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So as we remember despite the fact that the show last aired a new episode in the Mesozoic Age, Skye's life is hanging in the balance. The team gets her to a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility, but when the news comes that Skye, due to irreparable damage to her intestines, is going to die, May beats Quinn to a pulp until Coulson stops her – he wants to get the doctors who brought him back from the dead to do the same for his surrogate daughter. To that end, as they head to Bethesda, where his own treatment allegedly happened, he defies an order to bring Quinn to the Fridge and bucks clearance protocol by letting the rest of the team in on the truth about what happened to him after the Loki attack.
This results in them being boarded by Agent BILL PAXTON, who's also been after Quinn for ages. Coulson, however, uses his shared history with Agent Bill Paxton – who by the way was also Ward's CO back in the day -- to convince him to interrogate Quinn aboard the plane as they head to Bethesda, especially since Agent Bill Paxton also wants Skye alive for any Quinn-related information she might have. Agent Bill Paxton then interrogates Quinn about the Deathlok program, but the first thing Quinn gives up of note is that the Clairvoyant told him to shoot Skye – and he's been guiding Quinn to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s detriment for quite some time. However, Quinn goes on that the Clairvoyant still can't see what happened to Coulson – so he had Quinn shoot Skye in the hope that Coulson would do the very thing he's doing in trying to save her.
Fitz/Simmons wonder about the ethics of using the horrible Coulson treatments on Skye, but they soon have bigger problems, as it turns out the doctors listed in the file as having treated Coulson don't exist as listed, and Streiten, the only one they actually know about, has vanished. The team has a little confab in which they present the difficulties to Coulson: Even Fitz/Simmons don't understand everything in the files; they don't know where the treatments actually happened; and possibly most importantly, they're not sure they should put Skye through the same pain Coulson endured. Coulson, however, won't be deterred, so Fitz uses Technology to access a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. records, and before you know it, they're at the "Guest House," which apparently holds a wonder drug they're looking for. Once inside, they get into a little firefight, after which they learn the place is rigged to self-destruct, so while Agent Bill Paxton looks for a way to get them out, Coulson and Fitz locate the treatment. Coulson lingers, however, to try to get some answers, so Agent Bill Paxton goes back for him while Fitz and Ward deliver the drug. Seeming almost in a trance, Coulson desperately tells Agent Bill Paxton that they can't give Skye the drug, but when they escape the Guest House just ahead of it exploding, they find it's too late – Simmons has already injected a just-about-dead Skye with it. She has a severe initial reaction but stabilizes, and it doesn't seem like Coulson remembers what he said down below, so Agent Bill Paxton happily hauls Quinn off to the Fridge.
But in the end, although he doesn't reveal it to May, we learn why Coulson didn't want the drug to be used on Skye; it wasn't out of concern for her, but because of his discovery that it was being drawn, it seems, from a captive blue-skinned alien in a medical tank missing the bottom half of its body, and I don't know if there's a clear indication from the Marvel mythology of what the creature is, or was, but the question could certainly take us to some interesting places. Also, in Death Valley, the redheaded Asgardian woman named Lorelei shows up talking about Midgard, and even if the previouslies hadn't confirmed it this could only mean the casting spoiler I've been most psyched about is coming week.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!In what will soon be revealed to be Zurich, the team has gotten Skye to a S.H.I.E.L.D. trauma unit within two hours of her taking Quinn's bullets, and after a quick and standard montage of her intake and prep, we cut to a waiting room, in which the rest of the team waits nervously and silently as Coulson tries and fails to get Fury on the phone. Fitz then berates himself for not stopping Skye going in after Quinn, but Simmons won't hear such talk, and Ward adds that it wasn't his fault; he takes the blame as her SO, but the pointed look he gives to Coulson's back suggests his actual assessment of responsibility. May, however, sensibly and firmly pipes up that the one to blame is Quinn -- the one who actually pulled the trigger -- and then Coulson fairly lividly gets off the phone and stomps out. I thought the other guy's name was Fury!
