- "Where did that rock send us?"
"Well, I don't have many details, but I know we're in space."
"Yeah, that makes sense. It's the one thing we haven't done yet." - ―Alphonso Mackenzie and Phil Coulson[src]
Orientation Part One is the first episode of the fifth season of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , and the first part of the season premiere. It is also the eighty-ninth episode overall.
Synopsis
Coulson and the team find themselves stranded on a mysterious ship in outer space, and that’s just the beginning of the nightmare to come.
Plot
Enoch, an extraterrestrial disguised as a Human, joins his team and leads them to Rae's Restaurant, where he captures Phil Coulson and his team after paralyzing them, safe for Leo Fitz who is "not on the list". The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents regain consciousness only to face the White Monolith, which absorbs them all.
Coulson finds himself in what seems to be a space station frozen in time. When time resumes, a giant hole in the wall aspires the air before being closed by an individual who starts arguing with a coworker. Coulson interrupts them and is immediately recognized by Virgil as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a potential savior. When the other man is killed by a ferocious creature, Virgil brings Coulson to safety and answers his questions before being knocked unconscious by Alphonso Mackenzie, who thought that Virgil was threatening Coulson. Elsewhere on the ship, Elena Rodriguez and Jemma Simmons find several drained bodies before being found by Coulson and Mackenzie. Together, they try to figure out their situation and to wake Virgil up.
When Virgil finally regains consciousness, he tells them that he knows all of them and that he knew that the S.H.I.E.L.D. would come and save humanity, much to the agents' disbelief. However, Virgil is killed by a Vrellnexian before finishing his explanations, forcing the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to flee. While the party gets stuck in the dead end, Quake finds them and kills the Vrellnexian. The party finds a relatively secure place and discuss their options, deciding to remain together.
The teleportation went wrong for Melinda May, who gets stuck with a pipe in her leg. She manages to escape and hides upon hearing the arrival of Deke. Deke finds May and begins to fight her, eventually pinning her on a wall thanks to an anti-gravitational device and gagging her. Deke then forcefully implant a device he calls Metrics in May's wrist, telling her that she needs it to stay alive. He then takes her away.
The other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents find the room in which May and Deke were and discover computer programmed in English, making them believe that they could send a message to Earth. Before they can proceed further, they are attacked by Kree who imprison them. Mackenzie and Rodriguez are taken for torture and interrogation while Coulson, Simmons and Johnson remain in a cell before being joined by Deke and May. Deke manages to convince the Kree guards to let them go and takes them away. Deke tries to walk away but Mays stops him. The team then splits to pursue their objectives: freeing their friends, trying to send a message to Earth and getting answers from Deke.
Quake arrives just in time to keep two Kree interrogators from breaking both Rodriguez's arms and releasing Mackenzie and Rodriguez, which leads to the death of the Kree. Simmons and May find a spaceship and take it into space, discovering a completely destroyed Earth. Meanwhile, by interrogating Deke, Coulson finds the same conclusion that all the others: they did not travel through space, but through time, in a future where the Earth was destroyed and the survivors gathered in a space station ruled by the Kree.
Cast
Main Cast:
- Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
- Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
- Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson/Quake
- Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz (credits only)
- Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
- Henry Simmons as Alphonso Mackenzie
- Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez
Guest Stars:
- Jeff Ward as Deke
- Deniz Akdeniz as Virgil
- Joel Stoffer as Enoch
- Peter Hulne as Jerry
- Derek Mears as Kree Captain
- Nathin Butler as Jones
- Jermaine Brantley as Kree Trooper
- John Wusah as Young Soldier
- Jordan Preston as Driver
- Mark Casimir Dyniewicz as Exchange Workman (uncredited)
- Douglas Tait as Kree Trooper (uncredited)
Appearances
Locations
- Earth
- Chicago, Illinois
- Los Angeles, California (mentioned)
- Manitowoc, Wisconsin (mentioned)
- Lake Ontario (postcard)
- Stonehenge (mentioned)
- Lighthouse
- Crater (mentioned)
- Moon (mentioned)
- Maveth (mentioned)
Events
Items
- Phil Coulson's Prosthetic Hand
- White Monolith
- Plasma Guns
- Metrics
- Gravity Manipulation Device
- Kree Battle Axe
- Framework (mentioned)
- Toolbox (mentioned)
Vehicles
Sentient Species
Creatures
- Vrellnexians
- Elephants (mentioned)
Organizations
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Kree Watch
- True Believers
- Bendeery (logo)
- Boy Scouts of America (mentioned)
Mentioned
- Nick Fury
- Leo Fitz
- Ghost Rider
- Howard Stark
- Hope Mackenzie
- Kasius
- Mummy Juanita
- Inspector Gadget
- Papa Smurf
Trivia
- When Phil Coulson admit that there are no informations about human outposts in space in the Toolbox, Yo-Yo Rodriguez reply to him "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have a space division called S.P.E.A.R. or something?", which Coulson denied. This is a reference to S.W.O.R.D., a S.H.I.E.L.D. subdivision specialized in extra-terrestrial threats in the comics. The TV rights of S.W.O.R.D. are under 20th Century Fox. However, since Disney bought out 20th Century Fox and Fox Television on December 14, 2017, there is a possibility that S.W.O.R.D. might make an appearance in future episodes.
Music
Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
---|---|---|
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) | Talking Heads | Enoch swims in his pool, showers, gets dressed, meets up with his team and travels to Rae's Restaurant to arrest Coulson and the other agents. |