, but here you're an agent of SHIELD and you follow my orders."
- Deke calls Daisy out, too, for ordering him to kill Freddie in the previous episode, because he's trying not to be the person he was when they first met him.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: One of the Chronicoms complains that, had they set their Self-Destruct Mechanism to "explode" instead of "melt", most of the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would be dead and their ride would have been scrapped along with them. Sybil counters that the idea is to create a specific change in the timeline that will prevent the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D., not hasten its creation by blasting future technology across all of New York.
- Worf Had the Flu: May and Yo-Yo both struggle against the Chronicoms because of an anxiety attack and still-malfunctioning superpowers, respectively.
- Wrote the Book: Used quite literally by Sharpe when Mack and Yo-Yo tries to interrogate him:Sharpe: I didn't just teach interrogation and resistance, I wrote the field manual. Do your worst.
