Several revelations were made during this week’s Agents of SHIELD episode:  Simmons’ cover is blown by a desperate woman scared of two men, Skye learns more about her father and how dangerous he really is, and a shocking alliance is forged.

 SPOILERS AHEAD

It begins with a wedding reception, where people are drinking champagne, which turns out to be fatal. HYDRA spiked it with tissue from a victim of the alien obelisk, and hoped to kill a lot of people. Eight died, which HYDRA official Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) thinks is a failure. SHIELD finds out about it, and Skye notices Coulson has been drawing some strange doodlings. Yes, it’s more alien writings.

What about Raina (Ruth Negga), who was just told by HYDRA boss Whitehall (Reed Diamond) to give up the obelisk within 48 hours or else? She goes to the Doctor (Kyle MacLachlan) who has the item. He’s busy doing a little surgery. She lets him know about Whitehall’s threat, but he’s angry at her because she hasn’t brought Skye to him. He says he just trying to bring his family together, which confirms he’s Skye’s dad…and pretty dangerous. He also says he won’t give up the obelisk.

Back at HYDRA, Whitehall asks Simmons about the spiked champagne experiment, and whether the obelisk can be weaponized for massive destruction. She reluctantly says yes. Her friend Dr. Turgeon (Adam Kulbersh) is impressed Whitehall knew her name, which must mean she’s advancing in a world she’d rather not be in.

Meanwhile, “Simmons” talks to Fitz about how masculine the new SHIELD members are, especially Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) and Mack (Henry Simmons). He says he knows she’s not real, and she takes that as a good sign.  It proves he’s ready to move on, and he is. Fans still know he misses the real Simmons.

Skye tries to dig deeper into what Coulson’s not saying about his alien drawings by talking to Ward. He tells Skye that her parents, or one of them, didn’t really die in Hunan province. He also says Raina knows where her father is, which Skye doesn’t believe. He also mentions how Garrett was obsessed with writing those alien markings, especially after taking GH-325. She does get Coulson to admit to what he’s doing, and how he’s worried he may go insane just like Garrett. He also notices she’s OK after taking GH-325, and wonders if she’s alien. She says she definitely is not, but that’s a theory that may come up again. Maybe she and Peter Quill could have something in common.

Worried about two men who could do real damage on her, Raina spies on Simmons about to send a message to SHIELD disguised as a fish taco wrapper. She takes a picture, and tells Coulson, at a really fancy place, she’ll send it to HYDRA unless he turns Skye over to her. What’s interesting is that she sounds so sultry and confident when she makes the threat, but gets desperate when Coulson refuses.

Actually, Simmons should be the one getting desperate, HYDRA figures out it has a mole, and has put Head of Security Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) on the case. She is intimidating, even without the batons she carries everywhere, She interviews Simmons first, wondering why someone who has been SHIELD her whole life would be in HYDRA..and whether she’s really devoted to SHIELD. Morse even follows Simmons to the restroom, and asks her about Dr. Turgeon and how a SHIELD message got inside his desk. Morse is thorough.

As soon as Raina’s picture of Simmons is sent to HYDRA, it looks like she’s doomed. Morse approaches her with two HYDRA guards, ready to use her batons….on the guards! Morse was the other SHIELD mole, and she gets Simmons out of there, thanks to SHIELD’s invisible plane. We later find out she knows Mack quite well, and Lance even more…as his ex-wife. She’ll also be working with the crew.

As for Raina, she’s now tagged with a chip in the hope she can lead SHIELD to Whitehall or Skye’s father, Skye, however, decides to find out for herself. She gets to his “office” and finds a picture of him and her as a baby. Coulson finds her, while May finds the doctor’s former patients, now dead. All the while, the doctor is seeing Skye on a tablet, thanks to hidden cameras. He’s upset he can’t talk to her, and also angry, maybe too much so. You might feel a bit of sympathy for him, until the final minute of the show.

Simmons returns to the grateful SHIELD crew, and her first stop is Fitz. They slowly approach each other, with him wondering if that’s really her, or the illusion inside his head. It’s the real one, of course. It’ll take a while for them to get back in sync, but they will.
Skye says she’ll help out in the search for her dad, but Coulson has to be honest with her. He starts by showing her what he carved just yesterday, and he still has no idea what he’s making. She has an idea. She thinks it’s a map.

That would be a great way to end, except the Doctor decides to meet Whitehall. He insists that everyone keep their heads, but a couple of HYDRA guards attack him and wind up dead. He gives the obelisk to Whitehall, telling him it’s also called the Diviner. He does this because he wants Coulson dead, and he’d like Whitehall to help out. Yikes!

The episode packed in a lot of action and character development. Coulson is still worried about turning into Garrett, but Skye lets him know he can rely on her, along with Agent May. Still, would she agree to killing him if he ordered her to? May had a tough time accepting that.

It’s a relief Simmons is out of HYDRA, although it would have been interesting if she was close to being brainwashed. Ward is still helpful in his own way, and his endgame is still mysterious. Maybe he wants to take both HYDRA and SHIELD down a peg because he can. As for the new Whitehall-Skye’s Father alliance, there’s always a chance that could collapse if and when one tries to double-cross the other.

Next week:  a senator says SHIELD can’t be trusted, and HYDRA exploits that comment. Also, the first trailer for Avengers 2 will be shown.