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It feels odd to take heart, but this is an energetic offering that ducks around in time without being annoying or gimmicky about it. Couple things with which to lead off: Ward notices that both Coulson and Skye have been different since the events of last episode, and brings same up to May, wondering if their judgment is being impaired by personal considerations. Skye asks Fitz about 0-8-4s, and he tells her they're always dangerous and that he's never heard of one being a person. Finally, May lets Ward know she confessed to Coulson, and Ward confronts Coulson about it, who tells him he'd better be able to deal with what and who he's doing, essentially. So!
After last episode's ending, Coulson wants to nab Quinn at all costs in order to track down the Clairvoyant, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team learns that he recently made a $10 million purchase from "Cybertek Inc.," a firm that deals in "advanced technology and research." On top of that, the company is transporting the purchase by train through rural European areas – with lots of ex-military security – in order to try to, well, "fly" under the radar, so Coulson's entire team is going to go in undercover in pairs: May/Ward, Fitz/Skye, Coulson/Simmons. They target a "Carlo Mancini," the head of the company's security, and use American accents and spilled fake cremated ashes, but they don't prevent Coulson and Ward from getting made early – apparently Cybertek knew they were coming -- and chased off the train. And there's more bad news, as Ward realizes May got tossed as well (although not without doing a classic superhero three-point landing), so it's only the kids left, who don't even know they're alone.
So the double-reverse-twist is that the Italian authority they've been working with is in financial league with Cybertek, and he captured May – but she proved too much for him and his goons to handle. She kills the guy right as he's about to attack Coulson and Ward, and S.H.I.E.L.D. end up intercepting the train – only to find Simmons asking them where Fitz and Skye are. Fitz realizes that the Cybertek guys are using some variant of a dendrotoxin weapon; he and Skye also witness the package being transferred and decide to follow – to some big fancy estate. They see Quinn and activate a tracker they planted, but Skye also decides to invade the compound – but just as she discovers a statis pod housing one Mike Peterson, she's captured and shown what kind of terrible shape Peterson is in. Quinn then fits Peterson with cyber-implants that make him, I understand, Deathlok – these were the purchases S.H.I.E.L.D. was so interested in – but when Quinn asks Peterson if the implant will allow him to be ordered to kill Skye, Peterson replies that Skye is not the person he's supposed to kill. That doesn't stop Quinn from plugging Skye in the gut, though – twice. She survives the massive wounds in time to be rescued from death's door, though, and S.H.I.E.L.D. also captures Quinn, although Peterson gets away. With Skye in stasis and her life hanging in the balance, various team members punish themselves – while elsewhere, Peterson asks if he can see his son and is denied. I know she's not that popular, but I still think Skye possibly croaking might be the greater issue?
Want more? The full recap starts right below!As I mentioned in the recaplet, I enjoyed this episode. It was paced well and at least moved along both the Peterson and the Clairvoyant arcs. Still, two things: If you're not going to make "T.R.A.C.K.S." an acronym for something, don't make it an acronym. Also, my moment-to-moment coverage of the show is by definition going to produce a difference critical process than that of someone watching on a more macro level, but if you want an independent (and pretty comprehensive) analysis of the show's problems thus far, this compilation by the TWoP staff pretty much covers it. (In fairness, I do think some of the issues are starting to be addressed, but until they fix the "not enough Joss" one I fear the show will never come close to its promise.)
So! After an establishing shot of the plane and a close-up on digital images of Quinn (and I do appreciate the terrible-yet-believable "In Like Quinn" headline on a fake magazine cover), Coulson tells the team he now knows how they can find Quinn. Skye's hacking has revealed that he -- through a shell corporation -- made a recent purchase to the tune of $10 million, paid to a "Cybertek Inc., a small firm that deals in advanced technology and research." I hope she's not just reciting the company's marketing jargon, because I think you'd be hard pressed to find a firm that describes itself as dealing in facile or obsolete tech. Interspersed throughout this conversation are cutaway shots of a luxury train, and Coulson goes on that Cybertek has hired a private security firm comprised of former military to transfer the purchase. Well, that play doesn't always work out, if Amador was any indication. With Big S.H.I.E.L.D. on the hunt for Quinn, Cybertek is transporting the package, as Skye puts it, "old-school," via a train going from Verona across the rural and isolated Italian countryside to Zagreb. May asks if Coulson thinks Quinn's on the train, and the answer's no, but according to the Italian authorities he spoke with, the belief is that the delivery is going to Quinn personally. The motives here seem pretty murky, given what we later learn. It's hard to believe Russo would give up information to Coulson, but maybe Coulson learned enough from Skye's hacking that he concluded this is his best play. May asks if the Italians don't mind them taking over, and Coulson's like, "I asked very nicely."
Cut to Coulson in a café in Rome (not that we see any landmarks, but there's a poster of "Rome" in the window and Pellegrino on the table, which is pretty budge all around), sitting with a bald middle-aged man who points out in accented but fluent English that Coulson isn't asking him at all. He's telling him to step aside and hand over the investigation to S.H.I.E.L.D. Wait, did Coulson go to Rome without, as it seems, the team knowing about it? Does the plane have transporter technology now? Ward sighs that they're going in undercover, and May grouses that she hates that, which is a real surprise, I'm sure. As Coulson tells her and Ward their mission is to locate the package and tag it with a tracker, we cut to the train again, and Coulson goes on that Skye and Fitz will handle communications while he and Simmons…okay, they're posing as father and daughter, but it's never stated what they're actually contributing here. I mean, the script seems to think they're comic relief, but shouldn't they have an actual spy task?
On the train, a steward asks May in Italian if he can show her and Ward to their room, but May just gives him a cold look and walks by. I guess if she doesn't speak Italian it's her only play, but you'd think a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would at least have studied it at a tourist level. Ward, the language expert, tells the guy they'll find their own way, and I'm pretty sure some of it's dubbed but they at least show him speaking some of the words, which makes it far less egregious than in the pilot. When they get to their room, May removes her outer coat to reveal a slick cat suit; ignoring Ward's [eyebrow]-like comment, she tells him that once she's located the package, she'll let him know where to place the tracker. Ward asks if she thinks things are getting personal, and now it's May's turn to raise an eyebrow, but he's talking about their missions; since Coulson returned from his ordeal with Raina he seems different, and "I don't know what he said to Skye, but she's different." May, knowing everything, gives nothing away as she asks how so, and he replies that she's unerringly driven and focused, and it seems like Coulson has her on the warpath. "Seems personal." May points out that the Clairvoyant had Coulson tortured and Quinn's the only person out there with a connection to him. I have no problem with him going after Quinn (he's proven to be an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., so I'm not sure how much more justification they need) but I'm not sure why Coulson expects him to lead them to the Clairvoyant. Raina had a link to him too and it seems reasonable to conclude having her in custody has gotten them nowhere, not to mention the fact that the Clairvoyant has proven him/herself willing and able to kill his agents rather than risk them talking. However, Ward -- in the process of changing his shirt, in case you were wondering if the episode would meet its quota on that front -- is more concerned that personal concerns can adversely affect tactical decisions, but May offhandedly tells him that that's why she doesn't have any, and he shouldn't either. Ward somewhat playfully asks if she thinks Coulson will buy that if he finds out about their, um, recon missions, but as May heads out the window to the train's roof, she's like, "Took it okay when I told him!" That's an exit line, right there.
In their seats, Fitz asks Skye if they should be British or American, pointing out that they'll be less conspicuous as travel partners if they sound like they hail from the same place. He asks how her Scottish accent is, and I can't do it justice but let's say the gut-shot she takes later maybe is a fitting punishment. Fitz doesn't break his facial expression as he replies, "American, then." "That's the better idea," he says in a flat but perfectly serviceable American accent, and when Skye compliments the effort, he explains that he watched a lot of American TV growing up. "Lots of nice teeth," he adds. Hee. Skye then gets up and asks the steward if he can recommend a restaurant in downtown Zagreb (pronouncing it "zuh-GREB," which is wrong but I give the character enough credit to be acting the clueless American here as part of her cover), and Fitz gets up and adds that it should serve big portions. The steward asks if they're looking for something romantic, and in response Skye gives Fitz a kiss on the cheek that he endures with the patience of a non-animal lover getting licked by an enthusiastic dog. Skye babbles on about how they supposedly met and the date of their six-month anniversary and whatever. But her prattle has a purpose, as when she conspiratorially leans forward to add that she thinks she intimidated Fitz at first, she lifts the guy's keys off him. This is why you're supposed to keep them on a chain!
