SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Coulson is taken to the base where he tries to get Robert Gonzales to work with him to put an end to Hydra experimenting on powered people. At Afterlife, Skye confronts her mother about rescuing Lincoln but Jaiying knows Hydra first hand and that rescuing him would be fruitless. Meanwhile, Coulson and Gonzales return to the Bus accompanied by Grant Ward. Coulson plans with other high ranking SHIELD agents to strike at the Hydra base in the Antarctic. Bobbi and Gonzales agree with the mission but the other agents are against the idea. Being the deciding vote, Melinda May talks with Coulson in private. She knows about Coulson meeting with her ex-husband Andrew which he confesses to the meeting as session to deal with his alien writing. Coulson manages to convince May to join him. The team prepares to leave when the alarm sounds, set off by Skye. In Afterlife, Jaiying decides to allow Calvin to stay. She asks him about Raina. Calvin tells her that Raina cannot be trusted. Coulson and his team are in route to the Hydra base but tensions are high with Ward present. Coulson gets them back on track. However, they are picked up on radar even though the jet is cloaked. List orders the jet shot down. May uses the debris of the Bus as cover for the smaller Quinjet which she guides to the ground. The team enters the base, taking out several Hydra agents in their search for Mike Peterson and Lincoln. Simmons finds Peterson while Skye fights her way to Lincoln. With them secure, Coulson contacts Gonzales who orders an airstrike on the Hydra base. Coulson’s team return to base without Grant Ward who found his own way out. Grant calls Coulson to tell him that Kara deserves a second chance at being a SHIELD agent. Elsewhere in the base, Coulson talks with Maria Hill about Hydra in possession of Loki’s scepter and decides to inform the Avengers. At the same time, Gonzales reveals to Bobbi that he intends to keep Skye and Lincoln prisoner to learn more about the others. At Afterlife, Raina has a terrifying vision.
It’s all coming together! How does Joss Whedon come up with a series that will be the forerunner for several Marvel films and make it work? He and his team are doing amazing work with the characters and the tie-ins to a couple films, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, which Raina has a vison about the events of that film. Another reference from the first Avengers’ film comes from Loki’s staff which Coulson and Maria Hill know is in Hydra’s possession. It’ll be cool to see that thing again. One other highlight is the molasses like tension between Grant Ward and everyone else. Coulson knew it was going to be uneasy working with Ward after everything he has done to hurt the team. Everyone was giving him dagger eyes and I half expected Skye to just rattle his bones to pieces. But she didn’t. However, Skye did learn to control her powers thanks to her mother Jaiying and coupled with May’s training, she can be a force to reckon with. A first example of this is when she takes out several Hydra soldiers using incredible fighting skill and her vibration manipulation powers. I like what is being done with Skye/Daisy Johnson—can we call her Quake now?! Sheesh. This illustrates the growth in her character since the first season. She’s no longer that frazzled recruit. She is an agent and I can’t wait to see her in action again.
I have had suspicions of Robert Gonzales since he was first introduced. He’s not Hydra but he does seem to have a thing against powered people. Even though they have done nothing to agitate him, he wishes to stop a “potential threat”. I believe that Gonzales may suffer from a bit of paranoia. Could it have something to do with what he has hidden in his ship Adama?
