May 12, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 71 – So Much TV News! Flash! Arrow! Agents of SHIELD!

There is so much comic book related TV news in the new episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast! Find out which shows are returning next fall, and which aren’t (Constantine, RIP)! Plus, Billy and Dave give you their picks on what comic books should be picking up this Wednesday, and review Avengers: Age of Ultron, iZombie Vol 3 and Secret Wars #1! This episode is jam packed with content! Give it a listen!

Note: This episode contains spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

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April 10, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S2E16 – Afterlife – Recap

The episode opens on a used car lot. A low rent Buddy Garrity is trying to get Coulson in a muscle car. When Coulson says he more interested in a SUV and points one out that he’s like to pay cash for, the salesman says he has an even better SUV for him. Hilarity ensues when Hunter drives up in said SUV. The salesman threatens to call the cops, which leads to him being iced/night-nighted by Coulson. Side note, the icer made a bang noise when Coulson pulled the trigger. Maybe I was wrong last week about the first Real SHIELD agent who fired at Skye. Maybe he was using an icer. Shaved head jerkface was totally firing a real gun though.

Speaking of Skye, she wakes up nearly naked on a table, with glowing acupuncture needles sticking out of her. Ooo, you usually have to pay extra for the glowing needles. She wants to go, but she can’t move. Gordon and a new guy named Lincoln walk in. Lincoln explains terrigenesis to Skye. Over the course of the episode, Lincoln goes deep into explaining terrigenesis to Skye. Here’s what I took away from his talks:

Skye is the first person in a VERY long time to go through terrigenesis with a diviner in a Kree temple.
Usually candidates for terrigenesis are selected by a council. They don’t choose for themselves when they’re worthy.
Skye cutting the terrigenesis line has some people if not angry, then at least intrigued.
The process is irreversible.

Skye is really unhappy about that last point.

At Coulson’s base, now home to Real SHIELD, Gonzalez and Bobbie are discussing the end of last week’s episode. Calderon is down. Finally, I can stop calling him shaved head jerk face. Gonzalez calls Skye a thing. Bobbie defends her, but Gonzalez is clearly paranoid about superhumans.

Fitz wants out of SHIELD. He wants no part of Real SHIELD if it means hunting down his friends.

Coulson and Hunter heads to Banner’s Bunker and survey the scene. Hunter is shocked when he sees Gordon in action. Real SHIELD shows up at the cabin. Hunter is shocked as I am that Coulson invited them there. As Hunter is gearing up, Coulson says “Icers only.” The people coming for them are still SHIELD agents. Hunter doesn’t like their chances. Coulson tells him not to worry, he has reinforcements coming, well a reinforcement.

Lincoln sets Skye up in her room and gives her a tour. They’re somewhere in the Himalayas from the looks of it (and from knowing my Inhumans history). Only Gordon knows exactly where they are. The name of the place is Li Shi, which translates roughly into Afterlife (Hey, that’s the episode title!). I was really hoping it would be called Attilan. For those of you who don’t read the comics, Attilan is where the Inhumans live. No one actually lives in Afterlife. It’s more of a way station. Lincoln is from Ohio. He only popped in to help out with Skye’s transition. Skye spots a building like the one she was in. Lincoln says that’s another transition room, but one that they don’t use anymore. Uh-huh, sure Lincoln. It seems even money that either Skye’s dad, or a porcupine faced former Hydra employee is in there.

Lincoln’s power is electricity. He’s like a more suave Electro. He can make Skye float, literally. He uses static electricity to make her levitate off the ground.

Gonzalez meets with May. He wants to know if she’s loyal to Coulson or to SHIELD, but to May, Coulson and SHIELD are one and the same.

Bobbie convinces Simmons to help Real SHIELD open up Fury’s toolbox. Apparently, there’s no hard feelings about Simmons knocking out Bobbie in the previous episode. When Fitz finds out that Simmons is helping Real SHIELD unlock the toolbox, he flips. He marches up to Simmons and goes off on her, telling her that she must have known this betrayal would seal his leaving. Simmons gets overly harsh on him and basically tells him that maybe he doesn’t belong there anymore, kind of a you can’t quit, I’m firing you. Watching this scene, I couldn’t help by get the feeling that FitzSimmons is playing RealSHIELD.

Real SHIELD breaks into the cabin and finds Coulson and Hunter playing cards. Wait, they’re holograms! Phil Coulson must be a big fan of the Christopher Reeves Superman movies, because this right out of Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor’s playbook. Just switch out cards for chess.

Crazy Kyle is still in the room Gordon left him in a couple of episodes ago. His hands are bloodied. He’s been trying to escape, unsuccessfully. When Gordon ports in, Crazy Kyle screams at him. Gordon cuts him off, telling Kyle he’s lucky they kept him alive, and that not only has Kyle sealed his own fate with his behavior, but he sealed his daughter’s fate as well. Ruh-roh.

Coulson now pulls from the Wizard of Oz playbook, as Hunter and he dress up as Real SHIELD strike team members. They get caught faster than Dorothy and friends did. Luckily, Coulson’s back up arrives. It’s Deathlok! Whoa, I did not see that one coming! I thought we were being set up for another Lady Sif guest appearance. Deathlok’s costume and abilities have both been upgraded. He doesn’t look like the comic book version of Deathlok, but he definitely looks cooler than he did in the first season.

When Gonzalez finds out about Coulson’s escape, he says he has “one last bargaining chip left. Bring me The Bus and Agent May.”

Skye and Lincoln are getting their flirt on. Is this a new love interest for Skye? How many love interests has Skye had in this series so far? I’m not judging. You do you, Skye. Lincoln brags that he once warmed up a pool with his powers. Skye is both unimpressed and gets the best line of the episode when she tells him, “Any five year old can warm up a pool.” Lincoln’s game is squashed when accidentally reveals that Raina is in Afterlife. There’s nothing like saying you’re housing one of your date’s worst enemies to kill the mood. And then we get the holy shit moment of the episode, when it’s revealed Skye’s mom is also at Afterlife.

Skye confronts Raina. She starts to quake out, but is calmed down when Jah Ying, aka Skye’s mom, shows up. Jah Ying defends Raina’s right to be at Afterlife as much as Skye’s. Skye wants out, but Jah Ying offers to be Skye’s guide. Lincoln looks legitimately surprised by this, and I can’t quite figure out why. Is it because he thought he was going to be Skye’s guide? Is it because Jah Ying is so high up on the totem pole that he wouldn’t expect her to be Skye’s guide? It would be like Nick Fury being a new agent’s trainer. Or maybe it’s a little of both reasons. Jah Ying does not tell Skye that she is her mother.

Once Skye is calmed down, Gordon takes Jah Ying to Crazy Kyle. She calls him Cal. Right, I can never remember his name. I think this is only the second time since his first appearance on the show that someone has called him Cal. Jah Ying hugs Cal. I expect her to knife him during this hug, but that doesn’t happen.

Gonzalez meets with May in the conference room of an aircraft carrier. I did not know aircraft carriers had conference rooms. I’m not saying I don’t believe they do, I just never gave it much thought. Gonzalez slides May a gun. He says she can shoot him if she likes, but he would like her to sit on the Real SHIELD board instead. With Coulson in custody, Phil will need someone to look out for him. May accepts and slides him back his gun, saying there was no need for theatrics; she knows he knows better than to give her a gun that was actually loaded. Gonzalez surprises May when he pulls from the gun a full clip and a bullet in the chamber.

Fitz leaves. Real SHIELD security pats him down. THEN Simmons slides his backpack on him. Even I can see this is some lax security. Hand the guy a bag after he goes through security? Real SHIELD…smh. Fitz leaves.

Deathlok tells Hunter and Coulson that he’s been trailing someone named List, a Hydra head. List is looking for people with powers. Have we met List before. I don’t think we have. Coulson wants to find Skye before Hydra does, so he needs the one person connected to both Skye and Hydra…Grant Ward. Oh boy.

Simmons can’t open the toolbox. Fitz gets in a cab. In his backpack is the real toolbox. I wonder when he realized Simmons was playing Real SHIELD. Was it when he pulled up the 3D schematic while he was packing? And how did Simmons make such a believable copy of the toolbox? It has to be more than just 3D printed and painted, right? That would only buy her so much time. More importantly, FitzSimmons is back! Yes! This is punctuated by Fitz also finding a prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich with just a hint of pesto aioli from Simmons in his bag. FitzSimmons forever!

April 7, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S2E15 – One Door Closes – Recap

Tonight’s episode is told in two time periods. We have the ongoing conflict between Coulson’s SHIELD and “Real” SHIELD in the present, and in the past, we see where Bobbie, Mac and Gonzalez were during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

We open in the past. Mac is bloodied, on his knees with his hands on his head. Other agents are too. We’re in the middle of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Bobbie breaks in and is a one woman wrecking crew. She takes almost everyone out. Lucy Lawless gets the last guy. Remember when Lucy Lawless was on one episode of SHIELD this season and then died? Well, she’s back! Probably just for this episode, but still, she’s back! This scene is shot in a weird blue light, as if to yell, “Hey! This is the past!”

The lighting gets normal and we jump to the present. Bobbie returns to Coulson’s base. She’s up to something. She installs some hardware int he server room. While she’s doing that, Coulson is letting Mac work on Lola, supervised of course. Coulson confronts Mac. He asks Mac who he works for. Mac, not lying, says SHIELD. But Coulson thinks he’s being difficult.

Skye and Simmons are getting in the FaceTime session planned last episode. Simmons explains how the gloves work, but doesn’t mention any side effects, which is weird, because Coulson said last episode that the glove would have side effects and that Simmons would explain them to Skye.

Bobbie laser drills into where Coulson is hiding Fury’s toolbox. She steals the toolbox. May catches her in the act. They fight, and I have to admit, as soon as May walked in, I was looking forward to this fight, as both characters have been in some of the most athletic fights on the show. This fight was a bit of a letdown as Bobbie quickly flees. When May catches up to her, she sets off an EMP, which gives her and Mac the opportunity to escape.

