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!