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In Hong Kong, a street performer named Chan Ho Yin catches the eye of a woman named Raina (who wears, as it happens, a flower dress), who gets Yin to take her back to his apartment under the guise of being a wide-eyed fan. Once there, though, she confirms he can produce and manipulate fire and then has a couple men in silver fire-retarding suits capture him. When he comes to, Raina tells Yin she'd like to help nurture his "gift" and to introduce him to the world as a superhero. Her scientists give him a serum designed to strengthen his powers -- but he's unaware that it contains Extremis, and that Centipede, including that red-haired doctor from the pilot, wants to use his fire-resistant blood platelets to stabilize the Extremis serum and keep their test subjects from combusting; to that end, they drain his blood, leaving him defenseless against his own power.
Back on the plane, after Ward compliments Skye's recent performance and Coulson gloats that she's fitting in, we learn that S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about Yin, whose powers after a nearby decommissioned nuclear plant caught fire, and told him to keep his ability under wraps. The report comes in from Hong Kong that Yin was taken by people who left behind a shred of fireproof clothing, suggesting they're professionals -- and not only that, they got their information from the Rising Tide. Naturally, this casts suspicion on Skye, but Ward sticks up for her, so Coulson allows her to try to trace the hack to clear her name, and she comes up with a famous hacker named "Miles Lydon," so S.H.I.E.L.D. heads to Austin in pursuit. Lydon manages to give Ward and Coulson the slip -- only to find Skye at his apartment waiting for him. She berates him for attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. when she's already safely inside, but recriminations quickly give way to the knowledge that (a) he taught her everything she knows and (b) these two are lovers and have not enjoyed each other's company for a while, if you take my meaning.
No sooner have they refreshed their memories of each other, though, than does S.H.I.E.L.D. track her down; she tries to tell Coulson that she and Miles look out for each other and she wasn't aiming to betray S.H.I.E.L.D., but Coulson's like, well, I guess having May follow you was a solid idea, traitor. S.H.I.E.L.D., including a very disappointed Ward, take Lydon and Skye in cuffs to Hong Kong, and on the way, the two hackers fight over Skye's softening toward S.H.I.E.L.D. Ward is convinced Lydon is dirty rather than an idealist -- and this proves to be the case, as Lydon was paid to the tune of seven figures for his leak. Caught, he explains to them he was paid by an eco-lab studying centipedes, which prompts Skye and Ward to give each other a look of extreme(is) recognition. Skye expresses her disillusionment with Lydon while S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to save Yin -- but when they do, he turns on them, as without the platelets to stabilize him he's going rage-insane just like the other super-soldier subjects. With the part of the lab in which May and Coulson are in lockdown, Ward is forced to bring Skye into the building to try to open it up, and she succeeds, while elsewhere, Raina coldly leaves Dr. Redhead to be combustible fodder for Yin. Having tried and failed to use the night-night gun on him, which you'll remember was the only possibility to save a subject heading for Extremis explosion, Coulson and May are forced to paralyze him, seal the lab, and allow him to detonate. Downer!
In the end, after sending Lydon away with a gizmo that will prevent him from using electronic devices for a while, Coulson gives Skye his verdict -- she's been lying the whole time, and she still is, so either she tells him why she's really there or he's done with her. In response, Skye hands over the chip we saw her hide in her bra in the pilot and tells Coulson it contains everything she has -- on herself. She learned to hack and joined the Rising Tide, as it happens, to find out anything she could about her parents, but there's nothing out there but one document redacted -- by S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson tells her she might not like what she eventually finds, but even though he gives her a gizmo of her own to stop her hackery for the moment, he does concede that he might be able to help. But not week, because that's a rerun of the pilot.