Sometime later, everyone is doing waiting room things like drinking coffee and trying not to fall asleep when a doctor emerges and grimly announces that the bullets perforated Skye's stomach penetrated both her intestines. And, as May and Ward both look severely stricken, she concludes that there's no hope and that they need to call Skye's family. Coulson desperately replies that they are her family, but there's no relief coming: "In that case, I'm very sorry." Everyone slowly sits back down, distraught – save May, who marches into the plane's interrogation room on a tidal wave of rage and beats the smug right off Quinn's face (while, by the way, he's still cuffed to the desk) until Coulson calls her off and into his office. May agitatedly seethes that Quinn, not Skye, deserves to die, and Coulson hardly disagrees but tells her right now he needs her to pilot the plane. May reminds him that the doctor can't do anything, but Coulson's like, "True, that's why we're going to hit up the doctors who saved me." I'd remind him that he begged them to let him die for like days on end, but if I remember right other people are going to do a good enough job for me.
After a huge forklift loads Skye's entire medical cube onto the plane, Ward reports that Big S.H.I.E.L.D. has ordered them to hand over Quinn and transport to the Fridge. Coulson, however, is like, denied on both counts, so Ward asks him if he's sure about taking Skye all the way to Bethesda. It's an oddly phrased question (if it's the only place to treat her, who cares how far away it is) but I suppose Ward could be getting at the idea that Skye might die on the way and then Coulson's defiance of his orders would be for nothing. Doesn't seem likely, though. It's probably just to set Coulson up to tell us that his file says he was treated in Bethesda. Ward starts to say that he knows S.H.I.E.L.D. saved him there, but Coulson cuts him off: "They did a lot more than save me. It's time you know the truth." Indeed!
Apparently Coulson has also decided to let Fitz and Simmons in on the joke, and when Simmons says what happened is "medically impossible," Coulson doesn't reply with Inigo Montoya's obvious comeback from The Princess Bride, but I kind of wish he would. He does, however, explain that in addition to the obvious point of his being alive, he's got a file detailing all the treatments given him and the doctors who did so. Seeing the "Priority Level 10" clearly emblazoned on the loose leaf, Fitz tentatively points out it's against the law for them to read it, but Coulson's breaking rules right and left and he's not going to stop now, so he orders them to dive into it, and Simmons practically complies before he even finishes the sentence. Coulson goes on that a lot of what's in the report is Greek to him, so he needs them at their nerdiest to translate, and they should feel free to chat up Streiten should they get stuck. Fitz asks about Tahiti, and Coulson replies, "Turns out? Not so magical." At least he can laugh about it now! Simmons then notes that the report says Coulson's heart was perforated, and Coulson is like, "Yeah." And yet they repaired the damaged tissue completely. Getting the message, Fitz and Simmons start working on some answers, while on the monitor, Skye's unconscious form reminds them how little time they have.
In the cockpit, after Ward asks about May's Quinn-beating hand and she tells him it's fine, Ward announces that Coulson let him in on the secret of how long he was dead. He notes that she must already have known that before musing about Skye lying there with machines keeping her body alive. "I'm not sure I'd make this play. Fly halfway around the world hoping for a second miracle." His statement would have some weight if it were clear what he thinks Coulson is risking by doing this. What are the stakes? Rather than point this out, though, May replies that Coulson would take a one-in-a-million chance to save not just Skye but any of them. "People like us, we need people like him."
Okay, yes, Coulson's the hopeful antidote to your cynicism, and I understand that this is setting up Coulson's change of heart about saving Skye. But again, why wouldn't Ward go to save Skye if he were in Coulson's position? It can't just be that the odds of success suck, and if the perceived cost is that he thinks Big S.H.I.E.L.D. will come after them, he should say so instead of emphasizing the travel distance if he's actually trying to make an argument. It's such an easy fix, no? Instead of answering me, Ward admits he liked seeing May go after Quinn. "You don't open the blinds like that very often." Interesting turn of phrase given their relationship, but no time to discuss that now, as a S.H.I.E.L.D. voice informs them they're in breach of a direct order. Through the windshield, we see two planes out front, one on each side of them, and when May asks for orders, she's told to prepare to be boarded and relinquish command. I'm a little surprised May doesn't reply that she's not actually in command, thank you, but even in the mood she's in she probably realizes that won't help.
