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In the cold open, S.H.I.E.L.D. extracts an "Agent Shaw" from his cover in Siberia among some paramilitary toughs; they take him and his intel to "The Hub," which is -- as you'd imagine -- a huge S.H.I.E.L.D. station. Coulson has to inform his team that they can't know what Shaw gave him because it requires Clearance Level Eight; also, with so much S.H.I.E.L.D. information in such close proximity, Skye wonders if she could find anything on the redacted file concerning her parents, but since she's still bracelet-ed, Coulson promises to look into it for her.
At The Hub, we meet an Agent Sitwell (who makes me think the staff writers unsurprisingly are Arrested Development fans) and Agent Hand, who's apparently something of a legend and informs Coulson, May, and Ward -- the three with Level Seven clearance, which is okay for the general briefing -- that a separatist group has built something called the "Overkill Device," which they plan to use in the day to declare their independence from Russia and Georgia. The belief is that it creates sonic vibrations that can trigger faraway weapons and since an overt attack might result in, say, the U.S.'s nukes going off, Hand needs a two-person team to sneak across the border, break into the stronghold and disable the weapon. The catch is that someone on the team needs to be able to work with the weapon on-site, so instead of the twin ass-kickers May and Ward, it's going to be Odd Couple Ward and Fitz. After their connection last episode, Simmons is loath to see Fitz go on such a dangerous mission, but he's pretty excited to prove himself in the field, which makes you wonder if Coulson isn't the only one who's been replaced with a robot.
Skye and her clearance level of minus sixty-seven freak-out with worry over Ward and Fitz and pull Simmons into a plan to get information on the mission despite their lack of authorization, which leads to Simmons zapping Sitwell with the night-night gun and Skye discovering that Fitz and Ward are not actually scheduled to be extracted. Coulson catches her, but this time she's got righteous anger on her side, so they bicker about secrets and protocol and thinking outside the box. Even though Coulson tells her to trust the system, he turns right around and chews Hand out for keeping him in dark before taking the rest of his team to extract Ward and Fitz.
Speaking of, Fitz talks Ward's ear off as they go to see an old contact of Ward's; when it turns out the contact is dead, they get taken prisoner in a bar, but Fitz gets them out of it by repairing the place's dodgy electricity -- which as it happens he had shorted out himself. That doesn't stop the two of them from fighting, but despite the death of Fitz's favorite sandwich, they make it to the compound -- whereupon Ward also figures out there's no extraction forthcoming. Ward tries to send Fitz to safety once he's gotten far enough on the Overkill Device, but Fitz won't abandon Ward or the mission, so he rejiggers the thing to take out a bunch of the separatists' weapons while Ward just kicks a bunch of ass like he's generally meant to. In the end, after Coulson's rescue is successful, Ward gains new respect for Fitz, which is nice and might lead to the weirdest bromance in history.
Coulson tells Skye he looked into the file and a female S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was the one who dropped her off at the orphanage. She hugs him in gratitude, unaware -- as we later see from a photo May examines -- that there's what appears to be a murder tied up in Skye's circumstances. Coulson asks May if she'll help him find out what really happened, and she points out what he's asking will send them into dangerous waters, but she still agrees to try.
In the end, Coulson calls S.H.I.E.L.D. to try to get information on his own death and recovery -- only to be told he doesn't have authorization to access that file. He's helping Skye, but who's going to help him?
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!In a gulag-looking indoor setting, two paramilitary types lead a cuffed and hooded man into a chair, whereupon one of them removes the hood to reveal Coulson, who tells them he thinks they may have a mole problem. I'm sure he's congratulating himself on the double entendre that will soon be revealed, but the tough in front of him merely punches him before sneering that Coulson won't be so amused when "The Interrogator" gets there; on cue, a large, forbidding man strides up and selects a torture tool from a tray of them that looks so standard I have the feeling they sell it at Target now. Apparently, though, there's only so far Coulson is willing to play this game, as after referencing some intel he tells "Agent Shaw" that "they" know and they have three minutes. Also on cue, May and Ward come out of nowhere and kick some ass while Coulson loses his trick cuffs, and then Agent Interrogator Shaw throws a blade into another of their assailants. They escape out a hatch that leads them up to a snow-covered landscape and hop snowmobiles pointed toward the plane, and you can make your own Catskills joke about how cold an open this is.
