The Breakdown
A street magician is doing parlor tricks, then amazes the crowd by making fire come out of thin air onto the palm of his hand. After the show a woman in a flower dress comes up to the man to ask him to do the trick again, he hesitates. The man brings the woman up to his apartment. After some light flirting the woman gets the man to do the trick again. After he puts out the flame the woman acts as if she is going to kiss him, asks him to close his eyes. When he opens them two people in flame retardant suits grab the man and take him into custody.
On the BUS, Ward and Skye are playing battleship. Coulson is watching them along with May. May asks Coulson if they want to do some training. Before Coulson can respond he gets a bat signal like message from S.H.I.E.L.D Apparently S.H.I.E.L.D. tracks all people with powers. The man, named Chan Ho Yin, has been on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s watch for a while. It looks like Chen got his powers from an accident at a nuclear plant that caught on fire. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent (Kwon) in charge of keeping tabs on Mr. Chen has found out that Chen is missing. Kwon also tells Coulson and the team that the S.H.I.E.L.D. database has been hacked for a 2nd time by the rising tide. The team goes silent and strangely looks at Skye.
On the BUS Skye says that she didn’t hack S.H.I.E.L.D. but wants a chance to find out who did. Chan wakes up and the same woman who took him is there. She says that she needed to bring him in under the radar. Chen thinks that she is with S.H.I.E.L.D., she claims that she is not. She tells Chan that she wants him to be all he can be. She says that she can enhance his powers and show him off to the world. Chan doesn’t want to be tested on but still listens. The woman makes the case that the name Chan Ho Yin is not unique and he should be known as Scorch. She brought up the fact that no one knows Steve Rogers but everyone knows Captain America. Chen says the name is growing on him but he doesn’t want to be a superhero.
Skye locates the person who hacked S.H.I.E.L.D. he is a famous hacker named Miles that also hacked the Kremlin. They say he is in Austin, Texas. The team goes to Texas tracks down Miles and Miles sees Ward standing on a corner and starts running. Miles gets in his car and Coulson follows. Approaching a traffic light Miles activates his phone to gridlock protocol and the street lights turn red and traffic becomes a mess, Coulson loses Miles. Finally getting home Miles enters his apartment where Skye is waiting. Skye and Miles have a past. Skye tipped Miles off that S.H.I.E.L.D. was onto him. Skye is also upset that he is hacking S.H.I.E.L.D. saying that he may blow her cover. After a few minutes of being angry Skye and Miles have a romp in the hay.
As Skye gets up to get dressed she is looking for her top. She goes to the door and May is there holding her shirt. At a research lab Scorch get injected with a serum that will enhance his powers. Instead of making a small fire with his hands. He is now able to make basketball sized fire. He throws the ball of fire against the walls in excitement. Scorch tells the woman in the flower dress that S.H.I.E.L.D. always wanted him to hide his powers. Now he can show the world what he can do.
Back at Miles’ house Skye tells Coulson that she isn’t working with Miles but she was trying to help him as a friend. Coulson has them both taken in. While in custody Ward come in to the interrogation room and gives Miles a chance to come clean to Skye. Miles keeps quiet and Ward tells Skye that Miles was selling the information and received a million dollars for it. Miles claims that he sold the info to a woman in a flower dress. He checked the company he was selling the info to and found out they are an eco research group that deals with centipedes. Back at the lab a doctor (the same one from the pilot in L.A.) speaks to the woman in the flower dress who we find out name is Rena. The doctor is surprised that Chen came willingly and tells Rena that Chen is perfect for the Extremis project because his body will stabilize Extremis due to his powers. Rena also tells the doctor that she named him Scorch. The doctor tells Rena to drain him and leaves the room. Rena shoots some gas into the lab to knock Scorch out.
At the lab Scorch is strapped to a table and the doctor tells him that his blood platelets allow him not to feel the burn when he creates fire and that they are taking them out for their own research. Scorch tries to start a fireball when he screams and burns his hands. Fitz and Simmons suggest that Extremis is taking Chen to use him in Extremis because most of their subjects combust and Chen may be an answer to solving that problem. Coulson asks Ward to stay and watch the prisoners. Ward wants in on the action and Coulson tells him that he made the mistake of bringing Skye in when Ward was against it. Coulson says it’s his mess that he is going to clean it up. Miles is trying to convince Skye that he sold the info to change his life as well as hers because he didn’t want to be scraping by anymore.
Agent Coulson and agent Kwon go in to take down the building that Extremis is set up in. They blow the door, May takes out a guard and they look for Chen. They find him strapped to the table. While trying to save him one of the lab workers put the room into lockdown mode. Coulson knocks out a guard and calls for his strike team to override the system. When Coulson turns around he finds Kwon has a hole burned through him. A burned Chen is out of shackles and says to Coulson he is setting himself free.
Agent Ward unlocks Skye because Coulson is in trouble. Scorch starts throwing fireballs at Coulson and May. May starts speaking to Chen in chinese in order to get him to stop the madness. Chen doesn’t buy it. He complains that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to keep Chen Ho Yin down but there will be no holding back Scorch. Coulson asks May to distract Scorch while he uses the night-night gun on him. Coulson gets up and fires the gun repeatedly. Scorch puts up a fire like force field blocking any bullets from hitting him. Back on the BUS Skye is trying to hack into the building. She says the she needs to get into the building in order to access it.
Outside of the lab the doctor is on the phone telling someone that S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the building and they have the situation under control. Rena walks by and antagonizes the doctor about Chen’s true nature coming out and Rena says she is beginning to think the doctor is bad luck. Coulson asks Simmons are the buildings computers back on online. They are and Coulson tells them to unlock Miles they will need his help.
Scorch leaves the room and finds the doctor. She says that they can make this better and have the name Scorch really mean something. Scorch says it already does, pounds the floor creating a streak of fire and burns her to the ground. Coulson gets Scorch’s attention saying he doesn’t want to hurt him but they are going to have to. May stabs Scorch with two needles in his shoulders. Scorch starts destabilizing. Simmons is directing Miles to control the building’s air ducts to have the blast go upward throughout the vents. Scorch combusts as the team runs out of the building. They see a huge fireball exiting the building throughout the sky.
Back on the BUS Coulson gives Miles an option of taking whats in a box he’s holding or going to jail. The box contains a bracelet that will make it hard for Miles to use anything electronic and will do whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. wants him to do. Coulson also tells Miles that his money has gone to agent Kwon’s family. Coulson wants to see Skye in his office where he berates her and asks what is she hiding. Skye pulls a SIM card out of her bra and says this is everything she has. Coulson thinks it’s on S.H.I.E.L.D. but the file is on Skye. She has been looking for her parents and hasn’t found much except for a document that’s been redacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson says he can help and gives her a bracelet as well.
Somewhere at a prison we see Rena speaking to a man behind bars. She tells him that the doctor is dead but they did find a fix to the combustion problem and should have stable subjects soon. Now it is on to step 2 of the plan. She wants the man to get in touch with someone named the clairvoyant to see if any insight can be given to stage 3. The man says that the clairvoyant doesn’t like to be touched and Rena tells him they all have to do things that makes them uncomfortable and he knows that better than anyone.
The Analysis
It would be great to think that our prayers have been answered about our complaints about the show not having a superhero or villain. This episode was more than likely taped months ago. It still doesn’t take away from the fact that this was the best episode yet. Extremis is back in the picture and we have a super-villain from the comics. Even though they changed his name from Tommy Ngh to Chan Ho Yin, the story of Scorch was a good one to write into the show. Most of the Extremis story lines are pretty good and I hope they keep it up.