When we return, we see that there are three planes in the air around Coulson's – two of them are fighters making sure they submit to handing Quinn over, while the third is a small transport that's the one actually docking and dislodging AGENT BILL PAXTON. (Okay, that's the last time, but he's great!) Coulson greets him as "Garrett," asking what he's doing there, and (John) Garrett replies that he still follows orders, "as opposed to the Level Eight jackass I'm staring at." Hee. Coulson scoffs that Garrett never met an order he couldn't disobey, but even though this exchange is all delivered with a bantering undertone, the paper Garrett produces is the official order to hand Quinn over and is real enough. They're then joined by an "Agent Antoine Triplett," and as introductions are made we learn that "Trip" is Garrett's specialist – and was Ward's replacement. Coulson, you poached Ward from Garrett? You really did play up that having-been-dead thing for all it was worth. Garrett tells Trip to go secure Quinn, and when he's gone, Coulson has Garrett step into his office and asks why he's really there. He adds that S.H.I.E.L.D. could have sent anyone – before realizing mid-sentence that Garrett must have been after Quinn too. Garrett confirms that he's been chasing Quinn since Malta, "and yesterday your little Italian job cost my team weeks of work." Okay, not that they'll accept it, but I think you have to lay the blame at Big S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doorstep there, Garrett. They should coordinate these things! Coulson tells Garrett that he can't have Quinn yet since he shot one of his team, and when Garrett hears what happened – astutely noting that actually pulling the trigger isn't Quinn's usual MO along the way – he sighs that he's lost three of his own men chasing Quinn. Coulson's like, then you understand, and Garrett replies, "because if she doesn't make it," and his trailing off and Coulson's nod suggest, in that eventuality, far more ominous things in Quinn's future than mere repeated face-punches from May. Still, though: Is all this worth the time they're taking to chat instead of focusing on the task at hand?
Trip and Ward, who also seem to have a bit of an adversarial mutual admiration society, run into each other, and Trip, referring to the plane, asks how Coulson swung such a sweet ride. Ward: "He died." Trip: "That's tight." Hee. He then asks where they're icing Quinn, but Ward won't give him up until Coulson says otherwise, and the friendly meeting quickly devolves into extremely professional blows, with Ward coming out on top thanks to a jumping punch until Coulson calls him off. Aw, no fun, it was turning into a Buffy/Faith fight! The news, however, is good. Coulson convinced Garrett to convince Big S.H.I.E.L.D. that he could effectively stay on board and interrogate Quinn as the plane continues to Bethesda. Garrett then greets Ward as "son" as Trip stews with jealousy toward Dad's favorite before Garrett goes on that saving Skye is top priority. "And she might know something." Wait, there's another reason?
Simmons is blown away that she hasn't heard of half the drugs Coulson got as part of his treatment, such as "GH-325," nor can she believe the neural microsurgery to implant the Tahiti memories. "It all sounds so diabolical." Well, in case you're wondering, Simmons, it didn't look any less so. Fitz points out that he's alive, but Simmons, having apparently read transcripts in the report, counters that Coulson begged the doctors to let him die. I'm not passing judgment either way, but if she's looking for an argument, he may not have been in a position to be entirely objective about that request. For his part, Fitz points out that while Coulson was dead, Skye is still alive, so the two situations don't compare, and then Simmons gets a call she thinks will be Streiten – but her face falls when the other person talks: "That can't be." Well, she didn't actually say "impossible" this time, but she's still using it wrong!
