Violet recaps Season 2 Episode 14 of Agents of SHIELD, titled Love in the Time of HYDRA, where Edward James Olmos guest stars, and we find out more about what Mac and Bobbi have been up to! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts on the episode.
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Episode Recap of Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 14: Love in the Time of HYDRA
Ward and Agent 33 are at a diner, and kidnap a guy at gunpoint to fix Agent 33’s face.
On the Bus, Simmons is treating Skye, when Fitz and Simmons begin arguing over her condition, comparing it to that of Bruce Banner. Apparently this stresses Skye out, because things start shaking. She returns to the Cage.
Coulson meets with May and tells her that Andrew has recommended Skye be removed from SHIELD immediately. May agrees, which surprises Coulson. May says she has no idea how to handle Skye, though Coulson thinks May will find a way. However, May isn’t so sure.
The guy that Ward and Agent 33 kidnapped fixes the nano mask, which returns her face to looking like May’s. He warns her that the program’s memory can only store 3 facial scans at a time, and says there’s no way he can remove the mask.
Mac brings Hunter into the meeting room at the other SHIELD. The leader, Gonzalez, introduces himself. Hunter is hostile towards the others. It turns out they don’t want Coulson in charge. Hunter is upset to see Bobbi enter the room and join the others.
Gonzalez explains that he was close to Isabelle Hartley, who saved his life, and thinks that her death could have been avoided, if not for Coulson’s relentless pursuit of alien tech. They also blame the tragedy in Puerto Rico, the death of Triplett, and Raina’s and Skye’s transformations on Coulson. Gonzalez says that Coulson was a good agent until Fury injected him with alien DNA, but since then, his behavior has becoming increasingly troubling. Mac explains that he and Bobbi have been gathering intel before the others confront Coulson. Bobbi agrees that Coulson has been compromised.
Simmons meets with Coulson and reluctantly gives him a briefcase, presumably containing the research he asked her to do on gifted people, that he had asked her to keep quiet about. Then Coulson goes to get Skye to bring her somewhere, saying that she’ll want to pack a bag.
Agent 33 tries on a few faces from a magazine. Ward says he’s going to pick up a surprise for her, and that it’s time to move on to the next phase. Agent 33 worries that she has nothing to give him in return, but he says that’s not why he’s doing this.
On the plane ride, Coulson reminisces about fixing up his car, Lola, with his dad. Skye figures out the car is a metaphor for her.
Ward returns to the hotel, and Agent 33 welcomes him back. She is wearing Skye’s face, and begins kissing him. She knows that Skye is what he wants. But he denies it, feeling rejected after what Skye did to him. Agent 33 thought that they could be together if she looked like Skye, but Ward says it would need to be with her. However, Agent 33 gets frustrated, because whoever she was before is gone.
Gonzalez sends Mac back to Coulson. He then asks Bobbi about her relationship with Hunter, but she insists that she’s all in. He says they’ll be keeping Hunter until the Coulson situation is resolved.
Ward tells Agent 33 about his background, though brushes over the details. He tells her that she is the only one who can find herself, but to help her find closure, he gives her some info about Bakshi, who is in Air Force custody under Talbot. Ward says they’ll confront him together.
Coulson and Skye arrive at a safe house for people with powers, and he informs her that he’s pulling her from active duty. He then gives her some gloves that Simmons designed which will decrease her powers.
Agent 33 goes to the Air Force base in disguise as Talbot’s wife, and gets through security pretty easily. Once in, she scans the face of a female major and goes to a computer and knocks out the security feed. Ward approaches the security guard and offers to help. Just then, Talbot gets a phone call from his wife, who is stuck in traffic. He figures out that the mask is in use, and orders the building locked down.
Talbot hands off a note to a soldier, and tells him to get to the sat room and contact Coulson to tell him the nano mask is in play. He then rounds up all female personnel and informs them that there’s a mole who could be anyone in the room.
May confronts Mac about Hunter, and he tries to cover. She tells him to call Coulson to give him an update.
Coulson gets the call from Mac and says he has to go back, but hugs Skye and assures her that they’ll figure this out.
Talbot goes down the line and questions the women. He comes to the woman whose face Agent 33 used, and Talbot grabs her face. But it’s not her. We see that Agent 33 is actually the male soldier that Talbot had commanded to contact Coulson. She returns to Ward, who has obtained a security card from the security guard that he has killed. They go down to Bakshi’s cell, and Agent 33 punches him out cold.
Talbot’s wife enters the building with lunch, and he pulls his gun on her. However, it soon becomes clear that it really is his wife.
