So last episode was DARK. Lets check in and see how my babies are dealing with the trauma.
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“Legitimate quotes look like this.”
‘silly paraphrasing looks like this’
Footnotes [1]look away! contain spoilers for future episodes
(personal tangents are notated in such a manner)
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Hunter is trapped in the flipped car with his two dead friends. May shows up to try to rescue him and he’s like, ‘you better go get that bitchass who just killed my girl (and Idaho)’ so she leaves him with some neat laser cutter and motorcycles off toward Creel. Hunter gets himself out of the car but is taken in by some military folk.
Coulson orders May not to attack Creel because he doesn’t want to put civilians in danger.
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Trip Wisdom
“Don’t think the worst until it shakes your hand and says hello”
“Is that another saying from your Grandma?”
“Fortune cookie. Had some kung pao chicken the other night.”
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Skye tells Coulson that she noticed the symbols she has been studying appeared on the obelisk when Hartley touched it (These are the symbols carved by Garrett and Coulson and the ones from the Eye Spy mission). Coulson is basically like ‘cool.’ And Skye is all ‘that’s it?’ so Coulson distracts her by saying Hunter has been captured and could possibly ruin the secretness of their secret hideout.
Hunter is dropped in a field and then picked up in a helicopter by Brigadier General Glenn Talbot.
Glenn is like ‘bro, I just need you to help me find Coulson.’ Last episode, we saw Hunter get pissed at Coulson for putting them all in danger and now… two of his friends are dead… seems logical that he would turn on SHIELD in exchange for a whopping $2million and a proper burial for Hartley.
Skye, Trip, and Mack are checking out the cloaking technology from the quinjet and they’re worried that Fitz will be crushed that they didn’t wait for him to figure it out himself. Mack asks Fitz for help with retrofitting the cloaking for the Bus. Fitz gets flustered around the three of them and walks off. Interestingly, in this scene, Trip says, “I can’t believe Simmons abandoned him like that” to which Skye replies, “She abandoned all of us.” So this makes it clear that Simmons did not leave on good terms, which is surprising[2]of course we will SOON learn that she is on a super-secret mission that only Coulson knows about. Mack asks if everyone is back from the mission. This is another look into Coulson’s new hard-boiled brand of leader – he is not telling his team that two teammates were killed and another captured. Hm. Tough to watch my dad keep my children at such a distance, but he’s in charge so I guess he knows what he’s doing.
In the principal’s office, we get to see the holographic projections from the lil toolbox at work. It’s fun (I personally am always happy for any and all hologram opportunities). He finally lets Skye know that Hartley and Idaho were killed by Creel. He deflects another question about the obelisk symbols.
Skye: You need to loosen up. Try yoga or something”
Coulson: I tried it, but I’m really not flexible.”
*Skye fully leaves the room and closes the door behind her.*
Coulson: But, thanks.
Fitz is upset that the team went to such trouble to get cloaking while he was “so close.” Since the audience now knows about imaginary Simmons, the scenes between them get to be a bit quirky and fun. “Simmons” is affirming that the team lost patience with him regarding cloaking, but she suggests they could use his help regarding Creel’s abilities. The dynamic between the two of them (or rather, the dynamic Fitz is imagining) is all very precious
Creel is distressed at a diner. Part of his arm has turned into the deadly stone material from the obelisk. May is staking out the diner and she hears screams. She rushes in to see that a waitress who touched Creel has turned to stone. Like… she gone. Oop.
Hunter shows up to the base in a new fancy car. He’s upset that Coulson isn’t going after Creel with everything he’s got. Hunter appears to feel guilty for dragging Hartley out of the mission when Coulson told him not to. He tells Coulson that he could have led Talbot’s guys to this hideout, but he chose not to. He knows that Coulson will find Creel first and that’s all he cares about.
Love love this scene. Fitz is analyzing Creel’s data. When he says they need to find a way to “destabilize” Creel, he realizes he “… didn’t solve this today.” Mack approaches and confronts Fitz about talking to himself and trying to blow everyone off. Imaginary Simmons points out that the way Mack treats Fitz is refreshing. Precious moment when “Simmons” guides Fitz’s hand toward Mack with the data he’s studying. Fitz + Mack 5ever.
Hunter finds Skye packing up Hartley’s things. He tells Skye a bit about Izzy and her sister Jane. He takes a necklace that belonged to their mom. He compliments Skye’s skills and says she needs to keep an exit strategy in mind. She says, “not me. SHIELD is my life now.” And oof I mean I’ve never lived at my job before, but that kind of thinking sounds dangerous. Hunter says as much.
Creel is trying different materials to absorb to fight against his new stone disease. Nothing is working. He talks to suave British Hydra guy on the phone about his condition, but duh Hydra is not going to be any help. After he breaks the phone, RAINA shows up. She brought him carbine… it’s some rock that comes from stardust and is three times harder than diamond. Sounds super sci fi. She wants to work with him, but he just steals the fancy rock and bounces.
Raina sends a secret message to SHIELD for them to call her. On the phone, she says that she’d rather Coulson retrieve the obelisk than Hydra… because she thinks he’ll understand it. She knows that the symbols Garrett was carving are related to the obelisk. She believes he was carving those symbols because of the alien serum he was injected with… the same type of serum that saved Coulson’s life (and Skye’s… but we won’t worry about that this episode). She has a tracker in the fancy rock that Creel stole so they can hunt him down together.
The team is getting ready to hunt down Creel. Hunter wants to go with them. May sticks up for him to Coulson and says Hunter could be useful on the mission. Whelp.
Mack and Fitz are working with three random scientists in the lab to figure out how to destabilize Creel. The scientists are giving each other eyes at Fitz’s odd behavior. Bigtime jerks. Mack rightly tells them to beat it. After a bit more rambling, Mack realizes that Fitz’s repeated, “I didn’t solve this today” means that he already has a solution – they just need to find an old design. And they do. (It’s heartwarming. Mack says, “I’m with you, Turbo” and a tear bloomed in my eye. Best Friendship Ever[3]I hope one of them never has to watch the other one die )
Creel is meeting with the suave Hydra Brit to hand over a conspicuous metal briefcase. The Brit uses the phrase “compliance will be rewarded” on Creel. Creel seems to be taken over by this. He calms down, the stone disease withdraws, and he responds, “I’m happy to comply.” Interesting.
Coulson’s orders are for May to follow Creel while Hunter and Skye follow the Brit – all our guys are armed with ICERs. Meanwhile, Trip is standing by with our only lethal option. So… Hunter decides to fuck it all up and take over. He SHOOTS MAY AND SKYE with his ICER. He goes up to Trip’s sniper nest and SHOOTS TRIP with his ICER. And then he takes the rifle…. out of the sniper nest … and goes outside to shoot Creel from a short distance (why??? Is his aim that bad? Did he want Creel to see his face?). It doesn’t work. Creel deflects the bullet. So then Hunter just has to run away. Right before Creel gets to him, Coulson (who is not supposed to be in the field, per Ms. May) gets Creel with the destabilizer device from MackFitz! We see Creel involuntarily change from substance to substance before turning into a stone statue. In all the ruckus, RAINA slipped away with the conspicuous briefcase.
Hunter watches Hartley’s funeral from a distance. He leaves the necklace on Jane’s rearview mirror.
Coulson approaches him there. He wants Hunter on the team. He needs skilled assets who are willing to step over the line – people who are willing to do the wrong thing for the right reason. “I need you because I can’t be you.” Love that.
He says people he trusts vouched for Hunter and he wants to know why. Also May wants revenge for being SHOT.
Hunter says he’s curious about the team and that’s a good enough reason to join for now.
Coulson then asks Hunter to sell him out to Talbot! wha
Fitz is trying to have a science-talk back-and-forth with Mack like he used to with Simmons. Mack is not Simmons. He doesn’t have all that nerd speak in his brain. He’s good with machines, but he requires directions. He tells Fitz that it is tough to lose a partner. Fitz looks over at Imaginary Simmons on the other side of the lab and says he’s holding up okay (ah she’s literally farther away now that Fitz is emotionally close to someone else for once. I get it.)
Skye and May look on, pleased with Fitz’s new friendship. Skye says everyone has changed – even The Director. May is trying to defend Coulson’s actions, but Skye isn’t buying it. She believes something is wrong with Coulson. May is like ‘shut up he’s fine’ then we immediately cut to her confronting him in the principal’s office. He is overdue for another episode. They prep the office – lower the blinds, lay down a sheet, get out the camera – then Coulson gets to work carving those familiar line-and-circle drawings while May documents it. I’m happy that he’s got her in on it – that this isn’t some weighty secret waiting to be released.
Raina is looking at the obelisk. KYLE MACLACHLAN congratulates her on getting it. He orders her to pick it up. She does. She’s fine! The symbols still pop up on the obelisk, but she isn’t affected. Kyle MacLachlan says he’ll show her what it does once she brings him his daughter! Yup this is Skye’s dad, baby.
Logo Final Stinger.
Coulson and a white van are waiting for Talbot in a field. Creel is in a stasis chamber in the van; he is to be a peace offering for Talbot. SHIELD will keep dropping off presents like this and Talbot can take credit for them. All they ask in return is for some breathing room. Talbot is like, ’y’all are weakass bitches with no resources – no deal’ but then Coulson is like ‘actually we’re doing great’ and then the INVISIBLE BUS reveals itself above them. Then Coulson steps onto the INVISIBLE STOLEN QUINJET and they scoot out. Power moves galore.