Note: There will be spoilers below in our summary.
Recap
We see Whitehall again. We're seeing more of HYDRA's recruitment techniques. Says he believes in second chances. He's trying to brainwash someone into working with HYDRA. It's Agent 33. She's fighting it. Whitehall says he has plenty of time to bring her over.
Jemma Simmons wakes up and gets ready for her day. It's an uplifting scene. Looks like she's living a normal life. She has a new job? She's in a lab. Cut to HYDRA logo on the wall!
Skye is target practicing. She's imagining the target is Ward. May tells her to think of them as targets. Hunter tries apologizing for shooting them last time. Skye's training continues as she practices shooting with a sniper rifle. May catches up with Coulson. He was trying to recruit someone else but comes back empty handed. He was looking for Agent 33 but says HYDRA got to her first.
Cut to Morocco. The kid with the ice powers at the academy, Donnie Gill, is looking for a place to stay. When he suspects people are after him, he has no problem freezing them and killing anyone in his way.
Simmons notices they HYDRA got another acquisition. It's hard to get a handle on what she's doing in her lab at HYDRA. How could she be working with them? She later arrives at her place and finds Coulson there. He brought some organic food and cooks while he debriefs her. Coulson tells her she needs to make friends to move up he ranks in HYDRA. She says she can't lie like Ward. We can all rest assured, she's still part of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Back at they base, he tells the others Gill is on HYDRA's list. They try getting some tips from Fitz on how to reach him. Skye talks to Ward again in his cell to try to figure out how HYDRA recruits people. Ward says he wasn't loyal to HYDRA, he was loyal to Garrett. He tells her their method on trying to recruit a "gifted" is either they join or they're seen as a threat and eliminated.
Simmons is summoned "upstairs" and it doesn't look good for her. She's brought to Whitehall's top man, Sunil Bakshi. He tells her she's been lying. They know she was a level five agent. She's confronted about knowing about Gill and not telling her supervisors. She explains her loyalty is to Science and that she was open about her past employment. She's loyal to HYDRA if they let her do her research.
Whitehall is still working on cracking Agent 33.
The Agents leave for Morrocco on the Bus. Mac tells Fitz they have the night off. Fitz feels they're keeping something from him when they mention they're getting info from an "asset" (Simmons). Gill freezes a ship to call out a HYDRA. He says he's tired of them coming after him. Simmons is also told she's going with HYDRA since she knows Gill. Fitz goes to talk to Ward. "Simmons" tries telling him it's not a good idea. He tells "her" she's not there. Fitz can barely look at Ward. Ward tries telling Fitz he didn't want to kill them despite Garrett's orders. He gave them a fighting chance. Fitz tells Ward he wants to show him what he went through. He starts pulling the oxygen out of Ward's cell. Fitz accidentally mentions a Gill and Ward tries saying they don't know what they're getting into by going after him.
In Morrocco, Simmons tries finding Gill on the ship. Donnie recognizes her. She's ordered to get close to him and convince him she wants to help. She's being told what to say to him. The Agents realize they're not alone on the ship. It turns out HYDRA has brainwashed Gill before. Simmons is trying to re-trigger the brainwashing. Simmons is seen and shoots at Hunter. Coulson tells them to maintain her cover. Gill is back on HYDRA's side and is ordered to freeze everyone on the ship no one is to survive. Simmons can only watch, not sure what to do. Thankfully Skye had some sniper training. She shoots a Gill. Simmons sees her and Skye fakes she's about to shoot the Bakshi and Simmons saves him, maintaining her cover. They don't get Gill but they got some HYDRA equipment. Skye's trying to find out if a Gill has been found. She's worried about Simmons. Says she's not a good liar but May says she's changed.
Coulson talks to Fitz about him getting better but also hat he almost killed Ward. Coulson says he hates looking at him and that he's there but they need his intel. Fitz asks if he's keeping anything else from him. He says yes, he's the director of SHIELD, of course there is. Coulson then says Simmons is on an assignment. That's why she left. Agent 33 appears to have been changed. Simmons is getting a promotion but if she can't be trusted, she'll be complied.
Skye asks Ward if he was brainwashed. Ward says he wishes he could say yes but he wasn't. He did it all on his own. He wants Skye to believe him. He tells her her father is alive and looking for her. If she lets him, he'll take her to him. She leaves.
Thoughts
There's a lot to like in this episode. The characters are continuing to grow and evolve. Jemma Simmons being a mole in HYDRA is a delightful twist and the fact that she's able to maintain her cover is impressive. Skye is growing as well. The more she works with May, the more she's becoming like an actual agent and not just a computer hacker that got pulled into everything. We're also seeing Coulson evolve as the Director of SHIELD. He's making hard decisions. Seeing more of Hunter and Mac once again gives the show a bigger feel. We shouldn't just have a small handful of Agents involved with the missions. Seeing Fitz's struggle continues to be hard to watch.
Seeing HYDRA's recruitment process is great as well. We caught hints of it in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Their pursuit of "gifteds" fits with the final scene in the movie, which leads into Avengers: Age of Ultron. Seeing characters with powers and actually using them helps give the show a stronger feel and part of the Cinematic Universe.
The show is definitely finding its footing. There is still some moments of humor but with the heavy tone of the circumstances, it's more muted and feels more fitting. Let's hope next week's episode continues this trend.
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