Oh, and in the very end, Raina visits a guy in prison and tells him with the stable virus, Stage Two of the super-soldier projects should be possible -- but she'd like him to get in touch with "The Clairvoyant" for insights on Stage Three. While he's up, maybe he can let us know about the ratings for November sweeps.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Accompanied by geographically appropriate Eastern plucked strings, we begin in Hong Kong, where a street performer talks about how his grandfather told him every man is a mystery. He doesn't follow with "Am I right, ladies?" but maybe he's still honing his material. His magic tricks, however, go unappreciated by the crowd, with the exception of an African-American woman in an Eastern floral dress who regards him with a smile. Emboldened, he opens his hand and a small sphere of flame appears in it, which he then turns and throws toward the crowd. Although it dissipates, the sparks and heat from it are obviously real enough and produce some applause and some frightened reactions. The woman in the dress steps forward to chat him up, whereupon he introduces himself as "Chan Ho Yin" and she tells him her name is "Raina." She goes on to say that she'd love to see the fire trick again, and when he offers that he doesn't think it's a good idea, she agrees: "It's a great idea." That's hacky enough that I don't think adding "in bed" to it hurts it any.
Cut to Chan's apartment (see?) after he apologizes for the clutter and gives Raina a beer, she notes the old framed posters for Houdini performances and guesses that he appreciates the greats. Chan, however, says that while he idolized Houdini for many years, he's realized that there was no real magic there -- just tricks. Sounds like someone's seen Breaking the Magician's Code. After speculating that what he does is real, Raina asks him again to show her and he again hesitates, but eventually produces the flame in his hand once more, even having her lightly touch it to prove it's not an illusion. Fascinated, she asks how long he's had this power, and he tells her it's been a few years -- a dishtowel caught fire in his hands the first time it manifested. He adds that the flame doesn't hurt him in the slightest, and in a wonder-filled voice, she tells him he has a gift and she's never seen anything like it, which might be more meaningful after this scene.
She wonders why he doesn't show the world, and he seems to want to but starts to explain that there are people opposing the idea before cutting himself off. He does say, however, that given his interest in magic he wonders if this happened to him for a reason, and Raina soberly agrees that he's been chosen before asking him to close his eyes, "and I'll show you." Given his quickness to comply, I'm guessing that Yin's busy pursuit of magic doesn't leave him a lot of time to watch TV. And sure enough, when he opens his eyes, he sees two guys in flame-retardant silver suits flanking a now hilariously bored-looking Raina, and although he puts up a fight, one of them settles the issue by slamming something heavy into his face and us into the title card.
On the plane, Ward's voice starts in before we see him about every decision having consequences or whatever, and then Skye scores a hit, as they're playing Battleship. I mean, I can forgive the setup, obvious as it is, but wouldn't Risk or even Stratego have a little more nuance here? You think I'm kidding, but given that Ward informs Skye they're playing so he as her SO can evaluate her thought process, I believe my point stands. (Plus, they're not even playing the electronic version!)
Regardless, Skye is glad of the break from the physical training, and Ward tells her she deserves it and Coulson was right about her and now that she's won his approval, obviously we can start the clock ticking on her fucking it up. For now, though, Skye gloats about the compliment, eliciting a smile from Ward which, after her guess, quickly turns into a sad frown as she makes him say it: "You sank my battleship." It seems childish, but I'm pretty sure the game doesn't actually count until those words are uttered. Watching from the wings (and I'm glad everyone on this gazillion-dollar plane is so productive) are Coulson and May, the latter of whom at least looks like she just got in a workout. Coulson muses that Skye is fitting in nicely, but May is more interested in the fact that she heard Coulson up really early that morning. She wonders if he's having trouble sleeping, but he tells her he's merely got energy to burn, so she offers to lay out the mats downstairs. "We could go a few rounds, like the old days." May! Not in front of the children! Whatever MPAA rating the activity she's proposing may have, however, will not be revealed here as an alert comes in, and I may not be a fan of May's response of "saved by the bell" but it's nice to see her smile.
In the war room or whatever they call it, Coulson is bringing the team up to speed on Chan, explaining that a few years ago he developed "moderate" pyro kinetic abilities, possibly due to a decommissioned nuclear plant near where he lived that caught fire. When S.H.I.E.L.D. got wind of it thanks to his public displays and what basically sounds like a network of tattletales, they told him to keep his abilities under wraps and put him on "The Index," which is a list S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps of Marvel properties…er, "people and objects with powers." Skye, predictably enough, is not super-thrilled to hear how closely S.H.I.E.L.D. keep tabs on these people, although when she wonders if "body probes" are involved she does seem less serious, probably because it makes Fitz squirm as usual. Coulson goes on that Chan was considered low-risk, so he was assigned a case agent who checked in with him every few days, which is how they discovered him missing.
