Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Agents of SHIELD season 7, episode 5, "A Trout in the Milk".
Could the latest callback in Agent Carter's Daniel Sousa from his grim fate. The time travel mechanic has provided a fitting farewell, with Coulson and the gang failing spectacularly in their mission to not disrupt the natural flow of history.
In "A Trout In The Milk," the Zephyr finds itself in the 1970s and lands SHIELD right on the brink of Project Insight. This nefarious plan unfolded in HYDRA within SHIELD and almost took the latter down for good. Thanks to the time-meddling of the Chronicoms, Insight has arrived decades ahead of schedule.
Stopping Project Insight in 1976 isn't SHIELD's only problem when the credits roll on this week's episode - HYDRA's Nathaniel Malick manages to capture Daisy and Sousa. Having already witnessed Daisy's quake powers in person, "A Trout In The Milk" ends with Nathaniel phoning an unknown villain and asking for Daniel Whitehall's instructions on how to surgically transfer superpowers. The reference to Whitehall is yet another nod to Agents of SHIELD's past. The character was a main villain in season 2, but his actions have reverberated throughout the show ever since.
Whitehall (originally known as Daniel Reinhardt) was a HYDRA scientist who captured Daisy's Inhuman mother, Jiaying, during World War II and began feverishly experimenting on her, fascinated by the alien biology. Although Whitehall's work was interrupted when Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos arrested him, he was released in the 1980s and immediately sought out Jiaying once again to resume his experiments. If the Chronicoms have accelerated Project Insight, it's also possible Whitehall could be afforded early parole, and Nathaniel's capture of a living Inhuman would no doubt pique the villain's interest.
The Whitehall tease potentially sets up a return for Reed Diamond's character in Agents of SHIELD's episodes. It would be a neat time travel parallel if Daisy took the place of her own mother on Whitehall's experiment table. However, Whitehall's presence could bring Jiaying herself into Agents of SHIELD season 7. The HYDRA man was obsessed with Daisy's mother and it was through her he lived an extended life. Thanks to the Chronicoms, fans could soon seen a three-way reunion between Daisy, Jiaying and Whitehall in which SHIELD are yet again forced to let a bad guy live because he plays a vital role in their future. More importantly, Daisy endured a strained relationship with her mother - strained in the sense that Jiaying was last seen maniacally trying to take over the world and kill her own daughter. Meeting a less tyrannical Jiaying in the 1970s would allow Daisy a vital sense of familial closure before Agents of SHIELD bows out for good.
Agents of SHIELD season 7 continues with "Adapt or Die" July 1st on ABC.