Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2.09: "Ye Who Enter Here"

“Come on, Bobbi. You ought to know me by now. I’d rather use a scalpel than a shotgun.”
-Coulson

The penultimate “S.H.I.E.L.D.” episode of the Fall half of the season was definitely a set-up episode. Quite a lot happened, but I would guess that it’s all ultimately to serve whatever happens in the next episode. It didn’t really have an arc of it’s own. We’re just heading full tilt towards the Fall finale. There’s lots of action happening with Skye, Raina, Whitehall, the City, and the creepy Agent May clone, Agent 33. I guess there are two really distinct plots in the episode, with some other character beats sprinkled in for good measure. Regarding those character beats, sad FitzSimmons makes me sad. As always. Can’t they get it together already? FitzSimmons are too adorable to be sad. They need to go back to being adorable.

The episode opens on a dream that Skye is experiencing. It involves the Diviner, May and Coulson, and if you know anything about what is coming next (which you probably do since I’m so far behind on blogging) some very telling background music. The song of the dream sequence is “Bicycle Built for Two,” made famous by “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and also heard in the NASA episode of “This is America, Charlie Brown.” I think this sequence was more foreshadowing than anything else. After Skye wakes up, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team has a meeting where we learn that the City (to which the Diviner is pointing) is located under San Juan, Puerto Rico. This is where at least some of the team is headed next.

We next move to Raina, who thinks she is being stalked by Agent May. It isn’t actually, May, though. This woman’s face is pretty messed up. And she tells Raina that “Dr. Whitehall would like a word.” It’s actually May’s doppelganger, Agent 33. There are also two Koenig brothers (both played by Patton Oswalt, of course) on the scene. They do their best to guide Raina away from the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. This development leads the team to split up. Skye and May are going to go pick up Raina, and Skye is going to interrogate Raina. Another group is going to go to San Jan to try and find the City. Skye’s not thrilled with the idea of missing out on the City. Given her abilities, Coulson seems to think it’s best she doesn’t enter the City just yet until they know more.

Throughout the episode, FitzSimmons are being just plain awkward with each other. At one point, Bobbi decides to ask Simmons about it. It’s really sad to hear Simmons tell her side of the story. She says that she hadn’t even had time to process is declaration of love before Ward attacked and Fitz was in a coma. Now all she really wants is for them to go back to how they were before. Which also makes me sad. FitzSimmons belong together. There’s no other way they can get through life. Staying on the theme of team gossip, as they are leaving for San Juan, Mack asks Bobbi about the recent rekindling of her relationship with Hunter. He also asks if Hunter knows something particular about Bobby (Mac is very vague on this point). Bobbi says that he does not.

Skye and May and their team move in on Raina pretty quickly. Skye ends up having a pretty epic fight scene with Agent 33. Later, after the fight is over and Skye, May, and Raina headed for San Juan, Skye and Raina talk about their mutual power and the Diviner. Raina is trying to make Skye start to accept her father more, but Skye isn’t having it. Because she knows her father is a murderer, she wants nothing to do with him. Raina tries to run, but May puts a stop to that. Meanwhile, Agent 33 reunites with Whitehall and tells him that Raina has a tracker. They use the tracker to intercept Skye, Raina, and May’s plane. Whitehall tells the S.H.I.E.L.D. team that he wants Raina. Ward boards the plane as back-up. He wants more, though. He also wants Skye. At the end of the episode, Agent 33 tells Whitehall about Ward taking Skye as a hostage. She also tells him that once he got Skye, Ward let the plane go. Whitehall wanted the plane complete destroyed, so he is seriously pissed off about this turn of events. He wants Agent 33 to fix it (presumably to destroy the plane).

Meanwhile, in San Juan, Bobbi and Coulson hone in on the Temple (in the City…and I’m starting to wonder if there’s some overlap between the “S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “Lost” creative teams with the way they have been naming things. Bobbi mentions that she’s meeting up with a guy named Diego. It’s interesting that she seems to have guys in every city where the team travels. Part of the job, I guess. Away from the search, meanwhile, we get an extremely sad FitzSimmons scene. Fitz tells Simmons that he wants her to run the lab, while he’ll go work in the garage with Mac. He is fine with working for Simmons, but he doesn’t want to work with her anymore. Have I mentioned yet how much I don’t like sad FitzSimmons? They need to get it together already! Sad FitzSimmons is sad!

In San Juan, the team finds a long shaft that seems to lead down directly into the Temple. Fitz sends some drones down the tunnel, but he loses their signal. Mack is sent down the shaft, and he eventually finds the dead drones. Mack makes the mistake of touching the ground, and with a flash (and the appearance of more alien writing), he suddenly seems possessed. The team brings him back above ground, but Mack is quickly losing control. He warns the team to “run.” Soon after, Mack completely loses control, and he and Bobbi have yet another epic fight. Mack gets electrocuted and sealed inside the tunnel. Coulson says his team that the creature they sealed away wasn’t Mack anymore.