Said case agent then appears on the monitor, and in Cantonese (according to my closed-captioning), May greets "Agent Kwan," who then switches to English as he tells the group since Chan is a magician, he thought at first he made himself disappear. This is what I get for requesting Catskills East dialogue earlier. Kwan goes on that Chan had twice violated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s directive not to show his power while complaining of his artistic expression being hampered, but he was taken by pros -- the scrap of aluminized material they left behind is evidence enough of that. Ward catches up the slow class by saying whoever took Chan knew about his power, and Kwan confirms that and adds that it was due to a hack "from the same cyber-punks who hacked us before the Rising Tide." Everyone on the plane turns to look at Skye, and into the silence Kwan doesn't literally say "Is this thing on?" but his tapping of the mic is a close substitute.
When we return, we're in Coulson's office, and Skye is telling him and Ward that the Rising Tide is a huge organization (is it?), and any of its people could have done this. Ward seems to believe it wasn't Skye, but Coulson displays more doubts and informs her that a simple verbal denial isn't going to cut it. Skye offers to trace the hack, whereupon Ward pipes up that he believes Skye, and if he's right, they're going to need to find the actual responsible party. Coulson agrees and tells Skye to snap to it because "the longer Chan's missing, the more danger he's in."
So I guess this is supposed to be an ironic cut to Chan waking up in a comfortable bedroom, but given that he hasn't been in custody long, it's just kind of dumb. Raina greets him, and given that she's still wearing the same dress all I can think of is that girl Jerry dated that time on Seinfeld who always wore the same thing.. Does she have a closet full of them, like Superman? Raina apologizes for the night before and tells him it was important she bring him in under the radar, whatever that's supposed to mean, so Chan jumps to the conclusion that she's a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. come to lecture him again about using his powers, which actually doesn't make much sense. Even if he can come up with a reason why his normal case agent wouldn't have appeared, the little game Raina played with him seems way out of character for the agency.
Of course, this is all moot given that Raina quickly tells him she's not with S.H.I.E.L.D. before reiterating her position that he has a gift and offering to help him nurture it. Chan isn't too into the idea, especially when he hears that she wants to run some tests on him, but before he gets out the door she tells him that if he leaves, he'll be forgotten, but staying will lead to him being remembered "the world over." This gets his attention, but she goes on that he'll need a simpler and more powerful name, "a name like 'Scorch'." Well, enough people are going to comment about it that it's unseemly for me to do it, I suppose. Chan hates it too, but Raina points out that while no one's ever heard of Steve Rogers, everyone's heard of Captain America, and I'm already doing what I said I wouldn't but "CAPTAIN AMERICA" IS ONE BILLION TIMES A BETTER NAME THAN "SCORCH." Chan tells her he doesn't want to be a superhero, but Raina counters that he wants to be recognized for his gift, and after some more horseshit ego-stroking, he allows that "Scorch" is growing on him, which is just plain sad.
Skye is hack-hack-hacking away while everyone else treats it as a spectator sport, and I'm not sure my eardrums can take the chatter it would involve but when is Fitz/Simmons going to be the lead story of an episode? Skye checks the credit card records of the café their guy worked out of against any known hackers and comes up with a "Miles Lydon," and when Coulson asks if she knows him, she replies that he's famous in the hacking community, and Fitz/Simmons gush about how he was the one responsible for the dissemination of the photo a few years ago of Putin shirtless on horseback. Given all the things that seem to turn Fitz's stomach, I'm kind of surprised at how enthused he sounds here. May lies in a course for Austin on her S.H.I.E.L.D. iPad equivalent (shouldn't she check the cockpit to make sure it's not lonely?) and then Coulson says they're going to bring Lydon in and see what he knows. Thanks for telling us, Coulson, I thought you were just swinging by to catch some live music and maybe whatever is on at the Alamo Drafthouse.
In Austin, Skye reports the cashier at the aforementioned café claims not to have seen Lydon (tellingly or not, she refers to him as "Miles") in over a week, but Ward reports having eyes on him, and then we see the guy in question who immediately makes Ward and takes to his heels. Given what happens later, we know Skye tipped him off, but of course we don't get anything to definitively indicate that here, and it's kind of hilarious to think of Ward mentally beating himself up for apparently blowing that engagement. Ward gets tangled up in foot traffic but reports to Coulson that Lydon's getting away in a silver Jetta, and Coulson is on him in a flash in a S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV. Lydon's unable to shake Coulson, so he says out loud "All right, suit, you asked for it," and I wouldn't have guessed this young hacker watches a lot of White Collar but the dialogue there was pretty much lifted wholesale. Lydon calls aloud for "gridlock protocol," which voice-activates his phone into making the light he's crossing turn green in both directions. The ensuing confusion tangles Coulson up and gets him a light rear-ending to boot, and he has to admit that he's lost Lydon. And now he has to exchange insurance info!
Lydon, for his part, locks the door to his apartment, whereupon Skye asks if he's sure they didn't follow him. Once he assures her he lost them, he thanks her for the warning text -- there it is -- before asking off the look of death on her face if she's mad at him. She asks him whom he leaked the files to, so he goes on like a techno hippie about how he released them into the world where they belong, but she's like, "Hi, you don't hack S.H.I.E.L.D. when I'm inside, you could have ruined everything!" We're meant to wonder if her intention toward S.H.I.E.L.D. is nefarious, of course, but he's too busy giving her a big smile to discuss it any further, and after some banter about how he taught her everything she knows, they are making out and clothes are flying straight into the commercial break. And as mad as everyone is with Skye later on, I wonder how much of it is envy that she got some. People have needs, even those who fly around in a cool jet all the time!
Skye is just pulling her bra back on (given that it's network TV, I'm surprised she removed it in the first place, but it is practically a featured extra here) when she takes out that chip or whatever we saw her grab from her van in the pilot episode and regards it thoughtfully before replacing it. Lydon (played by Austin Nichols, of the eponymous John From Cincinnati) seems to know what it is as he notes that that's where she keeps it before asking if she's making any progress, and she tells him she's been digging, "but your little stunt is going to make it harder." He offers to help her, but she tells him she shouldn't even have risked contacting him in the first place. "If they suspect something, I'm screwed!" As I already said, Skye, I don't begrudge you it, but "screwed" is really the issue here, and Lydon can't help pointing it out as well. Seriously, though, you could have sent the text and gone back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with them none the wiser. Given how much we'll learn your quest with S.H.I.E.L.D. means to you I hope you think Lydon was worth it, at least at this point.
Skye does, however, point out that there's a guy in trouble because of Lydon, and he apologizes for that and tells her he misses her. She returns the sentiment but reminds him they discussed this -- she has a chance here, so S.H.I.E.L.D. is off-limits. Lydon agrees but asks her at least to tell him what it's like to be among their sworn enemies, but she replies that they're good people and jokes about her experienced being classified. I'm getting bored enough to wonder how many hackers trim their beards and wax their chests like Lydon obviously does (although he does tip the audience off to his ill-gotten new wealth by telling Skye he'll get them a resort suite someplace time they meet), so let's move on to the part where Skye, looking for her top, opens the door to the room to find May hilariously holding it: "Get. Dressed." I'd imagine she's been there for a while, so it was courteous of her not to interrupt until they were done. But if they get back on decent terms, I'd imagine May will do some pretty good impressions of the pillow talk she was forced to endure.
Later, the mood is suitably grim as Skye and Lydon have both complied with May's directive and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team makes an examination of Lydon's stuff. Skye starts to say to Coulson that she knows how this looks, but he gives her a "bup-bup-bup" finger before getting down to questions mode: How long has she been in contact with Lydon? Skye replies she sent him a message the day she joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D. to let him know she was okay (if she's referring to her "I'm in" text at the end of the second episode, that's a weird way of conveying that sentiment), and that was it until today. Coulson is like, "Oh, you mean that 'today' where you tipped off an active suspect." Skye tries to explain that she and Lydon have a history and it was out of loyalty she warned him, not because they're conspiring against S.H.I.E.L.D.
Coulson, his rigid demeanor not letting up for an instant (again, I like him better when he's not so goofy), asks who, then, Lydon is working with. Skye tells him it's a solo operation, as Lydon is an idealist, and she came to try to find out what he knows about Chan, but the answer is nothing. She once again tries to justify her actions by saying she intended to help the investigation but felt like she couldn't be completely honest, to which Coulson replies, "I know. That's why I asked May to follow you." Check and mate! Skye tries to look at Ward but gets an even stonier face in reply, while Fitz whispers to Simmons that he doesn't understand because he thought Skye was their friend. Simmons at least is aware of the possibility of people being pulled in different directions, stating, "I think she is, Fitz. He's just obviously more than that." Fitz, though, is of course more hurt because of his romantic interest (whatever he may think that is) in Skye, and Fitz, we need to get you a little shore leave to learn the ways of the world. Ward's going to have some free time now, I'd imagine.
Elsewhere, May is asking a shackled Lydon what happened to the information he stole, and he tells her "information has a life of his own" so we won't need to be hearing from Lydon again anytime soon. Well, except for when he, hearing loud noises from the room, asks if they're going to destroy all his stuff and May replies, "Yes." Hee. On Coulson's order to clear out, May hauls Lydon away, and then Ward cuffs Skye, who's far more hurt by his frostiness than the action itself. Well, at least you get to retire undefeated from the Battleship arena, Skye. As if her day hadn't turned bad enough, Simmons then whispers to her that she missed a button getting dressed. Well, what's she supposed to do about it now, Simmons? Help a sister out!
In a research-y looking building in Hong Kong, Chan is wondering what this lab room Raina's brought him to is about, so she tells him they want to monitor his vital signs while they observe his powers. She then adds that the serum they're going to inject him with will strengthen his cells' cyto-skeletons, and while the effect is temporary, he'll feel "incredible." I hate to be so blunt, but this guy's an idiot, right? To wit, he asks the tech to him what he thinks of the name "Scorch," but the guy's only response is to inject him right in the bicep (OW!) that produces a druggie O-face I didn't necessarily need to see. Raina asks him to test his powers, and sure enough, he's able to produce a much bigger and more powerful flame. When he loses control of a fireball, he apologizes to another tech, with the catchphrase, "You almost got Scorched!" I make enough terrible puns that I have no right to complain, but that's not going to stop me. He tells Raina she's a "beautiful angel" and babbles on about how no one's going to hold him back, and I still don't understand how he is agreeing to all this without even asking Raina WHY SHE WEARS THE SAME DRESS ALL THE TIME?
Back on the plane, Skye and Lydon have been confined to a room, and although they know they're being observed, they bicker about whether S.H.I.E.L.D. is justified invading people's privacy to such a degree, and although Lydon is a blowhard and also a hypocrite I am not the person to take S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side here. He invokes Manning, Snowden, and Swartz as revolutionaries, but Ward tells Fitz/Simmons that he can feel Lydon is dirty and orders them to keep trying to dig up something on him. I'm sure part of him is hoping to clear Skye as far as is possible here, not that he'll tell her that.
May wanders in to see Coulson, who tells her to get the "I told you so" over with. Given what Amador said to Coulson last time, is that part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. training manual? Thankfully, May tells him she's not into petty recriminations, but Coulson's in the mood for self-flagellation as he points out she called it – Skye was a risk, and he would never have taken this chance before that alien staff went through his heart. May: "Sure it didn't go through the brain?" Maybe it's me, but that does sound a little petty. She asks what his gut is telling him now, and he admits that he thinks Skye is still hiding something, but then Simmons bursts in to announce they've found some evidence. And it doesn't look good for Lydon, if the even-sterner-than-usual way Ward has his jaw set is any indication. He tells Lydon that Skye has been defending him as an upstanding guy before dropping a folder onto the table and asking if he wants to tell Skye his secret himself. Skye already looks grossed out and when Lydon won't play, Ward lays out a bunch of deposit slips and tells Skye that Lydon's recently come into some money to the tune of seven figures. Lydon does that TV thing where he says he can explain, like NO YOU CAN'T, not in any way that isn't "Yup, I sold the information, and I'd do it again!" Skye flips out, but Lydon is like, "Did I mention the part where it was a million dollars, and besides, I checked the woman out and she's harmless." But did she WEAR THE SAME DRESS in all your Skype chats?