Seeing Quinn's bloody and mangled face (the makeup department really went to town and I like it) Garrett jauntily announces that he thought he was going to be the bad cop before…well, being the bad cop, grabbing Quinn by his smug tongue and threatening to tear it out if he doesn't answer his questions. When that's pleasantly settled, Garrett asks Quinn about Cybertek and Deathlok, asides to Coulson that the latter name "sounds like some wrestler from the eighties." Sure, now that I think of it. Quinn replies that these are dangerous waters, as evidenced by Skye's current condition, and the mention of his surrogate daughter causes Coulson to fly at Quinn, only to be restrained by Garrett, who then hilariously pops Quinn in the face. Quinn notes the salient point that Skye is still alive, and when asked why he shot her, he confesses that the Clairvoyant demanded it. We kind of already knew that, but just for the look on Coulson's face: DUN!
In the lab, Simmons tells May that Streiten has done something absolutely meaningless, or "gone off the grid" as she puts it – but far more disquieting is that all the references to Bethesda in the file have turned out to be a complete fabrication, and none of the doctors who treated Coulson are anywhere to be found. Meanwhile, Coulson speculates that the Clairvoyant must have something terrible on Quinn for him to shoot an unarmed girl, and Quinn regards him evenly: "Let's just say I learned the hard way that obeying was in my best interest." Garrett gloats that still, Quinn's in their custody, but Quinn takes things up a notch by assuring Garrett that it wasn't luck that he found "your [presumably dead] partner's black sedan in Berlin. Or that he'd open the door for a redhead. Or those two agents in Morocco." Garrett inhales sharply as Quinn goes on that the Clairvoyant guided his people to all those kills, and that he sees everything. Except, gesturing to Coulson, "what happened to him." Garrett isn't in on the secret, so Coulson explains about having been dead for days, and now the puzzle is solved. The Clairvoyant had Quinn shoot Skye in order to force Coulson to heal her in the same way he was healed himself. Garrett catches up as he points out the problem -- that Coulson doesn't know how he was saved -- "so shooting the girl forces you to either figure it all out, or you let the girl die." Now THOSE are some stakes clearly defined!
May tells Coulson about the doctors being seemingly nonexistent, but Coulson wonders if maybe they're just someplace else. "This is S.H.I.E.L.D. There are always secrets." Simmons is like, "That's the problem: your file is full of crap even Fitz and I don't understand, and that's not even addressing the question of whether we should attempt to replicate your treatment." Coulson assures them he's not suggesting putting Skye through everything he suffered, but if there's anything that can save her, they need to find it and figure it out. Simmons tells him "Okay," but gives a look May's way before leaving, and Coulson takes it that May disagrees. May says she's on board with saving Skye, but they need to be prepared for the fact that doing so may give the Clairvoyant exactly what he wants. Of course, it's harder to get so worried about this possibility when none of us have any idea what that is, so I can't really blame Coulson for saying it's a risk they have to take. Back in the lab, Simmons tells Fitz that she doesn't know what to do for Skye but brings up that drug GH-325 again as something that looks interesting. It apparently caused Coulson's heart cells to regenerate. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to find it, but Fitz thinks he can help with that. Cut to Simmons happily noting that he's set up "the echo chamber," and pointing to a holographic projection he's caused to appear, he explains that he has a friend who works at the "Triskelion" who granted him access, and inside that little virtual image is the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s historical administrative data including travel arrangements and interoffice memos they should be able to use to track Coulson's treatment even if it didn't take place at a known S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. I don't know… it seems to me that if it requires Level 10 clearance to access the medical files, it should require Level 10 clearance to find out of the doctors involved flew first class or not. But sure, let the kids have their fun, I guess.
