Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 2.12 Recap

A group of twentysomethings are hanging out on the beach in Portugal when Lady Sif comes out of the ocean, with absolutely no knowledge of who she is or where she is. All she knows is that she is looking for Cava, and throws a young man across the beach when he tries to follow her. An operative in Portugal calls it in, and soon Coulson and team are arriving at the local police department. It turns out that the “mystery woman” waited rather calmly when told that Cava was coming to her.

Coulson shows Lady Sif photos, proving they have worked together before and are on the same side. She remembers only that she is from Asgard, but doesn’t know where she is or why she is here. Skye finds a video that may help: the day prior she had an epic battle with a mystery man on the pier. Lady Sif believes she was after that guy, but what is he after?

He is after “fuel,” and goes to a hospital looking for it. He attacks a nurse with a tiny hammer and turns blue. When Bobbi and Skye show up there later, they find that the nurse is now suffering terrifying amnesia. In the lab, Simmons sees in the video that the man bleeds blue. On the pier, Fitz, Hunter, and Mac discover that a lamp post the man fell against was frozen as if by liquid nitrogen. Coulson finds the man stole the tank valves from a helium balloon vendor. If he is looking for nitrogen, a hospital is an excellent place to look for him, so Bobbi and Skye start the search. They find him hooking up his nitrogen tank, turning his blue skin a normal, healthy pink color. Bobbi tries fighting him but she goes down. Skye goes for her tranq gun, but her “powers” activate. The room shakes violently, her gun falls apart, and the mystery man runs.

A few pieces of info come to light. First, Cava isn’t a person; it is a Kree word meaning “keys.” It seems reasonable to believe the man she is chasing is Kree. May also finds something. Chaves is the Portuguese word for keys. Chaves, Portugal was a place mentioned frequently in Whitehall’s SSR file, as being the place where he first found the obelisk. Skye, freaked by her earlier run-in, claims she isn’t in peak condition and sits this mission out. This mission is rather simple though: they go back to Chaves, thinking that if the Kree is looking for the obelisk, he will likely start here. Sure enough, the Kree is there, trying to open an enormous crate. They shoot him with an electrified net and haul him in.

The Kree gives his name as Vin-Tak, and promises if they bring him his truncheon, he will restore Lady Sif’s memory as a sign of good faith and trust. Bobbi can’t figure out how to activate it – it is possible it only works in Vin-Tak’s hand. Coulson takes it to him, but Vin-Tak takes it by force. He strikes Lady Sif with the truncheon, drops it, and her memories return. Odin charged her with retrieving Vin-Tak, but he is on a mission of his own. The ancient Kree descended on various planets, altering the DNA of the inhabitants so they can fight in their wars. The plan failed and the mission was scrapped, but apparently it didn’t fail on Earth the way it had elsewhere, and these Kree-hybrids created their own city – the one that SHIELD flooded. Vin-Tak saw an ancient signal had been triggered and knew it had to be a diviner. He came to Earth to find the crate of diviners, enough to create an army of “inhumans.” However, SHIELD investigated the crate, and found it empty. The assumption is that they were taken in the 1940s.

Coulson and May know that one person was “transformed” by the diviner, but she escaped. They didn’t see her, but Skye did. All eyes are on Skye, and she gets nervous – especially when Vin-Tak says the changes may not have been on the surface, and that these creatures are weapons, abominations. The place starts quaking, and May and Coulson both approach her for the truth. She admits she is doing the quaking, and Lady Sif tries to grab her. She gets scared, pulls away, and causes a window to blow out. Both Lady Sif and Vin-Tak agree that she is dangerous, but Skye is convinced she can get a handle on it. The phrase “put down” is tossed about, and May and Skye run.

The girls go into the prison room, and May puts up the shield, begging Skye to focus, to control her emotions like they had discussed. Skye is too freaked out, and Lady Sif’s sword penetrates the barrier. With few options, Skye shoots herself with the tranq gun. This move of self-harm surprises Lady Sif, and Coulson comes in, insisting that is proof that she wants to get better. Elsewhere, Bobbi has been fighting Vin-Tak and eventually gets him down. Coulson and May take Lady Sif and Vin-Tak out to the woods. Lady Sif will see that Vin-Tak gets home, but she wishes Coulson would turn over Skye, as she poses a real danger. Coulson refuses, and she relents, calling upon the rainbow bridge to sweep her and Vin-Tak away.

The rest of the team (except Skye) is cleaning up the broken glass. They are all upset about the situation, but they are mad at Fitz because he knew about it and lied. Simmons is especially upset. But they all feel they had the right to know. Fitz was trying to protect her from being turned into a lab rat, but Mac points out, “We are the ones who need protection from her.” Skye hears this and walks away without a word. She locks herself in the interrogation room, clearly planning on making it her new home.

Meanwhile, we are learning a little bit more about the Bobbi/Mac thing. Mac is getting concerned because Bobbi and Hunter are sleeping together and are clearly on their way back to coupledom – especially when Coulson offers Hunter a permanent spot on the team, one which he plans on taking. Bobbi suggests to Mac that they bring Hunter “on board,” which Mac flat-out refuses. “You didn’t tell him to begin with because you didn’t trust him. How will he feel if you tell him now?” Mac wants Bobbi to push him away so he doesn’t take the job with SHIELD, in case he “takes their side.” “He loves you, but I think he might be capable of killing you,” Mac warns. “Remember how it felt when our friends turned out be Hydra?” Bobbi is very quick to remind Mac they are not Hydra, but she seems to agree with him. Later, when Hunter comes on to her, she gives him the cold shoulder and pushes him away. He is hurt. At the end of the episode, he confronts Mac in the garage. Mac plays dumb, and Hunter says he knows about the flash drive and wants to know who “backup” is. Mac puts him in a headlock until he passes out.

You can check out the promo and photos for epiosde 2.13 of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in the player below. Titled “One of Us,” the episode is officially described as follows:

“Cal seeks revenge on Coulson by assembling a team of Super Villains to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, May calls on renowned Dr. Andrew Garner (Blair Underwood), her charismatic ex-husband, with a crisis that threatens to tear the team apart.”

Written by Monica Owusu-Breen and directed by Kevin Tancharoen, “One of Us” is set to air March 17. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” airs Tuesdays at 9 P.M. EST on ABC.