Cut to Fitz and Skye using the keys to get into the storage car so they can set up communications shop (although I'm not sure why they could have gotten a cabin like Ward and May did). Fitz confesses that he has a device that he could have used to break in, but he wanted to do things the field way rather than rely on his gadgetry as usual. They quibble a bit about Skye's worth as a pretend girlfriend (Fitz would have liked some tongue, I think is what it comes down to) before Skye checks in with Coulson, who informs us that their target is a "Carlo Mancini," a good-looking, 40-something Italian (obvs) dude who's Cybertek's head of security. Simmons assures Coulson that she memorized everything about the mission before digging into her purse and pulling out a large urn. She then closes her eyes, and when Coulson asks her what she's doing, she replies that she's getting into character: "My undercover persona harbors residual resentment to her absent American father. Blames him for not being there when her mom died." Skye? Fitz? That's how you construct a backstory.
Coulson, however, asks if she thinks that's all really necessary, but Simmons replies that the fiasco at The Hub taught her that she stinks at improv, "but I excel at preparation." Love it, and with that, Simmons gets her cue that their mark is headed their way, so she starts lashing out at Coulson without overdoing it about her mother just having wanted to be with him "in our two-story Victorian home in the Cotswolds!" She goes on about his banking job requiring so much travel, and she's attracting attention and Coulson is looking SO uncomfortable for reals before Stan Lee (no joke) interrupts to tell Simmons he's sorry for her loss and to lecture Coulson on doing better in the future. It's hard to begrudge this particular bit of fan service, and at age 91 he at least did better than most people who win walk-on roles in viewer contests. When he's gone, Simmons sees their target coming and takes it up a notch as she stands with the urn in hand and raises her voice even higher about him never making time for the fictional mother but always doing so "for your work…and your prostitutes!" Hee. She then steps out into the aisle and ends up "accidentally" bumping into Mancini and spilling "her mother's ashes" onto the floor, and while Mancini is completely unimpressed and barely breaks stride, the way it's shot emphasizes him stepping in the dirt, which suggests that was the point of the whole exercise.
After thanking Simmons for all that public humiliation, Coulson informs May that Mancini is heading toward her, so May starts following him by way of the infrared-imaging glasses she's wearing. His footprints are showing up in florescent green. The image from May's glasses is also being fed to Fitz and Skye, the former of whom tells her that the package is likely encased in a tungsten polymer that will block her scans, so it'll appear black to her. As she keeps walking, the package appears, and Fitz relays its location to Ward. Back in the passenger area, Simmons and Coulson listen as a female voice announces over the PA that their side of the train is coming into view of the Tre Cime de Lavaredo, and the CGI shot of it is indeed very beautiful. Simmons then chatters some more about their fake history, but things get serious when Coulson realizes their comms have gone down. He goes to investigate, and when he gets to the rearmost car (is the storage near the front that he didn't pass it?), he sees the door hanging ominously open and a lone cup of espresso that seems still to be warm on a table. This is where the package was supposed to be. Ward, dressed as a steward, then comes running in and shouts that they've been made, and with three of the security guys in hot pursuit Coulson and Ward have no choice but to jump for it. Once they've landed safely on the ground, one of the security guys tosses a gadget their way, and when it lands, the train's image seems to fade quickly and disappear. I'm not sure that's entirely consistent with what's revealed to have happened later (it seems like it should just vanish) but the effect looks cool, at least. Also, that's the longest we've ever gone before the title card. There's even an act break!
Back on the train, we revisit what happened to Ward, picking up with him just getting into his steward's uniform (in case further help is needed, the woman is back on the horn pointing out the Tre Cime). He reports that he's got the tracker and is heading to the dining car. But he also notes the loss of communications before a blonde woman appears from behind and asks him in Italian if he'd help her with her heavy suitcase. He tries to put her off, but she insists, and I guess he thinks he'll still have plenty of time otherwise I can't imagine he wouldn't just take off. He lugs the thing into her cabin, unaware that from behind him she's pulled a gun -- or very aware of it, as he swings the case into her and then starts fighting with a dude who appears in the doorway. The woman draws a knife and slashes Ward in the arm (he really does get beat up a fair amount on this show) but he eventually gets the better of both of them, and when he has the woman up against the wall, he hesitates but goes through with decking her. She's an assassin, Ward… no time for chivalry.
He tries to report that Cybertek knew they were coming, but still gets nothing back, so he rushes through the train, clutching his injured arm until he reaches Simmons. He urgently tells her they've been made and gets Coulson's location, after which he tells her to join Fitz and Skye and that none of them should come out until he retrieves them. She complies and rushes off, but in a nearby seat there's Mancini and the two goons, who now chase Ward into the scene we saw before the break. But this time we continue after the train vanishes, with Ward lamenting the fact that he told Simmons he'd return and Coulson assuring him that the rest of them will be okay, as May's there. Interesting that he puts it that way, when May later expresses the opinion that the kids can take care of themselves. Ward nods until he sees something nearby and grimly demurs, and when he retrieves the object, we see it's May's infrared glasses. On the plus side, those are probably worth a pretty penny, so good job on the salvage. Adding to the bad news is the fact that their phones aren't operational, and then Coulson, using a cloth to handle the Cybertek device, says it's not a grenade, exactly, but it might be a cloaking device of some sort, and after they exchange a couple words that I think qualify as a Thor "tie-in," Ward wonders how Cybertek knew they were coming. Coulson thinks it could have been the Clairvoyant, but they don't have time to discuss it further, as they see a few vehicles approaching, so Coulson says they have to get back to the plane, and the two of them rush off. In what looks like an orchard, the two of them come across a beat-up little loading truck, which Ward is surprised to discover is running -- it's been hot wired. He notes that it's obviously suspicious, but Coulson isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so the two of them drive off.
I'm not sure that that thing got them back to the plane much more quickly than their legs would have. But when they re-board there's an urgent message from the Italian guy "Signore Russo" (who I alluded to earlier) who's got a nasty gash above his nose as he tells Coulson that Cybertek knew they were at the station. Coulson says he'll send Russo the plane's coordinates. When he's off, he gives Ward the device and tells him they need to figure out what happened to the train. Cut to Ward in Fitz/Simmons's lab; there's a pretty funny bit where he realizes he has no idea how to activate the holo-table and basically tries waving at it like he's performing a spell or perhaps swimming the breaststroke. But he does eventually figure it out so he can view a hologram of the device, which I guess he's going to send to Big S.H.I.E.L.D. for analysis. Coulson then comes in and says the train has vanished, according to S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite images, before looking at the display before him and admitting that he couldn't even find the "on" button when he tried to access the table. There's an understated but hilarious bit where Ward proudly points to where he found it (I do think Brett Dalton has some comedy chops) before the two of them try to duplicate the way Fitz and Simmons manipulate the holo-images, with decidedly mixed results, before giving it up as a bad job.
Ward then brings up the side missions he's been going on with May, saying he would have preferred to keep that private, but Coulson replies that "it" is happening on his bus between members of his team. Ward stumbles a bit as he counters that "it" has never actually happened on the bus, so Coulson's like fine, you're begging for a lecture so I'll give you one. "What you're doing is against protocol, so if you endanger an operation, or if anyone gets hurt, I'll reassign you to Barrow, Alaska, and you'll spend the rest of your years pulling the night shift guarding Blonsky's cryo-cell." Coulson's obviously already FTW here, but he makes it a shelling by adding that if Ward's relationship with May is really just sex, Ward should get more comfortable using the word. Before the wind can kick up and blow the Ward-shaped pile of dust in front of us away, though, a car pulls up and Russo gets out. He starts up the ramp and says his people found Coulson's team and the train. But then, with a loud crunchy sound effect, a bloodied May buries something in his back, I assume fatally, before gritting to the stunned men, "Wheels up in five." Boys, I'd advise you to strap in first and ask questions later.
When we return, we get a third POV, starting from the same time as the Ward clip. Mancini and his hench thugs are just starting to move (leaving that cup of espresso behind) while from above, May calls to Ward and of course can't get through. She starts to move, but a shot rings out from in front of her. She's been discovered by one of the goons, who's lifted himself high enough between the cars that he has a clear shot at her. With no way to defend herself, she does the only prudent thing -- which, in this case, is to open the mini-parachute that's on her back, eventually landing her nearby in a classic superhero three-point stance. If there's anyone on this show who can pull that off, it's May. After unsuccessfully trying to raise the rest of the team, May sees Coulson and Ward across the tracks, lying prone and unconscious. She rushes to investigate, and from her apparent relief once she takes Coulson's pulse we know she's determined they're alive. But we see telltale purple lines on Coulson's face which suggest the "grenade" contained Dendrotoxin, although there's an oddity. Coulson is lying on his side, appearing to have lost consciousness in the normal way, while Ward is facing the train's direction, eyes open and stock still, as if the grenade immediately froze him in place. I could buy there being a paralytic agent in the grenade along with the Dendrotoxin, but if Coulson's eyes are closed here he'd have to be aware of a temporal gap, right? Maybe his eyes are narrowly open… it's hard to tell with the purple lines around them. Anyway, having no apparent way to revive them, May says she's got to get them to safety; she then rushes into the orchard and finds the truck we saw before. After doing an unsuccessful check for the keys, she triumphantly hot wires the thing, but then Russo appears from behind, gun at the ready, as he calmly intones that they've been looking for her. Well, okay, but how long has she been off the train, fifteen minutes? The statement kind of lacks gravitas with that time frame. And then I feel kind of bad, because I'm the one making the sarcastic comment and May's the one who gets belted in the face with the gun.
After an establishing shot of a large estate out in a country barn, May is brought to by that always-lovely device of getting a bucket of cold water thrown in her face, whereupon she discovers that her hands are tied and suspended from a rafter above. As she gasps in an effort to calm her breathing, Russo explains that he works to ensure Cybertek products move across Italy without incident in exchange for significant monetary compensation, and they can do the same for May: if she'll tell him where Coulson and Ward are. Er, like ten feet from where you found her? Again, this isn't quite hanging together for me. If the Italian guys knew to look for May that would suggest the Cybertek guys told them she'd chuted off the train. But if that line of communication were open (I'm assuming their jamming of the S.H.I.E.L.D. comms didn't compromise their own), the Cybertek guys also would have been able to communicate Coulson and Ward's location, given that they obviously weren't going anywhere. It has the virtue of going by quickly enough that the logical issues aren't glaring, but a better show (or one with more a less punishing timetable generally, as the writing and production schedule here must be insane given how much legal must be involved alone) wouldn't allow them into the script in the first place. On top of that, even if they didn't know Coulson and Ward were nearby, it was likely a straight shot from the train tracks where May left them to the hotwired car, right? How hard did they look?
Anyway, May sneers at Russo calling her "sweetheart," so he's like fine, have it your way and stabs her with a small knife in the shoulder. However, May -- looking pretty awesomely psychotic -- grits and grins that that's just what she needed. When Russo turns to be all, "What's with Crazy here?" to his men, May climbs up the rope suspending her and releases it from the rafter before yanking the blade out of her shoulder and quickly reducing the local hired goon population to zero. Russo, however -- despite suffering that gash on his face we saw earlier/later -- shows why he's the boss by already having gotten the hell out of there, and when May hears his car engine she takes off in hot pursuit. When we cut to the plane, we basically see the same thing as last time. Except now, we get a rear angle that shows that Russo is holding a gun behind him, and May doesn't hesitate to throw the knife taken from her shoulder into his back, killing him. Coulson is like, "We're not going anywhere until you explain yourself, missy." Well, actually, he's more like "Miss May, would you please let me in on what's happening here." So May gives him the short version that Russo sold them out. Ward wants to stitch May up (he should talk) but she tells him just to get the plane ready so she can take a shower. She just had one!