On the plane, Shaw is looking nervous, which is understandable given that Simmons is preparing a little grabbing tool that can only be headed up his nose. My sister once shoved a pea up her nostril when she was a kid, but I don't think the thing they used to remove it was quite as sophisticated. Count your blessings, Shaw. After rather too much talking from Simmons about whether Shaw should or shouldn't breathe ("try not to," it seems to boil down to), with the aid of a live X-ray image to her, Simmons succeeds in using the tool to extract a small cartridge that apparently contains all the intel Shaw gathered on his mission, and Coulson amusingly allows a hint of "ew" to seep into his thanks for Shaw's service. Coulson then announces that they're going to "The Hub" to deliver both Shaw and the intel, and given what we see of the place later, Simmons' resultant excitement would seem overblown if that weren't her default setting.
Coulson emerges from the lab with the data in his hand and Fitz and Skye both offer to do their thing with it, but he informs them access to the data requires Clearance Level Eight. When he's gone, Skye's like wait, what… he can keep secrets now? And while I'll admit a hacker probably isn't used to such boundaries it still seems a bit rich to be genuinely surprised here, so I thank Fitz for replying "No need to get started on one of your socialist riffs." Hee. Ward duhs that any one agent having too much information would make the entire organization vulnerable, and May pipes up that the way Coulson runs things on the plane is one thing, but "the Hub is different." Skye: "What's the Hub?" I've complimented the show for its call-and-response setups before, so I'd like them to note that the pattern of using Skye's audience-surrogate questions as calls is a decidedly inferior effort.
The plane is hangared in the Hub, which looks… like an office building, really, at least from the inside. I mean, it's not Slough, but I still don't see what all the fuss is about. Everyone in our group minus Skye picks up an ID badge, as Skye wonders if she's not going to be allowed access to any computers, since she'd really like to run a search on that redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. report! Ye gods, woman. When the bracelet comes off, talk. Coulson, with surprising patience, promises he'll look into it on her behalf before greeting the approaching bald and bespectacled "Agent Sitwell," who tells him he'll take him to "Agent Hand" for a briefing to which his Level Sevens are invited. Accordingly, May and Ward follow Coulson's lead in being scanned at a wall station so they can enter the restricted area -- and then when Skye wanders over like an idly curious cat, a panel on the wall magnetizes (I guess) and grabs hold of her bracelet, pinning her in place. I mean, I'm not big on S.H.I.E.L.D. protocols myself, but she's been asking for this. Coulson merely assures her they'll be back while Simmons and Fitz (after having babbled in awe about "Agent Victoria Hand" being on-site) rush off to check out the tech setup, leaving Skye to grump, "I don't think it likes me here." You're not giving it a lot of reason!
The Level Sevens and higher meet Agent Hand, played by Saffron Burrows and some red streaks in her hair, and I'll just say this now so I don't keep coming back to it later: Hand may be a real Marvel character and classic Comic-Con bait (and I realize she's supposed to be a huge hawk), but I find this performance dull and lifeless, not to mention that it really just underscores how much better a show this would be if they could afford to get a superhero on every once in a while. This is like the Cheez Whiz of fan service, here. Anyway, Hand spews out a bunch of mission MacGuffin babble: A separatist group from South Ossetia has created a weapon called the "Overkill Device," and I'd like to take that as a clever Whedonism, but Burrows is so distractingly flat it's hard to credit it. Some intercepted chatter has told S.H.I.E.L.D. the group plans to use the device within the day in aid of declaring their independence from Russia and Georgia, which could be disastrous given that the thing emits sonic vibrations that can set off any weapon. Thus, Hand is requesting a two-man team to infiltrate the separatist stronghold and disable the weapon before they use it, "and you have two people who fit my bill."
