- "It was you! You took me there! They did things to me there!"
"They were trying to contain you."
"No! They were trying to make me stronger. And they did." - ―Phil Coulson and Marcus Daniels[src]
The Only Light in the Darkness is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Synopsis
With their WORLD turned upside down, Coulson races to save the life of his one true love as the mystery of "The Cellist," which began in Marvel's The Avengers, is finally revealed.
Plot
Coulson reunited with Audrey
Agent Eric Koenig subjects Coulson's Team to a rigorous Lie Detector test, which Grant Ward narrowly beats to maintain his cover.
Afterwards, Phil Coulson takes Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Antoine Triplett to stop Marcus Daniels, a superhuman possessing the Darkforce who had been freed from the Fridge by HYDRA, and is obsessed with cellist Audrey Nathan, Coulson's former love interest.
After rescuing Audrey, they devise a plan to lure out Daniels. The group overloads him with energy, causing him to explode, and incidentally knocking out Audrey. Coulson briefly comforts her while she is only semi-conscious before withdrawing, as he plans to tell her he is alive someday. This leaves Audrey still unaware that Coulson was still alive, but rather with the conclusion "you see what you want to see".
Meanwhile, Melinda May leaves the team after repairing the Bus, tired of Coulson not trusting her. Skye and Koenig hack the NSA to get eyes on the HYDRA attack at the Fridge, forcing Ward to murder Koenig to prevent discovery.
Skye finds Koenig's body in a closet, and realizes that Ward is with HYDRA.
In order to avoid suspicion by Ward, Skye joins him as he steals the Bus before Coulson and the others return to Providence. Later, May is picked up by her mother Lian in Ontario, Canada, and is revealed to be searching for Maria Hill.
Cast
Main Cast:
- Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson
- Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May
- Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward
- Chloe Bennet as Agent Skye
- Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz
- Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons
Guest Stars:
- Patrick Brennan as Marcus Daniels/Blackout
- Amy Acker as Audrey Nathan
- B.J. Britt as Agent Antoine Triplett
- Patton Oswalt as Agent Eric Koenig
- Tsai Chin as Lian May
- Potsch Boyd as Fisherman
- Bill Paxton as John Garrett (stock footage)
Appearances
Locations
- Seattle, Washington
- Portland, Oregon
- Ontario, Canada
- The Fridge (flashback)
- New York City (mentioned)
- East Lansing, Michigan (mentioned)
- Dublin, Ireland (mentioned)
- Rabat, Morocco (mentioned)
- Peru (mentioned)
- The White House (mentioned)
- Saint Agnes Orphanage (mentioned)
Events
Items
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Lanyard
- Coulson's Team Hard Drive
- Lie Detector
- Darkforce
- D.W.A.R.F.s
- Gamma Power Reserve
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Satellite
- Pick-Lock Device (flashback)
- Peruvian 0-8-4 (flashback and mentioned)
- Berserker Staff (flashback)
- Captain America's Shield (mentioned)
- TARDIS (mentioned)
Vehicles
Organizations
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- HYDRA
- NSA (mentioned)
- CIA (mentioned)
- NATO (mentioned)
- Interpol (mentioned)
- Howling Commandos (mentioned)
- Rising Tide (mentioned)
- Morocco Law Enforcement (mentioned)
Mentioned
- Project Insight
- Project T.A.H.I.T.I.
- President Matthew Ellis
- Ian Quinn
- Abner Croit
- Nick Fury
- Natasha Romanoff
- Eric Koenig's Brother
- Melinda May's Ex-Husband
- Alexander Pierce
- L. Tompkins
- Steve Rogers
- Christian Ward
- Thomas Ward
- Grant Ward's Mother
- Grant Ward's Father
- Grant Ward's Sister
- Bruce Banner
- Maria Hill
Trivia
- It is revealed that Antoine Triplett is grandson of one of Howling Commandos, presumably Gabe Jones, notable for being the sole African-American member of the squad during a time prior to the desegregation of the United States Military.
- Amy Acker (Audrey Nathan) is best known for playing Winifred "Fred" Burkle and Illyria in the series Angel alongside J. August Richards and Alexis Denisof, Whiskey in Dollhouse and Beatrice in Joss Whedon's adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing with Denisof and Clark Gregg. Acker also appeared in The Cabin in the Woods, a movie produced by Whedon and directed by Drew Goddard, which also featured Chris Hemsworth and Bradley Whitford.
- Tsai Chin previously co-starred with Ming-Na Wen in the film The Joy Luck Club in 1993.