In fact, according to Lydon, she did (he sold the info to "some rich girl in a flower dress") and HOW RICH CAN SHE BE IF SHE NEVER CHANGES HER OUTFIT? And speaking of not varying her routine, she told Lydon that he has a gift and that people like him deserve more, so he agreed to hack S.H.I.E.L.D., adding that he checked the data stream and it didn't seem like he was dealing with any information the two of them hadn't already put out there. At that, Ward gives Skye an appraising look, but Lydon goes on that he also checked into the corporation that paid him, and it was an eco-research lab doing studies on centipedes. "What's more harmless than that?" Okay, Lydon, time to shut up and let the grownups exchange meaningful looks.
Speaking of Centipede, as they watch from behind glass, Raina notes that the volatility in the serum appears to have been neutralized and tells her co-conspirator that she told Chan his dreams would come true. We then see she's talking to the red-haired doctor from the pilot, who's like, "You gave him a name, didn't you?" Is…that a thing? Raina says the platelets in Chan's blood are preventing the Extremis in the serum from combusting, and Doctor From The Pilot (no sense in worrying about her name, given what's to come) is like, "Awesome, now drain him". She walks out, whereupon Raina pushes a button on the panel in front of her that causes gas sprays to flow into the lab, knocking Chan out. She sighs. If the ennui is too much for you, Raina, might I suggest not experimenting on and then killing people?
Coulson convenes the team minus Skye to give them the Centipede news and tell them he believes they have the building Chan's in thanks to Lydon's information. May asks what they want with Chan, so Simmons pipes up speculation that we know to be entirely accurate, which leads Coulson to say they need to get to Chan before the experiment's over. Good idea, Coulson…how fast does this bus go, anyway?
Maybe not fast enough, as whatever needed to be done now appears to be finished, although Chan is still strapped into a chair. Now that he's conscious, he tries to use his power to attack his captors, only to find that the flames he conjures now burn his skin. Doctor From The Pilot explains that his platelets are fire-resistant, and Raina pipes up that that's the reason they've taken them. Okay, I'm no biologist, but could they really harvest all his platelets and still leave him with enough blood to survive? And wouldn't his body now churn out more to try to counter the deficiency? Regardless, Chan desperately reminds Raina she told him he has a gift, to which she replies, "And you're giving it." That's pretty stone cold for a woman who only owns one dress.
Ward is getting field-ready when Coulson tells him he and May will be handling this one, so Ward can stay and oversee the prisoners. This is all because Coulson feels responsible for bringing Skye on and as such wants to fix the situation, but I can't be the only one who thinks Ward might have just a slight edge in field missions, can I? Back in their holding room, Skye harangues Lydon about his hypocrisy, and frankly, it's boring and on-the-nose, especially where he's jealous that Skye knows what she's looking for, and he doesn't have that. Boo hoo, Moneybags. Skye is unmoved by his little hacker pity party, and good for her.
Outside the building, Coulson takes entirely too long to give marching orders to Kwan to pass on to his team, and after a flat jokey bit in which Kwan asks how they go in and Coulson tells him "the roof" as in the background we see May ride a cable into the air, we cut to her, Coulson, Kwan, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. red shirt marching down a corridor. They quickly break into the lab and free a groggy Chan from the chair, but a tech sets off an alarm that locks down the lab. After Coulson deals with him, he starts to ask Kwan something, but Kwan's expression is suddenly wide-eyed, and when we cut to a wider shot, we see a flaming hole in his stomach, whereupon he falls away to reveal a maniacal-looking Chan who's just injected himself with a monster dose of Extremis. Coulson fearfully asks what he's done, and Chan grins evilly, stating, "I've set myself free." With that, he sends a jet of flame right into the camera, and I hope Coulson's been using some of that extra energy to practice tumbling or at least strafing.
Ward rushes into the holding room and un-cuffs Skye while telling her Coulson's in trouble, and while he wasn't actually flambéed before the last break, he and May have taken cover but are trapped, and not only that, they're having to listen to Chan blather about how S.H.I.E.L.D. was forcing him to keep his gift inside. It does seem delusions of grandeur are an effect of Extremis along with combustion. May switches to his native language to try to talk him down, but we know that without his natural counter to the Extremis, he's heading for a meltdown just like the other two subjects. And I guess I have to complain some more here -- is it logical for Centipede to dispose of Chan after harvesting one batch of platelets from him? Wouldn't it better serve their purpose to keep him alive as a source, particularly given that they might run into unanticipated problems or end up needing more supply? Making Centipede Evil is okay, but not at the expense of logic; Chan was a malleable, willing subject and they're supposed to be playing a deep game here. Anyway, Chan's speechifying in his native tongue is no less boring than him doing it in English, not that Coulson's "So we're good, right?" in response to May's face of doom is any better.
Back on the plane, Ward has brought out not only Skye but Lydon as well, and Skye sees that the alarm disconnected the lab from all exterior servers, so to override it she'll have to be on-site. Ward and Lydon both think that's a crazy idea -- Lydon points out she's a hacker, "not Seal Team Six" -- but Skye thinks she'll be safe if Ward takes her. Inside, Chan has stopped talking and started flaming, and when May asks if his file said anything about him being homicidal, Coulson replies, "It just said he was kind of a tool!" Eh. I mean, obviously I don't disagree, but Coulson's whimsy in the face of death is really starting to grate, and given that they know Extremis is responsible for his state of mind the line feels shoehorned to boot. Speaking of which, Chan talks about how "Scorch" doesn't believe S.H.I.E.L.D.'s lies, and May's flat response of "Who?" could stand just fine on its own so we really don't need Coulson being like "They gave him a name," which STILL ISN'T A THING.
Coulson then draws the night-night pistol and tells May to give him a clear shot. May does her part by doing a cartwheel into Chan's line of vision, but Chan isn't fooled, and when Coulson moves to shoot him, Chan turns his back and sends up a wall of flame behind him. From the original angle, I could have bought the flames were far enough behind him, but a side view shows them enveloping him, so how did he not just roast himself? But more importantly, why does Coulson DISCHARGE ALL HIS AMMO WHEN IT'S CLEAR THE FLAMES ARE DESTROYING THE SHOTS? That costs the episode a full grade right there because you don't have your characters lose their minds to get over a simple story obstacle. May asks where they are on the doors, and outside, guards are flying every which way as Ward grits that they're almost there. He knocks out his adversaries and takes Skye's hand, while elsewhere, Doctor From The Pilot is telling someone on the phone that S.H.I.E.L.D. has infiltrated the building, but the situation is under control. When she's off, Raina silkily asks if she didn't want to tell them that Chan's true nature revealed itself, and I'm not sure why that's a big secret, so I'm with Doctor From The Pilot when she says that without his platelets, Chan will combust. Raina is like, "Wouldn't be the first one to blow up on you", and is this going somewhere or are we just getting confirmation that she's a total asshole?
When Skye reaches her destination, it takes about .2 seconds for her to release the doors, but May reports that Chan has gone…like HOW? May points out that Chan is a lost cause now, and Coulson says he knows and they just have to minimize the damage. He asks Simmons if the building's computers are back up, and when at that moment they indeed come back on, Coulson tells her and Fitz to un-cuff Lydon, as they're going to need his help. I guess Coulson is relying on his feelings for Skye being genuine, but once they're saved, what's to stop him to peace out, possibly in Lola?
Doctor From The Pilot is following Raina to an elevator when Chan appears behind them. Doctor From The Pilot runs for it, but Raina pushes the button to close the door, snorting that she wishes her all the best. Ha ha…ha? Doctor From The Pilot tries to save herself by telling Chan they can fix him and make him stronger, but this does not deter him from rather painfully immolating her. Coulson then appears behind him and tells him they don't want to hurt him, "but we have to." With that, May appears out of nowhere and injects twin needles into his back, which seem to paralyze him. He holds his position on his knees as May and Coulson run for it, while on the plane, Lydon does some hack-fu to manipulate the air vents so the explosion will be diverted to the roof.
