The group all hides behind the rocks, as one particular Captain Obvious warns them not to move.  Coulson can’t take the waiting, and against May’s objection he stands up and walks towards the turret.  The gun points straight at him as an automated voice asks him to identify himself.  “Phil Coulson, Agent of SHIELD,” he says confidently, convinced once more that his faith was not misplaced, and after a moment a secret door opens in the snow revealing a hallway behind.

Garrett and Ward return to their base of operations, but Raina informs them of a complication involving the hard drive from the Bus.  They’ve had three hackers try to decrypt the information, but Skye programmed the device to erase all of the information on it if anyone but she tries to access it.  Garrett looks at Ward and tells him it’s time for Romeo to take a turn.

Inside the secret door Coulson’s team meets Agent Eric Koenig (Patton Oswalt), a Level 6 agent who tells them that they’re in one of Fury’s secret bases, which Koenig calls “Providence” even though it technically doesn’t have a name as it officially doesn’t exist.  Koenig apologizes for the turret, but it’s programmed to shoot any metal object flying through the sky.  Coulson looks like he’s about to cry when he points out that the object was his badge, but Koenig says that he’ll issue Coulson a nifty lanyard instead.  The others will only get them on a case-by-case basis once they’ve been vetted.  He tells them that Fury is dead and that the Fridge has fallen, which sends Skye into a panic over Ward, whom she immediately calls.  “Ward, thank god,” she says when he picks up, while Koenig asks to speak to Coulson in private.

Koenig tells Coulson that it’s nice to finally have company after a long period of isolation, since he’s been stuck at Providence since Fury created it following the Chitauri attack on NY.  Oh, and by the way, Fury’s not dead.  Coulson’s both surprised and vindicated in his faith, but Koenig tells him that only a few people know and that Fury went dark after the fall of SHIELD.  Coulson says that he’s not comfortable keeping secrets from his team, but Koenig warns him not to tell them.  “Was that a threat?” Coulson asks.  “One hundred percent,” Koenig responds, as Fury’s not big on sharing.  Oh, and Providence happens to have a convenient parking space for the Bus.

Ward promises to get the password from the hard drive from Skye, although Garrett gives him only 24 hours to charm it out of her before he’ll order Ward to kill the rest of the team and bring Skye to the HYDRA base.  Garrett asks if Ward is ready to put his false face back on, and Ward is but he’ll need some help getting into character.  Garrett punches him in the face over and over, as he repeats his name and status each time Garrett asks who he is until the cover has sunk in.  He shows up at Providence, having identified himself to the automated turret, and Skye meets him at the door.  He’s bloody and bruised, and might have a few broken ribs, but he still makes a joke about getting bad directions.  Skye wants Simmons to look at him, and then maybe they can get that drink.  The evil look Ward gives as she turns her back doesn’t bode well for anyone.

After the credits, Ian Quinn shows up to confront Garrett, pissed that he took orders and went to jail for someone who doesn’t actually have the powers he claimed to have, particularly given how cushy Quinn’s life was before he started working for the Clairvoyant.  However, Garrett has a special gift for Quinn, and he leads him behind a curtain to reveal a familiar sight from earlier in the season.  It’s the gravitonium that caused so many problems for Coulson’s team, and which secretly contains some form of Dr. Hall, who will eventually come to be known as Graviton.

This episode went a long way towards establishing what we might expect from the show going forward, both in terms of the threats our heroes will face and the issues they’ll have to deal with.  We got a new character and a new location in Koenig and Providence, both of whom we’ll probably see more of in the weeks ahead.  While Garrett is seemingly the big bad for the rest of the season, it will be interesting to see how the remnants of SHIELD find a way to fit into the world going forward.  And of course, Ward’s status is a big question still to answer.  I’m really excited at SHIELD‘s new direction, and I think big things are coming in the handful of episodes left this season.

 S.H.I.E.L.D. Thoughts

So what do we think is up with Ward?  He certainly seems like he’s 100% with HYDRA, given how easily he killed those guards and how much he allowed Garrett to get control of.  At the same time, he admits that he has feelings for Skye and a connection to Coulson, but if pressed on it he’d probably just write it off as a byproduct of working so closely with them for so long.  I’m sure that the internet would erupt in gagging noises if Ward is brought back to the good side by love, but it certainly seems like his feelings for Skye are the primary cause of any slight internal conflict he might be dealing with.

How about Garrett?  He’s turning out to be a more interesting villain than I would have expected.  He may be working for HYDRA, but he’s not exactly a believer.  He mentioned in the previous episode that he saw which way the wind was blowing and switched sides, but it’s clear that he’s loving the new power he has.  When SHIELD inevitably fights back and he finds himself in a tougher situation, it’ll be interesting to see how he plays it.  I could see him making a run for it rather than fighting to the death for HYDRA, which wouldn’t exactly ingratiate him with his bosses.

I love the doubt that our heroes are all feeling.  Coulson’s faith in Fury and SHIELD is admirable, but it was clear that it’s just hanging by a thread (at least until they discovered Providence).  The level of uncertainty that they’re all feeling has to be taking a toll on them all, not just from the aspect of who to trust but what to believe in anymore.  I particularly loved Simmons counter to Coulson that they actually are in a democracy now, considering that Coulson’s official authority dissolved with SHIELD.  I also think Trip will have a lot to prove before Coulson trusts him, even if Simmons is fully on his side.

Exactly what our team will be up to going forward is still in question, but we got some clues in this episode.  Obviously we know that the issue of Garrett and Ward will have to be dealt with soon, but what sort of threats will our team be facing in the future.  Garrett’s line about how releasing the prisoners of the Fridge will keep Coulson busy might have been a clue.  With all of them on the loose, there’s probably a very long checklist that SHIELD will have to take care of at some point.  Also, I get the feeling that Providence is being set up as our team’s new home base, perhaps with Koenig there to take care of things while they’re away.  They’ll need somewhere safe to hide out while they’re not on missions, but this could all be misdirection for us.  Still, if it means Patton Oswalt will be around fairly often, I’ll be happy.

Lots of little details to pick up on last night (though some may not be as little as others).  Firstly, what was up with Garrett’s metal piece on his side, which we (and Ward) caught a glimpse of as he changed shirts?  In the comics the character was made into a cyborg in order to save his life, so perhaps we’ll see a similar backstory in the show.  Maybe HYDRA saved his life (using some of the Deathlok technology?) and that’s how he ended up with them?  Also, did you notice that Ward recovered the Berserker Staff from the Fridge (not to mention the 0-8-4 that Garrett found)?  What do you think Raina’s question was for the Clairvoyant, before she realized he had no powers?  She seems to be the sort of person who rides the fence when it comes to loyalty, so might she one day switch sides and help SHIELD?  She definitely admires Coulson.

Don’t forget to tune in next week, when we’ll get our first (but hopefully not last) look at Amy Acker as Coulson’s former girlfriend, the cellist from Portland about whom we’ve heard so much.  Acker was great on Angel of course, but was also did a fantastic job in Dollhouse and Much Ado About Nothing.  We’ll also get to see the Ward/Skye situation come to a head, and it seems like she’ll finally learn about his traitorous ways.  Add in a confrontation with someone with superpowers and it should be exciting!

What do you think?  Did you enjoy “Providence”?  What do you think of the show’s new direction?  What do you think is going to happen with Ward?  Do you think Raina is not as bad as she seems?  Are you happy to see Patton Oswalt?  Do you want your own SHIELD lanyard?  What do you think of Coulson keeping Fury’s status a secret from the group?  Are you excited to finally meet the cellist next week?  Let me know in the comments!