Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Season Two

The Second Season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiered on September 23, 2014 on ABC.

Synopsis
After helping to thwart HYDRA, Coulson was appointed as Director and tasked with rebuilding the agency. This won't be an easy job to accomplish with the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents either killed, secretly working for HYDRA or free agents. Agent Melinda May, expert pilot, martial artist and longtime friend, will continue to look after Coulson in the wake of the mysterious etchings he's been carving into walls. What do these etchings mean, and can Coulson be trusted? Grant Ward, highly trained in combat and espionage, was found to be a HYDRA mole and a traitor to S.H.I.E.L.D. and locked up away from the world and his former teammates. But this isn't the last we've seen of him... After being left to die in the middle of the ocean by Ward, Agent Leo Fitz, brilliant engineer, and Agent Jemma Simmons, genius bio-chemist, found a way to escape their watery grave. But all did not go well for Fitz, who was left in a coma and may never regain his full cognitive functions; a devastating blow to Simmons. And computer hacker Skye, now a full-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, discovered her origins as an 0-8-4 -- an object of unknown origin - and that her parents were considered "monsters." Could Skye have darkness lying dormant inside of her? Also joining Coulson's core team is Lance Hunter, a dashing mercenary sharp shooter with a quick wit. Since he didn't rise up through the ranks, does he have an ulterior motive for helping out the team? Who can Coulson trust?

Plot
After the defeat of John Garrett, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. under the auspices of newly appointed director, Phil Coulson, gathers various new operatives in order to quell the still kicking HYDRA. While combating a section of HYDRA led by Daniel Whitehall, the new agency finds themselves assailed by various hindrances. Leo Fitz, after his near-death experience by Grant Ward, suffers from brain damage which only worsens after Jemma Simmons is instructed by Coulson to infiltrate HYDRA as a mole, and the agency's efforts are continually forestalled by General Glenn Talbot. While working undercover, Simmons slowly gains HYDRA's trust, especially after partaking in a vital operation to subdue Donnie Gill, a teenager with cryokinetic powers.

The new S.H.I.E.L.D. sets out to recover the original 0-8-4, a mysterious alien Obelisk which is lethal to those who touch it. Daniel Whitehall, a veteran member of HYDRA who has somehow remained young from World War II, seems obsessed with it, and sends in superpowered assassin Carl Creel to steal it. In the ensuing struggle, Agents Isabelle Hartley and Idaho are killed, leaving their teammate, freelance mercenary Lance Hunter, to remain with S.H.I.E.L.D. in their honor. Creel is soon apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. and delivered into Talbot's custody, but the Obelisk is taken by Raina. She delivers it to Calvin Zabo, a mysterious, homicidal surgeon who is actually the biological father of Agent Skye and has been seeking her for years.

Study on the Obelisk unveils the possibility that it may be linked to the strange cartographic symbols Coulson has been writing since being resurrected by the GH.325 serum extracted from the blood of the Guest House alien. On a mission to recover a painting with the symbols engraved into the back, Coulson and Agent Melinda May get into a dangerous scuffle with HYDRA operative Sunil Bakshi and the brainwashed Agent 33, who also seek the painting. The bout ends with 33 being horribly disfigured by May, and the painting falling into S.H.I.E.L.D. hands. Meanwhile, Whitehall discovers that Raina stole the Obelisk and threatens her with torture unless she brings it back to him. With Zabo unwilling to make the agreement unless Skye is brought to him, Raina attempts to blackmail Coulson into turning Skye over to her or else she will expose Simmons to HYDRA. Her threat fails, and Simmons is extracted by fellow HYDRA mole Bobbi Morse, who happens to be Agent Hunter's ex-wife. In an attempt to rid themselves of S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA sends in a number of agents posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to perform terrorist movements against the United Nations, prompting Senator Christian Ward, the older brother of Grant Ward and Colonel Talbot's benefactor, to issue a manhunt of all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Coulson, realizing that Senator Ward merely wishes to locate his brother and incarcerate him in order to cover his position as a senator, makes a deal with the politician and hands Ward over in exchange for keeping the military off their backs. However, Ward ends up escaping during transfer and murders his brother and their parents.

While attempting to track down Ward, S.H.I.E.L.D. takes notice of a number of murders. The victims, who were all test subjects for Project T.A.H.I.T.I., all have the alien symbols carved into their corpses. The killer is revealed to be ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sebastian Derik, who was also a T.A.H.I.T.I. subject, and now suffers from a more extreme form of the schizophrenic compulsions that Coulson suffers. Coulson apprehends Derik and discovers that the alien symbols are actually blueprints to an alien cityscape. Zabo, who has extensive knowledge of the city and the Obelisk, which he calls the "Diviner", allies with Whitehall to assist in finding it. Unknown to Whitehall, Zabo actually has his own agenda; years prior, Whitehall vivisected Zabo's wife, who had an unnatural immunity to the Diviner's deadly effects and possessed a prolonged lifespan. Using her blood and bodily organs to secede his own age, Whitehall earned Zabo's enmity.

From Zabo, Whitehall learns that Raina can also wield the Diviner without dying, and sends Agent 33 to recover her. S.H.I.E.L.D. gets to her first, and learn from her that the aliens responsible for leaving the Diviner and the city, the Kree, built them so only those with specific genetic material could access them. Her information proves true, as Agent Alphonso Mackenzie enters a trance-like state upon entering the city and attacks his fellow agents. Ward, now once again working with HYDRA, abducts both Raina and Skye and brings them to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the city's hiding place, where Skye reunites with her father. As S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives, Whitehall discovers Zabo's true intentions and a three-way battle ensues between him, HYDRA, and S.H.I.E.L.D. While Whitehall is gunned down by Coulson, Zabo, Ward, and a freed Agent 33 escape. Raina takes the Diviner into the city, followed by Skye, and the two women uncover a temple-like structure that reacts to the Diviner's presence. Locked inside the temple with Agent Antoine Triplett, Skye and Raina are exposed to a mysterious mutagen exhaled from the Diviner. Agent Triplett dies as the women gain superpowers.

Starring Cast

 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
 * Brett Dalton as Grant Ward
 * Chloe Bennet as Skye
 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
 * Nick Blood as Lance Hunter

Supporting Cast

 * B.J. Britt as Antoine Triplett †
 * Henry Simmons as Alphonso Mackenzie
 * Simon Kassianides as Sunil Bakshi
 * Brian Patrick Wade as Carl Creel
 * Adrian Pasdar as Glenn Talbot
 * Reed Diamond as Daniel Whitehall †
 * Ruth Negga as Raina
 * Tim DeKay as Christian Ward †
 * Patton Oswalt as Billy Koenig/ Sam Koenig
 * Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse
 * Kyle MacLachlan as The Doctor/Skye's Father
 * Maya Stojan as Agent 33
 * Blair Underwood as Andrew Garner
 * Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzales

Marvel Cinematic Universe Guest Stars

 * Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
 * Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan
 * Kenneth Choi as Jim Morita †
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill