We get a quick explanation for Coulson’s resurrection, giving the most obvious answer of them all: that Fury simply faked Coulson’s death to motivate the Avengers, though he still nearly died after being “shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini.”  But, as we find out at the end of the scene, that’s not the truth.  A SHIELD Dr. (Firefly‘s Ron Glass) isn’t thrilled with releasing Coulson into the field yet, and he says to Hill, “He really doesn’t know, does he?”  To which she responds, “He can never know.”  This is obviously set up to be one of the big mysteries of the season: what really happened to Coulson?  We don’t get any more clues just now, but expect it to keep popping up in future episodes.

We also learn a bit more about Ward, who has top marks in combat and the highest espionage marks “since Romanoff”, another clever reference to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow.  But as for his people skills, Hill simply drew something that Coulson says resembles, “poop with knives sticking out of it… that’s bad, right?”  Though Hill says it’s actually supposed to be a porcupine, the message is clear.  Ward doesn’t play well with others.  He’s completely reliable in tough situations, but he has no interest in being a part of any team.

That’s too bad for Ward, because after a commercial break, we see that that’s exactly what he’s been recruited for.  Coulson is assembling an independent team to deal with the increasing occurrences of larger than life heroes, villains and otherworldly events.  Next up in Coulson’s recruitment tour is Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), a skilled pilot who is working a desk job and refuses to go into the field. Coulson says he only wants her to “drive the bus” but it’s clear she has a reputation for more than simply being a pilot, as Ward is shocked to see her as part of the team.

Also on the team is Fitzsimmons, who are an adorable Scottish/British pair, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge).  Leo Fitz is the engineering and weapons tech side of the operation, while Jemma Simmons tackles the life-science side.  They have a pretty adorable chemistry, and I can already imagine the Fitzsimmons shippers getting revved up for this pair.  They banter about something that Fitz is calling the “night-night gun”, which doesn’t seem to work, and Simmons informs him that she’s not Hermione.  They all convene on an impressive looking cargo plane set (seriously, the budget for this pilot is very impressive, though I imagine the location shooting and the visual effects will be toned down a bit for the rest of the season), being joined by Coulson in a beautiful red 1962 Corvette, delivering the famous line from the show’s previews, “Don’t touch Lola.”

Meanwhile, the woman who recorded J. August Richards’ heroism has been searching for him, and finally corners him in a diner while he searches the want ads.  He’s dismayed that she knows what he did, but she tries to cover up her excitement by telling him she’s “not like a groupie or a stalker type.”  She warns him about SHIELD and the men in suits who will come after him.  She offers to help protect him using computer skills she brags about, but he refuses.  He doesn’t want to be a hero, he just wants a job and to take care of his kid.  She gives it one last try by telling him, “with great power comes… a ton of weird crap” (brilliant!), but he’s not interested in her help.  He leaves, but it’s revealed that she picked his pocket to get his drivers license, and his name is Mike Peterson.

She goes back to her van to broadcast another video message to SHIELD, bragging about how they will never find her, only for her van door to slide open to reveal a somewhat amused Coulson and a menacing looking Ward.  “Hey… whatup?” she asks before a black bag is slid over her head.

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