Not currently having fun is Coulson, especially since he won't take his eyes off Skye's image on the monitor. But his mood will brighten when he hears that Fitz and Simmons have found something promising: the "Guest House," a heavily fortified former World War II bunker built into a mountain. Fitz realizes that the "GH" starting the drug's name probably stands for this place. They soon also learn that the file in question has only ever been opened by Fury, and it's pretty funny how much more casual they are about Level 10 clearance now that they've penetrated its mystique. The last thing they do to complete their good work is figure out how to manipulate the holographic display to show them the shape of the mountain they're looking for, and then a nice effect fades the virtual image into the real one before the plane touches down beside it. Coulson warns the team to be prepared for anything, especially since there's been no response to their hails from within. Everyone is apparently going in except Simmons, who's prepping Skye to be moved into the Guest House, if necessary. Trip, who with his med-tech training will remain to assist her if needed, and I'm sure he's thrilled about having to stick around with the science nerd and the almost-dead girl when Ward's off impressing his former boss with his sabotage techniques or whatever. Coulson reminds everyone that they want the doctors alive to treat Skye, but he goes on that Fitz will need to determine what they can haul out of there to help Skye if the operation goes bad. They head out, but apparently May's staying behind too, possibly to have the plane ready if need be? Again, just because the need does arise doesn't mean I follow her reasoning her. They don't think they're going to need another ass-kicker? Are they really anticipating an explosive mountain?
When Coulson, Fitz, Ward, and Garrett reach the main entrance, two guys inside are alerted, and as they're not expecting anyone, they try their visitor protocol, which is to ask, "How was the drive from Istanbul?" No one knows the countersign, and given that it looks like they might be on an island I'd at least give "wet" a try, but Coulson instead tries to explain who he is and what they're doing there. Only to get the question repeated two more times, so they shoot out the camera and hack their way in, which is probably the way they wanted to do it anyway. The two dudes inside prepare to attack with what look like semiautomatic weapons, which maybe seems like an overreaction for people who couldn't answer a stupid question. I mean, even the Sphinx gave you a logical chance to avoid her ripping you to shreds.
Inside, the team takes the precaution of riding in on top of an elevator car rather than inside, which gives them the chance to check out what's ahead via a camera they left in the car. Seeing an antechamber and a set of glass doors leading to a darkened room but no visible adversaries, they climb down and move forward, but Fitz gets the bad news that their comms are down. There's too much mountain between them and the outside. Garrett tells him this way the people on the plane won't hear the horrible death they're walking into, and the answering look on Fitz's face suggests he's from a part of Scotland that doesn't yet have gallows humor. He does, however, note a stairwell back to the surface before going to work on the glass, and he even, when Coulson asks if he can get them inside, replies, "To certain horrible death? Absolutely." Well, we knew he was a quick study.
Fitz gets the door open, but no sooner have the four of them entered and taken up positions behind cover than do the weapons start firing, and they have no choice but to wait for a pause in the hail of bullets. When it comes, Coulson blabbers on about medical assistance and how they will defend themselves, and the guards give a little editorial commentary on that boring speech by cutting him off with machine-gun noise again, so Ward and Garrett use a set play to get closer, while Coulson grabs "one of those little flash things" from Fitz and warns Ward as he tosses it into the fray. It lets loose a blinding light, as is its wont, and the diversion allows Ward to drop one of the dudes; not to be upstaged, Garrett somersaults forward and avoids the other guy's shots enough to gut-shoot him at point-blank range. However, he does not follow up with "There's your countersign, bitch!" which makes me realize how full of wasted opportunities this episode really is. The fun's not over, though, as it turns out the guy Ward shot was only wounded, so he and Coulson follow the crimson trail, and eventually find the guy around a couple of corners, bleeding out. Coulson grabs the guy's keys and tells him they'll get him help before asking where the doctors are, but the guy groggily informs him the med staff doesn't stay there. Coulson urgently tells him he needs GH-325, and it might help the dude too, but the guy just narrows his eyes in confusion: "Do I…know you?" Coulson admits that it's possible he's been there before, so the guy, losing steam rapidly, guesses he knows about "the timer", and that's when Garrett voice rings out that they've got a problem. When Coulson turns back to the guard, he's lost consciousness, which is just as well because I don't think they're going to be in a position to carry him.
