Agents of SHIELD: A Family Divided

Courtesy of ABC

Warning: Spoiler Alert

The Doctor now knows that Skye (Daisy) was the one chosen by the Diviner and will be experiencing some changes. Before he can do anything to help her, he must first recruit. Drea de Matteo is introduced as Gideon as a part of said recruitment.

Skye: I gotta say Director no doubt, the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had.
Coulson: Secret ingredient. Don’t ask. I will not disclose.

Skye is beginning to come to grips with what has happened to her. Not so much in that she has answers to questions, just that she seems to grasp that she’s changed. And making the proper adjustments. Including but not limited to utilizing the Dr. Banner heart rate watch. She’s optimistic she’ll be out in the field if this progress of preventing episodes continues. However, being put on the ‘gifted index’ is going to complicate things slightly.

Simmons is still feeling betrayed by Fitz’ lie about Skye’s test results. As a viewer, I’d like someone to point out to Gemma Simmons, that this is not an even transgression. People will almost always feel that the slights against them are far worse than the slights they’ve inflicted on others. Simmons feels betrayed by this one lie. While all last season, Simmons repeatedly fibbed, lied, avoided, and eroded her relationship with Fitz. Where’s all of that in her Socratic Method of weighing the various criteria that leads her to believe Fitz is the one who’s ruined their relationship.

Simmons in her exchange with Bobbi said, “with a betrayal of trust like that, it changes everything”. This is a lovely device to tease and foreshadow reaction when applied to whatever is going on with Mack and Bobbi. On some level, there is absolutely a betrayal being executed on their end. I’ve mentioned a theory (whose details I am not as of yet disclosing) that would make their deception, less catastrophic, if the theory stays intact.

Bobbi calls Mack who has delivered Hunter to a safe house. More specifically handcuffed him to a sink in a safe house. Hunter is not happy. Bobbi has a plan for an extraction as to keep Coulson off the scent.

May finds Andrew outside of a Culver University building. He reacts to her presence, which may not be a good thing. There is clearly a history here, a marital history. May did the leaving if you were wondering. The conversation between May and Andrew is not exactly warm. Andrew will be brought in for the mental side of Skye’s condition. He has conditions, which May gladly agrees to. His duty is to Skye, not SHIELD.

The Doctor and his gang of three take out a security guard and break INTO a mental hospital facility. On site, Coulson and Bobbi begin to find out what happened. Then Bobbi recognizes Skye’s father on the surveillance footage. Not good. In the basement of this facility are two criminals of remarkable consequence. One of them is there, a huge man named John Bruno. He attacks Bobbi, who puts him down easily. The other is in The Doctor’s custody.

Skye wants absolutely nothing to do with any sort of psych evaluation, until May divulges that she used to be married to the shrink in question. Skye jumps right in trying to get the skinny on a Melinda May wedding. Andrew isn’t buying it. Whatever enjoyment might have come from this exchange, is not coming on Skye’s end. Seeing this conversation going in circles, Andrew employs a tactic to get Skye to open up. Details of the wedding (they eloped), something he had no interest in discussing.

Fitz almost walks in on May and Andrew. When Fitz sees May laugh, he gets the heck out of there. Fitz attempts to use the microwave in the lab without disturbing Simmons. Simmons asks about May and Andrew and Fitz tells her. This opens up a dialogue between Fitz and Simmons that is without constraint and organic, for the first time since maybe the escape pod situation. Then Skye’s readings fly off the charts.

Skye is shaking everything, this time in her sleep. Andrew, May, Fitz and Simmons rush to her location and wake her up. She’s coherent for a few seconds. May tells her to make it stop. Skye is able to do just that.

While Bobbi feeds Coulson a plausible but untrue story about why Hunter hasn’t checked in, Coulson predicts The Doctor’s next move. Luring Coulson back to his hometown. In Wisconsin. During a session, the room begins to shake again. But this time, it is absolutely not Skye doing it. May has taken off, setting the bus in Coulson’s direction.

The jail broken inmate named David Angar, is getting his Hannibal Lecter mask removed. He has the ability to render people catatonic. While at Coulson’s old high school this Angar walks out onto the field and yells as loud as he can. All the kids at football and cheer leading practice fall out immediately. Moments later, birds begin to fall from the sky.

En route to Wisconsin, Skye puts herself in the game. She gets resistance from May and Andrew, but her logic is sound and she is controlling the emotional triggers that bring on the episodes. In Wisconsin, The Doctor does his own introductions and play by-play until it draws Coulson out. While The Doctor ranting about big, bad SHIELD, May walks onto the field with a gun to Skye’s throat. She then informs him that his daughter is now on the index.

The Doctor turns, confident they won’t kill Skye when a familiar image appears. The plasma like force field announcing the arrival of the eyeless man. The eyeless man takes The Doctor and teleports out of there. Andrew gets Skye out-of-the-way. Coulson takes out Angar. May charges towards Francis, the steroid muscle. Francis fights like a combination of Beast and Juggernaut (of X-Men). Bobbi chases after Gideon.

The ground begins to shake. Everyone notices it. Skye takes a moment and reels it in. Then her skin begins to change a blistery purple color in blotches. Then she passes out. While she has been under the assumption that she is mentally controlling her episodes, she has in fact been directing her own powers inward. She passes out because her own powers cause over 75 fractures within her own arms. Coulson charges Simmons with find out more about the power, and ordered her to keep this to herself.

Mack: You were right. For a while there, it all went to hell. It was bad. But now Bobbi and I work for an organization. An outlier. That came out of the wreckage of what Fury left.

Hunter: What organization Mack? Who the hell are you working for?
Mack: Shield. The real Shield. (Mack turns to reveal a different Shield logo behind him)

The Doctor sits huddled in the middle of the floor in a room that appears to be decimated. Broken furniture everywhere. He demands to know why the eyeless man didn’t grab Daisy. Apparently, The Doctor is making too much noise. He grabs his jacket and leaves, to be presumably dealt with by someone else.