Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1E16 - "End of the Beginning" Recap

In Sydney, Australia, Agent Garett and Triplett are at a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house. Garett wants Triplett to call Coulson so they may discuss potential leads regarding the Clairvoyant. An alarm goes off; an intruder has found them. Deathlok crashes through the door, the agents shoot at him with high-end weapons, and Deathlok flies off through the roof.

Agents Hand, Sitwell, Garett, Triplet, and Blake board the Bus and Coulson tells them they must be protected from the psychic powers of the Clairvoyant. The running theory is that Deathlok was sent after them because they are growing closer to learning the identity of the Clairvoyant. The Index has been narrowed down to 13 suspects, of previously rejected individuals exhibiting psychic abilities. Now Skye will have to further narrow down the list before they can send agents after them.

Skye is in the medical bay being checked by Fitzimmons. Ward comes in and summons her to meet with the agents. She suggests to them that they make the missions double blind, so no one person knows the full specs of the op until they get there. Agent Garrett likes the way she thinks. Coulson welcomes her to S.H.I.E.L.D. as a full agent and hands her her badge.

Deathlok is in his quarters and receives a message in his eye camera: "Don't say I never gave you anything." He uses his eye to see what is outside his door, following a knock, and sees a package. He opens it to find an arm band with all kinds of technology within it. Another message is sent to him on his upgraded eye camera. "They're coming for me. It's time we meet."

Coulson and Sitwell discuss the mission. Sitwell has reservations about the double-blind. Hand tells Sitwell he's needed at the Triskellion, and will be leaving to get to a place where she will coordinate the teams via satellite.

Garett advises Skye in the holding room. He shows her a scar on his chest and she thanks him for saving her life. Garrett brings up Skye and how the relationship between them goes both ways. He tells her Ward is different than he remembered him and now has something, or someone, to fight for.

Simmons comes in rambling about Skye's blood, not realising that May is with Fitz. May asks if there are any side effects or behaviour changes due to the GH325 in Skye and Coulson's blood. She tells them to let her know about any in the future, saying she can help. Coulson tells Skye that she needs to find a weakness in the information and patterns they have on the Clairvoyant.

Ward and Triplett are at Milton Keynes Prison, in the United Kingdom and both harbour grudges against the Clairvoyant, as they were responsible for nearly killing Skye and successfully killing Triplett's partner. Triplett wants to kill the Clairvoyant but Ward is more set on justice. They're tasked with checking out Elijah Fordman, currently serving 18 consecutive life sentences for a killing spree in the '90s.

May and Agent Blake are in Macon, Georgia, visiting an assisted living home. Coulson and Garrett are in Muncie, Indiana. Garrett is sharing a battle story and Coulson reminds him he was there, too. They get a file on their target, who has connections to the Yakuza. They encounter construction that causes them to detour. May and Blake's target has been in a coma for four years. Triplett and Ward enter the prison and find it is empty. Coulson and Garrett become suspicious of the "detour."

Blake is attacked by Deathlok. He tries to remind him of his son but Deathlok says, "Mike Peterson is dead," and stomps Blake. May calls for backup, and Deathlok fires a round from his arm cannon before getting away. Blake is brought back to the Bus in critical condition. May tells the team that Deathlok is stronger than before. The Clairvoyant knew they were coming. Hand says the plan was flawed from the start. Thomas Nash, the catatonic patient, is now their suspect since he was not where he was supposed to be. Hand wants to debrief Simmons on what Deathlok is capable of.

FitzSimmons discuss Simmons' heading to the Hub. Triplett arrives and tells them he will be going too. Skye tells Coulson and May about Nash's history. He had occasional predictive abilities and the catatonic story was a lie to throw S.H.I.E.L.D. off his scent. Coulson finds that Blake hit Deathlok with a tag round, so they will be able to hunt him down. A S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team storms Deathlok's compound. Fitz sends some drones ahead to find Deathlok while Skye watched the feed from a van outside. She then sees what they have done to him - as it is mostly under his skin.

Ward's team heads towards Deathlok, who blasts them with a shot from his new arm. May and Coulson continue the chase but Deathlok jumps down an entire floor - definitely not so human anymore. Coulson follows another route and encounters Garrett. Deathlok comes up behind them and Coulson turns around and fires just in time. One of Fitz's drones show that someone else is down there. Coulson and Garrett enter a room where a paralysed man is surrounded by several screen. The man communicates through one of the screens, surrendering. He tells them he doesn't like to be touched. Coulson tells the team to sweep the room for explosives but the man, Thomas Nash, tells them there are no traps. He tells them he is the Clairvoyant and were all destined to meet. He says he couldn't see Coulson after he died because he is a broken man who didn't know he was broken. He agrees to go to prison but taunts them saying he will be able to see them just like he saw Coulson holding Skye when she was shot. Coulson tells Nash he'll be put in a box but Nash continues to taunts them and says that a force is coming for them. Skye has something they want and she'll die giving it to them; he has seen it. He continues to ramble and taunt but then Ward shoots him - someone isn't too fond of threats towards his lady love. The entire team watched and listened to the feed of this incident. Surely Skye can't still be oblivious towards Ward's feelings for her.

Garrett and Coulson are discussing Ward's actions and Coulson wants to talk to him before he goes in for review. Garrett tells him to "go easy on the kid." Garrett heads back out to hunt for Deathlok and May tells Coulson that Nick Fury is back at the Triskellion. Coulson may now go and discuss what's been bothering him.

Ward is in the Bus holding room and Skye comes in to ask why he did it. Ward says he lost it and became angry. Skye tells him the mission was to capture, not kill. Ward reminds her of everything the Clairvoyant has done and how he wouldn't have stopped until she... (was dead). Ward is prepared for whatever punishment he'll receive but doesn't regret it if it means she (and the rest of the team) will be safe.

Fitz calls Simmons an encrypted line. He begins work on trying to improve the choppiness of the call and finds a tap on the hardline. Simmons tells him everyone is rushing to the situation room and hangs up. Fitz continues to investigate the tap.

Skye visit Coulson, who says he's worried that Nash might not have been the Clairvoyant. He only spoke through the screen, which could have been controlled from elsewhere. Skye suggests that the Clairvoyant might have pressed their buttons after having access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s psyche files. The Clairvoyant isn't psychic, merely is a high-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with access to their files. The Clairvoyant couldn't "see" Coulson after New York, because Fury didn't release that file.

Coulson confronts Ward about whether he was ordered to kill the Clairvoyant. Fitz discovers May's encrypted line right as she enters the rom. He rambles his way out of the room and runs into Skye, telling her what he has found. She tells him to cut the line and May begins to realise what Fitz has discovered. May attempts to call out but it's then that Fitz cuts the line. May grabs her gun and begins chasing after Fitz.

Ward insists he wasn't working with anybody but Skye comes in to tell them about May and her line. Fitz lures May into the bay of the Bus and Coulson pulls his gun on her, after which Skye does the same. She tells him her gun is just an icer but Coulson says his is not. May tells them she can explain everything but not there. She can't tell them who's on the other end of the line. Coulson says it makes sense that she is working for the Clairvoyant but May is confused by his questions. The Bus is then turned around, throwing everyone off their feet. May is just as clueless as to what is happening. We then see Agent Hand giving the order to kill everyone on Board except Coulson when the Bus lands.

Finally, we see Nicky Fury in Washington D.C. in a scene from the Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He is pursued by police officers but get away. He demands to be taken off the grid but his vehicle is then attacked by the Winter Soldier.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesdays on ABC at 8PM.