Miami Florida – a car load of priests arrive at a church, it’s been gutted by fire but a single 500 year old Spanish painting has survived. Yay – Miracles are good for business…shame about the alien symbols carved on the back huh?
On South Beach Hunter seems to have found himself a sweetie, they are very cosy – so he can lift something from her bag and give it to Skye, she takes it back to the bus and uses it to create cover for May and Coulson at a swanky party. A party to raise money for the rebuilding of the church. They are undercover as a couple – oh this should be good! Coulson and May are after the painting and this party is their only chance to get it as it will be sent away the next day to be verified (according to Hunter’s ‘source’, I’m surprised she could tell him anything considering). Skye wants to be out in the field but Coulson says no then goes radio silent, well that’s one way to end an argument. Coulson and May dance,
scope out the security and reminisce about previous missions. May has noticed Coulson is having problems, like his hands shaking, Coulson is worried he’s going to end up like Garrett and wants to make a plan with May. She doesn’t seem to want to have the conversation, so it’s just as well Brigadier General Talbot arrives at that moment so she can avoid the subject.
Coulson goes to talk to Talbot, he’s acting very strangely, drunk and like he has no idea who Coulson is. Weird. I mean I know they aren’t exactly friends, but Talbot definitely knows who Coulson is. Anyway, Coulson asks Talbot to stay out of the way and they will both benefit from the mission. Talbot says he won’t interfere unless he needs to.
On the bus Hunter is regaling the team with another story about his ex-wife
(I gotta feeling that she’s going to be important, since she’s been mentioned so very often. Anyone agree?) but is interrupted by Coulson and May coming back on comms. May flirts her way into getting a photo with the man throwing the party, Mr Soto, so they can scan his eyes for the security system. They get what they need just as Talbot arrives with security and they head off to find the painting. They come to a room protected by a laser grid and Coulson looks to be gearing up to cartwheel and back flip his way through it but May just walks in, they do already know they are there after all.
The painting is missing and Skye finds a document that says Talbot has it already. Talbot is on the phone to someone, he sends a picture of May and Coulson to them and asks if the other person knows who they are. It’s Whitehall on the phone – OMG Talbot is HYDRA???
Coulson and May make their escape only to be intercepted by Talbot who offers them a deal, he needs Coulson to study the writing on the back of the painting. Coulson agrees but needs to go back and brief his team first. May goes after Talbot to his hotel to make sure it’s not a trap while Coulson heads back to the bus. Skye is doing some extra-credit work on the painting and the carvings, Mac, Tripp and Hunter are there and there’s some team bonding going on as they talk about their exes. Fitz stands nearby, ‘Simmons’ tries to get him to join in and be part of the team but he leaves.
At Talbot’s hotel May sees Agent 33 with HYDRA files on Coulson and May and attacks. Talbot joins in and as they fight she realises he is wearing some kind of mask,
she rips it off just as 33 tazes her. Talbot is actually Mr Bakshi, Whitehall’s right hand man, he and 33 use May’s blood to create a May mask for 33 and she goes off to find Coulson and bring him in.
Fitz is in his lab and ‘Simmons’ is again trying to get him to go and socialise with the team. He doesn’t feel like he is even on the team any more. ‘Simmons’ keeps trying but ‘May’ interrupts, she gets Coulson and deposits some kind of tech which starts to infect the Bus.
The real May wakes up tied to a chair with Bakshi who wants intel and is ready to torture her to get it.
On the drive back to Talbot’s hotel Coulson wants to make his contingency plan with ‘May’, he says he wants May to be Director of SHIELD if she has to put him down, she’s the only one he trusts. Oh boy, that’s more info that HYDRA really need. She grabs his hand in a reassuring gesture, OOPS – the real May would never do that and Coulson starts to get suspicious.
Back at the Bus the device 33 planted starts shutting down systems , things start going boom and Fitz is the only person who knows how to fix it. YES! Go Fitz. You can do this!!!
Coulson and May/33 arrive at the hotel, Coulson asks if once they are done with the mission would May like to get coffee, she says yes and Coulson punches her in the face, May hates coffee. The real May gets free when Bakshi is distracted by the sounds of Coulson and 33 fighting outside. She kicks Bakshi’s ass and then goes outside to kick her own ass, which is beyond awesome,
while Coulson goes after Bakshi who is escaping with the painting.
Fitz uses Hunter to help him fix the plane and they do it, team saved!
Coulson gets the painting and goes back for May who has just taken out 33 right before a HYDRA strike team arrives.
On the bus Fitz is in the lab with Mac when Hunter arrives with beer. Fitz is unsure but Hunter says that without him the team would be dead, he owes him a beer and hopes it will be the first of many. Fitz tells them about the girl who he liked, who he confessed his feelings to and who left because she didn’t feel the same. Hunter says that as far as he can tell it’s the girl’s loss and they toast to moving on. I already love the dynamic between Fitz and Mac, and you know I want a Hunter of my very own, so this scene made me a very happy girl indeed. Fitz wasn’t ever exactly the gregarious type, but it’s interesting to see that’s it’s taking these new members of the team to bring him back to something resembling himself.
Coulson tells Talbot what happened, Talbot says that working with SHIELD makes him miss his 5 months as a POW. He wants the painting, since HYDRA was so interested in it (it seems the real Talbot is still clueless about the alien scribblings thank goodness), and any other HYDRA tech SHIELD might have acquired. Coulson lies and says the painting was destroyed and then cuts the video call so Talbot can’t trace them.
So HYDRA know about the alien writing which is bad. The painting was indeed 500 years old according to analysis, but the writing is new, so there is someone else out there, someone like Coulson, who is scribbling weird symbols on stuff. Also kinda bad, since Garrett did it and he went batshit crazy.
May asks how Coulson knew that 33 was a fake and he tells her about the coffee. He brings up the plan again and May finally breaks, she doesn’t need to make a plan as she already has one. If things go south she will get Coulson out, take care of him, that’s her plan. Coulson tells her that’s very sweet but she has to kill him, hard choices are coming and that will be one of them and she needs to make it.
Elsewhere Raina is on the trail of the painting and is set to head to Florida until a bunch of HYDRA goons and Whitehall himself turn up.
He wants his obelisk back and gives Raina 48 hours to bring it to him in person or things will get very unpleasant. He tells her he once operated on a woman for an entire week, the challenge was keeping her awake despite the pain. Damn, this guy is like HYDRA’s version of Joseph Mengele. *shudders* Is it just me or is this season way darker than last so far, mostly due to Whitehall?
Screencap source: http://screencapped.net/