Bobbi speaks privately with Hunter, and apologizes. She says she never thought Hunter would actually stay at SHIELD after she gave his name to Coulson to provide backup to Hartley. They have a heart to heart about their relationship, but Bobbi refuses to walk away from SHIELD. Hunter says he’s leaving, so don’t try to stop him. She says she won’t, but everybody else will. As he leaves the room, he gets attacked by agents, but he fights back and runs off. But when he runs outside, he discovers that they’re on a ship.
When Coulson returns to HQ, he confirms to Fitz that he’s keeping Skye somewhere safe, but won’t say where. Fitz questions Simmons about what she gave Coulson. She says that it was something to help Skye, and becomes defensive. Fitz says tells Gemma that she herself is the scariest change.
Talbot gives a video conference report to Coulson about what happened. Coulson promises he’ll get Ward and Agent 33. Coulson then talks to May, feeling regret for what he did to Skye. May also says that she does not believe Mac, and Coulson says it’s time to figure out what he’s up to. Meanwhile, Mac calls it in that there’s a problem with Skye.
Back at the other SHIELD, Hunter has escaped in one of the submersible pods, and disabled the GPS. They’re worried about the fact that he’ll reach shore in 12 hours and be able to communicated. Gonzalez also reports that he just got off the phone with Mac, and that Skye is in hiding. Bobbi tells them that Skye and Coulson are close. Bobbi says that Skye is not the main concern, that Coulson and his secrets are the threat, which she thinks it’s time to remove. She says she wants to go back in. Agent Calderon isn’t too keen on the idea, but Bobbi says she only needs 6 hours.
Agent 33 turns off the mask, and looks at her own disfigured face in the mirror. Ward says it’s nice to finally meet her, and Agent 33 introduces herself as Kara. They then get to work with brainwashing Bakshi the same way she was brainwashed.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 14 of Agents of SHIELD: Love in the Time of HYDRA
Adama! It was great to see Edward James Olmos back in a power position on a sci fi show. Definitely miss seeing him on Battlestar Galactica, so this was a nice substitute. And he turned out to be on a ship! Okay, so it wasn’t a spaceship, but still. But yeah, not sure where this “SHIELD” gets off thinking that they’re the true and right SHIELD. However, now it all makes sense why there weren’t too many SHIELD agents around for Coulson to take into the fold, it’s because they were all at the other SHIELD. I also realized this episode that I’m liking Hunter more and more. He genuinely loves Bobbi, and she loves him too, but Hunter has always gotten the shaft because Bobbi has always put work and her commitment to SHIELD first. This is going to be an interesting showdown…
I’m also trying to figure out Ward. It seems like Agent 33 is into him, and that he is just using her devotion to him to manipulate her. Because that’s who he is, a manipulator. Is he really over Skye because of how she treated him, or is he just saying that? And what exactly is his goal at this point?
Looking forward to seeing what happens when Bobbi returns to attack Coulson’s team, and the big secret about the other SHIELD is revealed.
Josh’s Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 14: Love in the Time of HYDRA
So the most interesting parts of this week’s episode of Agents of SHIELD for me are dealing with Skye and Hunter. I am glad we got to see more about this new “SHIELD” organization. I am still kind of wondering how no one knows about these people though. It seems kind of weird that Coulson has heard nothing about them since HYDRA broke SHIELD in Winter Soldier. It is interesting that this new group feels like they are doing what is “right” despite them thinking the best course of action is to use spies in Coulson’s organization, and forcibly kidnap one of Coulson’s agents. Also, in their meeting with Hunter, they talk about transparency, yet they seem to be the masters of deception, hiding for so long. I really liked Hunter’s sticking to what he thought was right this episode, despite this new SHIELD making a pretty good argument against Coulson, and that he is turning against the woman he has a thing for. I am really hoping his escape works out so he can warn Coulson!
The other part of this episode that is getting better is handling people like Skye. We know that SHIELD before has been kind of a jerk to people with “powers” and it looks like Coulson is straddling that line, telling Simmons to come up with a way to stop Skye secretly, while at the same time trying to comfort Skye. It is a hard decision to make, when it comes to people that are completely incapable of controlling their powers, as they are innocent people that could cause massive destruction. I guess what Coulson did, dropping Skye off at a secluded cabin, is about the best you can do for this issue.
Let’s see what happens next episode though. I am rooting for Hunter to make it to Coulson!
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 15: One Door Closes
Here are scenes from the next episode of Agents of SHIELD, titled One Door Closes:
