'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Recap: Skye Gets Shot

Well, this was quite an ambitious episode for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. First of all, not only does Skye get shot, but Mike Peterson shows up again. Oh yeah, and the show used a non-linear storytelling structure — we get to see how each character views the action in the episode. Like so...

Take One: Agent Coulson

Alright, so. If you remembered from three whole weeks ago, Ian Quinn got a threatening phone call from Agent Coulson, and then he mentioned the Clairvoyant, so he's obviously connected to Project Centipede, so obviously S.H.I.E.L.D. is all over his ass. So, there's a team of inside-sunglass-wearing, suit-donning goons set to take some magical thing to wherever the hell Ian Quinn is in the Italian countryside. I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't matter, so will you stop over-explaining things to me, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? The team is working with the authorities it Italy (who definitely do not sound Italian, even in like, a Super Mario way) so they go undercover on this train to follow the supernatural thing to Ian Quinn. Simmons is pretty adorably terrible as Coulson's undercover daughter, also there's a glaringly unnecessary cameo from Stan Lee? Not to mention the awkward sexual tension with Ward and Melinda May.

Anyways, Coulson senses that something is up, so gets up and is immediately chased down by the sunglasses goons, who are also chasing Ward. They jump off the bus when a grenade is thrown at them, but this is S.H.I.E.L.D., so it's not a regular grenade... it's a grenade that makes the entire train disappear.

Take Two: Ward

Okay, now we rewind a little to see where the trouble begins: when Ward gets ambushed by a pretty Italian lady. Then he gets chased, and well, you know the rest. Ward and Coulson can't see the train, and the sunglasses goons are looking for them, so they head back to the plane. And this is where I get the first laugh I've had watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in ages — Ward tries to analyze the grenade remains on FitzSimmons' holographic whatever thingy, and he looks like an old man seeing an iPad for the first time. Second best part? When Ward gets flustered and tries to tell Coulson to keep things on the down low now that he knows about him and Melinda May, and Coulson is all "If it's just sex, you should at least be able to say the word." Preach, dude. Anyways, then Melinda May shows up, takes out one of the Italian authorities, and shit starts to get real.

Take Three: Melinda May

Alright, I know that Melinda May is supposed to be all stone-cold and unfeeling, but watching her be a fiery badass was pretty awesome. Melinda May gets taken off the train after getting on the roof for the mission and subsequently being shot at by a sunglasses goon. She then parachutes off the train, because of course she does. Coulson and Ward are lying on the ground, frozen in time — the grenade didn't make the train disappear, it just forced them to stay put. Melinda May tries to save them, but ends up being caught by the Italian authorities, who were betraying S.H.I.E.L.D. the whole time (duh). They try to torture her, but she manages to take out the whole damn room anyways. Once she shows up on the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane, they're able to track down the train (after Ward has a weird moment of jealousy over Melinda May and Coulson), which is now derailed. Simmons is in it, and boy, is she clueless.

Take Four: Skye and Fitz

Apparently, Simmons took refuge with Skye and Fitz and got immediately knocked out by a grenade. Fitz and Skye stow her away, then get off the train when it stops and follows the gang of sunglasses goons and their black Escalades. They go straight to Ian Quinn, and Skye goes inside and is instantly caught by Quinn, who reveals that the super secret supernatural cargo is, in fact, evil android Mike Peterson! Mike leaves Skye alone, going on to kill all the sunglasses goons because he works for The Clairvoyant now, and he's unhappy with their work. Meanwhile, Skye makes the most airheaded move possible and confronts Quinn without a weapon and is immediately shot in the stomach. Twice.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. crew comes in to save her, but they can only just keep her alive. Meanwhile, the camera zooms in on Mike Peterson's new evil android leg in a moment that is essentially the writers winking to everyone who's read the Marvel comics. The camera frames what I think at first is the word "Dethklock" (man, what an awesome crossover that would be), but is actually the word "Deathlok," a fictional evil cyborg from the Marvel comics. This is about the third villain we've seen created on the show, so it's hard to get excited, seeing as these villains are never seen again after they're created. But there's no way the show will stay away from Mike Peterson now, so it'll be interesting to see the issues he deals with in the coming episodes.

Image: ABC