Despite what she said, May is stitching herself up -- given what's coming, it's an obvious nod to her wanting to keep some intimacy lines with Ward clearly drawn, but it does seem a lot harder this way. When Coulson comes into the lab and mildly suggests he help. As he works, he tells her Big S.H.I.E.L.D. found the train; they lost it because it had switched tracks, but…this is satellite imaging, right? How far could it have gone and more importantly how dumb are you, Big S.H.I.E.L.D.? The air is thick with Coulson's worry that the kids are on their own, but May assures him they can handle themselves. She then thanks him for the TLC, and the way they interact in silence says more about the depth of their relationship that any words could, which is why Ward looks very stung when he enters and observes the tableau in front of him. After a pause, though, he steps forward and announces that they need to reroute, as Big S.H.I.E.L.D. reports that the plane has stopped in the middle of the countryside. He heads off to set the new coordinates, adding that touchdown will be in ten minutes, and when May offers to come help, he brusquely says he's got it. Coulson at least has the good grace not to look at May all I told you so, but it seems like she takes that message regardless.
The train has indeed stopped, and Ward ascertains from an Italian man on the scene that the halt happened fifteen minutes earlier without explanation. Coulson wonders if there's any sign of the kids, but the answer's no. So with weapons drawn, they search the luggage car… and find Fitz and Skye's equipment riddled with bullet holes. Happily, though, Simmons pops up from behind some luggage and shoots off a couple rounds with the night-night gun, which miss the older agents as Coulson tells her to stop. The bad news is her first question: "Where are Fitz and Skye?" If they're working on her Scottish accent, I'll approve on humanitarian reasons alone.
One more time! The woman makes the announcement as Fitz laments the fact that they're on the wrong side of the train to see the sight. Skye brings up 0-8-4s oh, you know, for no reason and Fitz tells her they can be a wide variety of things -- weapons, spacecraft, energy sources -- but the one commonality is that they're dangerous. Skye's like, "Greeeeeat," but Fitz misinterprets her reaction as fear of what the package might be, so he reassures her that they'll take care of it. Skye, however, isn't quite ready to let it go and asks if he's ever heard of an 0-8-4 being a person, but Fitz hasn't, although he does allow that it's possible. "Hate to meet the guy." Skye puts on her best "Oh yeah me neither, excuse me while I SOB" face. But at this point they notice all their electronics, not just their comms, are down, and they start to say how they need to warn the team. But a Cybertek guy appears in the doorway and starts shooting up the place.
Fitz tries to zap him from around a corner with the night-night gun but misses, so Skye and then Fitz try some hand-to-hand with rather mixed results. Still, Skye ends up having a clear shot at the guy (with, I think his real gun, not the night-night gun, which might explain her not pulling the trigger immediately), so in response he draws one of the Dendrotoxin grenades and holds it threateningly above his head. At which point, Simmons comes rushing in with the news that they've been made. Thinking quickly once she takes in the situation, she grabs the guy and sandwiches the grenade between her body and his, limiting its effect to their tiny area when it goes off, and the two of them fall to the deck. After Skye confirms that Simmons is okay (although I can't imagine her pulse is normal, now that I think of it) Fitz realizes that the Cybertek guys have an airborne version of the Dendrotoxin. They decide to cover Simmons up and leave her a spare night-night gun should she need it, and then we cut ahead to Fitz sticking the guy in a crate and plugging him with two more rounds from his own night-night gun as the train stops and Skye reports that their older team members are gone. Fitz asks what about Cybertek, but they're gone, too. As the ensuing cut shows, they're moving the package to a transport outside. Realizing it's up to them, Skye asks Fitz if he has an extra tracker, and when he answers in the affirmative, she tells him, "Then we follow them." Okay, but they're driving and you're on foot. Shake it, lady!
Well, I don't suppose it was very far, given that Fitz and Skye arrive on foot at what looks suspiciously like the estate in which May got stabby with the Italians just as a car pulls up that deposits Quinn. Skye tells Fitz to activate the tracker, but he deduces from her manner that she wants to go in. She confirms that, saying Coulson wouldn't let Quinn get away, and he wouldn't want them to either. Fitz is convinced, so they decide that Fitz will disable the escape vehicles while Skye infiltrates the building with the night-night gun. Without overplaying the emotions, they tell each other to be careful and then split off, and Skye soon takes down a security guy, although she needs two shots to do it.
