We open on Skye’s nightmare: running barefoot through the empty S.H.I.E.L.D. compound, a music box that has remarkably similar properties to the obelisk, May and Coulson dressed like WASPs and giving up a baby. Personally, the scariest thing about her nightmare is the hideous floral dress she is wearing.
The team is preparing to head out to the “city” they found that matched the map Coulson had been etching. Located in Puerto Rico, it is submerged beneath a 19th century garrison, and local legend says it is haunted. Hydra may have the obelisk, but they don’t know where to go to unlock its true power. The plan is to investigate, then blow the damn thing up.
But there are problems with Raina (of course). Hydra agents have located her – but so has Sam, and he hides her under a cool invisibility umbrella. Because of this, Coulson divides the team, and sends May, Hunter, and Skye to extract Raina and Sam/Billy from Vancouver. Skye is disappointed that she won’t be on the temple excursion, but Coulson explains that he thinks she is the best person to interrogate Raina. But he also is worried they will run into Skye’s dad at the temple, and he doesn’t need that headache right now.
Raina’s extraction is interrupted by Hydra agents, led by Agent 33 – still wearing her May nano-face (albeit badly scarred from where the real May electrocuted her). After an intense fight scene, the team makes it safely back on the plane. Once there, we finally – finally! – get some answers. That is, answers if you believe Raina. Raina met Skye’s dad in Thailand, where she was a petty con artist who ran with a group of “freaks.” Dad took the crew in, cleaned them up, and showed them they weren’t freaks. Raina asks Skye if she has ever felt as if she was special, part of something bigger. “Like alien?” Skye asks with only a hint of sarcasm. “We are humans, but have potential to be more,” Raina explains. Aha! They are Inhumans! Granted, no one comes right out and says it, but I would assume they don’t have a name for it yet. Raina continues on with a story her grandma told her, about the “blue angels that fell from the sky.” Aka – the Kree. Only the worthy are allowed in the temple, to discover their true power. Which means those who aren’t “worthy” – regular humans – are in big trouble. Skye tries to call Coulson’s team, but they are incommunicado. They have more immediate problems to tend to – but first, let’s check in on the team in Puerto Rico.
Coulson’s team, consisting of Bobbi, Mack, and FitzSimmons, have made their way into the garrison and locate a tunnel that will take them into the temple – the sweet spot. They send a trio of dwarves (tiny drones with cuter names) to check out what is down there, but they don’t get very far before the signal is lost. So they send Mack down to investigate. It is several hundred feet deep, but he makes it to the ground without a problem. He finds one of the dwarves, but he finds something more interesting: beneath a layer of dirt, there are etchings in the ground, etchings that mimic those on the obelisk. He brushes the dirt away to get a better look, and the floor lights up. The emblem transfers to the palm of his hand, and he doubles over, screaming in pain. Coulson pulls him up immediately, but he can’t speak – only scream. The episode seems to subside, only to be replaced by a demonic look in the eyes and a ferocious, violent temple. He starts beating up anyone who gets close to him, and nearly knocks Simmons into the tunnel. Coulson grabs her before she falls, and Fitz pulls a gun on Mack and Coulson gives him the OK to shoot, but Bobbi instead electrocutes him. Mack falls into the tunnel and Coulson orders they seal him in.
Back to the plane. Whitehall has found Raina thanks to the tracker S.H.I.E.L.D. put on her. Thanks to a “pull” Raina feels when she holds the obelisk, she is the only hope of leading them to the temple that unlocks the obelisk’s hidden power. Whitehall announces that he is sending someone to collect Raina. If they don’t give her up, they will bomb the plane. The “diplomat” Hydra sends over is, of course, Ward. May isn’t excited about giving up Raina, but she isn’t going to risk her team’s life. Of course, Ward wants one other thing: Skye. May becomes super-protective but Skye insists she can handle herself. She goes with Ward (and, at Raina’s behest, brings her tablet with the map of the temple on it). The exchange ends without violence. Agent 33 meets with Whitehall to update him. Apparently Ward changed the deal. He was only supposed to take Raina and blow up the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane. Skye wasn’t part of the plan. Whitehall gives the orders to blow up the plane anyway.