In the past, Bobbie and Mac are on an aircraft carrier. The pace is in shambles. They find Gonzalez. His leg is badly messed up.

In the present, Bobbie reports in to Gonzalez. Gonzalez wants Skye. Why?

At her cabin, Skye tries on her power dampening gloves. The gloves are making her woozy. She calls Simmons, but gets her voice mail. Skye notices a blue wire under her desk and follows it to the wall. It’s a hollow panel, which she pries off. Under the wooden panel is reinforced metal that looks like the wall of her cell on The Bus. There’s a giant fist print in the wall. Did The Hulk stay here?

Skye is startled by something outside. She’s freaked out. If I was alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, I’d be freaked out too. Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. Skye and I divert over how to handle this. She answer the door. I would have ran and hid under my bed. Gordon, the blind teleporter, is at the door. Well, he’s not really blind. He can kind of see. I’m guessing he has a radar sense similar to Daredevil. He and Skye debate about the nature of her powers and why she should join him and his group. She’s not interested. He eventually takes the hint and leaves.

Back at the base, Bobbie runs into Simmons, who doesn’t know what’s going on. Simmons thinks she can fix the power outage. She just needs to find the right tool in her bag. She hands Bobbie a bunch of stuff, one of which stuns Bobbie. She basically takes Bobbie out in the cutest way possible, and then draws her gun on Bobbie. It reminded me of Hooks from Police Academy. Well played, Simmons! Her espionage game has grown so much since she awkwardly infiltrated Hydra at the start of the season. Coulson retrieves the toolbox from Bobbie. May searches her locker and finds a gas mask. Ruh-roh.

In the past, Bobbie and Mac need to move Gonzalez. Mac distracts Gonzalez with a story about his childhood coin collection so that another agent can pop Gonzalez’s leg into place. This aircraft carrier has too many secrets on it to fall into Hydra hands. Fury ordered Bobbie to sink it. Bobbie tells everyone to escape. Gonzalez argues that somehow them joining her will mean she’s be able to get out faster. Not sure how a severely injured old man isn’t going to slow things down, but I only have Level 7 clearance.

Fitz finds Bobbie’s device in the server room. Mac finds Fitz. Mac tells Fitz he isn’t going to hurt him. Fitz, rightly so, doesn’t trust Mac. gas starts filling the entire base. Mac pleads with Fitz to move away from the wall. Mac jumps on Fitz, saving him as the wall explodes. Gonzalez, Weaver and that shaved head guy who only plays jerks in movies burst in in gas masks.

In the past, Lucy Lawless goes all Xena on a bunch of Hydra agents.

In the present, everyone on Coulson’s team, save May, is captured. Gonzalez sends the shaved head jerk and a bunch of agents to “the house that Banner built” to retrieve Skye. Bobbie insists on going. It’s clear that she doesn’t trust these guys to not kill Skye.

Speaking of Skye, she decides to take the gloves off. She washes her hands and unitentionally makes the water spiral out of the faucet. It’s a cool effect.

At the base, FitzSimmons silently reconcile. This is broken up by Agent Weaver. You might remember her as the former head of the Academy, aka SHIELD Hogwarts, aka SHIELDwarts. She lets them know what went down at SHIELDwarts during Winter Soldier. They don’t show anything, but I’m guessing it’s similar to the Death Eaters’ invasion of Hogwarts in Harry Potter 6.

Gonzalez is meeting with Coulson in Coulson’s office, now Gonzalez’s office. Coulson gets the best line of the episode when telling Gonzalez he has good taste in offices and “you haven’t even dived into the record collection.” Gonzalez doesn’t plan on staying. He has the toolbox. He wants Coulson to show him how to use it so that he can hunt down superhumans. Coulson, unsurprisingly, refuses.

May gets to a comm and warns Skye that SHIELD is coming for her. She tells Skye how to escape the cabin’s security features. Bobbie and company show up at this time. Bobbie orders icers only, but shaved head jerkface definitely cocks a gun right after she says that. I’m pretty sure you don’t cock a night-night gun.

In the past, Mac wants to save the ship. They’re successfully fighting back, even if Hydra has them severely outnumbered. Gonzalez says they need to follow orders and blow the ship. Bobbie chooses to save the ship. Gonzalez says, “I hope we don’t live to regret this.” Xena says, “Let’s just hope we live.” Sorry, Xena…

In the present, Gonzalez really lays into Coulson, practically accusing Phil of being Fury’s Frankenstein Monster. Gonzalez thinks Fury had too many secrets. Phil responds with “Fury’s secrets didn’t bring down SHIELD, Hydra did.” May ends the debate by icing Gonzalez and his guards. May helps Phils escape the base and immediately surrenders. She’s staying behind to make sure nothing happens to the team.

Skye and a “Real” SHIELD agent fight. He fires on her. Definitely not an icer! Bobbie and the shaved head jerk find Skye. Shaved head jerk then shoots at Skye, despite Bobbie saying not to. In an act of self defense, Skye unleashes her vibration powers on the bullet…and on the surrounding area. She destroys the area. Trees are powdered. I have no idea what her power is doing to Bobbie and shaved head guy’s insides. I think they might be dead. Skye looks like she’s worried they’re dead too. She whispers, “Gordon, help.” Amazingly, Gordon immediately appears. How did he hear that? He ports her out. Bobbie gets up. She’s okay, but looks shocked by the devastation Skye caused.

In the final scene, Coulson is at a tiki bar on the beach. There are palm trees in the background. Hunter joins him. They’re officially a team. Phil and Hunter vs. Real SHIELD. I can’t wait.

April 7, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S2E14 – Love in the Time of Hydra – Recap

We open on a diner. Ward and Agent 33 are on a date? This is the second diner scene in as many weeks. They’re really getting good use out of that set. Ward and Agent 33 go all Pumpkin and Honey Bunny on the patrons when they jump on the tables and rob the diner Pulp Fiction style. Samuel L Jackson is not in this diner. What a missed opportunity! Oh wait, they’re not robbing the place, they’re kidnapping a plastic surgeon?

Somebody tell Agent 33, “Bitch, be cool.”

FitzSimmons is checking out Skye’s broken arms. Skye refers to herself being on the DL. Fitz doesn’t know that DL means disabled list and not down low. He’s adorable.

Coulson and May are meeting. These Coulson and May meetings are great for anyone who missed an episode, as they constantly seem to be debating what’s going on with the team. May has changed her mind about Skye being on the team. It seems like Simmons and May want her off and Fitz and Coulson want her on. Luckily for Skye, Coulson is in charge.

Back to Ward and Agent 33. Oh, that wasn’t a plastic surgeon that they kidnapped. It was an engineer…who is kind of like a plastic surgeon since he fixed Agent 33’s digital mask.s mask. She can now look normal again…though it seems like May is still her normal face. She can’t take the mask off. Oh crap, is Agent 33 the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Madame Masque? For those of you not familar with her, Madame Masque is an Iron Man villain named Courtney Whitmore. She hides behind a golden mask because she was once beautiful but had been horribly disfigured…or was it all in her head? Some writers have made it recently that Courtney was not actually disfigured, but suffered a psychological break and only thinks she is disfigured.

Madame Masque

We’re introduced to Edward James Olmos, who plays Gonzalez, the head of the “Real” SHIELD. Real SHIELD reminds me of the Original Ghostbusters and Real Ghostbusters cartoons that went up against each other in the 1980s.

Lance is unimpressed with Real SHIELD. He’s clearly grew up an Original Ghostbusters fan. Lance gets the best line of the episode when describing Coulson. He says that Coulson “tends to hog the mic during karaoke nights.” Lance is shocked that Bobbie is a part of Real SHIELD. I wonder if she really is. Maybe she’s a triple agent. Hunter also gets the second best line of the episode when he turns to Bobbie and says, “Maybe we could have discussed this alone without all of Hufflepuff looking on.” I can’t think of a bigger Harry Potter related insult than being called a Hufflepuff. They’re like the short bus of the Harry Potter universe.

Gonzalez explains the formation of Real SHIELD and why it’s necessary. They didn’t trust Fury and they don’t trust Coulson post-alien injection. They think Coulson is being driven insane by the alien injection. It’s funny; if this conversation was happening a few episodes back, they’d be right.

Coulson and Skye go on a road trip.Well…air trip. They’re talking in the rear hold of what I believe is The Bus. They share a cute moment eating some Twizzlers together. But wait a minute…who is flying this plane?!

Agent 33 is trying on new faces. Ward killed the doctor. Note: Ward is still a very bad man. Agent 33 puts on Skye’s face…with May’s hair, and starts making out with Ward. This is some weird shit. Why did she keep May’s hair? She can control her hair along with her face. Ward realizes it’s weird. I think it’s weird the Skye lookalike still has May’s voice…and hair.

Gonzalez is asking Bobbie about Hunter. He’s worried Hunter might turn her. Bobbie thinks she can get through to Hunter.

Ward gives Agent 33 his origin story. He finishes by saying he got over his issues by having a heart to heart with his family. He doesn’t mention that heart to heart means killing them all. It’s amazing how Ward has transformed into a total psycho. He’s not Kyle McLaughlin level crazy, but he’s up there. He wants 33 to have a similar “heart to heart” with Bakshi that Ward had with his family. For those who haven’t been paying attention, it was Bakshi who prepped Agent 33 for Whitehall.

To break into Bakshi’s prison, Agent 33 disguises herself as Talbot’s wife. Luckily no one there seems to know what Mrs. Talbot’s voice sounds like, because she still sounds like May. I could have sworn the engineer said she could change the sound of her voice now. Maybe I heard that line wrong.

Coulson has taken Skye to a cabin in the woods. It’s isolated. He brought her here so that she could heal and hone her powers. Simmons designed gloves for Skye to wear. They will help her control her powers, but there are side effects…Coulson isn’t saying what they are. Skye’s supposed to FaceTime with Simmons later to get the deets.

Agent 33/Mrs. Talbot switches into an Air Force Major disguise. Ward somehow just walks right in the facility. Seriously, how did he get in. Agent 33 has to get waved him by Talbot while pretending to be Talbot’s wife while Ward kind of just shows up in the middles of the facility. The real Mrs. Talbot calls saying she’s stuck in traffic. Ruh-roh. Talbot puts two and two together very quickly. There’s a reason Talbot’s a general. Talbot rounds up every female on the base. He lectures them, saying how he cannot stand a spy in his house.

Cut to Mac at Coulson’s base. Well played, SHIELD editor. Well played.

Talbot starts grilling people, asking them trick questions. Go with the trick answer, Agent 33! Meanwhile Ward is shooting up the place. Oh hey, Agent 33 is a dude now. Haha, take that Talbot! She’s not even in the room! They open up Bakshi’s cell. He thinks she’s here to break him out…until he sees Ward and starts putting things together. Bakshi tries activating her brainwashing, but 33 punches him in the face before it can take effect.

Talbot pulls a gun on his own wife, his real wife. Geez, Talbot! She’s just bringing you tacos for Taco Tuesday. She even brought your favorite sauce!

Bobbie and Hunter have a heart to heart. It sounds like Bobbie is 100% New SHIELD…just what a triple agent would say. Hunter decides he’s leaving. Bobbie won’t stop him (I’m guessing because she’s a triple agent). But all the armed guards will stop him. Or they’ll try. Oh wait, no need. They’re on a aircraft carrier out to sea. Bobbie pursues. Hunter is nowhere to be seen. Oh wait, there’s like 50 aircraft that Hunter could escape on. Still, how could he possible get off undetected?

Fitz confronts Coulson about Skye. Coulson won’t tell him where she is. Fitz then confronts Simmons about how she’s treating Skye. Fitz calls her out on how she’s changed, even though Fitz and Skye have changed, neither has changed more than Simmons. That gets to Simmons.

Talbot FaceTimes Coulson and May. At least I think it’s Talbot. It has to be. Why would Agent 33 tell Coulson that Agent 33 broke into a base with Ward? Okay, that’s the real Talbot.

Hunter managed to escape in a submersible pod. Way to go, “Real” SHIELD. Bobbie wants to go back in to Coulson’s base. “Real” SHIELD debates and approves.

Coulson and May have both come to the conclusion that they don’t believe Mac. They aim to confront him. They don’t seem to suspect Bobbie yet.

Agent 33 goes back to her real face. It’s majorly scarred. Oh wow, she is definitely Madame Masque! Ward and Agent 33 have Bakshi tied up. They’re going to brainwash him. Things are definitely getting interesting…

Finally, I have to say, I really like this week’s title, Love in the Time of Hydra. First, because it references Love in the Time of Cholera, and second because this episode did a great job on focusing on the various couples on the show. You have Agent 33 and Ward as the outlaw couple. FitzSimmons is trying (and constantly failing) to get back into the groove of where they were last season. Bobbie and Hunter are the Romeo and Juliet of the spy world…if Romeo and Juliet bickered constantly. This season of Agents of SHIELD has been spot on. I can’t wait to see how the show will tie into Avengers: Age of Ultron in one month!

March 31, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S2E13 – One of Us – Recap

We start at dinner time…..someone in Coney Island is eating steak. She’s got robot hands. Hey, it’s Drea De Matteo! Her name is Karla Faye Gideon. We find that out when Kyle shows up and tells her he got her name off a Gifted Index. She asks if they’re with SHIELD. He says he’ll try not to be offended. Classic Kyle zinger!

Kyle’s with Levi and Francis. Levi has control over tech. Francis has the power of looking extra creepy. Drea closes the door in their face. Smart move. She reopens the door. Less smart move. Francis gets her metal gloves off her. She’s got metal razors for fingernails. Kyle wants her to join him. He’s creating his own Masters of Evil it seems.

On the bus, Skye and Coulson are sharing a meal. Coulson is adding her to the Gifted Index. Whoa, Blair Underwood’s name just popped up in the opening credits! Sweet! Is he who Coulson is bringing in from the outside? May’s apparent ex? Oooo…

Bobbie and Simmons are in the lab. Simmons is having a hard time explaining Skye’s DNA. Fitz comes in. Simmons intentionally goes quiet when Fitz walks in. Aww, I miss FitzSimmons. Simmons does too it seems. Simmons tells Bobbie that a betrayl of trust like that changes everything. Just in time for Bobbie to field a call from Mac.

Mac is at the safehouse where he has locked up Hunter. Hunter has the great line of the episode when he tells Mac to tell Bobbie he takes it all back…when he said he wished she hadn’t died out there. Harsh, Hunter! Then again, he is handcuffed to the bathroom sink. Bobbie tells Mac to bring Hunter in. She’ll arrange an extraction. How big is this conspiracy?

Hey, it’s Blair Underwood! May is waiting for him at his university job. So it looks like Blair is Andrew, May’s ex. Nice. He doesn’t seem excited about SHIELD needing his help. He’s dismayed that May is back in the field. Interesting. Going through his criteria for helping Skye, he clearly distrusts SHIELD.

WHOA! WHAT? He’s MAY’s EX-HUSBAND!!! I thought he was maybe an ex-boyfriend!

Kyle shows up at an Brinmore Psychiatric Facility and Drea slashes the guard’s throat. Kyle is flagrant, waving at the security camera. We see Francis’s power. He’s super strong (besides just being super creepy).

Coulson and Andrew seem to be on good terms. Coulson briefs Bobbie on the break-in at Brynmore. He also notes that Hunter didn’t show up today, in what seem like a way of judging Bobbie’s reaction.

Skye isn’t excited about meeting with a psychiatrist until she finds out he was married to May. She peppers him with questions. To get Skye to open up, Andrew reveals details about his marriage to May. Nothing big, just enough to get Skye to like him.

Kyle and company tore through the facility. Only two people were stored in the subbasement – John Bruno, a military assassin and a guy who immediately attacks them. This dude looks like Killer Croc. but less reptilian. He’s big, but just being big isn’t an auto-win against Bobbie, who takes him down with ease. Kyle left Coulson a note spray painted on the wall, FIGHT ON.

The second guy is David A. Angar…aka Angar the Screamer. Hahahaha, are you serious?!? Angar the Screamer! Who’s next? D-Man? Not sure why Kyle left Killer Croc but took Angar the Screamer. I’m trying to think of a Marvel villain lamer than Angar. Let me get back to you on that. For those of you who can’t tell why I’m laughing, here’s Angar the Screamer from Marvel Comics:

While talking to Andrew about Skye, May gets the second best line of the night when she says, “I taught her how to fire an automatic. Of course she likes me.” Andrew and May get snippy about each other’s love life. They’re totally going to sleep together. As I think this, he tells her, “You looks good.” Keep it in your pants, Blair Underwood!

Fitz walks in on them joking around. He’s freaked out. He’s clearly not used to May smiling. Gossiping about May and Andrew reunites FitzSimmons. Yes! Their reunion is cut short when Skye gets a case of the shakes. She’s shaking the entire Bus. Whoa, this is just from Skye having a bad dream? May and Andrew take the good cop bad cop approach to get Skye to calm down. Amazingly, it works.

Bobbie and Coulson are hunting Kyle’s RV on traffic cams. Coulson notes that sometimes ignorance is bliss. Oh, like Bobbie potentially betraying you?

Kyle and company are reenacting Diner…if everyone in Diner were crazy. Razor Fingers is the most normal person in this crew.

Coulson confronts Bobbie about Hunter. He figured out that Hunter didn’t bolt because of Coulson’s job offer, but wrongly thinks it’s because something happened between Bobbie and Hunter personally, because they’re sleeping together. Bobbie blames Hunter bolting on his fear of commitment.

Bobbie gets a hit on the license plate. Coulson figures out what FIGHT ON meant. Kyle and co are heading to Coulson’s hometown in Wyoming.

Skye and Andrew are meeting again in Skye’s room/cell on the Bus. As they talk about the index, Skye gets agitated and the room shakes…except it’s not Skye. The Bus is taking off. Andrew is not happy. He confronts May, who basically says she had no choice.

Kyle and Drea release Angar from his muzzle. He’s about to scream, but Kyle tells him to make it count. Angar walks out onto the 50 yard line and screams. Everyone on the field either passes out or dies, I’m not really sure. Birds fall from the sky. Ruh-roh.

Mac brings Hunter a pizza. He tells Hunter he wants to keep Hunter alive. He reminsices about how they first met. When Hunter calls his BS, Mac leaves Hunter with the pizza.

Skye wants to head to the field to help Coulson, but May and Andrew think it’s a bad idea. They don’t want her near her dad. It turns out Coulson never went to this high school, but his dad did coach football and taught history. Coulson’s dad died when Coulson was 9.

Kyle gets on the loudspeaker. He calls his group The Slicing Talons. Maybe work on that name, Kyle. Kyle is pissed that Coulson killed Daniel Whitehall. That’s what this is all about? I have to say, I really like Kyle McLaughin as a completely crazy bonkers person. Phil wants to wait for May, but when Kyle threatens to kill the highschoolers, Phil comes out of the shadows. Kyle’s people are on the field. Angar takes Coulson’s gun. Kyle gives him a speech about stopping Coulson before Coulson has a chance to hurt his daughter. That’s when May walks out of the shadows with a gun dug into Skye’s neck. Even Coulson is surprised.

Kyle advances on May, and May tells him to tell his people to stand down on his daughter dies. He’s convinced May won’t kill her, but that Coulson would. He give Angar the microphone and tells him to tell the whole town. Someone shoot Angar already.

As Angar is about to scream, the blind teleporter from last week ports in, grabs Kyle and ports out. Drea yells, “End this!” Coulson rushes Angar, punches him in the larynx and drops him. May fights the super strong Francis, but even with her fighting skills is losing out to his brute strength. Drea climbs down from the bleachers and is ambushed by Bobbie. She manages to escape into the locker room. Bobbie pursues. Carla (Drea) isn’t being taken alive. I have a bad feeling that Bobbie is going to die because Hunter says he wishes she was dead. But Bobbie wins. I’m very happy about that.

Skye sees Coulson whip that tech dude in the face, and freaks out a bit. She starts shaking, but gets it under control. Unfortunately, controlling it causes her to break out in bruises all over her arms and she passes out. Coulson and May run to her. She wakes on The Bus. Whoa, she shattered her own arms. She wasn’t stopping her powers, she was directing them inward. Now Skye’s a danger to her friends, and herself. Skye is worried, but May reassures here.

Simmons wants to categorize superhumans into different subcategories. Deathlok and David Angar she calls “Enhanced,” because their gifts were man-made. But Skye and Raina, this is something that was inside them. For now, Simmons is calling them “Other.” Could “Inhuman” be far behind?

Now that they’re back at the base, Andrew is leaving. He recommends that Skye leaves SHIELD. May thinks she’s safest with them. May offers Blair Underwood a recurring role on the show, but he turns it down. He does say he can recommend someone else though. Please let it be Doctor Seaver from Growing Pains!

Mac grabs Hunter and takes him to a secret facility. Mac tells Hunter who he’s working for…SHIELD, the real SHIELD, and steps away to reveal the real SHIELD’s new logo.

Kyle has wrecked the room the blind teleporter left him in. The teleporter asks if he’s done. Kyle is pissed that he didn’t grab Daisy/Skye too. But the reason the teleporter grabbed him is that Kyle “is making too much noise.” He says that Kyle isn’t one of them, that Kyle is a science experiment. Kyle steps out of the room to meet with the teleporter’s boss (or bosses) as the episode fades to black.

March 31, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S2 E12 – Who You Really Are – Recap

The episode starts in Portugal. Some dude is explaining s’mores to another dude on the beach when Lady Sif emerges from the water. She’s looking for someone named Carver. The people on the beach, one who looks like Josh Jackson, don’t know who Carver is. One of the guys tries to hit on Sif. Big mistake. She punches him across the beach. She also has amnesia. Now that’s how you start an episode!

At Coulson HQ, May and Skye are training. It’s intense. Do they do their own stunts? Skye flips May and pins her. May tells her that she should have gone for a finishing blow. Skye makes a Mortal Kombat joke. Skye is worried about letting loose, and hurting her friends if she does. Fitz interrupts training to get May to back off Skye. May doesn’t like training being interrupted and offers for Fitz to come back and train one on one with her if he wants to interrupt training so badly. Unsurprisingly, Fitz declines.

Bobbie and Hunter are post-coitus. It was either really energetic sex or they’re both secretly in terrible shape. Hunter tells Bobbie that Coulson offered him a permanent position. She seems hesitant for him to take it. It seems like Hunter is doing this for Bobbie, but I wonder if Bobbie wants him there with what she and Mac have planned.

Speaking of Mac, he’s meeting with Coulson. They’re doing inventory. Coulson wants to upgrade Mac to field agent status. Mac’s hesitant about it. He passes himself off here as a bit of a pacifist. May coomes in to tell Coulson about Portugal. The Portugal authories have Sif in custody. Coulson and company make a beeline for Portugal and Sif, who asks if Coulson is Carver. Coulson tells her that he’s not Carver, but rather Son of Coul. Ha. He shows her a still from the last time she was on he show to show her that they’ve worked together before. It turns out Twitter is the answer to the mystery of what happened to Sif. Someone posted a video of her in a sword fight with some dude. She doesn’t remember this. The team theorizes that this mystery man is a rouge Asgardian.

The rouge Asgardian seems at first glance to maybe be an Absorbing Man-like guy. It’s not the Absorbing Man from previously in the series, but he seems to have the same powers. He shows up at a hospital holding what looks like a large metal screw and is changing colors to match the screw.

Coulson deduces that Sif was undercover. Sif doesn’t remember anything, but when May mentions Thor, Sif smiles, but doesn’t remember him.

Hunter, Mac and Fitz are checking the pier. Bobbie and Skye check the hospital. The rouge Asgardian beats up Bobbie. Skye draws her gun on him, and then loses it and shakes the place, knocking down shelves. In the confusion, the rouge Asgardian escapes. Skye fills Coulson in on the rouge. He might not be Asgardian at all. He was using Nitrogen to turn his blue skin pink. Skye things he’s a Kree. I’m now on the same page as Skye, as the Kree are the resident blue skinned aliens of the Marvel Universe. Sif notes Carver isn’t just a name, it’s the Kree work for keys.

Hunter walks in on Skye and Fitz talking about Skye’s secret. He doesn’t hear anything. Speaking of secrets, after Simmons finishes checking on Bobbie, Mac meets with Bobbie. Mac wants Bobbie to convince Hunter to leave. He says, “I don’t want him here in case he takes their side.” Just who are these two really working for? Mac wants Hunter gone to preserve their friendship with Hunter when they betray Coulson. Aww, Mac is the traitor with the heart of gold.

Skye doesn’t want to be on the Kree mission. She’s worried about hurting her friends, and them finding out her secret.

The Kree dude pulls out a Kree inscribed lock box. Coulson’s crew ambushes him. Coulson shoots him with an electified net. The Kree’s name is Vintac. He sounds like he was named after a floppy disk company. Also, the Kree have these V-shaped brow ridges.

Hunter stops by Bobbie. She gives him the cold shoulder and tells him she needs time to figure them out. She wants to slow things down. Awww man, she’s totally Call of the Wilding him. Don’t believe her Hunter. She loves you!

Sif wants to know how the truncheon works. FYI…the truncheon is that large screw thing the Kree guy is carrying around. The Kree says it only works when its in his hand. To prove this, he kicks the truncheon out of Coulson’s hand, grabs it and hits Sif with it. He then immediately backs down. He just wanted to prove a point. Being hit with the truncheon restores Sif’s memories. Sif immediately punches Vintac in the face. Apparently the Asgardians and Kree have a longstanding feud.

The Kree mentions terrigenesis. Terrigenesis! For those of you not familiar with the comics, terrigenesis is how the Inhumans get their powers. The Inhumans are an offshoot of humanity who were experimented on long ago by the Kree. When an Inhuman is exposed to the terrigan mists, he or she goes from baseline human to Inhuman, gaining random superpowers. It’s kind of like mist activated X-Men. While the mutants in the X-Men have their x-gene activated when they hit puberty, the Inhumans need to be exposed to the terrigan mists to gain their superpowers. While Sif and the Kree explain terrigenesis, FitzSimmons are examining a crate taken out of the pit. In the crate are spots for 6 diviners…but no actual diviners. Who has them? Hydra?

Back at base, Fitz stupidly leaves his analysis of Skye’s DNA on his iPad right where Simmons can pick it up. She’s impressed by the work and the results and wants to know whose DNA it is. He flounders. He says it’s a simulation. Simmons is amazed at how real it looks.

The Kree and Sif both want to take out anyone affected by terrigenesis permanently. This gets Skye a bit worked up. The whole base starts to quake. May is the first one to realize that it’s Skye doing this. Sif wants to take Skye to Asgard. The Kree thinks she’s too dangerous to live. Coulson throws himself between Skye and the Kree as May runs with Skye. Coulson tries bringing Sif on his side, but she sides with the Kree. Mac and Bobbie intercept the Kree. Mac gets a punch in before being flung across the room. Hunter doesn’t do much better. It’s Bobbie’s turn. She’s a much better fighter than the two of them. She might not last long, but it might be long enough…long enough for Fitz to blast him with a gun borrowed from Cable. It’s huge. Bobbie zaps the Kree with his own truncheon.

May tries to talk Skye down. They’ve locked themselves in Ward’s old cell. Sif cuts through the energy wall with her sword. That’s not helping calm Skye down. Skye shoots herself with the knockout gun. This convinces Sif that Skye wants to get better. She agrees to leave Skye with Coulson, though she still doesn’t think it’s the best move. Since being hit with the truncheon, the Kree guy doesn’t remember anything other than that he’s Kree. Sif is going to return him to Hala, the Kree home world.

May has the best line of the night when Sif leaves. “Not a lot of laughs that one. And when I say that…”

Simmons is getting on Fitz’s case for not telling her about Skye. Fitz didn’t want people to treat Skye differently, like they did him. Mac ironcialy says that secrets don’t help anybody. Bobbie joins in. The irony continues. Skye walks in just as Mac yells that they’re the ones who need protection from Skye. Fitz is the only one on Team Skye right now. Skye’s bag is already packed. She doesn’t bolt, but she does confine herself to her bunk? a cell? That was a heavy door, so i’m guessing cell.

In the final scene, Mac is working on the Bus. Hunter marches up the ramp and confronts him. He wants to know what’s up with Mac and Bobbie. Mac responds to his questions might knocking him out. So much for staying friends…

March 8, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S2E11 – Aftershocks – Recap

And we’re back! Man, the hiatus since the last episode of Agents of SHIELD seemed longer than it actually was. Having Agent Carter around helped, but that show just didn’t have the same intensity that Agents of SHIELD has had since the middle of last season. In case you’ve forgotten what’s what and were we are, this episode starts with a previously, and I want it just be rocks floating around Skye. Seriously,nothing else matters. That said, I’m still sad about Trip’s death. RIP Trip. 🙁

We start in the past. There’s a boy who’s like Nightcrawler in X2. He’s in a room, just porting around the place uncontrollably. It’s 1982. The weird thing isn’t his porting. And it’s not even that he can’t port out of the room. It’s that he has no eyes. Skye’s mom walks in with an old dude. They let you know immediately that this is not Nightcrawler, for this is no mutant, “he passed through the mists,” *cough* Inhumans *cough* (besides, Nightcrawler has eyes…and is blue). Skye’s mom tries to talk some calm into Gordon, the eyeless wonder. Hmm, it’s interesting that they didn’t go with more established Inhumans like Gorgon, Blackbolt, Triton or Medusa. I wonder when we’ll see them?

Skye wakes up…with an iPhone armband strapped to her. I love running and I don’t sleep with my armband on. Coulson is there when wakes. Skye confirms Trip is dead. Man… 🙁

Skye and Coulson are in quarantine. Everyone else is going about their own business, trying to work through the grief of losing Trip. Simmons is documenting what’s in the tunnells with a team. Everyone on the team is wearing hazmat suits.

How much os this episode is going to be Coulson and Skye talking, Diner style? Skye is depressed. Coulson is angry. Cut to a meeting of what appears to be the heads of Hydra. One of them really, really looks andn sounds like Hilary Clinton. That can’t be not on purpose, right?

Something is in the tunnels, and it attacked one of Simmons’s men. Oh, that hand looks like Raina’s, all porcupine like. Simmons meets with her team in the catacombs. When she leaves, Raina attacks the team members, killing them. Raina is all claws and craziness. Simmons shoots her. She’s still able to run away, and gets to an elevator.

Bobbie meets with Skye. She tries to keep Skye’s spirits up. When Skye says she feels like a leper, Bobbie points out everything that happened to Skye and says Skye’s a rock star.

The Fitz and Mac show is still a thing. Anyone feel that The Rock was the first choice to play Mac? Mac and Fitz are going through similar issues. Mac was controlled by that gas and Fitz’s brain isn’t’ what it used to be. Both felt trapped in their own bodies.

Simmons gets in touch with Coulson and May. They’re hunting down Raina, not realizing she’s the porcupine monster.

Coulson calls a team meeting. Everyone starts arguing, stressing Skye out. The stress causes her to involuntarily shake the place. Amazingly, no one else notices. Seriously, I’ve been in arguments, but I think I’d notice the start of an earthquake happening at the same time.

Bakshi is in Coulson’s custody. Coulson facetimes with Talbot. They arrange a trade for Bakshi. Coulson and May are ambushed while transporting Bakshi. But abushed by whom? Hydra? Talbot with the double cross? In the ensuing firefight, May counts four hostiles left. She asks Coulson if he know what that means. He doens’t. It means May is going into BEAST MODE. While she’s taking out everyone, someone shoots her, and then Coulson. There is A LOT of blood. W. T. F. Still, Coulson yells “They’ll never take us alive,” which seems fishy. The masked shooter tells Bakshi to get in the SUV. Why do I think this is an elaborate Coulson ploy? Also, that masked guy…sounds like Talbot.

Bakshi’s masked savior is revealed. WHAT?! It’s not Talbot! it’s Hunter. For a second, I think to myself that this isn’t a Coulson ploy and Hunter has gone over to Hydra. But I’m wrong. It is a Coulson plot. May makes fun of Coulson for saying they’ll never take us alive. Man, I love this show!

Hunter gets in Bakshi’s good graces by holding a gun to Bakshi’shead, and then allowing himself to get bought off by Bakshi.

As it turns out, Simmons did realize that porcupine lady was Raina. But they don’t realize Skye is a superhuman too. How is that possible? They analyzed Raina’s DNA without Raina being in custody, but not Skye’s?

Raina attacks Kyle MacLachlan. On a side note, it really bothers me that we don’t have a character name for Kyle MacLachlan other than Skye’s Dad or The Doctor. I’m going to keep referring to him as Kyle. Raina wants to know what the hell she has become. Me too. Is that even the same actress?! She wants to be normal again, “not some gnarled freak of nature covered in thorns.” Wow, she really is gnarled. How many hours does Ruth Negga need to spend in the makeup chair each shooting day for this? It is crazy that Skye just looks like Skye. Er, I mean Daisy. Sorry, Kyle. Totally meant Daisy. Back to Raina…whoa, Raina is seriously crazy. She blames Skye for what happened to her. Kyle and Raina are like in a competition for who can be crazier. It’s a dead heat. Wow, Raina unhooded looks like 0% Raina. She’s all bald and spikey. Seriously, this could be a different actress if it wasn’t for her voice. On another side note, when Kyle talks to himself, he sounds like a Batman 66 villain.

Hunter wants to find out Bobbie and Mac’s mutual secret. It turns out they’re in a support group for people who used to be in SHIELD, but were betrayed by Hydra. Wait, this wasn’t’ an excuse? It’s real? Huh, I thought Bobbie was being evasive at first.

Fitz meets with Skye. He’s the only one who realizes she survived the destruction only because she caused it. Why would you bring that up to the that person, Fitz?? Come on, Fitz! Skye makes the room shake. Things start exploding. Fitz runs. How did he not see that one coming?

Coulson delivers the news to Trip’s mom that Trip is dead. The audience gets to see a cool photo of the Howling Commandos hanging on the wall.

Bakshi and another guy in the head Hydra group set off an alert. The other Hydra heads are wearing watches that light up. They seem excited. What’s up? Bakshi decides to turn on Hunter. He has his men shoot the crap out of Hunter’s jeep. Unfortunately for those men, the jeep is bulletproof and has pop-out guns. Not a standard feature, but totally worth the expense in this case.

Hilary Clinton is poisoned, and turns to ash, like so many others this season. Another Hydra dude meets the same fate. Pretty much everyone but Bakshi dies. Baskshi betrayed the group. Hunter and Bobbie take out Bakshi’s co-conspirator and take Bakshi in. This was all Coulson’s plan, to get the Hydra heads to betray each other so that his team wouldn’t have to go after them.

Skye is bleeding. May and Simmons want to know what’s up.Fitz takes the blame and seems to have doctored Skye’s DNA. He replaced it with a sample of her old DNA. Um…why? Seriously why. Fitz is afraid that Simmons will judge Skye too harshly. Fitz is the only one who knows the truth about Skye. That’s nice of you, Fitz, but how is Skye going to get the help she needs?

A SHIELD team finds Raina. They tell her she’s not there to hurt her, just take her in. Raina wants them to kill her. The blind teleporter ports in He’s all grown up and in control of his powers. He grabs Raina and ports out.

In the final scene, a model of Lola activates something in Coulson’s desk. The team is meeting downstairs, drinking beer, reminiscing about Trip. Off to the side, Mac tells Bobbie he has visual confirmation, Fury’s blueprints are in Coulson’s office. Oh right, Mac made that little model. Oh wait, they’re not in any support group. What’s going on with these two, and who is Bobbie going to make contact with? Man, don’t be evil, Bobbie. You too, Mac…

No sign of Ward this episode. I wonder when we’ll see him again. Looking at the Art of Level 7 poster by Marcos Martin for next week’s episode, it looks like Sif will be returning to Agents of SHIELD. I can’t wait.

I am so happy Agents of SHIELD is back!

December 11, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – Season 2, Episode 10 – What They Become – Recap

The episode starts with the Quinjets surrounding the Bus departing with Ward, Skye and Raina. I guess the Hydra pilots didn’t get Agent 33’s message to shoot the Bus down? Or maybe we’re starting off a minute or two before the end of the last episode? May orders Trip to find some cloud cover. I think she knows what’s coming. One of the Koenigs wants to cloak, maybe they both do, they both dress alike and I can’t tell who is who. May shoots down that idea. Sorry, poor choice of words. The Quinjets are in pursuit as May takes the the Bus into a deep dive. She dumps some hot cargo and cloaks just as Hydra fires on them. Hydra thinks they’ve blown the plane out of the sky. Speaking of Skye, May tells Trip to take them to San Juan. Coulson needs to know about Ward taking Skye.

Outside of San Juan, Coulson and May’s teams reunite. Coulson’s #1 priority is preventing Hydra from accessing those crazy tunnels from last week. Rescusing Mac is sadly lower on the list. Bobbie isn’t happy about it, but she understand. One of the Koenigs is talking to Trip. They’re going over their new plan for the secret city. It involves collapsing itself on itself with some heavy explosives. As a bit of fan service, the Koenig tells Trip, “Dum Dum Dugan would be proud.” In the comics, Dum Dum Dugan is Nick Fury’s right hand man and one of the main Agents of SHIELD.

FitzSimmons are trying to figure out the city mysterious powers, and whether or not Mac is alive. It’s not looking good for Mac’s prospects, as he was infected by the city and kicked 100 feet down a hole. Fitz thinks the city was reacting in self-defense to Mac’s presence. They compare the city’s effect on Mac to zombie ants. For those of us not familiar with zombie ants, FitzSimmons explains it. Basically a fungus takes over the ant and the ant acts in the fungus’s interest instead of the ant’s.

Hunter walks in on Bobbie going through Mac’s things in his garage. Hunter doesn’t see her finger a thumb drive. Bobbie thinks Mac is dead, mainly because of the whole falling down the hundred foot hole thing. Good point, Bobbie. Hunter and Bobbie both really like Mac. Sorry Skye/Ward and FitzSimmons, but these two are becoming the cutest couple on the show. Bobbie gets a text from Diego, who you might remember from such roles as their contact in San Juan. She suggest Hunter be her back up when she rendezvouses with Diego. Hunter agrees to go, but calls her out on the thumb drive she just pocketed. He feels that when she hides things from him, he can’t trust her completely, but chooses to trust her anyway.

May and Coulson are going over the standoff with Ward on the Bus at the end of the last episode. May wishes she shot Ward in the head. Coulson counters that if she did, she, Skye and everyone else would have been shot out of the sky. Six agents are alive because of her actions; Coulson thinks she did the right thing.

Ward is leading a handcuffed Skye through a Hydra house. Ward reunites Skye and her dad, TV’s Kyle McLaughlin. Skye is shocked into silence. That would be my reaction too if I found out that guy who “Alrighty” proposed to Charlotte was my dad too. Kyle is the most awkward super powered psychotic father ever. He almost breaks down in tears. His name is Cal…or is it Kal?!? Wait, is he Superman?!? He thanks Skye for meeting with him. She points out that she was kidnapped at gunpoint.

Father Cal says to her, “I don’t know what you know about me.” Skye’s response is, “You’re a monster, a murderer. You leave a trail of death wherever you go.” And here I thought my family get-togethers could be awkward at times. Cal, quick tip, yelling every third word doesn’t break the tension…or make you look sane. Cal starts to tell Skye about himself and her mother, but just trails off. He says he wishes he could have taught her about the stars. I don’t think he means elementary school science. I think he’s talking about the Kree.

Hunter and Bobbie are about to meet up with Diego, when Bobbie pulls Hunter back and says, “This is bad. Diego is early and he’s wearing a suit.” When Hunter doesn’t understand what’s bad about that, Bobbie explains that Diego is never early and he never wears a suit. Two Hydra goons show up, shake Diego’s hand and all three of them walk directly in Bobbie and Hunter’s direction. Hunter and Bobbie can’t figure out if Diego is selling them out or selling Hydra out. To avoid the Hydra goons spotting them, Bobbie starts making out with Hunter. How does this work? WheneverI see people making out in public, they’re the least conspicuous people around. But the Hydra guys walk right on by and Diego slips Bobbie a note while she’s slipping Hunter her tongue. I was really hoping one of the Hyrdra guys would have paused, made a lewd gesture and told them to get a room.

Skye wants out. She opens the door, but there are two Hydra agents guarding it. Cal tells them not to be alarmed and shuts the door. He tells Skye that the Hydra agents don’t matter, and that after today, none of them will matter. Skye says they do matter, that he works for Whitehall and Hydra. They’re bad guys, she says, making him a bad guy. Cal goes a little bit crazy, saying he could never work for Whitehall. Cal, you really need to work on the going crazy while explaining things. It doesn’t help get your point across. He tells Skye that he used Whitehall to find her. Cal explains to Skye that her mother came from a line of gifted people (mutants? Haha, maybe is this was 1994, not 2014. That word verboten in Marvel Studios!). He brought Skye here so that she could receive her gift. He describes a transformation that she’s going to go through. Wait, is he talking about Terrigan Mists?!? He must be. In the comics, the Terrigan Mists are what give the Inhumans their powers. The mists affect each Inhuman differently, kind of like the way the x-gene expresses itself differently in each mutant. There I go using the m-word again. Sorry.

Skye interrupts Cal, wanting to know what happened to her mom. Cal tells her that people claiming to be SHIELD took her. Cal tracked them,but by the time he caught up with them, it was too late. Whitehall had cut her mom to pieces. Whitehall took her organs and blood and dumped her in a ditch. After Cal finishes, he apologizes and starts humming. This scene could not be any weirder. Skye recognizes the tune he’s humming. It’s the song Skye’s mom sang to her as a baby. A Hydra guy shows up saying that Whitehall wants Cal. Cal waves him off, so that he could finish humming. After the Hydra guy leaves, Cal says he’s off to kill Whitehall, and calls it the best day ever. Skye looks shocked. That’s fair. Shouldn’t her birth and the day he met her mom make the top 2. Killing Whitehall might be the third best day, if that.

Coulson’s team is on the bus, en route to San Juan. Trip asks Sam where Billy is. Sam says that the stress over fried Sam’s circuits and he’s recharging. Oh, an LMD joke! Trip doesn’t laugh. I do. Coulson tells Sam that he wants him and his brother Billy to head back to base. If things go south, he needs them to initiate the Theta Protocols. Going by the look on Sam’s face, this is some heavy stuff.

Bobbie calls with Hydra’s location. They’re practically on top of the city. This changes Coulson’s plans. He and May need to head out and back up Bobbie and Hunter now before Hydra can plasma drill their way to the secret city. Raina is overseeing the plasma drill. A Hydra guy gets her and brings her to Ward, Cal and Whitehall. Whitehall wants to know why Skye is here. He has a theory. Agent 33 pulls out the obelisk. Whitehall wants Skye to pick up the obelisk. She responds, “You first.” Guns are drawn. Cal nods at her. He has a scalpel in his hand with Whitehall’s name on it. Not really with Whitehall’s name on it. But I’m getting the feeling it will soon really have Whitehall’s blood on it. Skye picks up what Cal is putting down. She grabs the obelisk. It glows. She immediately dies.

Just kidding! It doesn’t do anything to her, it just lights up. She plunges it into the neck of a Hydra goon. He dies. For real, this time. Cal stabs another one. Ward draws his gun on other Hydra agents, but good guys are still outnumbered. Maybe good guys isn’t the best term with this crew. More like the team we’re rooting for is still outnumbered. Or the not-as-bad-as-Whitehall-and-Hydra guys are still outnumbered. The other Hydra goons and Agent 33 have their guns drawn on them. Whitehall approaches Skye and says, “I hope you’re as special as your mother.” So Whitehall knew who Cal was all this time? He was playing the guy playing him? Ooooo.

Whitehall is trying to figure out how Ward figures into all this here. Raina calls Ward out, saying that Ward loves Skye. A Hydra guy clocks Cal, knocking him out. They lead Skye and Ward away.

The Bus, still cloaked, lands on the roof of the building Skye is in. Bobbie and Hunter increase their cuteness quotient when it’s revealed that say to each other “Don’t die out there” before every mission, because as Hunter puts it, “Who doesn’t like to hear it?”

In the cave, Trip and FitzSimmons are all dressed in hazmat suits and are heading down into the hole with a bunch of detonators. Trip is ready to take out Mac if he’s still alive. Mac’s body isn’t at the bottom. That most likely means Mac is still alive, and probably still very zombie ant.

Ward wants to know why Agent 33 looks like May. I want to know if Ming-Na Wen get paid double for these Agent 33 episodes? Cal wakes up. He jumps at Whitehall, but Whitehall has placed some device on him that knocks Cal immobile. Whitehall wants to know what Skye’s gift is. Whitehall tells Call that he killed his wife, and before he kills him, will show Cal what he does to his daughter, you know, just to drive home that he’s the really bad guy here.

TripFitzSimmons (that’s their new name says I) are heading through corridors in the secret city. They get two detonators in place, and have two left. Fitz breaks off from the other two, because they don’t have time to not split up. This kind of thing never ends well. And Fitz doesn’t have the best track record with coming out of these kinds of things unscathed.

Ward gets into the head of the Hydra agent who is guarding him. He distracts him long enough for Cal to break the agent’s neck. Cal heads off to kill Whitehall, leaving Ward and Skye still tied up. When Cal finds Whitehall, Whitehall smiles and raises a gun. Coulson appears and shoots Whitehall in the back. Cal is pissed. Coulson tells him, “You’re welcome?” Coulson you better run, Cal is really pissed!

Whitehall is dead. Cal is yelling at Coulson, that Coulson had no right to kill Whitehall, Whitehall was his! Coulson says Cal is next if he moves. He’s not letting Cal take Skye into those tunnels to trigger whatever armageddon Cal thinks will happen. Cal steps towards Coulson, but before Coulson can shoot him, Agent 33 is shooting both of them. They run off, leaving 33 with Whitehall’s body.

Cal assaults Coulson. Coulson tries calming Cal down saying, “We both want to help your daughter.” Cal says she doesn’t need Coulson and proceeds to pummel him.

Ward frees himself and frees Skye. He’s rewarded by Skye shooting him a bunch of times in the gut.

The Cal vs. Coulson fight is decidedly one sided. Coulson is being beaten to death. Skye stops Cal from killing him by drawing a gun on Cal. She’s not going down the tunnel. And Ca’s leaving, or she’s going to kill him. He agrees to leave, but tells her that after she changes, no one else will understand but him. He calls her Daisy! Daisy! Oh man! Skye is really Daisy Johnson aka Quake! This is huge. Skye tells Coulson she’s going to stop the drill and find the obelisk.

A little on Daisy Johnson. In the comics, she’s a protege of Nick Fury. Her father in the comics, is the villainous Mr. Hyde. Hmm, this is explaining Kyle MacLachlan’s portrayal of his character much better. You might have guessed her powers by her code name Quake. She has the power to cause seismic shifts and earthquakes.

Agent 33 finds Ward. With Whitehall dead, her whole world is shattered. She’s afraid. She doesn’t know what to do. Ward convinces her to help him up, and that he’ll get her out of there. Coming next January, Ward and not Not-May on the road together, living the outlaw life!

Bobbie, Hunter and May kill more Hydra goons.

Skye finds the tunnel entrance. The obelisk is nowhere to to be found. That’s because Raina took it. She’s already down the tunnel. Raina comes across zombie ant Mac. He’s standing still. She tells him, “Take me there.” He leads her forward. Mac’s eyes are completely glazed over.

Coulson and May get to the hole. Where’s Skye? Coulson wants to follow her down. May points out all the bombs their team planted. Coulson isn’t leaving Skye. He tells May that her job is get everyone out if he and Skye aren’t back in time before the bombs go off.

TripFitzSimmons emerge from their hole. May tells them at that Skye and Coulson are down below. Tripp heads back down the hole sans hazmat suit. Trip, what the hell man? Don’t zombie ant yourself!

Mac takes Raina a room with a stone pillar bathed in light. Trip is running Indiana Jones style, not transformed into a zombie ant man like Mac. Trip defuses a bomb. Coulson and Skye are running around too, though not together. May tells Bobbie and Hunter to clear this place. Skye finds Mac. She tries to get him to respond. He’s catatonic. Aw man, I like Mac. Skye finds the room with the pillar. Raina is singing. I think she’s singing Cal’s song. How does she know that? She’s about to put the obelisk down on the pillar. Trip defuses the third bomb. Skye finds Raina. They have a weird Mexican standoff, Skye with a gun, Raina with the obelisk. The obelisk glows and floats from Raina’s hand on its own to the pillar. Trip defuses the last bomb just in time. The walls close in and Raina and Skye are trapped with the obelisk. Mac attacks Coulson, who gets the better of him. Hypno-Mac isn’t the fastest. Trip makes it into the room just as the walls close. Coulson arrives just too late. The obelisk opens. There are crystals inside it, wait is this Superman? Are we in the Fortress of Solitude? I mean, dude named Kal, alien crystals…

Mac has found Coulson. Coulson is not having a good day; he’s about to get beat again. In the room, the crystals glow and Skye, Trip and Raina are all bathed in smoke…or mist, Terrigan Mist! As soon as that happens, Mac drops to his knees. Skye and Raina are both covered in this weird black gel. Tip roundhouse kicks the crystals. They shatter in a wave of more smoke. Skye and Raina look like the victims of Pompeii. Trip screams “No!” Then the black gel starts to cover Trip. Skye starts to crack, or rather the casing around her does. As does Raina’s . Raina looks like she might have porcupine quills on her face now and orange eyes. The covering explodes off Skye. Hello, Quake! She causes a minor cave in with this new earthquake power. Wait,not minor. The whole place is coming down, even the house above the hole. Trip’s casing cracks. No, wait, Trip cracks. He falls apart. Trip is dead!!!!!! No!!!!!!

