'Agents of SHIELD' Season 7 Episode 9 Review: Groundhog Day comes with a painful twist and a terrible loss
Spoilers for 'Agents of SHIELD' Season 7 Episode 9 'As I Have Always Been'.
'Agents of SHIELD' Season 7 is inching closer to the end but with Episode 9 'As I Have Always Been', the show takes a break from the main storyline for what is probably the most powerful filler episode we've ever seen. It's Groundhog Day for the Agents and though the episode does have its fair share of everything from romance to comedy, it's not all fun and games.
After the time drive malfunction in the previous episode, the Zephyr is now stuck in a time storm, looping in on itself while slowly getting closer to a vortex that will annihilate everyone on board. Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennet) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) are the only ones who retain their memories in each loop and with the lives of their friends at stake, the classic mentor-protege duo has to race against time (literally) to save them all.
There are a few false starts, of course, but they eventually figure out that the only way to fix the problem is to remove the implant in Jemma Simmons' (Elizabeth Henstridge) head so she can remember how to fix the time drive. There's only one problem though: Enoch (Joel Stoffer) has been programmed to stop anyone who attempts to remove the implant, even if he has to kill them.
Cue a whole lot of funny scenes where Daisy and Coulson try every possible way to stop Enoch and remove the implant. Obviously none of them work but they do form a hilarious interlude before some really heavy stuff.
In between all that, Daisy realizes that Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) has feelings for her and that she has feelings for him as well. They share a kiss that's been a long time coming and adds the romance angle that we mentioned. However, there are some darker moments in here as well. Coulson and Daisy have a conversation about mortality, specifically the fact that Coulson will probably have to watch all of them die and that's something he will have to live with, despite not having made the decision to be brought back as an LMD.
As painful as that was though, it's just a prelude to the really painful twist in the episode. Once they do manage to get the implant out of Simmons, she reveals that the only way to fix the time drive is to remove a device from Enoch, a procedure that will kill the friendly Chronicom. When Daisy reveals this in the next loop, Enoch doesn't even hesitate. He rips out what's basically his heart and gives his life for the team.
There's an extremely heartbreaking final scene while Daisy and Coulson sit with Enoch, giving him company while he's dying and assuring him that he's an amazing friend while Simmons and Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward) fix the time drive and save them all. Usually, when shows have an episode like this, it's just some comedic filler to bridge the gap between important episodes.
Instead, Elizabeth Henstridge in her directorial debut has dropped a bomb that will forever remind us what Enoch has always been: the best friend anyone could ask for. 'Agents of SHIELD' Season 7 streams on Wednesdays at 10 pm ET on ABC.