"T.A.H.I.T.I." is the fourteenth episode of the ABC/Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. It premiered March 4, 2014.
Plot[]
While Skye is being wheeled into a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital, all of the agents are worried in the waiting room. Coulson calls Director Fury, but can only leave him a message. Fitz and Ward blame themselves, but May tells them that it is all Ian Quinn's fault.
After her operation, a nurse tells everyone that there is too much damage. The nurse expresses no hope in her recovery and that Skye's family should be called. After Coulson informs her that the agents are her family, she apologizes for the bad news that there is nothing more they can do.
May angrily exits the hospital and violently confronts Quinn in the interrogation room. Coulson has to stop her and call her off from him. Coulson tells May that she is going to fly them as they seek out a way to help Skye.
A portable hospital room is loaded onto the bus with Skye inside. Ward tells Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters has issued a request for Ian Quinn to be transported to the fridge, which Coulson denies. He sets their plane on a course to Bethesda, the hospital where Coulson recovered. He tells the agents the true story about what happened.
Though Fitz-Simmons doubt Coulson's claim, they are ordered to read his file to find a fix for Skye.
In the cockpit, Grant tells May that he lacks hope in this "second miracle". May says she would actually like to kill Quinn. S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives radio in to tell them that they will be boarded and must relinquish command because they disobeyed a direct order.
Agent Deathlok (John Garrett) and his specialist Agent Antoine Triplett board the bus in order to take custody of Quinn. Triplett is sent downstairs to "secure the prisoner". The reason Garrett is there is because he was the commanding officer of the team who had been tracking Quinn in Malta.
Triplett, who replaced Ward as Garrett's specialist, asks Grant where the containee is being held so that he can be taken to the fridge. Ward refuses to allow access to Quinn until he receives a go-ahead by Coulson. Ward tries to stop Triplett and a fight ensues, until it is stopped by Coulson. Garrett and Coulson reach an agreement to hold Quinn on the bus until they can rescue Skye.
Fitz-Simmons are unfamiliar with the drugs used to save Coulson, namely GH-325, as well as the methods. Because Coulson had a bad experience (to the point of wanting to die), Jemma has doubts about using this procedure on Skye. Fitz points out that the difference is that Skye is still alive and must remain so.
Garrett pays a visit to Quinn who is sarcastic. He asks him about Deathlok, but Quinn only offers a snarky comment. Before Garrett can violently react, Quinn reveals that he shot Skye because the clairvoyant order him to do it.
Fitz-Simmons reveal that Coulson was never treated at Bethesda.
Quinn informs his two interrogators that the reason he has been successful is that the clairvoyant can see everything except how Coulson was miraculously saved from death.
May says that the destination doesn't even exist, but Coulson says it must exist elsewhere. Simmons still maintains doubts in treating Skye in potentially painful manners. May believes that the clairvoyant will get what he wants by Skye's being subjected to the treatment.
While still searching files, Simmons can only find a drug called GH-325 that is of any interest. It caused Coulson's cells to regenerate but the agents still have no idea where to find it.
Fitz sets up their lab so that they can look through the holographic files to find a clue. While scanning the files, they follow the clues to a file on a location called "Guest House" that was looked at by a level 10 operative. They are unable to crack the encrypted file, but Fitz realizes that it is a map rather than an encryption.
Agents Coulson, Garrett, Ward, and Fitz plan to enter Guest House which is a non-S.H.I.E.L.D. sanctioned facility. After ringing for assistance at the facility, those inside say their security protocol "How was the drive from Istanbul?" Because the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents do not know the counter, they must break in.
There is no way to communicate with Simmons, but the agents inch onward before engaging in a fire fight. The men stationed in Guest House will not aid the agents because they did not know the passcode. Using a flash grenade, the two men are taken down. Just before dying, one man recognizes Coulson but before telling the location of GH-325, he mentions a countdown. It is revealed to be the countdown till the detonation of a bomb that will decimate the whole laboratory.
While Garrett and Ward try to disarm the bomb, Fitz and Coulson scour the facility for the desired drug.
As Simmons watches after Skye with Triplett, May informs them that if she does not hear back from the field operatives, she will go in after them. Immediately after, Skye begins convulsing.
Coulson enters a room that overlooks where he was operated on. He and Fitz go deeper and enter a biohazard containment room. After looking at all of the drugs in the room, they locate some GH-325 serum, just as Ward warns them that the facility is set to explode in four minutes. Coulson removes a box to find that the facility's name is "T.A.H.I.T.I." He then enters a dark room directly adjacent to it.
Ward and Fitz exit and return to the bus to administer the drug to Skye, but Garrett runs back to locate Coulson. He finds Coulson dazed walking down a corridor, and Coulson insists that they cannot give GH-325 to Skye. Narrowly exiting the facility before the detonation, Coulson and Garrett make it to the bus but not in enough time to stop Simmons from giving Skye the dose of the serum. It begins to help her but her vital functions begin to occur at a hyperactive rate. However, soon pulse corrects itself and returns to normal, but Coulson is still very worried.
Garrett confronts Ian Quinn to tell him that the clairvoyant's hope of finding the facility is ravished by the explosion and that Skye is going to live. Agent Triplett then takes Quinn back to the other plane.
After the tagalong agents leave, May asks Coulson why he is not happy that they saved Skye. A flashback is shown of Coulson's experience in the room earlier. He saw a blue alien in a containment chamber, connected to machinery which drained the serum variations from his body. May brings him back to reality. He says that the reason he tried to stop it was because he did not want her to suffer as he did before.
In Death Valley, California, a red-haired woman hikes through the desert to a man about to stay with his new bride at a motel. She asks if all of Midgard is desolate. She says she wishes she could leave the "Valley of Death" and, in a matter of seconds, she seduces him into giving her a ride. When the man's wife comes back outside, he is driving away. He swears to protect the mysterious woman, and she reveals herself to be Lorelei.
Trivia[]
- This episode introduces the Kree into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who subsequently appear in multiple projects.
Gallery[]
