Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2x18 The Frenemy of My Enemy [Recap/Review]

Coulson, Hunter, and Mike rescue Fitz, then go for an awkward meeting with Ward and Kara (who are apparently now a Thing. And a strangely adorable Thing). Their goal is to find the new heads of HYDRA - Strucker (who we nerds know is the man who has the Maximoff twins, aka Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch) and List. Both of them have been experimenting on powered people (including, we see, the poor pre-Inhuman backpacker, Ethan). Coulson is afraid HYDRA might have Skye, and tells Ward they need his help - under the condition that, once they're done, Ward lets the T.A.H.I.T.I. program wipe his memories. If he doesn't agree, Mike will shoot Ward.

Needless to say, tensions are fairly high - Ward and Kara are using this for their own ends, Fitz is jumpy about working with Ward, and none of them trust Bakshi - their card for getting to List.
With Mike posing as Bakshi's bodyguard, they get on a plane with List in an attempt to get the information they need. The team on the quinjet watches through Mike's cyborg eye as Bakshi slithers and slides his way around the conversation, and supposedly 'gains List's trust' by offering to hand over Mike as a present.

The team thinks that Ward and Kara have betrayed them, and the tension triples when they realizes that Mike has no intention of being given to anyone and is preparing to shoot everyone in the plane. Things cool down and they order Mike to play along. List tells Bakshi that they're on their way to a 'quantum entanglement site' - or, the last place they know Gordon was. They're tracking Gordon and hoping to get to Skye.

Meanwhile, back at the base, Mack and Bobbi agree that Coulson isn't the enemy, but they need to know the truth. Mack thinks everything will be cleared up when the new high-tech laser arrives, and they can get into the toolbox. Worried that once the laser arrives her subterfuge will be revealed, Jemma tells May about the fake toolbox, and how Fitz has the real one. Unfortunately for Jemma, May tells Bobbi, and they confront Jemma about her deception. Jemma doesn't care what's in the toolbox, she tells them; she only wants to protect Skye. She agrees - with great reluctance - to track Coulson down using Mike's cybernetic enhancements.

At Afterlife, Skye isn't comfortable with Jaiying's plan to take Cal back home and leave him there. She's afraid he'll go ballistic and hurt people, and so she gets permission to go with Cal and ease the blow. During the awkward-yet-touching Take Your Daughter to Work Day, Skye manages to call May and tells them to come pick up her and Cal. "Just don't hurt him," she says, before ditching the phone. Mack and Bobbi leave immediately.

Cal takes Skye to his old office building to get some things (and MCU history is made as Skye says her real name - Daisy Johnson - for the first time) and Skye finally tells Cal that he can't keep living in the past and pretending things are how they were before she was taken. They have to move on. Cal agrees, but he's suspicious - and his suspicion turns to anger when Lincoln, who has been following them for Skye's safety, accidentally announces himself. (Did he trip over something? Ya gotta be more careful, Sparkplug.)

Then lines begin to get crossed - Cal begins to beat up Lincoln, but then tells Lincoln to protect Skye when HYDRA arrives (including Bakshi and Mike). Lincoln ends up fighting Mike, and Fitz ends up getting a glimpse of Skye through Mike's eye. (That was really fun to say.) Hunter is shot - but not killed - thanks to Kara, and Ward and Coulson plow through HYDRA attempting to find Skye. Fitz loses sight of Skye as Jemma hacks into and hijacks Mike's feed, and Jemma and May see Coulson and Ward fighting side-by-side.

People begin to realize that there are too many things going on at once. Apparently Ward and Kara suck at brainwashing people, because Bakshi and HYDRA knock out Mike and Lincoln and capture them both.

Ward and Coulson find Skye, but just before she reaches them, Gordon - having been alerted to the throwdown somehow - shows up and teleports her away - along with Cal, who jumped in for strange group hug before he disappeared.

With Hunter badly injured and their patchwork team surrounded by HYDRA, Ward asks if they're staying or leaving. "Your call, boss," he tells Coulson. Coulson, apparently, decides that both is good. When Bobbi and Mack show up at the building, they don't find anyone - except Coulson, who tells them 'take me to your leader.'

Coulson, darling - that leader would currently be May, and she's not happy with you. To quote Hunter at the beginning of the episode, "This won't end well."

FURTHERMORE

• 'I give you my word as Director of SHIELD.' Why was that disconcerting? We know that Coulson's Director status is up in the air - is he lying to Ward?

• Seriously. HOW CUTE IS THE WARD/KARA THING? He bought her a CACTUS!

• How is Bakshi still thinking for himself? Like seriously. Either the dude's mental faculties are a lot stronger than we gave him credit for, or it just boils down to the fact that Ward can't brainwash people to save his life.

• Of course, another possibility is that Bakshi is still following Ward's orders...it's just a completely different set of orders than Coulson suspected. Now that would be interesting.

• This is tying in very well with Age of Ultron thus far; I look forward to seeing how they continue the tie-in up through the season finale! (During which I will cry, rock back and forth, adopt the fetal position, and probably write fanfiction.)

• If they hurt Gordon, heads will roll. I won't allow it.