Elsewhere, a guard hears a noise and takes a look around, but he doesn't think to check under the cars, and when he's gone, Fitz quietly gets to work. Inside, from around a corner, Skye hears a woman (I think it's the same one who tried to kill Ward on the train) telling a lackey to find Quinn (they…let him roam loose? Nice security) and tell him his package is downstairs, so when they're gone, she heads to said downstairs to investigate. I have to say I'm not clear on the plan. Even if she incapacitates Quinn, it'd take her a while to drag him out of there even un-accosted, which she obviously wouldn't be. Maybe she thinks knocking him out until her friends arrive (and that's assuming they're in a position to come) is a worthwhile idea, but it seems inordinately risky to me and could merely wake her enemies up to the presence of danger. But I suppose there is a significant recon aspect to this play, as she sees not only the (unattended, which seems preposterous except this whole thing is a trap) package on the table, but Mike Peterson lying in some kind of medical tank. With her attention on him, she's taken easily when Quinn and Mancini quietly enter, and we quickly learn that (a) the Clairvoyant told Quinn to expect her, (b) at some point he gave one of Fitz/Simmons's night-night guns to Cybertek, which explains their mimicry/advancement of the Dendrotoxin weapon, and (c) according to Mancini, that "this is the same girl as the specs you gave us." I don't know what THAT means but I hope we're not looking at a Skyebot a la Warren on Buffy.
Quinn opens up the tank and slides Peterson out on an attached gurney, where he groggily comes to. Skye, in horror, sees the extent of his injuries (after assimilating the fact that he's not actually dead). Quinn mildly recalls that the two of them know each other before ascertaining that Peterson knows who he is and that he has his orders, and as Skye gets freaked that Peterson seemingly won't acknowledge her. Quinn retrieves the contents of the package -- a cybernetic attachment that fits over the stump of its leg. Once it's on, Mancini has Peterson stand and then activates the device, which seems painfully to dig into Peterson's flesh and then build on itself until it's a completely functioning leg made of metal and glowing light panels. Quinn thanks and dismisses Mancini, saying he'll get his payment soon like EXCUSE ME WHAT NOW (on top of that being insane from Cybertek's POV, I thought the payment was the smoking gun Skye found). With Mancini gone, Quinn gets a little playful and tells Peterson he knows he can't hurt him since he gets his orders from the Clairvoyant…and he draws a gun.
"What if I tried to hurt you? Would you stop me?" Peterson speaks for the first time as he clearly intones that he would not. Then Skye tries talking to Peterson and telling him they have to get out of there like WAKE UP, GIRL. Everyone on planet Earth and the surrounding areas except, apparently, Skye knows what's coming , and I don't mind that it's telegraphed because it adds to the menace but Skye is just completely effing clueless here. But anyway, Quinn puts the gun in Peterson's hand and wonders if he'd kill Skye, as he can't think of anything that would hurt Coulson more than losing "his pet project." However, Peterson tells him those aren't his orders. "She's not who I'm supposed to kill." Certainly, the question of who he is supposed to kill hangs in the air, but we don't get to dwell on that as he leaves, and Skye tries to chase after him but then COMES BACK AND ASKS QUINN WHAT HE DID TO PETERSON. I never thought she was the brightest but her danger sense sure needs some work. You're in mortal danger, this isn't a chat! Possibly just to shut her up, Quinn plugs her in the gut. She's stunned but doesn't fall (interesting) so he pulls her into an embrace in a creepily soothing way tells her to shush before shooting her again from point-blank range. This time, he lowers her to the floor and grimly apologizes. "I have my orders too." I mean, I'd like to know what he's talking about as well, but I'd ask from a safe distance. Still, he could have killed her. Did he think leaving her to bleed out would be more painful for Coulson, and is that a good enough reason not to have shot her in the head? He leaves Skye to convulse and gasp, and although I'm not one of them I know a lot of people whose hopes I can feel going up. (I don't mind her. As I've said before, I at least like the actress, and I feel like they write a lot of her stuff badly but not her relationship with Coulson, which is the most important part. Still, is she ever a divisive character.)
With blood everywhere and her vision going blurry, Skye tries to call for help. When she can't really manage that she starts dragging herself to the door, and I'd call bullshit on this if not for the possibility that her 0-8-4-ness is in play.
