The Breakdown
A four-wheeler in the middle of no where gets jacked, up into the air by a mysterious invisible force in Colorado and then crashes down. A group of soldiers come out, break into the truck, which turns out to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle, and kidnaps the professor in the truck.
On the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane, Ward is Skye’s S/o and he is having her box a punching bag for training. Ward feels that Skye is not taking this opportunity seriously and doesn’t want to be there. Coulson’s team finally arrives on the scene where the hijacking occurred and Simmons has on the nicest glasses/visor combo known to man. There is an invisible presence in the air that is lifting particles. Coulson picks up a little neutron looking thing from off of the ground which is causing this occurrence.
The particle is gravitonium; an element that was put off as a myth to everyone except Dr. Ian Quinn (the person that was taken in the hijacking). A man named Ian Quinn has him. Quinn and Hall have history and Quinn wants Hall to work on a much larger size of gravitonium in order to stabilize it. Quinn has taken Hall to Malta where S.H.I.E.L.D. can not freely go because of international laws. S.H.I.E.L.D. is thinking of a way to get inside Quinn’s base to free Hall. Fitz and Simmons studied under Hall so they are taking this kidnapping personal. Fitz wants to send in a monkey in order to save Hall. Skye suggests that she should go in and everyone thinks that she is crazy because of her lack of experience and combat training. Quinn’s compound is having a shareholders meeting which will make infiltration even more difficult, however Sky has just obtained and invitation to the big event.
Coulson decides to send Skye in with Agent Ward. Agent May is concerned about being in combat because this is the last thing she wanted. Coulson tells her that he will go in with Ward because he’s had plenty of combat with The Avengers. May mumbles that it killed him. Skye is finally onto Quinn’s compound mingling with the other party guests and decides to introduce herself to Quinn. Quinn tells her that he sent her the invite because he knows she is with the rising tide and wants to hire her because of her skills.
Skye breaks free at the party when Quinn is speaking about gravitonium. She sneaks into the house looking for a computer where she can get a WiFi signal so the team can break the high-tech alarm system Quinn has surrounding his compound. Quinn busts her and wonders what she is doing. After giving a bs excuse Skye writes on a sheet of paper that S.H.I.E.L.D. is listening to their conversation to try to build trust with Quinn.
Quinn is in the office with Skye trying to figure out why she is here and why S.H.I.E.L.D. would recruit her. Skye tosses her earpiece in a glass of champagne to cut communication with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Agent Ward and Coulson are on the banks of Quinn’s island waiting for the go ahead from Fitz that he has broken the security code for a electric barrier which disintegrates anything that touches it.
Meanwhile Skye pulls out her fancy makeup compact that Fitz gave to her in order to get a WiFi signal and break the security. Skye is still buying time with Quinn, pulls out the compact and gets a signal. The force field is down and Ward and Coulson head in. Quinn’s men alert him there’s been a security breach and Quins points a gun at Skye. Coulson gets to the lab where Hill is to rescue him. Hill is trying to destroy the gravitonium (and everyone with it) instead of trying to help Quinn. Hall is the one that tipped his location so that Quinn would capture him knowing Quinn would need Hills’ help to get it working. The gravitonium goes haywire and Coulson flies around the room.
Quinn is making a case that Skye should work for him instead of S.H.I.E.L.D. because S.H.I.E.L.D. acts as a big brother and he will let her be free to do what she wants. Hill is explaining to Coulson that he lead Quinn to him in order to destroy the device. Skye takes the gun away from Quinn using a move that Ward taught her. She jumps out the window to escape. Quinn’s men catch up to her and Ward is there to save the day. Coulson and Hill are trying to chase each other in a zero gravity room. Coulson is trying to talk Hill out of destroying everyone on the island including Fitz and Simmons whom he taught.
Coulson gives up trying to reason with Hill and shoots the glass of the room separating them from the gravitonium device. Coulson grabs a wire and Hill falls through and gets swallowed up in the gravitonium. Aboard the BUS agent May speaks with Coulson about her role on the team. Coulson takes it as she is going to quit but May tells him that she wants in on the real action the next time that there is a mission.
Skye is hitting the punching bag hard and lets Ward know that she is committed to the team. Coulson has the gravitonium sent to a secret location which can only be reached via a drawbridge, which after you’ve crossed the bridge you must answer 3 questions by a magical troll in order to gain access. So that no one would find it again. At the location the same agent that Coulson assigned to ship the gravitonium away, takes the sign off the door that identifies it (written in a code). Inside the room a silver hand rises from the gravitonium particle.
The Analysis
Very good episode. I wondered when Skye was with Quinn if her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. coming to an end and her Rising Tide roots taking over. When May mumbled that Coulson was killed in New York. I can’t help but wonder how many members of the team knows that Coulson is an LMD and if he would ever learn the truth about what happened to him in New York. Also even though I did enjoy this episode, I was hoping that the cause of the four-wheeler being uplifted was caused by a superhero/villain. As we later found it that wasn’t the case but I can’t help but wonder how much of the show’s storyline will revolve around and unknown device or event and how much would be dedicated to superhero/villain. Guess we’ll all have to find out together.
