Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: "Making Friends and Influencing People"

Written by Shae

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

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is quickly becoming one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever seen. At the same time, this show continues to rip my heart out. Last week we learned that shooting your friends is wrong, apparently. This episode, we get a bigger glimpse into the life of an agent. Simmons, our beloved British Biochemist, has given her loyalties to HYDRA. Did anyone else yell at their TV and violently text their friends when they saw this? Because I did! John can attest to the capslock fury. I’m not even sorry. Simmons? How could you? If there’s any lesson HYDRA gives us, its that HYDRA is bad! And she’s working for them!

At least Skye is getting in some range time and May is being helpful…almost nice. But they still haven’t forgiven about being zapped by Hunter, our newest scruffy edition to the Team. I sense payback is in order….so far, while the Team seems happy, Simmons is working hard in her HYDRA lab. Why? Because Marvel hasn’t destroyed the last bits of my tiny little heart, yet. They have her working in a lab, but on some weird DNA stuff. That is until she notices a file from a student at the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy she and Fitz had saved. Donnie, however, doesn’t want to be found. He’s more in the mood of…turning people to ice and running off. He’s angry and ready to attack. Finding out that HYDRA is on his tail has made the ice wielding man a little more…chilled, than usual. He’s tired of being chased and used. Kind of like how Fitz is tired of being coddled and treated like a child.

Simmons gets a visit from Coulson, and it turns out she is playing the role of a double agent. Does this help the feels? No. I’m still hurt and angry, because this show is filled with a brutality that is harmful to my Shae-heart. Shortly after, Simmons gets asked by a head HYDRA agent to accompany him on a trip to find Donnie. While the Team gets wind of Donnie and head in the same direction. Who will get there first? HYDRA, of course. Simmons is sent in to talk to Donnie…and by talk; I mean, reactivate his brainwashing. Because that’s what HYDRA does. This entire episode, they’ve been trying to brainwash agent 33.

S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA get their own version of a standoff on an ice locked ship when both teams come for Donnie. Simmons gets to him first, and starts talking to him. Unknowingly she starts to activate his brainwashing. But May and Hunter interfere and attempt to take them out. Both get away, and Donnie ultimately ends up brainwashed again. Fighting for HYDRA, he starts to freeze the entire ship with Hunter and May inside. Skye hasn’t gone far, though. With her new sniper rifle she takes out Donnie, making him her first kill. She then shoots for the head HYDRA agent, but Simmons pushes him away in time. Solidifying the biochemists’ loyalties in the mind of HYDRA. Both teams get away from one another. Simmons gets a promotion, and agent 33? She’s been successfully brainwashed.

With all this happening is there ever a happy ending? Thankfully there is. Fitz is getting a bit better. Ward is willingly sharing secrets. And Skye is coping with her possible first hit. She’s also coping with the fact that her father is alive. So much packed into one episode, this show knows how to keep me hooked.

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