Upstairs, instead of Quinn, Peterson meets with the Cybertek people and tells them there's no money. I guess I don't understand criminal business models, because I'd think purchase of this extremely valuable item plus a significant out-of-pocket security outlay from the company would at least have required a deposit. The woman starts to pipe up about a misunderstanding, but Peterson grabs her by the throat, and with everyone else's guns trained on him, he tells her the Clairvoyant isn't happy that they led S.H.I.E.L.D. right to them, like I thought that was Russo's team? Whatever, this whole part is a mess, so let's move on to Fitz, who hears a big commotion inside and wonders about Skye. He runs out from under another of the cars and almost gets plugged by that same sentry, but Ward shoots his weapon away just in time. When Coulson hears that Skye is inside, he and Ward move, while Skye manages to get the door open and croak out a couple cries for help.
Upstairs, when Quinn hears that his team's driver isn't answering, he realizes S.H.I.E.L.D. is upon them, but it's too late to do anything. Ward busts in and night-night double-fists everyone in his vicinity, after which Coulson appears and claps a gun to Quinn's temple. Peterson, for his part, finishes taking out the Cybertek team (I know he has super-strength, but is he actually bulletproof?) and he gets a scrolled-text order not to engage S.H.I.E.L.D. He closes his eyes, probably pretty un-psyched at what he's been forced to do. Back in the entrance area, Coulson sees blood on Quinn's hand and sticks his gun into Quinn's neck as he asks where Skye is, but Quinn only taunts him that it's dangerous to keep sending her on solo missions "when she means so much to you." Coulson backhands him across the face before telling everyone to search the house. But soon after, he's the one that finds Skye, looking ashen and now having lost consciousness. He desperately calls for Simmons as he cradles her in his arms and tells her to hold on, and the team quickly appears, but there's no pulse and Simmons despairs that she's lost too much blood. Until she sees the pod that contained Peterson, IDs it as a hyperbaric chamber, and firmly tells everyone to put her in there now. As they seal her in, Simmons tells Fitz they need to get her temperature down, so Fitz fiddles with the necessary controls to comply. May desperately (for her) asks if it's working, and then Coulson repeats the question with considerably more volume, but eventually, Skye draws a breath. Simmons, however, warns them that this is only a solution "for now," which I guess means she'd better get comfortable.
And indeed, when we cut to the plane sometime later, we see Quinn in the interrogation room before it's revealed that they brought the whole chamber onto the plane (I guess it had a portable power source for easy transference). With everyone standing around in a silent vigil, Simmons tells Coulson that more than a few hours of exposure to this temperature could result in Skye suffering permanent brain damage, so they need to get her to a medical facility in that time. In the meantime, she'll do everything she can to keep her alive. It does seem like things could be worse -- for example, they could be over the Atlantic with no way to reach a facility in time -- but it's still upsetting, no more so than when Simmons, who delivered her diagnosis with clinical detachment, steps away to get some supplies and breaks down crying when Fitz follows. Not that anyone's having fun with this, but the kids share a generational bond and also aren't so jaded as the others. However, in the hangar, Ward practically breaks his hand punching a vehicle in frustration. May joins him and firmly tells him it's not his fault (I assume his specific issue is CO guilt) and clasps her hand into his. He looks like he appreciates the gesture but still says she shouldn't have gone in alone, and when May reiterates that he shouldn't blame himself, he bitterly replies, "I'm not blaming myself." May looks taken aback but also like she maybe thinks he has a point as she realizes, going back to his point about the dangers of making missions personal. He's talking about Coulson (I don't know if he spoke to Fitz, but he at least knows how hard she was working for Coulson on this mission) and Coulson looks like Ward isn't the only one blaming him before we finish on a shot of Skye.
Well, we probably should have finished on a shot of Skye, but instead we're with Peterson, who from the cover of some trees is staking out a playground that seems connected to a school. He writes on a pad "Can I please see my son?" but the Clairvoyant is unimpressed with his deference and comes back with "Not yet." Well, it'll give you more time to figure out an explanation for that leg, I guess. Peterson crumples the paper in frustration, and from that angle we zero in on a tag on his leg with the Cybertek name and the project: Deathlok. The show's off from new episodes for another two weeks for the Olympics, but when we return BILL PAXTON guest stars as the team races to save Skye's life.
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.