Chan's face is now red just like Peterson's was in the pilot. It starts to crack open, and no sooner has the S.H.I.E.L.D. team made it out of the building than does the conflagration explodes up into the sky. Hilariously, Ward's tone of voice is completely normal as he tells Coulson that Skye extracted a few files from the building's mainframe, but Coulson keeps looking up, so Ward offers that you can't save someone from himself. Coulson, however says you can if you get to them early enough and then gives a pointed look at Skye, and ONE of those would have been too on-the-nose for me, but both together is unforgivable. This is a shit episode, show; if you want to hold on to your audience you're going to have to trust it to handle some nuance.
Back on the plane, Coulson holds up a box and tells Lydon he's got two choices – take what's in it "or we put you in a slightly bigger one." Lydon opts for the former and sees it contains a silver bracelet. When Coulson puts it on Lydon's wrist it flares blue, whereupon Coulson tells him it'll prevent him from using electronic devices. Like, even the TV? I might opt for prison, especially since Coulson tells him he's leaving him in Hong Kong, adding that Kwan's family thanks him "for the anonymous donation." Well, then they don't thank him, really. But think about the logistics here; Coulson is stranding Lydon on Chinese soil with no passport, no money, and no ability even to use a computer. Maybe he'll make it to the American embassy, but if not, what's his option? White slavery? It'd be one thing if Coulson were actually being that hardcore, but as usual the show is playing it like it's funny, which it isn't, so much. Coulson then tells Skye to join him in his office, but first Lydon asks if she plans to stay, and she replies she will if they let her. Although she then tells him, once again, that he's not who she thought he was, he still hopes she finds what she's looking for. Me too, so we can get it over with and move on.
Upstairs, May is pouring Ward a drink, and when Ward tells her to make it a double, she asks, "Is there any other kind?" Love her. Skye then appears behind them and, her voice sounding pretty raw, tells Ward she's going to Coulson's office and she thought he might want to be there as her SO. He's like, yeah no, so she steels herself and heads on in. She starts to say something, but Coulson cuts her off and tells her to stop -- she's been lying ever since she got on board, so either she comes clean about what she's hiding or he's done with her. Skye takes a long moment to consider, but finally reaches for her Bra of Secrets and produces the chip, which she raggedly says holds everything she has. Coulson: "On us?" Skye: "On me."
You see, the reason she learned to hack, the reason she joined the Rising Tide, was to find any information she could about her parents but the only thing she ever came up with was a record from an orphanage that was almost completely redacted. Coulson at least looks chastened as he notes that the document was altered by S.H.I.E.L.D., and Skye sticks out her chin and tells him that she's going to keep looking. Coulson replies that she might not like what she finds, but allows that maybe he can help and then he gives her a bracelet of her very own, which she dons after he's left the room. I don't know; I'm not in the bag for S.H.I.E.L.D. as unqualified good guys, as I've made clear, so I had hopes for the Rising Tide, but the fact that Skye's ties to them now seem more convenient than ideological makes it seem likely the organization's relevance will fade away, which is uninspired. I suppose that's a fit for this episode, at least.
Our coda this week is not like last week's joke. Instead, it's Raina visiting some middle-aged guy in prison. After they essentially chuckle about Doctor from the Pilot buying it, she reports that they expect soon to have stable super soldier subjects, which will send them to Stage Two. The guy wonders if that means anything good for his situation, so Raina tells him that other problems have "resurfaced." The S.H.I.E.L.D. unit they took on in Hong Kong is one they've encountered before, and "we" would like him to touch base with "the Clairvoyant. See if any insights can be given on Stage Three." The guy doesn't think the Clairvoyant will be too jazzed to be "touched," but Raina tells him they all have to do things that make them uncomfortable. "You know that better than any of us." She stands to go, but he tells her he likes her dress, and she smiles, "I know." We'll have a week off to contemplate this question, but WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. His new film, a documentary on online privacy and the exploitation of personal data called Terms And Conditions May Apply, a New York Times Critics' Pick, is now on iTunes here. You can get news on it from the film's Twitter accountor website, or check out trackoff.us to learn how to protect your privacy. Also, you can email John at couchbaron@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/couchbaron, or check out his blog, "Pull Up A Chair," which he'd just love for you to stop by.