Someplace else, in some house, a box lights up. A man pulls out another obelisk! He makes a call. “Are you seeing this? There is someone new. Tell the others I’m on it.” The camera pulls back to reveal the man’s face. He has no eyes…or eye sockets even. Ahhhhh!

Agents of SHIELD isn’t back until January. Hopefully that’s enough time to process Trip’s death. Man, I can’t believe Trip is dead. I’m bummed. 🙁

December 7, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – Season 2, Episode 9 – Ye Who Enter Here – Recap

When the episode opens, Skye is in a white flower-print dress running barefoot running down a hall. It’s the dreaming? It kind of looks like she is. She’s yelling for Coulson. She can’t find anyone. She turns when she hears some chimes. This is one freaky dream. Coulson is now with her, staring at at a box. It’s a music box. Coulson and May are holding a baby. They’re dressed like suburbanites. May says “Sacrifices have to be made. Poison tree, poisoned fruit.” They leave the baby. The music box is the obelisk. When Skye touches it, it withers her.

She wakes up int he bus, freaked out. The team has arrived at its destination.

Mac is controlling a remote control Lucy (Coulson’s car, not Lucille Ball). He runs it into Fitz, who is impressed with the detail Mac put into this remote control car. He asks if it flies (it doesn’t). Mac is looking at Bobbie and Hunter being all chummy. Mac says a storm’s coming. Fitz takes him literally, and says he doesn’t think that’s in the forecast. Fitz was looking for Mac for a reason. He wants Mac to be a go between for him and Simmons. Mac suggests talking to her directly. Fitz blows Mac off.

Simmons is bandaging up Trip, who is shirtless. Um, his eyes are up here, Simmons. Skye walks in just as Trip calls Skye’s dad nutty. Classic Trip…

Coulson briefs his team. They basically walk through Hydra’s plans from the past few episodes and why they have to reach the temple in the secret city before Hydra does. There’s a LOT of exposition. I guess it’s handy if you’re someone who is just coming back to SHIELD after weeks of your friends telling you how good it is right now and you need to catch up.

Trip asks if the secret city related to the Bermuda Triangle. Coulson says they figured out the Bermuda Triangle back in the 80s. They’re headed to Puerto Rico.

In Vancouver, Raina is in a cafe with some white haired dude who is not Daniel Whitehall. New boyfriend? May is at the cafe too. Raina confronts her. Wait a second, it’s not May. It’s some severely facially bruised lady who is working for Whitehall. Raina bolts. Koenig spots her and tells her which way to go. Oh wow, there are lots of Koenig brothers around here, as another one of the Koenig clan grabs Raina. He envelops her in a cloaking umbrella. I want one of those. Raina is getting recruited by SHIELD!

Coulson is filled in by Billy Koenig (Sam is the other Koenig). They need an extraction team to get Raina out of Vancouver. Agent 33 is stuck looking like a bruised May ever since May electrocuted her while she wearing that digital May mask. So…the mask is stuck to her? Part of her now?

May and Skye watch a news story on Christian’s Ward’s death. They both know Ward did it. Skye wants to take him down.

Coulson is splitting up the team. May is headed to Vancouver to grab Raina. Bobbie, Mac and FitzSimmons are coming with Coulson. Coulson doesn’t want Skye anywhere near her Loony Toons dad.

Bobbie asks Simmons how long she and Fitz were a thing. Simmons denies it, poorly. Simmons says she’s been freaked ever since Fitz said she loved her, saved her life and went into a coma. Simmons said she never thought of him as anything more than a friend. Bobbie gives her some love advice that could have easily come from Tyra on Friday Night Lights. She could have been talking about Riggins as much as she was talking about Hunter.

Speaking of Hunter, Bobbie tells him, “Don’t die out there.” Hunter’s response? “It’s Canada.” HA!

Mac asks Bobbie if she “brought Hunter in on that other thing.” She says she didn’t. Wait, what other thing??? Are Mac and Bobbie double agents? Triple agents?

One of the Koenigs is walking down a street in Vancouver. A bald dude in a suit follows him. Hunter takes the bald bad guy down and walks off with the Koenig brother, who turns out to be Sam (“Billy is the shorter one”). May takes out two more agents. Billy and Raina are in a hideaway. Skye meets up with them. He tells her, “I’m Billy. Sam is the shorter one” Agent 33, aka Not-May, ambushes them. Wow, Skye has become a really good fighter. Seriously, when did Skye become such a skilled fighter? She’s almost May-like. Agent 33 eventually get the better of her. Luckily for Skye, Hunter drops Agent 33 before she can shoot Skye in the face. Hunter’s reaction to her looking like May “And I thought the Koenigs were creepy.” Hunter has the best lines this episode!

In San Juan, Bobbie and Coulson pull up in a jeep. They walk through a market. Coulson tries on a fedora. Bobbie is wondering why Coulson is so unfazed by the prospect of blowing up an underground city located under the streets of San Juan. She wants to make sure they’re there to destroy any weapons in the underground city, not recover them. Coulson gives a speech. His number of acceptable losses is zero. No one is dying on his watch here.

Simmons and Fitz have it out. Fitz is going to leave the lab so that Simmons can run the science division. He’s going to the garage on the bus to work with Mac. Don’t break up FitzSimmons! Fitz says he can work for her, but not with her. Ugh, you’re killing us, Fitz! Simmons just kind of nods her head and stares at the wall as Fitz leaves the room.

Bobbie and Coulson walking around San Juan makes me really want to visit San Juan. Wow, it is just beautiful.

Skye is guarding Raina. Raina realizes Hydra doesn’t want to kill her, they need her because Raina can hold the diviner. Raina tells Skye that she thinks Skye would live if she touched it too. Raina tries to hail the Hydra goons, but a Koenig runs down the Hydra guys in his van. Hunter and May pull Skye and Raina in the van.

Agent 33 calls Whitehall. They failed to abduct Raina, but Raina does have a tracker on her. Whitehall says he’ll get his best man on it.

Koenig is talking to Trip and says it must be weird for May seeing someone with her face. And then the other Koenig walks in. I love this episode. Trip asks how many Koenig brothers there are. They say 13 in unison. Trip flips. It’s just a joke, Trip…I think.

May tells Coulson that Raina says she can touch the obelisk without being harmed. In San Juan, Bobbie’s contact is afraid of the secret city and won’t join them. Coulson, Mac, FitzSimmons and Bobbie head down there. It looks like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade down there. Fitz sends some drones down a big hole to survey the tunnel. Simmons is finishing his sentences He doesn’t seem to mind that much. Uh oh, the drones just failed.

Raina gets her very own SHIELD lanyard. She and Skye talk over tea on the Bus. Raina tells Skye that her dad delivered her. Skye counters that he’s a murderer and almost killed her friend, Trip. Skye does want to understand her dad though. Raina tells Skye about how she first met him in Thailand. She was a con artist. Skye’s dad took her in. During the story, Raina calls the aliens the Kree! Raina names the Kree! Eeeee! This is huge! SHIELD really has become the stealthy background of building the biggest movies!

Raina is in Skye’s head. Skye wants to call Coulson and the team back to the Bus, but there’s no signal. Whitehall hails them. He’s jamming them. He wants Raina. Hand her over or be shot down. The bus is surrounded by Hydra Quinjets.

Mac hits the bottom of the tunnel. When Mac touches the ground, the symbols from the obelisk appear there, and then on his hand. He’s in pain, like “shoot me now” kind of pain. Oh man, I like Mac! Don’t kill him!

Coulson and company pull Mac out. He’s having a heart attack or something. Then he’s fine. Now, he’s not. His eyes are red. Mac says, “Run” and then proceeds to super-punch Coulson across the room. Ruh roh.

Ward leads in some Hydra goons onto the bus. Hey, a reunion! Skye tells Ward to pick a side. He ignores her and tells Raina, “Let’s go.” Raina is cool with leaving. But then Ward announces that he wants Skye too.

Bobbie fighting Mac is like Rey Mysterio fighting the Rock or Big Show. Fitz zaps Mac with an electroshock before she has the chance to crush Bobbie’s larynx…but it has no effect.

Back at the Mexican standoff on the Bus, guns are drawn and Ward tells Skye that if she comes, no one dies. A Koenig points out that Ward killed his brother. But Skye agrees to go.

Coulson pulls Mac off Bobbie. Simmons is almost thrown down into the pit. Coulson saves her. Fitz is about to shoot Mac, but tries talking him down. Bobbie electrocutes him. He falls down into the tunnel. Coulson tells her to seal the tunnel. She’s stunned, but Coulson yells, “That’s not Mack!” So much for zero acceptable losses.

Agent 33 gets in Whitehall’s car. She tells him Ward has Raina, however there was a complication, he also took Skye. Whitehall okay with it, noting that at least Ward shot the SHIELD plane down. Agent 33 basically says, “Yeah…he didn’t.” Whitehall gives the command, which Agent 33 relays to some Hydra guys: shoot down the plane. Her robotic voice really freaks me out.

And that’s it! Oh man, we only have one more episode before the mid-season break! Expect excitement next week!

December 3, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – Season 2, Episode 8 – The Things We Bury – Recap

We open in the past, in Austria, 1945. Daniel Whitehall, with a much heavier German, accent is interrogating some Asian dude. This guy and his friends are who originally dug up the obelisk. Whitehall has him touch the obelisk. The guy immediately turns to dust. Whitehall is trying to figure out why it affects whom it affects. He calls for another subject.

The next subject brought in is an Asian woman. She spots the decayed finger that is all that’s left of the last guy and really doesn’t want to touch the obelisk. Whitehall doesn’t give her much choice. He forces her to touch the obelisk. The obelisk glows, but doesn’t harm her. Whitehall and his goons are shocked. Her reward for living is vivisection.

Just then, a Nazi bursts in to announce that the Red Skull is dead and that Allies are approaching.

Back to the present, Whitehall is talking to a team of scientists about the obelisk. They haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out the obelisk than he did in 1945. His guards drag in Kyle McLaughlin. It’s nice to see Kyle McLoughlin play someone so crazy. He’s usually so reserved and tight assed in his roles. Kyle says it’s not a weapon. It’s a key. Oh Oh, to the city! The city from Coulson’s crazy carvings! Kyle says “There’s a place…” I really hoped he was going to finish with “for us,” and burst into song, but no such luck.

The Bus, fully cloaked, is on its way to Hawaii. Coulson is on the Bus. Skye is with him. Coulson chatting with May, who is in charge back at their base. Bobbie is interrogating Bakshi at the base. Bakshi is giving Bobbie the standard Hydra spiel. Bobbie calls him out on it. Hunter and Mac watch her chip away at Bakshi. Seeing Adrianne Palicki kick ass on this show makes me really wish that her Wonder Woman pilot was picked up. I’m not complaining too much though, because she completely rocks as a SHIELD agent. Mac is worried about Coulson, and expresses it to Hunter. Mac definitely doesn’t have full faith in Coulson after seeing how crazy Coulson was acting while he was strapped into that memory machine. Simmons joins them. Simmons does not like Bakshi at all. Bobbie suggests to Bakshi that he’s been brainwashed by Whitehall. Bakshi doesn’t believe her, but doesn’t not believe her either.

Christian is on the phone, first with his wife and then his mistress as he pulls up to his family’s house in the woods. You guys, Christian cheats on his wife. That’s how you know he’s badder than he lets on. Ward throws one of Christians guards through Christian’s window to get his brother’s attention. It works.

Coulson’s team land in Oahu. He gives his team some fun assignments when they land in Hawaii. He tells Skye to bring this watch to a guy to get inscribed “Dearest Darren, I count the seconds that we’re apart. Love, Your Island Flower.” He warns her that if the watch starts to leak, drop it and run. He gives Trip a button and dry cleaning ticket. He warns Trip not to put the button in his pocket if he wants kids, and to come back with the blue tie. Ooooh, we are in full secret agent mode! Fitz wants to know what Coulson wants of him. Coulson needs Fitz to install some equipment in the field, under pressure in under 6 minutes. He wants Fitz to practice until he gets it right. I wonder if Coulson actually needs this installed or if he’s just helping Fitz through busywork.

Bobbie is twiddling her escrima sticks. Hunter asks what’s wrong. She says she’s got Bakshi figured out, but can’t figure out what’s the deal is with Whitehall. Simmons finds some files made by Agent Carter (coming soon to ABC)! May pulls out the key to Vault B from a secret cubbyhole. Agent Carter left it there. Oh, SHIELD base…so many secret cubbyholes.

Cut to the past…Agent Carter time! Carter is interrogating Werner Reinhardt, aka Daniel Whitehall. Reinhardt wants a deal. Carter isn’t going for it. She thinks he’s a monster. He claims he’s the only one who can explain all the items Carter has taken from him. Whitehall talks about “A city in the east. Blue angels bearing a gift for all mankind.” Whitehall tells her these visitors came to conquer the world. Guys, I’m like 99% sure he’s talking about the Kree here, and that the secret city is Attilan. Now, if you’re a Marvel Comics reader, you’re probably thinking the exact same thing, but for those of you who don’t read the comics, the Kree are an alien race who have come to Earth numerous times and experimented on humans. Their most famous experiments are the Inhumans, a super powered Kree created offshoot of humanity.

In the present, Kyle tells Whitehall, it’s not conquer, it’s end. End mankind. Except for a chosen few, chosen by the diviner, aka the obelisk. Kyle says he can get Whitehall into the temple that the diviner opens. Whitehall is afraid of a double cross, but Kyle doesn’t want the power for himself, he only wants revenge on who killed his wife, and to be reunited with this family in the afterlife. Kyle is seriously coo coo.

Ward is leading a handcuffed Christian into the woods. Christian tries to convince Ward that Ward is free because of him. Ward picks up a shovel. He want Christian to dig up the well from their youth. Ward explains that their parents didn’t fill in the well; they just covered it up.

At the Bus, Fitz is working. He gets it done 11:23. Not fast enough. Again! Fitz thinks Coulson is just testing him. Me too, Fitz, me too. Trip puts it into perspective by mentioning that Coulson just had him deliver a button to a 300 pound Hawaiian man. Fair enough. Coulson moves in mysterious ways.

At the base, Hunter finds the Reinhardt file. After seeing Reinhardt’s photo, Simmons realizes that REINHARDT is WHITEHALL! Dun! Dun! Dun! Oh wait, we knew that. The characters are just catching up to us. May verifies it by pulling up Reinhardt’s photo as an old man, a life prisoner at the Rat. Somehow he’s turned back the clock.

In the past, Carter turns down Whitehall. She tells him she’s burying him here, in the Rat. Reinhardt is locked up for a long time. Strangely, they give him access to different books over the years, and a chess set. The chess set is less surprising, but why give the Nazi scientist reading material? If I’ve got a Nazi prisoner, he’s getting one back issue of TV Guide that already had the crossword puzzle done and that’s it. 44 years later, Reinhardt is an old man. Undersecretary Pierce (Hail Hydra) has him freed. The agent freeing him says “Hail Hydra.” He tells Reinhardt that after all these years, they found the woman, she’s still alive. I have a feeling it’s the lady from earlier…and also Skye’s mom. Hey look, I’m right…on the first part at least. She’s as young as she was in 1945. They’re now in Austria in 1989. Strangely, the suits don’t have giant shoulder pads.

Reinhardt is excited. He’s going to cut her open. She, understandably, freaks out.

Simmons says there are no records for Reinhardt post-1989. Hunter gives Reinhardt’s file to Bobbie. She asks Bakshi if his devotion to Whitehall is based on fear or respect. Bakshi plays to the closed circuit camera, mentioning how quickly Bobbie ingratiated herself into Hydra, trying to get her SHIELD teammates to turn on her. Bobbie realizes Bakshi is afraid of disappointing Whitehall. She says they’ll tell Whitehall that Bakshi gave them everything on Whitehall, everything in the Reinhardt file. Bakshi tenses. Baksi slams his head onto the table as hard as he can to dislodge a cyanide capsule in his cheekbone. Sneaky sneaky Bakshi.

Ward wants Christian to admit that he made Ward push Thomas (the third Ward brother) down the well. Christian tells him he’s wrong. Ward says he isn’t falling for it. This whole family is nuts. Christian manages to sucker-hit Ward with the shovel. Ward drags him back and pulls the wooden cover off the well. He hangs Christian over the well. Seriously, nutty family. Ward is about to throw him in and Christian admits it was him, he wanted Thomas dead. “Thomas was the only one mom didn’t torture.” What. The Fuck. He tearfully apologizes to Grant, who gives him no emotion back. Grant helps him to his feet and hugs him, tears up a little and then to everyone’s surprise, walks off with his brother arm in arm. I really thought Christian was going in the well.

Coulson’s team is in Australia. They’re in Australia and not Hawaii because of an overly complicated bit about the software they need to map the Earth to find the secret city is in a Hawaii base being too heavily guarded, but the button and watch introduced a Trojon Horse that will knock out the Hawaiian feed, bringing the Australian one online. This makes sense only when Coulson explains it. Sorry. Fitz has the transceiver down to 7:28. That’s still not good enough. Fitz believes in himself though and is confident he’ll nail it in the field.

They hit the base. It’s empty. Their radios are jammed. They’re ambushed!! The crew is tied up. Is this Hydra? It looks like Hydra. The servers are coming online as the shootout is underway. Coulson brings the crew to safety. Trip takes out some Hydra while Fitz gets to work. Trip is shot. It misses his vest. He’s going to bleed out. Kyle rushes in and offers to help. “I’m a doctor.” Whhhhhaaaat?

He’s not kidding about helping. He pulls out his medical supplies and works on pulling out the bullet from Trip. Phil is shocked that Kyle knows his name. Coulson draws his gun on him. Kyle tells them that if he lets go of the clamp, Trip dies. Kyle takes their guns, and gets back to work.

Kyle tells Phil he knows what’s inside the secret city. Phil asks if whatever it is inside has tesseract level power. Kyle says “Sure…I don’t know what that is.” Ha, best line of the night! Kyle then goes on a weirdo rant, and gets really angry when Phil refers to his daughter as Skye. He tells Phil how to save Trip and bounces. Fitz gets to work on the transceiver while Coulson works on saving Trip. Trip is going to make it. Yay. I like Trip.

Whitehall is meeting with….??? We see a flashback of him operating on Skye’s mom. They vivisect her. By the end, she’s dead, and he injects himself with her blood, making him young again. Oh, he’s taking to Ward. Interesting. He offers Ward a second chance. Wow, Ward killed Christian and his own parents! And made a recording of Christian’s confession by the well to make it look like a murder suicide. Oh Ward…

Bakshi is alive, just barely. Hunter accuses Bobbie of pushing Bakshi too hard because he was about to reveal her Hydra secrets. They argue. Bobbie basically says that he’s the one person she doesn’t lie too. Then they’re undressing and getting int he back of a SHIELD van. If the SHIELD van is a knocking…

Skye and Coulson are searching for the city. Skye tells Coulson, you’re acting like you saw the devil out there. Before he can respond, the computer has found the city! Oh boy!

Speaking of the devil, Kyle is meeting with Whitehall and Ward. Whitehall is teaming them up. When Kyle hears that Ward was on Coulson’s team, he perks up. He tells Ward it’s always good to look your enemy right in the eye…and then looks right at Whitehall.

Cut to 25 years ago. Kyle has found the lady’s dead body. It’s definitely Skye’s mom. He vows to kill her killer. Hey Kyle, it’s Whitehall. Oh wait, by now you know that.

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