Ward and May regard each other approvingly, and Ward pipes up that he was in Georgia "during the incursion in '08" and still has contacts on the South Ossetian border, and Hand's like, awesome -- but the other team member has to be able to dismantle the device on-site without benefit of specs. I'd love it if May were like, yeah, I'm also secretly a tech genius as well as an ass-kicker and ninja-level collator, but this does look beyond her, and Ward is like, Oh no!, even before we cut to Fitz getting a cart stuck in an automatic glass door and complaining about it, prompting Ward to ask Coulson, "Seriously?" Yes, that sight "gag" did seriously go on for almost thirty seconds. I agree it'd be hard to believe even if it didn't send us to an act break.
On the plane, as Fitz packs, Simmons worries about him and she chatters over a wide range of subjects until he assures her he can handle the mission. I'm not sure what he's basing that conclusion on, but there definitely isn't room for both of them to freak out here. He jokes that she shouldn't do anything rash while he's gone "like jump out of an airplane," but she seriously takes his hand for a moment and makes him promise to be careful before remembering she made him something -- his favorite sandwich, which is prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella with a bit of homemade pesto aioli. He doesn't seem too worried that she might have prepared it in unsanitary conditions, say near a dead cat, but I'll admit it wouldn't stop me from eating that particular sandwich either. Skye then turns up with the "full-sized mag pouch" Fitz requested, while elsewhere, Coulson tells Ward an extraction team will get them out once he signals that the job with the Overkill Device is done. He adds a reminder for Ward to take care of Fitz, who then appears and tells Ward to get it in gear, as they're on a schedule. Ward practically rolls his entire body at that one, but any sarcasm gives way to meaningful glances being exchanged all around. Presently, it's just Skye and Coulson left and the former asks the latter if it feels okay to send the two of them in alone like this. Coulson, however, thinks that the people who planned this operation are as good as they come, but I'm not sure I agree given that Fitz as far as we know hasn't even been briefed on anything more important than a sandwich, as gourmet as it may be.
In Caucasus, Ward is driving a Jeep while Fitz recites a story about Simmons and a vacuum chamber and a sneeze and whatever, and Ward takes a break from trying to burn Fitz down with his eyes to collect the "beacon" from him (which we'll learn will signal Hand when their mission is complete) and leave it in a discreet spot to the house by which they've stopped. He then tells Fitz that his contact is a "Yuri Dubrovsky," whom they'll pay to get them across the border and while he and Ward have a history, he doesn't like new people. Well, there had to be a reason why he and Ward get along. After cautioning Fitz to keep his mouth shut and his head down, Ward leads the way into what's actually a fairly dank bar, although there is soccer playing on the TV at least. Reaching the bartender, he switches to Russian as he orders two vodkas -- one for him and one for "my friend, Yuri." The bartender gives a meaningful look to the guy sitting in front of him, who then downs his drink and gets to his feet as Fitz asks Ward to inquire what beers they have on tap. Well, Ward did tell him to shut up, but I have the feeling ordering a drink can only be met with respect here. Meanwhile, the other guy speaks English as he asks Ward if Yuri's his friend -- but when Ward says yes, the guy informs him that Yuri is dead. The Foley guys then get to go nuts with tons of guns cocking around them, and the guy goes on, "You have no friends here." Well, he might if he weren't so mean to Fitz all the time!
On the plane (or in the Hub?), Simmons puts the night-night gun in her bag for safekeeping against the clumsy S.H.I.E.L.D. guys loading stuff around her; she then wonders if Fitz will be all right. Skye asks May if she can tell them anything about the mission to allay their fears, but May gives them nothing, so when she's gone, Skye tells Simmons that she's not okay with being in the dark -- she needs answers and as a dramatic drum roll plays, she adds that she knows just the person who has them. Simmons waits for the moment prescribed from the setup before asking who, and Skye's like, Coulson, of course! Who else could I have meant? Hee.
