With everyone safe it’s time for the reunions.  Skye tells Ward that she’s glad she doesn’t have to find a new supervising officer, but Ward says he was in “good hands”.  Fitz and Simmons relate their adventures, with Fitz exaggerating his role in saving Ward.  His head deflates when Simmons tells him that she “shot a superior officer in the chest.”  Skye apologizes to Coulson, but he has bigger news for her.

He tells her that he found the original copy of the unredacted file that Sky has been searching for.  She jumps up in excitement as he explains that the file wasn’t actually about her, but about the woman who dropped her off at the orphanage.  It turns out the woman was a SHIELD agent, but it’s not clear who it was or why she dropped Skye off, but it might possibly have been Skye’s mother.  He says he’s sorry it’s not more, but Skye is thrilled to have any information at all, giving him a big hug while he has an uncomfortable look on his face.

Back in his office, May is reading through a file and asks him what he told Skye.  He says it was the truth, but that he didn’t tell her all of the truth, specifically why the SHIELD agent abandoned Skye at the orphanage.  He tells may that he “can’t” tell her, though is unclear as to what that means.  “Some secrets are meant to stay secret,” he says.  He then asks May if she’ll help him find out what really happened, and after some thinking she agrees to try.  She feels sorry for Skye, as the camera pans down to show the open file, with a picture on top of a dead woman.

After the credits we get a scene of Coulson alone in his office.  He makes a phone call looking for information, and he gives his access code to the voice on the other end.  He wants a report on a “death and recovery” restricted file.  He’s looking for information about an agent’s recovery, which mostly took place in Tahiti, but he’s told that he doesn’t have access to that file.  He protests, telling the voice that he is Level 8 and should have access to the file, but the man confirms that he doesn’t.  The voice asks if Coulson would like to file a formal request with Director Fury, but Coulson says no and hangs up.

Tonight’s episode was a lot of fun.  It gave us some comedy, an exciting James Bond-style mission, a look at SHIELD as a larger organization and some insights into several of the show’s mysteries.  It also gave us some good character moments, which might not have held a lot in terms of revelations but did a lot for continuing to flesh them out as individuals.  In particular, this episode helped set up some of the internal conflicts that the team and each member will have to face going forward.  I feel like if SHIELD can find a way to balance episodes like this one with ones like last week, it can really soar.  If this is how they handle mythology and fun, and last week is how they handle emotion and character, it’s blue skies from here on out.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Thoughts

So “The Hub” might have been the funniest episode thus far.  We had some great Coulson wisecracks, some hilarious banter between Fitz and Ward, Coulson’s one sided conversation with May, Simmons trying to be stealthy, the clever reversal where Fitz is helping fix the fuses, Fitz thinking that the guards were fighting among themselves when it was really Ward, and of course the masterpiece that was Fitz vs the sliding door.  I have to give credit to the cast for doing a great job with this, as well as the writers, Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc.  (Interestingly, Rafe Judkins was a contestant on Survivor before beginning a career as a TV writer.)

The Hub was an interesting look into SHIELD as a whole.  Not only did we see some of the bureaucracy and policies of the agency, but in this episode we also got a glimpse at a more “run of the mill” sort of mission.  (Of course, when something out of a James Bond movie is “run of the mill” that tells you a lot about the show.)  The mantra to “trust the system” that was common at the Hub is interesting, as I feel like Coulson and his team will be struggling with that idea in the episodes and seasons to come.  After tonight’s episode it’s a lot easier to see a day when Coulson and crew break ties with SHIELD and become independent operators, perhaps as a result of the system letting them down.

I love the tactic of pairing off characters in this episode, particularly when it comes to pairings we haven’t seen much of.  It allows the characters to show sides of themselves that we don’t usually get to see.  I liked Simmons and Skye together, as we got to see Skye trying to take charge of their little mission but without Coulson or Ward’s demeanor.  And I loved that Simmons not only finishes Fitz’s sentences, but everyone else’s as well.  Plus, her go-to move is to shoot people in the chest, which is hilarious.  The Ward/Fitz dynamic was just as rewarding as it promised to be during last week’s promo.  I like that Fitz is more clever and resourceful and confident than he seemed thus far, and that Ward genuinely seems to care for him and the others in the crew.  I hope we see more of the dynamics between pairs of characters in the future.

Every week we get a few more clues about Coulson’s mysterious resurrection.  This week we got a few big moments of character development along those lines, even if there weren’t a lot of revelations.  The moment when Coulson hesitated during his automatic “It’s a magical…place” was very telling with regards to how much Coulson suspects.  We learned last week that he has some questions about what happened to him, and we could see in this moment that he’s beginning to question even more about himself.  (Top notch acting by Clark Gregg in that moment, by the way.)  The final scene didn’t tell us anything new, as we already knew from the pilot episode that the truth was being hidden from Coulson.  However, Coulson is starting to look seriously worried.  I think this particular issue will be one of the big ones in the upcoming weeks that causes him to question the “trust the system” mantra.

Let’s not forget that we learned some more about Skye’s mystery as well.  It seems pretty likely to me that the SHIELD agent who dropped her off at the orphanage was her mother (or at least a family member or close friend of her parents).  Perhaps she was abandoned because her mother knew she was in danger and wanted to protect Skye, or maybe it was a Harry Potter situation, where her mother was dead and a friend or family member dropped her off.  Was the dead body in the file her mother, or someone else?  And what do this new information do to the theory that either Coulson is Skye’s dad, May is her mom, or both?  At this point, I’m as intrigued by this mystery as I am by Coulson’s resurrection, as I feel like this one will have much wider consequences for SHIELD as a whole.

Don’t forget to tune in next week for a particularly big episode of SHIELD.  For the first time the show will directly tie into one of the films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in this case Thor: The Dark World.  It looks like a weapon or item of some sort (a staff) was left behind following the attack on Greenwich in the film, and it’s causing all sorts of mayhem.  Episodes where some of the main cast are taken over by some kind of mind control are always fun.  The episode also seems to reflect a bit of the Marvel One-shot “Item 47”, which showed the consequences of a weapon left behind following the events of The Avengers.  Next week’s episode could be big, and as a bonus it’s directed by Jonathan Frakes, aka Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Will Riker.

What do you think?  Did you enjoy “The Hub”?  Could this have been the funniest episode yet?  What did you make of the revelations about Skye’s parents?  Do you see a conflict looming between Coulson’s crew and SHIELD?  How about between May and Coulson, who seem to have somewhat different viewpoints on things?  Did you enjoy how the episode paired off the characters?  Are you looking forward to next week?  Let me know in the comments!