*Spoilers Ahead*
Agents of SHIELD continued it's march towards the second season finale this week with an episode that finally shone some light on the Inhuman community. With so much going on in the story right now the next few episodes will almost be required to be more of a information dump and set up pieces just to get the show where it needs to be for a big show down between the SHIELD fractions. Coulson has lost SHIELD and Skye and this episode allows fans to see who Coulson turns too and really trust when the chips are down. While thinking about that keep in mind Steve Rodgers is a little unavailable due to contract and money issues so you're gonna just have to settle for what the AOS bunch can give you.
The show picks up with Skye lying in a bed with what looks like acupuncture needles in her skin at the place Gordon took her when she called to him for help at the end of the last episode. Gordon enters the room after Skye freaks out on Robbie, the guy treating her, and explains she has been unconscious for two days. This gives viewers a nice little timeline to keep in mind the rest of the episode and means everyone has had a couple days to think things over between the two SHIELDS. Skye tries to convince Gordon and Robbie that she needs to go help her friends, but they talk her into staying and recovering from the effects of her powers.
Coulson and Hunter are still on the run from SHIELD and they have taken refuge inside the safe house that Banner built. A nice little scene takes place with Coulson showing some doubt in himself and Hunter being there to build back up his resolve over a few glasses of a nice whiskey. The two discuss their options and Coulson tells Hunter they are out of good options to which Hunter makes the quip that it may be time for the bad ones. This leads Coulson to tripping the alarms while Hunter is asleep effectively giving away their position and inviting Agent Gonzales' SHIELD to their front door.
Things have not changed much in the last two days at the SHIELD head quarters. May is still in custody for freeing Coulson while Fitz and Simmons are being talked into joining the enemy. It becomes clear very quickly that this new SHIELD views the science team as being no threat to them and offers them them the choice of joining or just going about their life. Fitz starts packing his bags while Simmons is talked into attempting to open Fury's toolbox for Bobbi.
Back at the Afterlife, the name the Inhumans have given their safe heaven, Skye runs into Gordon and ask him to tell her team she is alright. Gordan tells Skye that he must ask permission from the Elders and he expects they will deny his request. This mention of the Elders may be Marvel's first reference to Black Bolt and the Royal family in the MCU. This would make since considering their film has been announced and Marvel loves their foreshadowing.
After Bobbi tells Agent Gonzales he is handling May all wrong he decides to try an approach that threw a good twist into the story. Gonzales brings May into a conference room and after a tense situation involving a gun, offers her a seat on the board that runs this new SHIELD. While May ponders this, Fitz is busy packing up his bags when Mack comes to him and tries to convince him to stay. While doing this Mack tells Fitz that Simmons has decided to stay and is cracking the toolbox at that moment. Fitz goes to his moniter to view her progress and instantly goes to find her.
Hunter and Coulson are pinned down inside the safe house when the SHIELD teams arrive but Coulson assures Mack he has back up coming. It takes the SHIELD team an hour to break down the door Banner built to keep the Hulk at bay. When they do they find a hologram distraction that allows Coulson and Hunter to take them down with icers and escape to try and take over a quinjet. When they are captured and about to be taken to the base Deathlok arrives. Actually, Agent Deathlok arrives and that should be enough to get any comic book fanboy chills. Deathlok saves them and then uploads the ability to fly the quinjet before safely flying off to safety.
Back in Afterlife, Skye stumbles upon Raina after Robbie lets something slip about her being there. Skye confronts her and uses her powers to put Raina on the edge of death before she is stopped. The person who talks Skye down is actually her Mother, who apparently has the ability to not age. She ask Skye to stay for a couple of days and if she doesn't feel a connection after that time then she will not object to her leaving. Skye doesn't react upon seeing her mother so it is a pretty safe bet Skye doesn't have a clue what she looks like, this will make for a pretty interesting story to follow over the next few episodes.
At the SHIELD base Fitz confronts Simmons and grabs the toolbox from her. Everyone draws on Fitz and after an emotional in between Fitz puts it back down and leaves. While hailing a taxi Fitz reaches into his bag and pulls out the toolbox and his favorite sandwich. Simmons had made a replica and once Fitz saw her work on the monitor he knew she planned on him leaving with the real one. The last scene in the base is Simmons telling the other SHIELD the tech is to far advanced for her to figure out.
The final scene of the episode shows Hunter and Coulson discussing what their next move is going to be. Coulson looks at Hunter and tells him it's the bad one, finding Grant Ward for help. A few other scenes in the episode not really worth mentioning are between Gordon and Cal and are really nothing more than Cal yelling to see his daughter and Gordon saying no. But Skye's mother does visit Cal and embraces him while praising him for bringing their daughter home.
While this wasn't the most exciting episode by any means, it was really nice to get a chance to delve more into the Inhuman story. Seeing Deathlok as a full fledge agent of SHIELD was pretty cool, but no one is ever sad to see killer cyborgs in action. Another thing that stood out from the episode was a line Agent Gonzales said about no one wanting a war but it may be inevitable. While Captain America: Civil War doesn't come out until next year this could be a play that SHIELD divided could play a big role between Stark and Rodgers on the civil screen. Hopefully we are not too many episodes away from Skye saving the day in a full fledge Quake moment.
Episode Rating: 7