Coulson, however, is basically playing a smaller-scale electronic version of Risk with Hand as they place troops around a map of South Ossetia; she then talks about Coulson's recovery and Fury's soft spot for his favorites, adding that not everyone gets sent to Tahiti. Coulson replies that it's a magical place, but there's a telltale pause in there, so apparently now even he's noticed how automatically he keeps saying that. They then engage in some low-level snittery that you can probably chalk up to them both being big dogs if you care, which I kind of don't. (Also, she's like a head taller than he is, which doesn't help him in the argument.)
Ward and Fitz are tied up in a back room with Fitz wondering why they haven't been killed yet and Ward telling him they're waiting for their boss to turn up. He runs through some possible escape scenarios that involve a range of stuff -- extended breath holding, something called "slam and cram," saying goodbye to one's pinky -- but they all have one thing in common (other than being "terrifyingly vague" according, hilariously, to Fitz), which is that Fitz doesn't have a shot of pulling any of them off even if he were willing, which he isn't. Any further grisly planning is then curtailed by the appearance of a heavyset woman who informs them that Yuri was friends with the separatists -- are they also? Ward denies it and asks her to trust him, but she doesn't so much, indicated by her flunky once again drawing his gun. Just then, however, the lights go out and from the reactions of the soccer-viewing crowd in the room, these two aren't going to be the only casualties if they don't get it fixed.
Skye finds Coulson and is like heeeeeeey, and Coulson thinks she's going to start in about her parents again, but she tells him she wants info on the mission, especially since she saw troops and analysts galore heading into Operations earlier. Coulson looks momentarily uncomfortable, but tells her to trust the system and when he's gone, Simmons rushes up and asks how it went. Well, he at least didn't attach her bracelet to the wall again, although after Skye complains that he's acting like "a robot version of himself" I kind of wish he had. ENOUGH with the cutesy allusions to Coulson not being the same already. Skye then suggests they get the information themselves, prompting Simmons to freak out about "bad-girl shenanigans," which I assume will be the name of the band she starts in her rebellious phase. Skye, however, points out that all the troops can only mean A) there's more to Ward and Fitz's mission than they've been told or B) something's gone wrong. I mean, I don't begrudge her concern, but Fitz and Ward have been told only to disable the device. Does Skye think S.H.I.E.L.D. would then just leave it there to be fixed? Regardless, she hits Simmons with the thought that Fitz might be enduring torture as they speak, so Simmons asks what she has in mind. I'm surprised she doesn't ask Simmons to find a way to get the bracelet off her, but maybe she wants to ease her into this whole rebellion thing.
Back in the bar, a sweaty Fitz is hanging upside-down like he is in fact being tortured, but a wider shot reveals "Vladimir" is dangling him into a vent so he can reach the fuse box and soon he's got the lights back on, which earns him loud cheers from the crowd and an amusedly respectful look from Ward. At the woman boss' behest (she's quite taken with Fitz), he takes a celebratory shot, but after a pointed look from Ward, he brings it around to business.
Cut to Ward and Fitz in the back of a covered truck as Ward complains about the two-million-ruble price tag Fitz "negotiated." Fitz: "I thought they were like pesos." Hee. He adds that he shorted the fuse box in the first place with his localized EMP when they were tied up and Ward's genuinely impressed at that one, but Fitz doesn't get to enjoy that for long as they suspiciously come to a stop. Even more troubling are the fatal-sounding shots their escorts receive and we go to the break with our boys' lives hanging in the balance. I mean, it's no Fitz And The Glass Door Follies, but it's something!
Two soldiers approach the back of the truck when out of it come two metal kegs (there were several of them in the back with Ward and Fitz), and then Ward takes advantage of the distraction by shooting one of them so liquid explodes out of it with enough force to incapacitate the two guys by it. Ward handles a third guy with the butt of his gun and then calls to Fitz that there are more border patrolmen coming -- only to find that Fitz is already running away as fast as his legs can carry him. He's showing more common sense in this episode than in all others to date combined, no?
May is doing tai chi when Coulson finds her and babbles about how he likes their process on the plane and maybe he's getting soft, but he hates keeping things from the team, but maybe he should trust the system. May pays him absolutely no mind, but does give a slight eye-roll when he's gone, and if she's incorporating the whole scene there I can only nod my head sagely.
Skye sends Simmons into a restricted area as she yammers into Simmons' earpiece about having programmed her laptop to read fake browser history so S.H.I.E.L.D. won't know what she's up to, although it will only fool them for three minutes. But… wouldn't they have noticed her doing the necessary rejiggering? Anyway, let's just say Simmons is not cut out for stealth, but she has at least whipped up a gizmo to fake a handprint that opens an access panel. However, before Simmons can plug in the flash drive that will apparently steal access for Skye, Sitwell (who by the way is another S.H.I.E.L.D. rando it's hard to believe anyone cares about in this setting) finds her. Will she keep her cool so as not to rouse his suspicions? Am I telling too many jokes here?
In fading light, Ward and Fitz reach a drainage pipe and hole up inside, although Fitz is feeling the urgency of their mission and as such doesn't want to wait long. Meanwhile, Simmons plasters on a smile that fails to deter Sitwell from noticing the open wall panel; her attempts at flirting go even more poorly and she eventually acts so squirrelly that he can't help but call for an escort -- at which point she shoots him with the night-night gun. I mean, I doubt even a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would be permitted to carry that thing into the Hub, but what's really annoying is that the writers missed a Star Wars homage by not having Simmons comment that it was a dumb conversation anyway. Because it was! Simmons then rushes back to Skye and asks how she did, which is so crazy that I kind of like it, but Skye of course is like, um, you were terrible, so go tell May what happened and hopefully she can fix it while I go look up mission files before my three minutes are up. It might even work, assuming May's done with her tai chi.
It's nighttime now, and Fitz gets out the sandwich and generously offers half to Ward -- who tosses it away into some likely bilge. Understandably, Fitz is aghast, and although Ward points out that the dogs tracking them might just be able to sniff out HAM, he could just have had Fitz put it back in its double plastic bag, so I can't blame Fitz for snitting about how Ward always has to save the day, throw the last punch, save the girl. "Now you've destroyed the world's most dangerous sandwich. Congratulations." There's something about his whispered tones that makes this particular conversation that much funnier. Hee. Ward, however, gets a point in his favor when the sounds of men and barking dogs can suddenly be heard. Once they pass, Ward informs Fitz that Coulson ordered him to take care of him, so that's what he's doing. He then gives Fitz a ration bar to eat that he says is odorless, but you wouldn't know it from the way Fitz turns up his nose.
Skye starts looking for the mission information, but gets sidetracked by a section marked "Redacted Documents," and I'm not sure I see the logic in making that a category in the S.H.I.E.L.D. filing system, but Skye finds the redacted version again and wishes she could just locate the raw file. This document is from 1989, right? That must have been one hell a scanning project to get all their archives into digital form. Regardless, it becomes clear that Skye is going to run out of time if she doesn't turn her attention to the mission info, so she pulls it up -- and sees a big blank where the extraction information should be. Just then, Coulson appears and shoves her laptop closed while asking what he told her, but given what she just saw Skye is not so easily cowed this time as she seethes that he told her to trust the system, "and the system sent Ward and Fitz in there to die." Level Eight your way out of that one, Coulson!
A tight shot shows Ward and Fitz lying side-by-side; the camera then pans out to show that they're lying on the road in the mag(netic) pouch Fitz referenced earlier. And not that I think there would ever be anything going on between these two, but even if there would normally be a chance there wouldn't now because Fitz still won't shut up about the goddamn sandwich. I'm kind of sorry I took his side now. Ward then hears a truck coming, so they zip up the pouch, the outside of which camouflages them to the color of the dirt road, and after the truck passes, we see that the pouch must have attached itself to the bottom of the truck. Sadly, it doesn't seem like Ward or Fitz is a Breaking Bad fan, otherwise I can't imagine we wouldn't hear a "Magnets, bitch!" It's kind of obligatory.
