Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, starring alongside Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Elizabeth Henstridge, Henry Simmons, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, and Jeff Ward.

Following the events of "A Trout in the Milk", against General Rick Stoner's orders, the Lighthouse automatically fires missiles at Zephyr One, damaging the time drive.

's agents with their Hunters, she and the Phil Coulson LMD escape from their detainment and save Stoner before the Chronicoms can steal his face and memories.

However, he is unable to control them as they break his bones and demolish the building around him, allowing Johnson and Daniel Sousa to escape and return to Zephyr One.

aired in August 2019, showrunners Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell revealed that the seventh season would feature the team trying to save the world from invasion by the Chronicoms.

[5]: 54:05 With the season renewal, main cast members Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Elizabeth Henstridge, Henry Simmons, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, and Jeff Ward were confirmed to be returning from previous seasons as Melinda May, Daisy Johnson / Quake, Jemma Simmons, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, and Deke Shaw, respectively.

[7] Series star Clark Gregg also returns as Phil Coulson, portraying a Life Model Decoy version of the character in the seventh season.

[8] Guest starring in the episode are Joel Stoffer as Enoch,[9] Tamara Taylor as Sibyl, Tobias Jelinek as Luke,[10] Thomas E. Sullivan as Nathaniel Malick,[11] Paulina Bugembe as Lilla Mackenzie, Dawan Owens as Agent Ford, Sedale Threatt Jr. as John Mackenzie, Patrick Warburton as General Rick Stoner,[10] and Enver Gjokaj reprising his Agent Carter role of agent Daniel Sousa;[12][10] all returning from earlier episodes of the season.

Coulson's conversation with Sibyl "was elegantly crafted, giving him a chance to deliver a stirring speech about humanity without it feeling trite or hokey".

McLevy concluded, "It wasn't always fun to watch, but for being one of the show's periodic downer installments, it remained lively and compelling throughout, balancing the adventure and pathos more successfully than in" the last episode.

[17] Michael Ahr of Den of Geek felt the failures endured in the episode made "for the perfect season midpoints as the characters face the most overwhelming odds yet, framing what will presumably be their seemingly impossible comeback in the back half", giving the episode 4.5 stars out of 5.

was more critical of the episode, giving it a "C", and saying it "answers a lot of questions, but at the expense of character development and excessive action.".