Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: T.A.H.I.T.I. is the 14th episode of the season and picks up immediately after the shocking conclusion of the last episode with Skye at death’s door after being shot by Quinn. Skye is being rushed into surgery but they’re told it doesn’t look good for her, and Coulson is trying to get in touch with Director Fury in order to find anything that could save her since it was done for him. Meanwhile the rest of the team is in just as much shock and feeling somber, especially Agent Ward who blames himself for Skye getting shot since he was her supervising officer. But May isn’t having any of that and tells Ward that Quinn is the one responsible for Skye being on the verge of death because he’s the one who shot her. And when the doctor comes in and tells them that not much can be done at this point and that the family needs to be contacted because it’s a matter of the team deciding to keep her on life support or not, Coulson tells the doctor that they’re Skye’s only family. This causes May to rush to the cell where Quinn is being held and she gives him a serious beatdown until Coulson and Ward intervene, and Coulson informs May that he’s going to need her to stop to pilot the plane. He tells her that doctors brought him back to life so he believes that they can help Skye, and so the plan is put in motion when Coulson gives the level 10 security clearance report to Fitz and Simmons about his death and wants them to decipher all the medical details in it so the entire process could be reproduced. And he knows that T.A.H.I.T.I. is an actual place where he was operated and so the details in the report should be able to help them find the location too. But when the team takes off there’s a problem: Quinn is still on board the plane and this is in direct violation of the order to turn Quinn over, and so jets are scrambled in order to board the plane and retrieve Quinn. But Coulson doesn’t want to relinquish custody since Skye’s fate is still undetermined. Can the team solve the mystery behind what was done to Coulson in order to save Skye or will violating the direct order to turn over Quinn only going to make things tougher for them?

It took awhile for the events in the last episode to fully sink in as I sat with my jaw in my lap for the remaining minutes after Skye was shot, and this opening was very touching especially when Coulson told the doctor that they were Skye’s family. It brought back everything that was revealed about Skye’s life growing up and the events surrounding her as a baby when S.H.I.E.L.D. protected her. So it was perfectly understandable that May would react by giving Quinn a vicious beatdown in the context of the show before being stopped (and I’m not condoning torture in real life). And it was also very interesting that Coulson was now in a position to make a decision similar to the one made by Director Fury to save him, although Skye was still alive at this point and he was very much dead. Even Fitz and Simmons couldn’t understand when they saw in the report that his heart was torn in half and that he was somehow brought back and was healed from that. Clearly the team would need more help in getting this solved.

And fortunately that help would come in the form of Agent John Garrett, played by Bill Paxton, who was sent to retrieve Quinn in order to interrogate him but ends up understanding why Coulson didn’t turn him over in case Skye dies. And this was a character who I liked from the first scene as the grizzled vet who gets the job done and worked very well with Coulson’s character from the start. His character provided a different dynamic and it was not only refreshing but also created a closer connection with the greater Marvel universe. And the fact that he wanted to know about the Deathlok program made it even better. He and Coulson are able to get some answers out of Quinn about why he shot Skye and it all connects back to the Clairvoyant and his/her inability to see what happened to Coulson after his death and this is the plan to have them recreate those events so the truth can be seen. This made the Clairvoyant even more interesting because despite not knowing exactly how the Clairvoyant could see all and know all as Quinn explained, it raised the level of the Clairvoyant’s capabilities, if true, and makes him/her an even bigger threat to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fitz and Simmons would be able to decipher enough from the reports to determine the location being referenced and even though it seemed somewhat simplistic it was still an impressive display of S.H.I.E.L.D. technology as they worked through the pieces in order to get an answer.  I really enjoyed that and hope there are more displays like that going forward. And of course there’s plenty of action once they reach the remote location, and I understand that it’s not a location anyone could ever find without solving the pieces in the highly classified report but it did seem a little under guarded for such an important location. But it works because the story was progressing and the eagerness was to get answers and hoping those answers would be worth the build up all season. And to me it was as it was even more shocking and the way the truth unfolded was done in an excellent way that left even Coulson shook. And the development was so huge that the ramifications of it could even carry over to the movies as opposed to the show picking up a storyline from one of the movies. Granted it’s still speculation at this point but it was extremely bold, exciting, and memorable.

And this is where I hope those behind the show understand the gold mine they are sitting on and I’m not just referring to this one event but the entire premise of this show. I understand perfectly why they would want to initially focus on the characters and make the characters memorable so the audience would connect with them but at the same time I think the characters and the audience were somewhat underestimated. For example, Coulson was surrounded by the biggest characters in the Marvel universe and fans still connected with him to the point where he is now a big name and this show exists. And in this episode I was told twice by Fitz and Simmons that Skye is important and it didn’t come off as they were heartbroken over someone they cared about but as a way of saying to the viewers that Skye is important. And when this happened the second time I thought, “I know she’s important to the team and I want her to survive, that’s why I’m watching.” So May’s action in the beginning and Coulson’s actions in this episode were more effective in conveying that because they worked with the assumption that the audience already cared or should care through them and what she meant to them. So this was an excellent episode and I hope it keeps moving in this direction with bold moves and storyline and it’ll be an even more memorable show.

SUMMARY

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: T.A.H.I.T.I. is an excellent episode with some developments that could ripple throughout the Marvel universe and definitely makes things more intriguing. There were some heartfelt moments and it was very interesting to see Coulson in the position of trying to do everything to save a member of his team and his reaction when learning the truth. Bill Paxton’s character came off very well this episode and I’m looking forward to seeing him in more and pursuing the Deathlok storyline. And what I’m looking forward to most is the continuing of the story lines in this newfound bold fashion.