Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: "Shadows"

Written by Shae

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

Season 2 starts out with a massive bang and right from the get go, this season isn't about to hold anything back. With a bit of a different perspective, the season kicks off with Agent Carter and the Howling Commandos taking over the last of the HYDRA bases. With that, they find the original 0-8-4. Some weird, twisted, metal, that isn't to be touched….but it is locked away and secured by the new organization that will eventually become S.H.I.E.L.D. Flash forward to modern day, and it looks like the fall out from the HYDRA take over is still happening. Or rather, the recovery. Agent Coulson has taken over as the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. which is struggling in numbers. We're meeting a few new faces, and some might just be guest stars. The infamous Lucy Lawless lends her talent to the show and her name to the list of amazing guest starts. Along with a few other new faces, so far the new team seems to be growing. Already, they're working to find out who is loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. and who is selling secrets. Turns out, more are selling than anything. Coulson has taken it upon himself to meet new potential agents in person. Among those names, however, is not Romanoff or Barton. I'm still holding my hopes for a Black Widow and Hawkeye cameo…

In the meantime, HYDRA has a new teammate on their side. Is this guy a mutant? Who knows, but he does have the ability to change his skin to whatever material he chooses. If you ask me, that's pretty mutant like. Either way, he proves to be quite formidable. What's he after? Information on the very first 0-8-4. Of course, the Team doesn't know this just yet, but they know someone who does. Agent Ward has been in the basement the whole duration of the new set up. He'll only speak with Skye however. Begrudgingly, she does go and talk to him. We find out that Ward has attempted to kill himself a few times, but has finally come to terms with what he's done. He swears to never lie to Skye again…and gives her any and all the information she wants.

It looks like Fitz is back, but he may not be quite as back as everyone wants. Seeming to struggle with memory and word issues, he's unable to get things out as quick as he used to. But he seems to be alive, and in this show, thats all that matters. Colonel Talbot is back, with a promotion to General. It seems he's the next target of our skin changing man. Only, S.H.I.E.L.D. steps in to save him and his family. While Agent May kicks some serious butt, Talbot is escorted to the new base of operations where Coulson offers him a deal. Talbot doesn't take said deal, wanting to shut down S.H.I.E.L.D. for good. Thankfully, Talbot's men caught the HYDRA agent with the changing skin. Only problem is, they take him to the same place they have all the obtained S.H.I.E.L.D. things. Including the original 0-8-4.

Which the team infiltrates and finds. Lawless' character, however, makes the mistake of touching it. Whatever the object is, it takes control and won't let her let it go. Instead it starts to suck the life out of her. One of the newest agents takes her and leaves with the get away car, while May, Skye, and Triplett find what they also came for, a QuinJet. The whole mission was to secure the 0-8-4, and take a QuinJet, which has cloaking capabilities that they need. S.H.I.E.L.D. now has to work in the shadows, behind the scenes. 

Two major things happened that were a big shock to me. Lawless asks the agent she's with to cut off her arm. Shortly after doing so, the HYDRA agent shows up and crashes their car. He takes the strange object and leaves….only one agent survives. And, we learn that Fitz is really not okay. We thought Simmons was there with him the whole time, helping him say things, like she normally does. Only, Simmons left. Simmons hasn't been there once. The Jemma Fitz is seeing is all in his head, thanks to the severe trauma sustained from saving her. Simmons thought leaving would help him, but it seems to have made things worse. Throughout the premiere, Coulson has been calling the shots, making harder choices. And seems to be a bit different than the Coulson we had in season 1. 

With all these changes we are still left with many unanswered questions. Is Ward being genuine? Will Simmons come back? Will Fitz ever be okay? And what is with Skye's new haircut? I kind of like it...

---