History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS7E04OutOfThePast

* AbsenteeActor: Fitz is once again absent from this episode.

* BaitAndSwitch: The suspicious receptionist is actually one of the good guys, as he delivers Sousa's package to Stark.

** Also to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' when Sousa mentions that the Chronicom melted like the Wicked Witch of the East. Coulson corrects him -- it was the Wicked With of the West who melted.

* ShoutOut: Plenty to the FilmNoir genre. The title itself is a reference to the [[Film/OutOfThePast 1947 film of the same name]].

* FilmNoir: Added to the Deliberate Monochrome, Coulson's glitch causes him to have internal narration where he gives a run-down of events in the style of Philip Marlowe.

* NoirEpisode: Most of the episode mimics the Noir genre with the use of monochrome and voiceover narration.

!!Tropes in this episode:

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Mack is oddly dismissive of the MacGuffin considering the last innocuous metal brick SHIELD messed with turned out to be an [[https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Diviner alien-built Inhuman detector]] that could turn humans to stone.

* FacePalm: Mack does this when he hears an Alice Cooper song on the radio, since the team had been hoping to get back to their time with this jump.

* MacGuffin: The device Sousa was to deliver to Howard Stark-- a nondescript obelisk whose function is never elaborated on, with only the vague assertion from a giddy Simmons that it is the basis for a lot of future tech, including ''Zephyr One'' itself.

* {{Retcon}}: Coulson states that Sousa is the "first fallen Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", though his name wouldn't have appeared on the wall of valour seen in the season 1 episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E12Seeds Seeds]], as ''Agent Carter'' didn't premiere until a full year after "Seeds".

* RealityEnsues: As Coulson's voiceover lampshades, the team was easily able to reach the hotel before Sousa's would-be killers got to him; they knew the exact time and location of Sousa's murder from history, and they have a jet, so they naturally get there with plenty of time to save Sousa and set up the faked death.

* GenreShift: Coulson's glitch causes him to perceive everything in FilmNoir style until it's fixed.

* OutOfGenreExperience: Appropriate for the time period, Coulson's scrambled circuits shift him into the noir thriller genre by turning his vision black-and-white and giving him an internal monologue.

* {{Retcon}}: Coulson states that Sousa is the "first fallen Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", though his name wouldn't have appeared on the wall of valour seen in the season 1 episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E12Seeds Seeds]], as Agent Carter didn't premiere until a full year after "Seeds", and the character probably wasn't concrete enough to write into other shows, let alone confirm his death.

* FilmNoir: Added to the Deliberate Monochrome, Coulson gives a run-down of events in the style of Philip Marlowe.

* BaitAndSwitch: The suspicious receptionist is actually one of the good guys, as he delivers the package for Sousa to Stark.

* FilmNoir: Added to the Deliberate Monotone, Coulson gives a run-down of events in the style of Philip Marlowe.

* MacGuffin: The device Sousa was to deliver to Howard Stark - a nondescript obelisk whose function is never elaborated on, with only the vague assertion from a giddy Simmons that it is the basis for a lot of future tech, including ''Zephyr One'' itself.

* NoodleIncident: Sousa and Peggy breaking up is once again only shortly alluded to.

* {{Retcon}}: Coulson states that Sousa is the "first fallen Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., though, his name wouldn't have appeared on the wall of valour seen in the season 1 episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E12Seeds Seeds]], as Agent Carter didn't premiere until a full year after "Seeds", and the characters probably wasn't concrete enough to write into other shows, let alone confirm his death.

* RunningGag: Characters who are stranded in the time period phone Enoch, but only so he can link them to the ''Zephyr'' thanks to a device he had built. It becomes tragic as it ultimately causes Enoch to think the others don't care about him.

* ShoutOut: Plenty to the FilmNoir genre. The title itself is a reference to [[Film/OutOfThePast 1947 film of the same name]].

* Retcon: Coulson states that Sousa is the "first fallen Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., though, his name wouldn't have appeared on the wall of valour seen in the season 1 episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E12Seeds Seeds]], as Agent Carter didn't premiere until a full year after "Seeds", and the characters probably wasn't concrete enough to write into other shows, let alone confirm his death.

* DudeWhereIsMyRespect: Enoch is slightly unnerved about being looked over by the team so much.

* ExactWords: Discussing romance, Coulson tells Sousa that while he did find someone, he couldn't "stick around" long enough to make it work; he doesn't name names, but the other Coulson's relationships with Audrey and May were both cut off by his death.

* TheEmpath: As a side effect of her time in the other dimension, May is able to feel the emotions of others by touching them, though she still can't feel her own, and the ability doesn't work on [=LMDs=] like Coulson or Chronicoms (hence her emotionless state dealing with them two episodes ago). This also josses the fan theories of Simmons being a Chronicom [=LMD=] and that May is possessed by Izel.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When May is [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness expressing glee]] at the MacGuffin, she can clearly be seen touching Simmons' arm. Even apart from that, May showing such a level of interest in ''any'' kind of tech gets her odd looks from Daisy & Yo-Yo.

** Yo-Yo and May reveal May's difficulty with emotions to Simmons.

* TimeShiftedActor: As 24 years have passed, Freddy Malick is no longer portrayed by 29-year old Darren Barnet (who looked considerably younger), but by 39-year old Neal Bledsoe.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Freddy is definitely getting much closer to becoming the man that his future sons Gideon and Nathaniel [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E16ParadiseLost spoke of]] than the frazzled bootlegger and bartender we saw him as in 1931, which is justified as he now appears to be the head of HYDRA.