T.A.H.I.T.I.

T.A.H.I.T.I. is the fourteenth episode of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Plot
Coulson goes on the attack to save Skye--enlisting the aid of Ward's former S.O. John Garrett--and uncovers shocking truths about his own life and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Summary
After being shot and on the brink of death Skye struggles to survive. The team enters a hospital and Simmons explains to the doctors what happened. The doctor explains that the only reason she is still alive is because they put her in a Hyperbaric Chamber. Next the team is arguing about whose fault it was while Phil Coulson tries to contact Nick Fury for "answers that only he can give." Melinda May ends the argument saying that only Quinn was at fault for having shot her.

Later, Dr. Jazuat returns to bear bad news. The damage is too great and she will only remain alive on life support. May returns to The Bus and begins to beat Ian Quinn senseless to his utter dismay, saying they "can't do that." May responds "Why? Because you're defenseless, like she was." Coulson orders her out and orders that they will now look for a way to bring her back from the dead like the doctors did to him. Coulson explains to Ward, Fitz, and Simmons what "actually happened" in Tahiti. As they start the mission, the Bus receives a transmission from nearby planes that they would be boarding and taking control because of their failure to relinquish Quinn to The Sandbox. Coulson greets agent Grant Ward's former S.O. John Garrett as he boards the plane and asks for Quinn. Coulson explains to him the situation and convinces him to help them save Skye, but not before a fight breaks out between Ward and Garrett's new trainee Agent Antoine Triplett. Coulson and Garrett stop the fight explaining that Garrett convinced HQ to let him interrogate Quinn on the Bus itself.

Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons read Coulson's file and are shocked by the process that brought him back to life. The process that is almost unbelievable to them because it utilized many drugs that Simmons doesn't even recognize. Simmons wonders if the price for bringing him back was too much and if they really should try it with Skye, while Fitz points out that Skye isn't actually dead yet. Simmons receives a call and gets some surprising news.

Garrett and Coulson enter the box to interrogate Quinn, who explains that he isn't feeling very cooperative because his "ears are still buzzing from the last visitor." Garrett shows he is not playing games by grabbing Quinn's tongue as he is speaking. They begin to question him regarding a newer project called the "Deathlok" program. Quinn tells them that the last person to ask about that program wounded up with "2 bullets in her chest" to which Coulson almost punches him. He asks if he shot Skye because she saw what they were delivering to him, and he responds that he did it because the Clairvoyant told him.

May is called in by Simmons, who tells her that Coulson's doctor, Dr. Streiten, has gone off the grid. Next she explains that Coulson was never treated in Bethesda, because the room, doctors, everything about the operation don't actually exist. The file was full of lies.

Back in the interrogation, Garrett wonders why Quinn would believe in psychics. He explains that he didn't at first, but then he realized it would be mutually beneficial. Coulson argues that the Clairvoyant must have something pretty deep on Quinn to make him shoot an unarmed girl. Quinn explains several occurrences about Garrett's Team as proof of The Clairvoyant's powers. He explains that The Clairvoyant sees everything except how Coulson returned. It is revealed that The Clairvoyant planned all of it so that Coulson would dig deeper into his death and return in order to save Skye.

May and Simmons explain to Coulson that they are not sure that they should dig deeper, partly because Fitz and Simmons only partially understand the file. Coulson explains that they have to do everything possible even if it means giving the Clairvoyant what he wants. May tells Coulson that she thinks they should do whatever it takes to save Skye. Simmons explains to Fitz that Skye is deteriorating, and only a drug known as GH.325 seemed to regenerate Coulson's cells. Simmons says she doesn't believe it is possible to find it and Fitz says he may be able to help with that. They both enter what Simmons calls an Echo Center which is accessed remotely thanks to a friend of Fitz. Fitz explains that they may be able to find travel records in what seems to be a large electronic library. They find a place called The Guest House that may be where Coulson was taken because it was opened only once by a level 10 operative, who would have to be Nick Fury himself. They next find themselves trying to open an encrypted file, wondering what Skye would do in their situation. They realize it's not an encryption, but a location hidden within the location of the numbers.

Garrett, Coulson, May, and Ward prepare to enter the Guest House, which is not a S.H.I.E.L.D base, figuring that there may be hostiles. Agent Triplett was left aboard the Bus in case his skills were needed there. They reach the doors only to be greeted with the protocol sentence, "How was the drive from Istanbul?" but, after many attempts to convince the occupants to help (while they repeated the same sentence three times), they decide they needed to ask "pretty please" and enter even into a hostile situation. Communication goes down, and they continue in spite of it. Fitz says he is not afraid and Garrett says "If the job was easy" as Ward finishes saying "it wouldn't be fun." They enter a sealed bulletproof glass room to receive hostile gunfire. Ward shoots one hostile and Garrett kills the other. They follow the trail of blood of the first injured hostile, who, while dying, says he recognizes Coulson and tells him about the "timer." Garrett finds a bomb, and begins to disarm it with Ward while Coulson and Fitz search for some way to help Skye. Back on the Bus, Simmons explains to agent Triplett that she hasn't known Skye for long and they are totally different, but that she couldn't live without her. May explains that the Comms are down, and she will go in within an hour if she doesn't hear anything. Skye worsens and they all enter to help her.

Coulson finds the operating room where he was resurrected. Garrett and Ward continue to look for the triggering device after figuring out that the timer is separate from the actual explosive. Coulson enters an area marked for radiation, and refuses to put on a suit despite Fitz's warning because there is no time. They search for something to save Skye. Fitz wishes that they were with Simmons because she would know what everything was or "at least what not to touch." They find a medicine cabinet and search for the drug and find a substance marked with radiation warning labels. They are able to remove it with just 4 minutes to spare on the bomb, as Coulson finds a door marked T.A.H.I.T.I.

Garrett explains to Fitz that putting too many explosives to blow the door could blow the whole place down. They are able to leave, but Coulson has stayed behind. Garrett stays behind when Fitz and Ward leave to save Skye. Garrett finds Coulson in a daze,telling him not to let her take the drug. They barely make it back on the Bus, which takes off to a huge explosion. Coulson enters yelling, "Don't give it to her!" It is too late. She begins to stabilize only to worsen considerably before stabilizing again. Simmons explains she doesn't know what was given to Skye, but it saved her. Coulson leaves and Garrett explains to May that something happened, because one minute he was okay, and the next Coulson seemed as if he had seen a ghost. Garrett explains to Quinn that the Clairvoyant is a "no-show" and the place he wanted them to find is buried beneath the explosion. He also explains that Skye will live to testify that he had shot her. Garrett takes Quinn off the plane. He converses with Coulson asking what would have happened if Skye had died. Garrett also comments that they may see each other soon because agent Triplett has eyes for agent Simmons.

May confronts Coulson congratulating him for doing the impossible in saving Skye, and asking why he isn't happy about it. Coulson reminiscences to entering the room marked T.A.H.I.T.I. and finding that the drug was being extracted from half of a corpse of an unknown alien in a cryotube. He conceals this from May saying that he just didn't want Skye to suffer as he had, and sits with Skye as she recovers.

Elsewhere, a woman walks through the desert. She finds a motel where newlyweds Jimmy and Nicole Mackenzie are asking for a map. The woman snatches the bottled water from Jimmy's hand and drinks as she asks him where she is. As the two converse, the woman notices that Jimmy is a newlywed and begins to enthrall him. Jimmy drives off with her, abandoning his new wife. The woman reveals herself as Lorelei.

Cast

 * Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson
 * Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May
 * Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward
 * Chloe Bennet as Skye
 * Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz
 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons
 * Bill Paxton as Agent John Garrett
 * B.J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplett
 * David Conrad as Ian Quinn
 * Elena Satine as Lorelei
 * Rob Belushi as Jimmy Mackenzie
 * Sarayu Rao as Dr. Jazuat
 * Julie Civiello as Nicole Mackenzie
 * Michael J. Silver as Alpha
 * Jake Newton as Beta

Locations

 * Zurich, Switzerland
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Trauma Zentrum
 * The Guest House
 * Death Valley, California

Items

 * Hyperbaric Chamber
 * Medical Pod
 * GH.325
 * Holotable
 * Bulletproof Vest
 * Night-Night Pistol
 * Flash Bomb
 * Semtex
 * Memory Overwriting Machine

Vehicles

 * The Bus
 * Lola
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV
 * Transport Plane
 * Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

Sentient Species

 * Asgardians
 * Kree

Organizations

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * HYDRA
 * Cybertek (mentioned)
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve (mentioned)

Mentioned

 * Director Nick Fury
 * Dr. Streiten (mentioned & archive footage)
 * Dr. Goodman (archive footage)
 * The Clairvoyant
 * Battle of New York
 * World War II
 * Project Deathlok
 * The Italian Job