When Coulson returns, Garrett points out all the explosives on the wall, and the upshot is that the whole mountain is going to come down in less than ten minutes; not only that, the same failsafe has locked them in the room. Coulson orders Ward and Garrett, more expert in escape artistry than he or Fitz, to find them a way out while he and Fitz locate the drug. Back on the plane, Simmons and Trip bond over how a person you haven't known for long and with whom you have nothing in common can take you by surprise, but the sentiment doesn't last as May appears and says she'll be going after the team if she doesn't hear something soon, after which Skye starts seizing, which I don't think can be great for her insides. Simmons rushes in and starts CPR as Trip administers epinephrine, while inside, Coulson enters an observatory and sees the operating room where the nightmarish treatments happened, as well as a bit of said treatments in flashback. Ward and Garrett realize the detonator isn't in the room, so they decide to use some of the explosives on the doors to get them out. Coulson leads the way into a room marked "Biohazard Containment," and given how squeamish Fitz often is he's kind of a champ for not flinching too much, although he does note they should put protective suits on before entering, and Coulson agrees but points out that there's no time, so in they go. After a search of decent but not interminable length, they find what they're looking for right as Ward appears and tells them they've got to go. Fitz rushes off to get the drug to Simmons, but Coulson's eyes are on something else now, and even though Ward tries to get him to come on, Coulson sends him away, saying he'll follow. When Ward is gone, Coulson removes an obstructing case to reveal what he already saw: a door marked "T.A.H.I.T.I." So the acronym is actually meaningful this time. Excellent, even if I don't have the energy to guess what it stands for. After a moment, he heads into the room, and Coulson, I realize you're dealing with some stuff but I'd postpone any more dramatic pauses until you're safely out of the mountain.
With three minutes left, Garrett is telling Fitz about the art of setting off explosives, which again I'm not begrudging on general principles but maybe could wait until the seconds are less precious? Given that Garrett warned of the possibility of them all being blown to kingdom come, the actual explosion is decidedly anticlimactic but does have the virtue of getting the doors open enough for Fitz to slip out and run the drug up. Ward and Garrett then realize Coulson still isn't with them, so Garrett orders Ward to go with Fitz and "save the girl" while he goes back for Coulson. No pausing! On the plane, Simmons is doing some hand-wringing about whether she should be saving Skye at this point, and it's a little late for that and also I'm pretty sure we get it, so thankfully any more such talk is cut off by Fitz's voice coming to life on the comm and then Skye seizing, again. Downstairs, Coulson is stumbling around like a zombie, now seeming to have forgotten about the imminence of the mountain's demise, when Garrett grabs him and tells him the team already took the drug up to Skye.
This snaps Coulson out of his haze, and he urgently tells Garrett they can't give it to her, but Garrett's like, sure, crazy, let's get up there and you can tell them yourself. Fitz turns up with the drug, but Simmons isn't sure how much to administer or even where to inject it, while Ward tells May to get the plane off the ground before it's too late. He probably knows that if Coulson and Garrett don't get there before they lift off, they're not coming, but luckily, they run up the ramp into the cargo bay just in time. Coulson then rushes upstairs and barks for Simmons not to give Skye the drug, but the hypo is already been depressed, so all everyone can do is look at the vitals monitor. Soon, Skye starts seizing again as her heart rate spikes to almost 200. For an episode in which she doesn't talk, Chloe Bennet is earning her paycheck. Everyone watches helplessly as Skye continues to convulse, and then she finally falls back on the pillow. But instead of flat lining, her heartbeat stabilizes. Everyone's cautiously happy, and Trip tells Simmons she's "a real miracle worker" (and he's been on her jock pretty hard, so I'm wondering if this is going somewhere), but Coulson looks he just went through six days of brain surgery all over again. May notices, and when Coulson trudges out of the room, she worriedly asks Garrett if something happened down there. Garrett is forced to admit that Coulson was acting like he'd seen a ghost, and given what he's been through, that sounds best-case to me.
Sometime later, Garrett, accompanied by Trip, goes back in to see Quinn, who I bet has had a few questions about what's been going on, although maybe the Clairvoyant gave him what commentary he could. Garrett gives him the bad news first. The Clairvoyant "was a no-show" (huh? Who said anything about him showing up in person?) and Skye's going to be fine. "This Clairvoyant played you, and left you to rot." Well, it's not the worst fate that's befallen one of his minions. On the plus side, I guess the charge against Quinn will only be attempted murder? Soon after, Trip leads Quinn away, but Coulson stops Garrett to thank him for letting them keep Quinn on the plane, and Garrett tells him it was no problem, but he wants to ask him something: If Skye hadn't pulled through, would he really have thrown Quinn off the plane? Coulson, with a Mona Lisa smile, reminds Garrett that he's the one who made that particular threat, and Bill Paxton's "busted" smile is a delight to behold. They shake hands, with Garrett noting that Coulson might see him sooner than he thinks, and given that it's Paxton and it's been all over the news that he is definitely coming back, that's a wink I can enjoy. (Also, more mundanely, he's going to want to hear whether Skye has any further information on Quinn, right? He made a pretty large point of that.) He also adds what was already obvious -- that Trip has eyes for Simmons -- and since Garrett will be back, Trip probably will too, so good for Simmons because that dude is, as he might say, tight.
May comes in to see Coulson and congratulate him on doing the impossible, and to wonder why he's not happy about it. He doesn't answer, so May brings up the fact that he was yelling about not using the drug. "What made you change your mind?" Coulson says nothing, but we flash back to the door opening once again. After he turns on a light and looks around, he sees several tubes feeding into different containers -- labeled not just 325 but 319, 317, 211, 324, and 289 -- and on the other side, leading into a pod marked "G.H." When Coulson pops out the pod from the wall, we see the tubes are attached to a blue-skinned creature, suspended in clear liquid, whose features look alien even though it has roughly humanoid size and shape. Parts of its skin look like they've suffered massive trauma and it's missing everything from its stomach down, although whether that was done on purpose to mine the drugs is unclear. What is clear is that Coulson is horrified – like open-mouthed, wide-eyed horrified – but when we cut back to the present with May asking if he's all right, he merely tells her that seeing "where I came from" made him really scared that Skye would suffer the way he did. So in an episode where Coulson finally cleared the decks of secrets by telling Ward, Fitz, and Simmons the truth about his death, he's now got another one he's keeping even from May. We cut to him keeping a wary vigil by Skye's side, and we're out. Not perfect, but a very solid offering, with a strong guest lead and the team rallying for a cause they care about deeply. Most of all, though, this sends Coulson firmly into the territory of wondering if S.H.I.E.L.D. is evil rather than just secretive, which promises a Coulson and a Clark Gregg performance I'm much more psyched about. (But since I can't seem to stop playing devil's advocate, is it possible Fury is keeping so many secrets because he's found a way to protect himself from the Clairvoyant's gaze?)
Oh, but of course we're not done. In Death Valley, we spot a nubile redhead in Asgardian togs before we cut to two newlyweds who have just checked out of their motel and are clearly very much in love. The new bride then goes inside to get a map, whereupon the redhead accosts the dude by grabbing his water bottle and drinking liberally from it. He asks if she's okay, but she replies in a Britgardian accent that she's "paaached and weary" before wondering why "Midgard is so desolate." The guy isn't so much up on his Norse mythology, apparently, or he might be wary, but he really doesn't seem too bright in general, given that he's not even asking why she's dressed all Renaissance Faire. And given that we'll be seeing her all week, let's keep it short and just say that she slinks up to him and kittens that she likes loyalty in a man before seeming to hypnotize him with a touch. When the dude's bride emerges, she sees him driving off, which I'm pretty sure is grounds for annulment? In the car, the guy promises to protect the redhead and keep her safe but points out he doesn't even know her name, so she supplies, "Lorelei." And week: SIF! Keep up these guest appearances, show, and we'll be just fine.
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.