Note: There will be spoilers in our summary.
Recap
Skye's father is tracking down other "gifted" individuals from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Index. He says he wants to free them from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s shackles. What this means is S.H.I.E.L.D. has been keeping certain powered individuals safely tucked away. We saw some of this in the first season but in the case of someone like Karla Faye Gideon, she's allowed to live in an actual apartment only she's been forced to wear a device on her hands that prevents the razor sharp blades at her fingertips from being exposed.
Skye is still staying in the secure room on the Bus. She's also being put on the Gifted Index. Talking to Coulson, she says she's learning to control her powers and could go back in the field soon. Coulson talks to May about it. She says protocol is they have to be evaluated. Simmons is still upset that Fitz lied to her. Mac has Hunter locked up at a safe house.
May finds someone that could help evaluate Skye. Andrew Garner hasn't worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. In a while. She explains it's a different organization now. He has conditions to help. They can't be monitored or recorded. His priorities are to Skye. It's also revealed that this guy is May's ex-husband.
Skye doesn't want to talk to a shrink. When she finds out he's May's ex, she's intrigued to find out about May's past. He asks to stop avoiding the main issue and why she shot herself with the knock out gun. It's because she didn't want to hurt her teammates. She doesn't say much so he tells her he and May eloped. Accepting this little bit of information, Skye, in turn, admits she was afraid she couldn't control herself.
Skye's dad's group breaks into a maximum security asylum. There's a secret sub-basement holding dangerous individuals in the index. There's only two people locked up. Skye's dad is certain S.H.I.E.L.D. will come after them. They go to Wisconsin. Cal now has the following with him: John Bruno, David A Angar, Wendell Levi., Francis Noche, and Karla Faye Gideon.
Andrew and May catch up a little. Fitz was unaware May was married before and is weirded out a little seeing May with her guard down and laughing. Fitz and Simmons are talking about it, even though she admitted earlier she was still angry with Fitz, when the alarm goes off. Skye was sleeping and her powers are going off again. Coulson and Bobbi continue the hunt after Skye's dad. None of the individuals are really too gifted. Cal says together they'll be something. Coulson confronts Bobbi about her relationship with Hunter and that she was hiding it. She claims she broke it off when Hunter fell into his old habits.
The attack is at Coulson's old school. Actually, it's a school that his dad worked at. One of the gifted (Angar) lets out a yell and everyone on the football field either dies or gets knocked out.
May is taking the Bus to give Coulson back up. Skye insists she's going out too. She says she can hold it together and the fact that the Bus isn't shaking apart is proof she can hold it together.
Skye's dad wants S.H.I.E.L.D. exposed for their treatment of special individuals. May arrives with a gun to Skye's head. She says they're either going to contain her or kill her. He has to let the innocents go or she'll kill her. The teleporter arrives and takes Skye's dad. It's a fight for the rest. Skye starts to lose control. She pulls it back in but passes out. She has bruises on her arms. She has several burst capillaries and fractures. She wasn't containing the power, she was directing it inside.
Simmons wants to separate the Index into two categories--Enhanced and Man-made powers. Andrew's recommendation is Skye leaves S.H.I.E.L.D. altogether. He says it's too dangerous for everyone if she stays. May says they can help.
Mac reveals to Hunter they're working for another organization--the real S.H.I.E.L.D.
Skye's dad asks the eyeless teleported why they didn't take his Daisy. He says what they do isn't his concern. He's making too much noise. But he isn't one of them, he's a science experiment. What's to become of him? That's for someone else to decide.
Thoughts
This episode had some hit and miss moments. We do get to see some more superpowers as Cal gathers up a bunch of them. The problem is, none of them, except Angar, really had too much to offer (Angar was pretty cool though). That's likely part of the point. Cal (thanks to Maclachlan's performance) is all over the place. He has an almost goofy but deadly manner to himself. It does help to make him more unpredictable. The mention that he started taking a formula to make himself stronger fits with his comic book counterpart.
The struggle Skye is going through is really great. Her character has come a long way since the very beginning. Comic readers can see where she's headed. The fact that she's now trying to contain her power inside and the affect it had on her arms is a good reason for someone to build a device to help her contain her powers. An example can be seen on the just revealed cover to S.H.I.E.L.D. for June.
Finding out more about May helps to add to her character so she doesn't just come across as a cold robot. The struggle between Fitz and Simmons is both hard and fun to see.
Who is Cal being taken to see? If only it could be Black Bolt or Medusa. No way that could happen here. We do have to assume that this group of Inhumans is fine with Skye being kept with S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than bring her in for themselves.
The Real S.H.I.E.L.D.?
This is an interesting twist. We know Edward James Olmos is coming on board. The ad in this week's comics suggests that he's likely in charge of this other S.H.I.E.L.D. Obviously this will cause some conflict for Coulson and his team. One might think this could help lead into Civil War but the next Captain America movie is too far off. With HYDRA scrambling again and Ward off doing who knows what, Coulson's team will need something else to fight against to keep us on the edge of our seats.