The Analyst
When the show opens, we see Agent Coulson fall out of the plane and we see a flashback sequence to 18 hours earlier. The team is investigating an 0-8-4 which is an object of unknown origin located in Peru.
The show starts out with agent Ward showing concerns about Coulson bringing Sky aboard the BUS (which is S.H.I.E.L.D.S.’ plane) to help the team. They are in Peru to confirm an 0-8-4 which is classified as an object of unknown origin. Coulson goes to a temple in Peru to check out an object that may be very old. Fitz and Simmons break out the robots and “sleepy” is the robot that tries to analyze this unknown object. Outside of the temple Ward is thanking agent May for coming aboard the team. A military presence attacks May and Ward.
The group of people attacking May and Ward are the national police lead by Camila Reyes; a woman that Coulson knows from a previous mission. While speaking; Coulson, Reyes and the national police come under attack by rebels. While exchanging gunfire Coulson decides they need to flee the scene. Inside the temple Fitz, Simmons and Ward hear the gunfire and prepare to leave. Agent Ward rips the 0-8-4 out of the wall to Fitz’s dismay. Aboard the BUS Fitz finally tells the team that the 0-8-4 may be tesseract powered and it emits gamma radiation.
On the plane Fitz is doing analyst on the object and comes to the conclusion that this thing could have blown up upon them retrieving it. Fitz realizes the object is also made by the Germans and Hydra. Sky has a growing concern about leadership upon the team as Fitz and Ward starting fighting. Coulson and Camila Reyes are in another part of the plane when Reyes starts coming on to Coulson. Ward notices that Camila’s team has not touched the drinks poured from the bottle that he and Sky have been drinking. Ward and Coulson realize that something is not right, the national police and Camila take the plane over by drugging agent May and holding Fitz hostage.
The national police seizes the plane and have May, Fitz, Simmons, Sky and Ward in the cargo hold. Agent Coulson is in another location. Ward and May come up with a plan to escape. May dislocates her wrist in order to get loose, she takes down one of the guards and the rest of the team goes to the lab to retrieve “sneezy” to activate the device. Fitz powers up the device and has it blow a hole in the plane, sending one of the guards out of it. Coulson is trying not to fly out of the plane by holding on to the same rope that he was attached to while hostage.
The agents are still engaging with the guards while in the section of the plane with a hole in it. Reyes is about to go through said hole when Coulson grabs her hand to save her. Simmons is trying to reach the 0-8-4 as it has become stuck in a section of the plane. Simmons gets control of the device and is now trying to save the rest of the team. Sky gets hit with an escape plan pamphlet and has an idea to throw a flotation boat to patch up the hole in the plane, which works. Upon taking control of the plane May flies it to the S.H.I.E.L.D. location called the slingshot in order for them to destroy the 0-8-4 by sending it to the sun for disintegration. While watching the 0-8-4 get blasted to space, Sky gets a message on her phone from the rising tide asking about her status. Sky replies that she is in.
We come back and for the first time see Agent Nick Fury. Fury is chewing out Coulson about the damage to the plane. Coulson accepts responsibility about the damage to the plane and tells Fury that his team was acting on his authority. Fury also has concerns about Coulson’s team especially Sky. Fury wants Coulson to fix the plane exactly as it was before and doesn’t want Simmons to do anything crazy like put a fish tank on the plane. Coulson calls Simmons and tell her that the fishtank idea is a no.
The Breakdown
It’s was finally good to see Nick Fury on this episode. We understand that the big Marvel characters may not see airtime on this show which is why seeing Nick Fury was a treat. It was interesting watching this episode revolve around something else besides a superhero. Even though it was different I think it was pulled of well. Sky still being part of the rising tide was surprising and it will be interesting to see if her allegiance will continue to be to the rising tide or to S.H.I.E.L.D. as the show goes on.