Gonzales and Coulson meet face to face on this episode of Agents of SHIELD, titled One Door Closes! See how these two leaders handle meeting each other, and what happens with Skye after the jump! After the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 15: One Door Closes
On this episode of Agents of SHIELD, the two SHIELDs finally come to a head! There are a lot of flashbacks this episode, which take place the day SHIELD fell, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In these flashbacks, we see Mack being held by HYDRA agents along with a few other SHIELD agents. To the rescue comes Mockingbird and Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless’s character that we saw die earlier this season). They are determined to destroy the SHIELD ship they are on so that it doesn’t fall into the hands of HYDRA.
As they move through the ship, Mockingbird, Mack and Hartley find an injured Agent Gonzales. He wanted to be left behind, but the agents insist on sticking together, and getting him out. Mockingbird tells Gonzales her mission–to blow up the ship, which were orders directly from Nick Fury himself.
She has a change of heart though, and decides that she would rather save the remaining SHIELD agents on the airship rather than let them die, and lose the airship. So, the team gets ready to tank down HYDRA and retake the ship.
In present day, Mockingbird and Mack are back with Coulson, still trying to remain under the radar. Coulson and Mack have a conversation about Lola, but Coulson slowly transitions from an innocent conversation about Lola to calling Mack out as some traitor. Coulson doesn’t know who he is working for yet, and Mack, without lying, says that he works for SHIELD. Since that is what Mack believes, it is a lot easier for him to say that confidently. But Coulson isn’t buying what Mack is selling and Coulson has his fellow “mechanics” arrest Mack.
While Coulson is busy with Mack, Mockingbird is on her own mission. She heads to Coulson’s office, and with some weird gadget, she is able to burn/drill a whole into Coulson’s desk, and retrieve a small, black cube. This cube apparently is Nick Fury’s tool box. Not sure why it is significant yet, but apparently Bobbi thinks it is. Unfortunately for Bobbi, May shows up. Bobbi tries to give the speech that Coulson is not the real SHIELD, blah, blah, blah, but May isn’t going along with Bobbi at all. They wind up in a big fight, constantly fighting over this toolbox, with it changing possession several times during the fight.
Mockingbird has a backup plan though, and blows some device which turns out all of the lights, and Mack and Bobbi both make for an escape. Coulson’s SHIELD members begin trying to figure out where the two traitors went, and what they are up to. Simmons actually bumps into Bobbi, and seems to have no idea what is going on. Turns out she does actually know, and through subterfuge, she is able to incapacitate Bobbi.
But there is some bad news for Coulson and the team. Agent May goes through Bobbi’s locker, and finds a gas mask, that is puzzling at first. Turns out that Gonzales and his agents have an attack planned, and they head in to Coulson’s base, and quickly take over. One interesting moment has Mack saving Fitz from Gonzales. I guess this sort of proves that these SHIELD agents believe they are doing the right thing.
Coulson has an exchange with Gonzales, and Gonzales reveals he used to respect Coulson. That all changed after Nick Fury brought Coulson back though, and he questions Coulson’s motives for going into Puerto Rico. While Gonzales and Coulson are having their back and forth, Agent May has evaded capture. Gonzales tells Coulson they have to track down all of the various SHIELD secrets to make sure they don’t end up in the wrong hands. Agent May makes her move though, and takes down the agents guarding Coulson. May gives Coulson some supplies and money for escape, and then she gives up to SHIELD.
As all this is going on, Skye is hanging out in her cabin that used to house the Hulk. She had decided to try out the gloves that Simmons provided her, which should help control her powers as well as heal her arms. She gets a visit from a familiar face at the cabin though–Gordon, the Inhuman without eyes, that seems to be able to create forcefields and teleport. Skye learns more about her abilities from him–specifically that she can manipulate the natural frequency of any object in the world. The earthquakes are just a side effect. He says he can help her control her power, but she decides she is going to stay with SHIELD. Surprisingly, Gordon is fine with her decision, but will be ready for her when she calls.
After her conversation, Skye decides to try out her powers a little more and removes her gloves. She messes with the flow of water in the sink, causing it to spiral down rather than flow normally. Her marveling at her abilities are interrupted with Agent May trying to warn Skye to escape. This is all while SHIELD has taken Coulson’s base, and May is hiding out. May tells her to look for a control box towards the end of the forcefield.
Helicopters are heard and searchlights are seen outside, as Skye runs for the panel. Skye gets cornered and ends up using her powers to stop some agents, but inadvertently causes one of the agents to be impaled by a wood fragment. In the chaos, Skye calls for Gordon, and he immediately shows up with his forcefield, grabs Skye and vanishes as quickly as he came.
The episode ends with Coulson at a beach bar. Could he be in Tahiti? It sort of reminded me of when we saw Coulson having memories of Tahiti. But a friend has shown up–Hunter. He made it to shore with his escape pod. Hunter signs a napkin, which is basically his contract to work for SHIELD, and the two are about to get to work repairing his SHIELD.
Josh’s Thoughts: Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 15: One Door Closes
The show Agents of SHIELD is trying to tug at our moral centers, I feel like. Both of the SHIELD agencies feel they are the “real” one, and that they are threatened by the other. Both Gonzales and Coulson believe they are doing what is best for not only SHIELD, but all of the people SHIELD is supposed to protect. The flashback helped convey that a lot, with the group deciding to ignore Fury’s orders of blowing up the heli-carrier, and saving the remaining SHIELD agents aboard.
But what I have a hard time with is Gonzales’s SHIELD feeling the best course of action would be to infiltrate Coulson’s, steal something that was directly given to Coulson, and then lead a force into Coulson’s base with a hostile takeover. My biggest issues are firstly, how did Coulson not know anything about this “rogue” group, and secondly, wouldn’t Gonzales try more diplomatic moves first, before going all espionage? I guess that risks being unable to infiltrate as easily because Coulson might be more critical of new “applicants” to his SHIELD, but it seems more like the moral thing to do. I am also a little surprised that Hartley didn’t make much mention of this group. It seems like she might have at least known that Gonzales was out there and not fond of Coulson being in charge.
I actually am liking this Gordon guy. He seems like someone who is not out to end humanity, but to protect his own Inhumans. Of course, we haven’t met the big-boss guy yet, and we don’t know his final intentions yet, which could be very terrible in the end. I really am looking forward to where that story goes.
But it looks like Hunter is on board with Coulson, and it will be great to see how they wind up getting their SHIELD agents back, and take Gonzales down. I wonder if there is any possibility of reconciliation between Coulson and Gonzales, or if it will come down to one taking down the other for good.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 15 of Agents of SHIELD: One Door Closes
Xena’s back! Er, I mean, Lucy Lawless, that is. It was very disappointing that she was killed off in the first episode of the season, so it was a nice surprise to see her again!
I must say, I feel like Agents of SHIELD is finally getting good again! This was the first time in awhile that I’ve actually been excited about an episode. I think it might have had something to do with the flashback to the fall of SHIELD. Coincidentally, this was the last time that Agents of SHIELD had made a turnaround and started to get good during Season 1, during the events of the tie-in with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I guess that having a legitimate relation to the MCU somehow makes Agents of SHIELD that much better! Unlike when the show tries to make weak ties to the MCU, like the SHIELD team cleaning up after the events of Thor: The Dark World back in Season 1. But I digress.
Although Gonzales’s SHIELD team feels like they are the real SHIELD, it feels a little odd, being that they are blatantly defying the orders of Director Fury. Interestingly, Bobbi is the one that spearheads this defiance, making it feel like she is in fact the leader of this other SHIELD team. Curious to see how this continues to play out, and how the other SHIELD re-established itself.
I’m also very interested in Skye’s storyline, now that the she’s been taken by Gordon, the Inhuman! I really want to see what kind of society he lives in, and what other Inhumans there are. Of course, this aspect of the show will eventually tie-in with the Inhumans movie in the MCU. Although that movie won’t be out for another 3 years, I am excited to see its origins begin in Agents of SHIELD!
So, what’s going to happen with the remaining members of Coulson’s team? How will they react to this other SHIELD? What will the other SHIELD do with them? And more importantly, what are Coulson and Hunter planning to do??
Scenes from Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episode 16: Afterlife
Here are scenes from the next Agents of SHIELD episode, titled Afterlife:
