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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #205 - A Hen in the Wolf House

4

HYDRA begins investigating a mole in their midst which is bad news for Simmons. Plus more information on Skye's father comes out.

Note: There will be spoilers in our summary.

Recap

The episode opens with a marriage reception with some Navy officers. As everyone drinks a toast, starts to change and die. Almost everyone dies, that is. It was a HYDRA test. It was a disappointment since not everyone died. S.H.I.E.L.D. gets word about what happened. They notice that the affects were similar to the affects of the Obelisk. In Coulson's office when they're getting the report, Skye notices the alien carving on his desk, which Coulson quickly hides. Skye pushes Coulson about the symbols he asked her to investigate. He shuts her down. May says keeping her in the dark won't end well.

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Skye's father is doing some sort of work, like an operation of sorts. Raina arrives and he's not too happy she interrupted his "practice." She says she needs he Obelisk temporarily. He finds out she's afraid of Whitehall "You're more afraid of him than me? He's a butcher." Raina asks him then what is he? "I'm a man trying to put my family back together." He's getting more and more angry, holding her by the throat against the wall and choking her. She says Skye wouldn't want to see him like this. He tells her to back to Whitehall and beg him. He then mutters that Skye is not her name.

Simmons is in the HYDRA lab. She and her lab partner are summoned to a meeting room. They see Daniel Whitehall. He says he needs their help with some alien technology. Simmons is reading. Whitehall singles her out, by name, and asks about the reports. She says because it's alien technology, it's hard to analyze. Can they weaponize it? She says it's possible.

At the Bus, Skye takes the painting out of the lab. Fitz and "Simmons" see this and "Simmons" is admiring Mac. He says it's kind of weird since she's a figment of his imagination. She points out that's the first time he's admitted it. He doesn't need her anymore. He's making friends.

Skye and Hunter talk about the painting and how Coulson has changed. Hunter says if there's something Coulson doesn't want her to know, she should find out. He suggests talking to Ward. In his cell, Ward tries bringing up her father. She doesn't want to hear or believe him. She asks his source. He admits it was Raina. Skye says Raina played him. She doesn't want to hear another word. She shows him a scan of the alien symbols. Ward says Garrett was carving it but he wasn't making sense after taking the GH formula. He couldn't stop. Skye realizes it must be Coulson doing the carving.

Simmons goes on her lunch break and contacts SHIELD with a special type of paper. Raina sees her and notices Simmons throw her lunch wrapper in the garbage.

Skye confronts Coulson about he writing. He admits May is keeping an eye on him. She mentions she's not showing any signs. They were observing her. Maybe the alien DNA was already in her. She won't hear that she might be an alien. Raina calls Coulson.

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At the HYDRA lab, an alarm goes off. There's a mole. Someone's been sending SHIELD info. A no-nonsense HYDRA security agent (which we later find out is Bobbi Morse) tells them it's her job to find moles. Simmons has incriminating evidence in her desk and they're about to be searched. Morse confronts Simmons about her loyalty. She managed to put evidence in her lab partner's desk. He's taken away but that's fine since he was excited about the idea of using alien tech to kill others.

Coulson meets with Raina at restaurant. Hunter is there with May and Skye in the back. Raina points out she knows Simmons is working as HYDRA. At the same time, Morse confronts Simmons in the bathroom. Was she working with her lab partner? She pushes that she's going to keep looking. She suggest looking at her hard drive and Simons tells her to go ahead.

Raina tells Coulson she wants to take Skye with her in exchange for deleting the photo she has of Simmons contacting S.H.I.E.L.D. She's going to send to pic to HYDRA if he doesn't agree. A time is set and the picture will be sent in two minutes. She says she's going to take Skye to her father. In the back, May says she's lying. Skye hints it's too much of a coincidence after what Ward said. Raina tells Coulson that Skye was taken away from her father. He's spent his while life looking for her. Skye is about to go out. May stops her. Skye says it's not worth risking Simmons life. May says Coulson has a plan. The file transfers.

At the HYDRA lab, everyone is looking at Simmons. She notices they're after her and runs out in the hall. She sees Morse coming with two HYDRA soldiers and then beats the crap out of them. She says Coulson has a plan. At the restaurant, Raina is shocked. She starts to come clean and admits she's scared of Skye's father. He has the Obelisk. She asks Coulson to take her in. She says if she walks out, Whitehall will kill her. They inject her with someone. He's going to use her. If she doesn't survive, that's not really his concern

Morse reveals she's working for SHIELD. There's an extraction on the roof. Morse fights off HYDRA. They're being shot at and run across the roof. There's no extraction team up there and Bobbi makes them jump off the roof. A Quinjet there waiting, cloaked. Inside, Simmons asks if Coulson had her infiltrate HYDRA, what did he need her for? Morse had access to security. Simmons was for the research. Morse took her hard drive after the bathroom conversation.

They get Skye's father's address. They plan to go in but Skye already took off. She's looking for her father. No one seems to be there. Skye finds an old picture of dad and a baby. Coulson arrives. She just wanted a glimpse and starts crying in Coulson's arms. He says they'll find him. Her dad is outside watching on a monitor. There aren't any signs of her father. In another room, they find dead bodies. They were killed with a small blade or scalpel and a lot of strength. Skye says he must be a monster. He's angry and leaves.

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Simmons is back with Bobbi. Coulson has asked her to join the team. Simmons goes to see Fitz. "Is that really you?" Mac knows Bobbi. Hunter knows her too. "What did you do to your hair?" She was undercover. Turns out Bobbi was his she-devil ex-wife.

Simmons is in Coulson's office. She says she doesn't care who her father is anymore. He's bad and has the Obelisk. She'll do whatever it takes but he has to be honest with her. Coulson shows her the carving he's did on the wall. He can't explain it. Says it just needs to be done. He has no idea what the carving is. Skye says it's a map.

Skye's father visits Whitehall. Kills two agents with ease. Has a metal suitcase with the Obelisk. It's called the Deviner in its native language. He'll do more than teach him how to use it, he'll teach him how to survive it. They share a common enemy. Phil Coulson. He wants to kill him...along with everyone else.

Thoughts

The show continues it's consistent upward pacing. We're seeing more developments with S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA. The introduction of Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse was fantastic. The fight scenes alone were worth watching the entire episode. It's unfortunate that the press release for this episode spoiled the fact that Palicki would be playing Mockingbird. That took the suspense and surprise out of the episode. But it was still great to see. Let's hope she continues to play a big role.

Simmons being pulled out of HYDRA already felt rushed. There could have been more opportunities to find out more from HYDRA but with her cover blown, we'll have to see what's next for Simmons...and Fitz.

We're slowly finding out more about Skye's past and her father. Could she have some alien DNA in her? We've had theories since season one so perhaps we'll be finding out soon. Skye's father and Whitehall teaming up felt sudden and convenient for the show as well. But why not have the two main bad guys work together to give our heroes an even tougher time?

And don't forget, next week we'll get to see the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron.