Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1E18 - "Providence" Recap

Raina sits in her cell folding origami and adds her latest one to her shelf with the others. She hears gunfire and noises and Ward comes in to deliver a present complete with a ribbon. She opens it and finds a flower dress inside.

Coulson watches the news which is covering S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall. Skye comes and and tells him she has compiled a list of three secure bases. He wants and intends to continue the fight against Hydra.

Ward takes Rain to a barber shop where she meets John Garrett who introduces himself as the Clairvoyant. He explains that he is not actually "clairvoyant" and she is saddened to learn of his being a fraud. He invites her to sit in a barber chair, welcomes her to Hydra, and triggers a mechanism that lowers her below the floor.

FitzSimmons are working on much-needed repairs to the Bus while Trip assists them. Skye tells Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken back the Cube. Coulson receives a transmission from Glen Talbot, who informs him he'll be sending in a peacekeeping force that will just get the lay of the land. After the transmission, Coulson says that this isn't good. He expects they'll try to shut down what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson initiates Odyssey, saying Fitz needs to finish the repairs so they can get out. May tells Coulson she'll have the wheels up in ten and Trip asks to join them. Coulson doesn't trust him but Simmons speaks on his behalf. Coulson relents but tells Simmons that Trip is her responsibility.

Coulson talks stealth capabilities with Fitz, supplies with Simmons, and learns from Trip that a fuel line is busted but he is working to repair it. Skye tells Coulson they have Internet. He tasks her with finding all information about them and erasing it, saying they need to vanish. Skye asks if she's sure since it won't be able to be undone. She enquires about Ward and tells her to call him.

Skye tells Ward about the identity wipe and he's relatively unphased. They flirt before they end the call and she promises to keep him posted. Garrett and Ward argue about Skye and how she was not part of the plan. Ward had been tasked with retrieving information on Coulson's return from the dead but the plan was complicated when Coulson didn't know anything about it. Garrett tells Rain they're restarting phase 3 and shows her several corpses he has been experimenting on. He gives her some vials he took from the Guest House for her to test and Ward gives her the information he took from the Bus. Ward and Garrett begin preparing to raid the Fridge.

Skye gives Coulson everyone's badges and Coulson puts them in a safe behind the picture frame behind his desk. Skye then notes that there are lights on his badge and they see that they might be coordinates. Coulson thinks they are from Nick Fury. The coordinates are somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. Simmons and Trip wonder if this is a trip but Coulson gives a speech about Fury, Shield, the Bus, and says he is certain of this, though anyone who wishes to leave is welcome to grab a chute and do so.

Raina admits to Ward that she was disappointed about the Clairvoyant not being actually clairvoyant since there was a question she wanted to ask. Ward tells her he's known Garrett since he was a teenager. Ward tells her how he saved Fitz to gain trust, romanced May to neutralise the biggest threat, and played the role of the loner in order to get Coulson to pursue him. Ward admits that he owes Coulson something but he owes Garrett everything.

May visits Coulson and says she needs to confiscate his weapon, questioning Coulson's blind faith in Fury. She says this might be from Hydra if they had been involved in his surgery. She admits that someone else was in charge of Coulson's procedure but only Fury knows who it is. Coulson refuses to surrender his weapon and orders May out.

Fitz, Simmons, and Trip discuss Coulson. Fitz wants to stick to Coulson's plan but Trip and Simmons are more sceptical. Garrett and Ward arrive at the Fridge but the security won't let them inside without Hand. A helicopter comes up and begins firing at them. The security then decide to let them in and they all go into the elevator. Ward shoots the guards and leads the team. Garret reveals that the Slingshot program is a hoax, saying that the technology is actually kept in a room called the Toy Store. Garrett pulls out a plasma gun they first found in Peru.

The Bus lands in Canada and Coulson tells the team that it's up to them whether or not they want to follow him, which they all end up doing. Garrett uses the plasma gun to free prisoners in the Ice Box, hoping that they'll keep Coulson busy. Ward takes the plasma gun to shoot a hole into the floor of what was supposed to be Fridge's bottom floor, revealing something beneath it.

Coulson and the team have yet to find anything and even Fitz is starting to wonder if they came for nothing. Skye asks May what she was spying for Fury and May says that doctors were worried he might be unstable following the procedure. She notes that he was fine until today. The team reaches the coordinates and begin searching the area. Coulson says they're not going back until they find what they're looking for. Plus, they are out of fuel, leaving no other option but to find what is here. Coulson becomes emotional monologuing. He throws the badge in a fit and it's shot out of the air by an automated turret. The team all take cover and Coulson approaches the turret. It tells him to identify himself and when he does, he is welcomed and a hidden passage opens.

Raina tells Garrett and Ward that there's a problem with the hard drive. Skye had programmed it to erase itself if anyone other than her attempted to access it. Back in the passage, the team meats Agent Koening, who tells them they have entered a secret base called Providence. He tells them that Agent Fury is dead and the Fridge has fallen. Skye panics and calls Ward, visibly relieved to hear his voice.

Koening pulls Coulson into his office to speak privately. Koening says that he has lived there in isolation since the Chitauri invasion of New York. Koening tells Coulson that Fury is actually alive, but they are under direct orders to not tell anyone else, including the rest of his team. Coulson's not comfortable keeping secrets but Koening stresses that these are Fury's orders. Coulson reluctantly agrees.

Ward has now learned about the secret base but also that Fury is dead. Garrett changes clothes and we see some metal on his chest. Garrett sends Ward to get the password for the hard drive and tells him to kill the team but bring the girl back. They've worked out a story and Garrett begins beating Ward as part of their cover. Ward arrives at Providence, bloody and bruised. Skye meets him at the entrance.

Finally, Quinn greet Garrett, furious about his assets being frozen and all the other mistreatment he has endured. His life is now in shambles since meeting Garrett and aligning himself with a non-Clairvoyant. Garrett tells him he has a gift and brings him over to a container holding his gravitonium. Quinn thanks him.

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