Apparently Coulson didn't turn Skye over to anyone higher up at S.H.I.E.L.D., but he's not exactly happy with her either as he reminds her he promised to look into her family. Skye, however, informs him she was looking for information on the "suicide mission," adding that once Ward and Fitz disable the device, the compound is going to get hit hard and there are no plans to evacuate them. Coulson agitatedly pulls her out of the pedestrian traffic and points out she doesn't have the clearance to know that, to which she asks if secrets are really what S.H.I.E.L.D. is all about? I hate to answer what might be a rhetorical question, but YES! Coulson, just as hotly, tells Skye that she hacked plans for which she has no context and their exposure could cost Ward and Fitz their lives. and by the way, given all the issues Skye seems to have with them, does she even want to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Skye assures him she does, so he tells her someday he may need to trust her with a secret and he'll need to know she can keep it. She doesn't let him go without asking one more thing, though -- did Coulson know there was no extraction plan? Coulson replies that that's classified, but I don't know why he didn't just respond "That's none of your business, young lady." You know he wanted to!
Fitz and Ward have reached the exterior of the stronghold, and Fitz talks about setting up what Simmons calls "the magic window," which he explains is a kind of radar imaging system that will essentially allow them to see through the wall. Ward, however, isn't really paying attention as, using a high-powered light, he's just signaled for extraction -- and apparently, from his facial expression, gotten no response. Fitz gets the window going, and given that in its resting state it just looks like a thin sheet of clear plastic, it's some pretty cool effects work to see the blurry images appear from within. Fitz gives a running commentary as he sees two guards with automatic weapons, then three, then the third guy kicking the asses of the other two: "Oh my God, Ward, he's attacking the others!" Hee. Ward then opens the door from inside, and Fitz is like, right… now it all makes sense. Inside, they find the Overkill Device and Fitz gets to work. Once they get the outer casing off and see the yellow energy source, Fitz tells Ward it's going to take him a while, and Ward replies that he has ten minutes. Fitz, jumping his line: "I thought you'd say five." Ha!
Coulson marches in to see Hand, who's like, nice for one of your team to put Sitwell in the infirmary, but Coulson oh-yeahs her that there was no extraction plan and wasn't it convenient that she left that part out? Hand name-checks Barton and Romanoff (Hawkeye and Black Widow) in being like they never have an extraction plan, and it's part non-starter fan service again since the show will very likely never be able to afford Jeremy Renner or Scarlett Johansson, and part a shitty parent being like "your brother would never do anything like this." I hate her. Anyway, Hand goes on that Fitz -- as unproven in the field as he is -- might have performed badly if he'd known there was no extraction, and that may be but it doesn't explain why there was no extraction planned in the first place, especially given how easily Coulson ends up getting them out when he decides to flout S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders. Oh, like you didn't think he was going to. Coulson replies by barking at her for a while, but she tells him to trust the system. So what level is she, anyway? And given how much they throw the numbers around, shouldn't they wear rank insignias?
Back at the stronghold, Ward is like, hey, show me the final steps here and I'll finish the job, but Fitz replies that they should stick to the extraction plan, so Ward has to tell him it's not happening and that they're on their own. He reiterates that Fitz should go, but Fitz steels himself and says he's not leaving -- he's not a coward and "I am every bit the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that you are." Ward's like, hey now, no offense meant, and by the way, he knows Fitz would have jumped out of the plane to save Simmons, "and she knows that too." Aw. Fitz, however, informs Ward that he wasn't the only one Coulson talked to -- he told Fitz to take care of Ward as well. Oh, so that's why he offered him half the sandwich. Ward looks a little stunned that Coulson thought he needed looking after but nods, so Fitz gets back to work, but not before complaining that he's starving. Since he's being so brave, I'll give him that one.
May, Simmons and Skye have resolved to rescue Ward and Fitz on their own -- but Coulson is already waiting for them on the plane ready to join them and no one looks more jazzed than May. Hey, you let her finish her tai chi and good things happen!
Fitz finishes disabling the device (it's perhaps just a little unrealistic that those couple guards would have been the extent of security around such an important doohickey), whereupon Ward activates the beacon to signal same and Hand orders the troops be told to move. Fitz and Ward are similarly ready to go, Fitz having removed what looks like a key piece of the weapon, but an alarm sounds, signaling they're in trouble and they decide they need a new plan. Distract them with the sounds of your rumbling stomach, Fitz!
Fitz and Ward are putting the finishing touches on their hastily conceived plan when they hear an explosion outside and realize S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the scene. This prompts a lot more separatists to appear, so we quickly see their idea: Fitz is using the part of the Overkill Device he removed to shoot their foes' weapons, causing them to discharge and their owners to lose control of them. With their opponents then reduced to hand-to-hand combat, Ward makes short work of them, and Fitz takes a moment to check out the havoc he just wreaked before they head outside -- where they find themselves surrounded. I'm not sure why continuing to use the weapon now seems not be an option, but I suppose it makes it more dramatic when the plane -- or the Cavalry as Ward prefers -- appears overhead. Still, there's like practically a full minute during which any one of dozens of separatists could have gunned Ward and Fitz down; is it so clear that they'd want prisoners? Regardless, May swivels the engine chambers and knocks the separatist soldiers down with an exhaust blast, and if that's everything the rescue required it does seem pretty cold that S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't going to bother.
Speaking of which, Sitwell has apparently recovered from his bout with the night-night gun as he joins Hand in the Ops room and says he thought there wasn't going to be an extraction. Hand replies that their resources were needed elsewhere, "and it's Agent Coulson's team. They didn't need one." So she believed in them all along? As if, and boring.
On the plane, Ward thanks Coulson for the rescue and Coulson solemnly replies that they take care of their own. Simmons is all British in welcoming Fitz back, and I'm not sure if Fitz still hasn't gotten anything to eat but he's unaccountably very somber, although he does lie that the sandwich was great. Skye, for her part, is surprisingly not a teary mess this week as she kids Ward that she thought she was going to have to find a new SO, but Ward allows that as it turns out, he was in good hands. He nods to Fitz on his way out, and that puts a smile on Fitz's face as he then babbles about saving Ward's life all up in there before asking if anything happened at the Hub. Simmons: "I shot a superior officer in the chest." Fitz's smile vanishes once again, but on the plus side, it's the highest-ranking victim of the night-night gun to date, I think.
In her room, Skye looks concerned when Coulson appears in her door. Skye takes the opportunity to start to apologize for her behavior, but Coulson tells her he didn't forget about his promise -- he found the unredacted file, which revealed that the person who dropped her off at the orphanage was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Understandably, Skye's all How? What? How? about the whole thing, but Coulson can only tell her that the female agent was unidentified and he doesn't know her relationship to Skye, if any. He apologizes for that, but Skye thanks and hugs him before he leaves, an inscrutable look on his face.
The expression gets clearer, though, when he returns to May, who asks what he said to Skye. He grimly replies that he told her about the agent dropping her off, but May points out he didn't reveal why, and Coulson admits that he can't. "Some secrets are meant to stay secret." If you say so, Coulson, but remember that you did. He asks May to help him find out what really happened and May replies that it could be dangerous -- but, after due consideration, she allows that she'll try. He thanks her, and then we get a close-up of the contents of the file May's been perusing, one of which is a photo of what appears to be a horribly murdered woman. Of course we don't know who it is, but May's sigh of "Poor girl" suggests it could be Skye's mother? I expect, despite Coulson's statement about secrets, that we'll find out soon enough.
Speaking of secrets that need unraveling, Coulson calls S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and asks for access to the restricted file on the death and recovery of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that took place mostly in Tahiti. I said in the recaplet that it was the file on him, but although it seems likely -- I'm not sure how many agents return from the dead, even in S.H.I.E.L.D. -- I should note that's not explicitly established. And we get no clarification, as the guy on the phone inform Coulson his clearance isn't sufficient to access that file. Coulson doesn't see how that can be, but the guy tells him his only recourse is to submit a formal request to Fury, and Coulson isn't ready to do that yet and disconnects, a haunted look on his face. week there's a Thor: The Dark World story tie-in, which I wouldn't mention if I didn't kind of like that movie.
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.
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