Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.returns Tuesday night, and the adventures this season will lead nicely into the next big event to shake the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Civil War. Since this is already a lot to process, why don't we recap Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 to remember who's who and what's what in the new age of Inhumans. In Season 3, the Agents are embarking on a new secret mission based on Secret Warriors from Marvel comics. However, it took them a while to get where they are now.
Overall Season 2 felt lighter, in pacing more than subject matter, since it wasn't hiding the big Winter Soldier secret like the year before. The character dynamics and plot developments really had room to grow. The relationships on the show also got crazy emotional, particularly surrounding Skye. There were Dads versus Dads (Coulson and Calvin) as well as Moms versus Moms (Jiaying and May) fighting for control of her metaphoric soul.
Several new characters joined the team, starting with Mack, Fitz' temporary replacement in engineering, and ultimately including Bobbi and Hunter, the show's hottest new relationship, May's ex-husband Andrew, and an Inhuman named Lincoln. We also lost many characters including Agent Triplett, Raina, Jiaying, Gordon, Robert Gonzales, and a "shapeshifter" named Kara. In the grand tradition of Star Wars, Coulson also lost a hand. Besides that, here's what went down in Season 2.
The Alien Language
The first big mystery of the season was the Kree writing that Coulson, and several other former S.H.I.E.L.D. members were compulsively scribbling. Part of that involved an obelisk that S.H.I.E.L.D. recovered in the Peggy Carter days. Eventually they discovered that the writing was a map of a Kree city, and that the Obelisk was a key to uncovering the Inhuman mystery.
Bobbi Morse & Lance Hunter
I bet you never thought that two divorced spies would be your favorite characters on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this season, did you? These two became series regulars at the beginning of the season. The bickering and angry make-out sessions have not stopped since. At the end of the season, Bobbi jumped in front of a bullet to save Hunter's life as he was rescuing her. They're so dramatic. I love it.
Family Reunion
One of the biggest arcs in Season 2 was Skye reuniting with her parents. Unfortunately, they were both villains for the most part. Jiaying was the leader of the Inhumans who didn't hesitate to kill others in order to stay in power. She even tried to kill Skye. It sucked. Cal experimented on himself in order to become as powerful as his wife, and turned himself into a monster. He's still alive, but lost his memories. However, this did give us the opportunity to learn Skye's real name. It's Daisy Johnson, who in the Marvel comics universe is known as Quake and also an Avenger.
Inhumans Are Here
It was hinted throughout Season 1, but in Season 2 we finally heard the word "Inhumans" and learned what they are all about. The Inhumans were created by the Kree and abandoned on Earth. They lived in a secret, Shangri-La paradise called "Afterlife" and carefully selected which of their people would undergo terrigenesis and gain powers. Those powers manifest in many ways. Both Skye and Raina bypassed this rule and transformed in a temple in the Kree city.
Jiaying was planning on releasing terrigen crystals into the atmosphere, which would kill everyone who wasn't Inhuman and activate those who were. While Jiaying was taken down, the crystals were released in the water. They "infected" fish that were caught and made into fish oil pills. That means that there are a lot of Inhumans out there now, and the world could be plunged into chaos.
FitzSimmons Is Separated Again
At the end of the season, we were introduced to an item in room 47 (possible Easter Egg reference to the Marvel One Shot that introduced Agent Sitwell, Item 47 )— a piece of alien technology that "the real S.H.I.E.L.D." had on their hellicarrier. It looks like a box, but has the ability to change its state of matter and seemingly does that at random. In the last scene of Season 2, Jemma Simmons got sucked into the box. It's a shame, because she and Fitz had just made plans to go on a date. Timing is something else, ain't it?
PS: Ward Is Still Hydra
Not only did Ward rejoin the Nazi organization, but he's currently leading it. That happened. Ward also became involved with a fellow Hydra operative who was brainwashed and lost both her identity and her face — Agent 33, also known as Kara. While he teamed up with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a brief mission, I don't think his redemption is on the horizon. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set to protect Inhumans and other powered people in Season 3, and we know Ward will not be on their side.
Images: Kelsey McNeal/ABC (6); ABC (screengrab)
