TV Recap - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1-21 - Ragtag

I'd say they are setting us up for the finale, but there was a twist in there I wasn't expecting.  Not to say that they didn't set us up, of course.  I mean, those were quite some cliffhangers they left us with.

And there were flashbacks to help explain the history between Ward and Garret.  We see how they first met, when Ward was in prison for breaking out of military school and then setting fire to the family home with his older brother inside (he claims he didn't know anyone was there).  That leads to Garret breaking him out of prison.  He takes him to the wilderness to train, but that training amounts to leaving him there with some clothes.  Garret says it will be for two months, but it turns out to be six.  Ward has learned to survive, however, partially by stealing from the cabins in the area.  Then Garret teaches him how to shoot.  Finally, he lets Ward in on his secret, he's really Hydra working inside S.H.I.E.L.D.  In the final flashback, Ward learns he has been accepted to S.H.I.E.L.D., but in reality, he will be under cover for Hydra.  Garret tells him that he must never let himself get attached to those he is on assignment with - this is weakness.  As a test of this, Ward is told to shoot the dog who has been his only companion during this time.  He can't do it, however.

The only question this leaves me is, I sure thought that Ward wasn't his real name, but it looked like it was from the flashbacks.  Maybe I misunderstood something back there.

Meanwhile, in the present, our team is trying to figure out their next step in defeating Hydra.  Skye has created a Trojan horse, or at least part of one, that will infiltrate their computers.  They just need to find a computer to plug the rest into, and it will upload to all of them.

The first start is Cybertech.  Coulson and May go in as two scientists trying to get hired by the company, but the tech they offer isn't of interest.  Actually, the scene is very funny since Fitz and Simmons are feeding them lines from outside.  I was cracking up, especially when they started "fighting" with each other and Fitz and Simmons were doing in the van.  Anyway, the meeting is a bust, but Skye has figured out that the fourth floor is abnormally protected.  That must be where the computer mainframe is.

Only it isn't.  Instead, it's a giant filing room.  Coulson and May look around and find a file with information on Deathlock.  Only the program started years ago.  Garret was the first.  He's half computer.  And that's why he is so interested in the vial that brought Coulson and Skye back.  It is the only thing that can save him.

Meanwhile, the scientist working for Garret has created a new vial of the serum, but only the one.  We also learn that Garret is starting to fail, his components are dying, and so is he.

Our team is able to track Garret and Ward's location to Cuba, so they go in.  However, Garret and his team are already packing up, tipped off by Cybertech, so they start to clear out.  Simmons and Fitz follow one lead and it leads them to the plane.  Despite orders to leave, they are thinking of putting a small drone on the plane to help them track it.  However, it wouldn't have mattered if they left right away or not - Ward catches them almost as soon as the phone call was over.  They are taken on board the plane where Ward is eventually ordered to kill them.  They escape into a compartment.  Fitz has refused to believe that Ward is truly evil, and begs for their lives.  Ward replies that compassion is weakness, then he ejects their compartment from the flying plane into the ocean.  The question, was he being weak, giving them some hope of escape, or was he trying to be strong.

Meanwhile, the other part of the team has tracked down their main headquarters behind the barbershop.  However, just as they break into the room, they are surrounded by Centipede soldiers.

Garret has gotten so weak (thanks in part of an EMP that Fitz set off just before the plane launched), that he needs to have the vial of serum put into him.  He convulses, but then stops and with a grin says he can now feel the universe.

And another member of Hydra is trying to sell the US government an army of the Centipede soldiers.

Are they going to be able to wrap any of this up in one episode?  Most of it?  All of it?  Next week will be an epic episode either way.

Speaking of next week, my recap will certainly be later than normal since I will be enjoying time with family for Mother's Day.