Face My Enemy

Face My Enemy is the fourth episode of the second season of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the twenty-sixth episode overall.

Synopsis
While on a mission to learn more about the secrets of the mysterious writing, Coulson finds himself attacked by the only person he can trust: Agent Melinda May. Meanwhile the rest of the team is trapped in an explosive situation, and it's up to Fitz to save them--but is he up to it?

Plot
In Miami, Florida, the church Santa Maria de las Flores caught fire, but the only artifact that remained untouched was a 500 year old painting with the Words of Creation inscribed on its back. A priest and a bishop decided to have a fundraiser to reconstruct the church.

Later, on South Beach, Lance Hunter kisses a woman to pick her purse to steal a ticket for Skye. Skye needed the ticket to duplicate it so that Phil Coulson and Melinda May could crash the fundraiser to obtain the painting. Calling themselves Charles and Heidi Martin, Coulson and May danced. As they danced they discussed their past together as S.H.I.E.L.D. field agents and surveyed the bodyguards and security. Coulson however wanted to discuss the future: what would May do if Coulson became insane like John Garrett? Before she could answer, she saw and alerted Coulson to Glenn Talbot. Coulson approached Talbot and asked him not to interfere in his mission.

Meanwhile, May was flirting with Gabriel Soto, so that she and Coulson could scan his retina patterns to access the vault that usually housed the painting. What they didn't know was that Sunil Bakshi was impersonating Talbot with the Photostatic Veil and he had already taken the painting to his hotel room in the name of the United States Armed Forces.

After discovering that the painting was missing, Coulson and May were confronted by "Talbot." He invited them to his hotel room to inspect the painting. May followed him to his room as Coulson returned to the Bus. She found HYDRA recruit Agent 33 in the room and began to fight her. As "Talbot" distracted her, May was tasered and rendered unconscious by Agent 33, who then used the veil to copy May's face.

Disguised as May, Agent 33 entered the Bus, planted a virus in its systems and asked Coulson to accompany her back to "Talbot's" hotel room. Along the way, Coulson insisted on discussing May's contingency plan in the event he went insane. He told "May" that she would be the new Director. Honored, "May" affectionately touched Coulson's hand. Before entering the room, Coulson asked "May" to go out with him for coffee after the mission. When she accepted, Coulson punched her, knowing the real May hated coffee.

Inside the room, Bakshi planned to torture May to obtain S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets, but the fight between Coulson and Agent 33 distracted him long enough for May to escape.

As Bakshi ran with the painting and Coulson gave chase, May and "May" started their fight.

Meanwhile, on the Bus, the other agents were bonding over stories about their romances and love interests. Fitz was hesitant to participate though. Skye started doing extra research into the painting and Glenn Talbot when the virus started destroying the electrical systems of the plane. Fitz warned them that if this continued the Bus would explode. Fitz and Hunter eventually stopped the cascade effect of the virus, saving everyone on board.

Before a HYDRA back up team could arrive, Coulson shot Bakshi with an I.C.E.R. and took the painting. May won her fight with Agent 33 by electrocuting her, fusing the Photostatic Veil to Agent 33's face. Celebrating the successful mission, Fitz talked about Jemma Simmons.

Coulson and May called the real Glenn Talbot to let him know about the mission. Talbot tried to trace the call but Coulson hung up. Coulson revealed to May how he knew "May" was an impostor... coffee.

May reveals her plan to take care of Coulson if insanity comes, but Coulson orders her to kill him if that occurs. May nods her head.

Sometime later, Raina books a flight to Florida, seeking the painting as well. She gets captured by Daniel Whitehall. He wants the Obelisk returned to him in forty-eight hours or he will torture her "cruelly and personally."

Cast
Main Cast:
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May and Agent 33 (impersonation)
 * Chloe Bennet as Skye
 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons (hallucination)
 * Nick Blood as Lance Hunter

Guest Stars:
 * B.J. Britt as Antoine Triplett
 * Reed Diamond as Daniel Whitehall
 * Henry Simmons as Alphonso Mackenzie
 * Simon Kassianides as Sunil Bakshi
 * Ruth Negga as Raina
 * Maya Stojan as Agent 33
 * Adrian Pasdar as Glenn Talbot and Sunil Bakshi (impersonation)
 * Diego Serrano as Gabriel Soto
 * Roberto Medina as Bishop
 * Christian Barillas as Priest
 * Lance Irwin as Guard
 * Isaac Montgomery as Guard #2
 * Alyce Tawil as Bridget

Locations

 * Playground
 * Miami, Florida
 * Santa Maria de las Flores
 * Hotel La Ona
 * South Beach, Florida
 * HYDRA Laboratories
 * Spain (mentioned)
 * Sausalito, California (mentioned)
 * Outer Banks, North Carolina (mentioned)
 * Tuscany, Italy (mentioned)
 * Australia (mentioned)
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy (mentioned)

Events

 * Infiltration into the Fundraisor
 * Battle at the Hotel La Ona

Items

 * Words of Creation
 * Holocom
 * Photostatic Veil
 * Hijacker
 * I.C.E.R.
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Lanyard
 * Control Device
 * Obelisk (mentioned)
 * Obelisk (mentioned)
 * Obelisk (mentioned)

Vehicles

 * Bus
 * Quinjet
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV
 * Lola (mentioned)

Organizations

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * HYDRA
 * United States Armed Forces

Mentioned

 * John Garrett
 * Grant Ward
 * Jemma Simmons
 * Lance Hunter's Ex-Wife

Melinda May's Phone Contacts

 * Mom
 * Nat
 * J. Larner
 * Agent 60
 * Lt. Stone
 * Miu
 * Burk
 * S. Johnson
 * M. Huff
 * Bell
 * Woo
 * Lt. Crouch

Trivia

 * This is the second episode to not feature Brett Dalton as Grant Ward.
 * The schematics shown for Gabriel Soto's mansion were previously used in The Well.