Episode Report Card 106 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT It's A Thor Tie-In!
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 15 | Aired on 03.11.2014
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Preliminary stuff first: Lorelei is a full-on goddess, having super-strength as well as the power to bend any man to her will. Skye is recovering, and although she fights with Simmons about how much she needs to stay in bed, she also tells her how grateful she is. When Ward visits her, Skye berates herself for going in to confront Quinn alone and tells him she needs to up her training. Simmons is testing Skye's blood like it's going out of style, but she can't find any sign of the miracle drug that saved her. She wants to share the samples with Big S.H.I.E.L.D., but Coulson has absolutely forbidden it, and not having seen the drug's source she can't understand why. Finally, Coulson is still haunted by what he saw, and tries to get in touch with Fury. May tries to get him to open up, but he won't, at all, no way, no how. So!
The team gets orders from Big S.H.I.E.L.D. that Asgardian activity has been detected and is sending them to investigate. And if it weren't for last week's previouslies, you could be forgiven for thinking this is going to be another crap tie-in, but no – no sooner have they reached the desert than does Sif -- the Asgardian goddess of war, Thor's staunchest ally, and one of the best characters from the Thor films, in case you're unfamiliar -- descend from the heavens and tell our team that their world is in danger. After expressing her surprise that Coulson is alive, she asks our heroes to help her find Lorelei, who, she says, used her power over men to wreak havoc over the Nine Realms hundreds of years earlier. Since her voice is the key to her power, Sif wants to place a collar on her that will prevent her from speaking, which she wore for centuries until the invasion of the Dark Elves set her free. From reports of theft and other crimes, Sif and Coulson's team figure out where Lorelei is and confront her with new, more powerful versions of the night-night gun called icers, but while Sif fights her way through Lorelei's numerous male minions, Lorelei escapes – bending Ward to her will on the way. On top of that, the collar is damaged, so Coulson gives it to Fitz for repairs and asks Skye to figure out any resources Ward might tap to keep Lorelei safe.
Coulson tries to hit Sif up for information on blue aliens, but she offhandedly lists a litany of possibilities too numerous to be helpful, while Ward takes Lorelei to Vegas for some sexytimes before offering to take Sif out of the equation. They lure Coulson, May, and Sif off the plane, and when they return, Fitz, who's now under Lorelei's spell, traps Sif in the interrogation room and sucks her out of the airlock while Ward and Lorelei steal the plane and lock Simmons and Skye in the lab and Lorelei kicks May's ass. They don't bargain for the fact, however, that Coulson maybe seems to be immune to Lorelei's power; in any case, he frees Simmons and Skye and assures them that Sif has to still be out there – and indeed she is, hanging onto the plane with the collar still in her hand. Coulson tells them to get her back, and when Lorelei enters the interrogation room to retrieve Sif's sword, Sif has returned and locks the two of them in to fight, while May and Ward similarly go at it. Ward shoots at May and would have killed her if she hadn't surreptitiously stolen his clip, but when Sif wins her fight and get the collar back on Lorelei, the spell is broken.
In the end, Sif confesses the only reason she's bringing Lorelei back alive is that Odin ordered it, which is interesting, while Coulson confesses to Skye about their shared alien cure – but Skye isn't nearly as bothered as Coulson, although Coulson tells her from here on out it's him and her and no one else on a quest to find out the truth about the drug. And whatever was going on between Ward and May seems to be over – especially since Lorelei revealed that Ward wants someone on Earth and it isn't May – but there's more going on with May, because we revisit her listening to Coulson and Skye's conversation on a hidden mic, and she makes a call on an encrypted line to an unknown source: "Coulson knows." DUN!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!At a Rosie's Desert Oasis, that idiot Jimmy from last week's closing scene and Lorelei pull in. Despite having promised to protect her, the doofus apparently sees no problem in leaving her unattended in an open convertible (he has to "grab something," like good explanation and I thought that was your plan with her) surrounded by an entire biker gang. I mean, not that she needs his feeble "protection," but still. When Jimmy is gone, Lorelei inquisitively gets out of the car, whereupon a good-looking, scruffy alpha type we'll learn is named "Rooster" (the gang is called "Dogs Of Hell") saunters over and tells her she could have any man she wants, so why settle for "that little dude"? He has a point, and when Lorelei sees one of the hogs in action and learns that Rooster is the leader of all the men surrounding them, she reaches a hand forward and informs Rooster that he and his men now serve her. Jimmy then comes back and complains that Lorelei promised him they'd be together forever, but she corrects him: "I said we'd be together 'til the end. It is the end." With that, she back-chops him several yards so he hits and flips over the car, likely killing him, and even in his hypnotized state Rooster realizes this is a bit out of the ordinary, so he asks who she is. She tells him her name, but that's apparently all the explanation he requires, so when she smiles for him to introduce her to all her men, it doesn't seem like there's going to be any argument. And if there is, maybe he now knows to give her a little space? Title card.
The plane is on the ground outside what I'd imagine is a S.H.I.E.L.D. hangar, and, still in her medical box, Skye is conscious and starts to get out of bed when Simmons comes clucking at her like a mother hen. Apparently this is not the first time Simmons has caught the naughty patient trying to escape, which just goes to show that if you're going to do it, it's best to have a buddy like Marty from True Detective to assist you. Skye tries to point out how much better she's doing, but Simmons brushes off her protests before taking a blood sample. Skye offhandedly comments how many times she's done so before telling Simmons that despite any deficiencies in her bedside manner, she's grateful to her. "I hope you know that." Simmons tries to say she didn't do it alone, but Skye's like still though, and then a smiling Ward comes in to hear Skye attempt a British accent in telling him she's under house arrest. Simmons takes this as the act of aggression it surely is and leaves the room, whereupon Skye supposes she must look terrible and Ward tells her how great it is to see her better. She casts her eyes down as she recalls how stupid she was to face Quinn alone, but he points out the good in what she did, which was to alert all of S.H.I.E.L.D. that Peterson is still alive. He adds that Garrett is looking into Peterson along with the Deathlok program, prompting Skye to sadly recall that Peterson wouldn't even look at her. She thinks he needs help, but Ward reckons he doesn't deserve it given that he declined to protect Skye from Quinn. "He let this happen to you. And I'll never forgive that." Think Ward will have any reason to view people being controlled against their will with more sympathy by the end of the episode? Only one way to find out! Skye sensibly points out that whatever the case with Peterson may be, it would behoove her to be able to protect herself better, and Ward smiles that they'll ease her back into it, but Skye says no -- she wants to train harder. "Next time I don't want to depend on some miracle drug to save me." Good thinking, given that it's no longer -- and forgive me for this, nameless blue alien -- on tap.