"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Recap: "Love in the Time of Hydra"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Filler episodes are a tricky venture when it comes to television. You either load up an episode that features a forgettable plotline and events as the series waits to get back to something far more important, or you handle a filler episode like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does and throw a ton of stuff at us, while setting everything up for a bigger plotline to come, just like the show did last night with "Love in the Time of Hydra". 

In fact this episode could easily be compared to a giant baked potato because holy cow, so much was loaded into this episode that I damn near had to take notes to make sure I covered everything in this recap. After all, we finally caught up with Agent Ward and Agent 33 after their escape from the bloodbath in Puerto Rico only to find that Ward is doing his best to repay the rogue agent for saving his life. He not only makes sure that her nano mask is repaired, but he also works to allow her a chance at revenge on the man who made her the mess she is today, Bakshi. Yes, the two of them break into Talbot's facility and kidnap the man where it appears some brainwashing of Bakshi will be in order. Also on a side note this episode showed off just how big of an idiot Talbot is.

While this is going on, Coulson decides on how best to deal with Skye and her newfound and dangerous powers. He has Simmons put together a pair of wrist braces that will more or less inhibit her powers and hopefully free her of her burden and he takes her to a secret safe house in the middle of nowhere where she can be free of any of the stresses of active duty. Skye of course sees this as a prison sentence, especially since her safe house is surrounded by a laser fence, but Coulson thinks this is the only way to help her at the moment. 

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But the best part of the night was at last getting a good look at the mysterious alternate S.H.I.E.L.D. that we now know Bobbi and Mack are working for as Hunter meets the head of this spinoff division, Robert Gonzales, played by the always amazing Edward James Olmos.  Gonzales explains that the Fury/Coulson way of handling S.H.I.E.L.D., working with secrets and from the shadows is the wrong way of doing it and well...they want Coulson out. Hunter of course thinks their ideas are about as dumb as they come and he manages to escape, but not before we are left with a cliffhanger.  Bobbi is informed they have twelve hours before Hunter can get in touch with Coulson, meaning she has to go back in and put an end to Coulson's reign. 

Like I mentioned earlier, a lot to cover, but all of it was good stuff. The Ward/33 segments were creepy and meta on so many levels and well...it's clear both of them are completely and utterly mad, especially Ward who still seems to revel in the fact he wasted his entire family.  We spent more time getting to know Phil Coulson the man and the segments with Skye were sad to say the least. The poor girl is truly lost, with no one to help and her pain is clearly stressing out the team as well, just look at the battle brewing between Fitz and Simmons over her powers and super powers as a whole. 

Also...kudos to the show for the epic Avengers discussion, always a nice touch. But, what matters most, the stage is now set for the next big plot line of the show...heck one might even call it S.H.I.E.L.D. - Civil War as both factions of the legendary agency appear to square off next week, which is a scary venture. Despite their transparency, we have no clue what this rival faction truly wants outside of power...either way, this ending has left me both excited and nervous for the next episode...until then.

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