‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Recap: ‘A Trout in the Milk’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

When we think of someone reaching their breaking point, we think of a person or persons who are good at their core and have simply been facing insurmountable odds at this point in their life. How and why exactly, isn’t necessarily important, because that particular phrase means they’re ready to snap and go to extremes to claim their lives back and that particular moment has been the focal point of a great many stories about good people who lose their way. But what we often forget, is that bad people have their breaking points too, wherein they finally have enough of not seeing their twisted plans come to fruition, which motivates them to go all out to get what they want and unfortunately for Agent Phil Coulson and his extended family, the darker side of the breaking point was explored in last night’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
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Which made for one fascinating tale, simply because ‘A Trout in the Milk’ made it seem as though we were in for more of what this final season has been offering up. For this particular tale opened up in lighthearted fashion, complete with some fish out of water jokes for Agent Sousa as he tried to adjust to 1973. But as the team ventured to both the Lighthouse and the Speakeasy in this particular moment in time in order to get the lay of the land and uncover what the Chronicoms were up to in the groovy 1970s, things started to take a turn for the worse. For Mack and Yo-Yo were able to discover that the supposedly decommissioned Lighthouse was still in service and to complicate matters further, Wilfred Malick was alive and well in 1973, something that went against the history books, and well, that’s when the team discovered that the Chronicoms had reached their respective breaking point.

Because a nasty encounter between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Chronicoms revealed the fact that they were done playing around and they were going to have their way after all, timeline be damned, and to hammer home exactly how dirty they were willing to play to win the day, Coulson and the team were catapulted another three years into the future. Wherein they were forced to face the early, early launch of Project Insight. Which is a name that should sound quite familiar to all MCU fans, because this was indeed the same program that Hydra tried to engage in The Winter Solider in order to conquer the world. And the point of kicking it off forty years early in this particular tale, was to eliminate any future threats to the Chronicoms and that left our team scrambling. Because they had a limited window to stop the launch and unfortunately for the team, their efforts to save the future ended in disaster.

For the Chronicoms were quick to look ahead and see what our intrepid heroes were going to do, which means they were one step ahead of them at every single turn. Something that allowed for Daisy and Sousa to be captured by Nathaniel Malick since he knew exactly where to find them, and heaven only knows what he has planned for Daisy since he is quite curious about her unique abilities. Plus, May and Coulson are now in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody since they didn’t escape the Lighthouse in time and to top it all off, Zephyr-1 was forced to compromise its position. Because Mack’s parents were inside the Lighthouse, courtesy of Project Insight, forcing Mack to alter the plan so that he could continue to exist and well, that’s where we leave our intrepid heroes in this particular tale, lost to the wind and vulnerable. 

Yet what’s equally impressive about this tale, is the sheer fact that it also offered up some unsolved mysteries as well. For we haven’t a clue what the message was that the Chronicoms wanted to deliver to Deke and Yo-Yo, since Deke shot Freddie before he could finish his thoughts and of course, Simmons is suddenly struggling mentally as her voyage through time continues and well, in the end, this is by far the darkest episode that season seven has offered to date. Because up until now it’s been win after win for the team, and plenty of fun and lighthearted moments. But clearly, the good times are over, and the stakes are higher than ever, and it should be interesting to see where this bold story is headed next. For the timeline has already been compromised and the Chronicoms aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, now that they’ve been pushed beyond their breaking point and that is going to make victory for S.H.I.E.L.D. a difficult task indeed. Until next time.

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