Marvels Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 7-9 Recaps: The Hub, The Well and Repairs

Since I'm not recapping these every week, I'll just hit the highlights:

Episode 7 "The Hub":
The team visits "The Hub" where lots of top secret SHIELD stuff is going on. Unfortunately our security clearance isn't level 8 (or higher) so we don't get to see much. We do get to meet Agent Victoria Hand. Yeah! Ward and Fitz are sent to Russia/Georgia/somewhere to disable the "Overkill Device". If it's not dismantled within 24 hours all sorts of bad stuff will happen (planes will fall out of the sky, nuclear devices will be launched, the usual bad stuff). The only problem is there is no plan for extraction. Skye and team work to get them out. Coulson is doing some detective work to find out about Skye's parents. He tells her a SHIELD agent left her at the orphanage. He knows something else but we're not sure what. He asks May to quietly investigate. Coulson also tries to find out more about his time in Tahiti but it is classified above his level. And at this point do you think Coulson can still "trust the system"? Last week the higher ups told him to sacrifice Simmons. This week he has to send Ward and Fitz on a suicide mission. If I was him, I'd start to be a little paranoid.

Episode 8 "The Well":
The team tracks an anger fueled group. (We better keep an eye on those Scandinavians.) They are looking for the three pieces of the Asgardian Berserker staff. When someone touches even one part of the staff their emotions become extremely heightened. Ward touches the staff several times and is greatly troubled by visions of his brother stuck in a well. I assume he drowns after Ward did not help him. In order to understand what they're up against, the team seeks help from a professor named Elliot Randolph. However it turns out he is looking for the rest of the staff pieces as well. And in the biggest reveal of the show he is... really an Asgardian who has been on Earth for centuries. May ends up reassembling the staff and taking out the rest of the Nordic baddies. When asked how she could stand the psychic pain it causes, she says she lives with it everyday. Poor May. She really needs some therapy.

Episode 9 "Repairs":
The episode opens with May and Ward after some sexy times. More of that please. A safety inspector (Hannah Hutchins) acquires what appears to be telekinetic powers after an accident that killed four people. She says she is haunted by demons. May is forced to make an emergency landing of the plane. It turns out that one of the workers (Tobias Ford) is the entity haunting Hannah and causing all the issues. He is trying to protect her. He also caused the accident by loosening some bolts so he could spend time with Hannah. He is stuck between this dimension and somewhere else (that he thinks is Hell). May convinces him to let go. Meanwhile Fitz-Simmons are pulling pranks and some are not all going as planned. We get to see a little more of Melinda May's backstory. Coulson says she used to be "warm, fearless in a different way, pulling pranks." Something happened to her in Bahrain to cause her change in personality. On a side note, I would liked to have seen more of where Tobias went. We didn't hear anything else after he left.

Other observations:

Asgaard is getting a lot of attention these days. We also found out this week that the witch sisters (Joanna and Wendy) on "Witches of East End" are also from Asgaard. I assume its the place. If they were related to Thor that would be really cool.
A shout out to aliens- "The Well" asserts that what ancient people thought were gods were actually just aliens. I'm sure ancient astronaut theorists (see "Ancient Aliens") would agree.
I'm not feeling the love for Skye. She's always snooping around doing something illegal but nothing ever happens to her. What's up with that?
Is Skye May's daughter? Cause they are leaving enough hints about it, especially during "Repairs".
What's up with Simmons dodging her parents each episode?

Favorite quotes:

-”Go back to your stupid…S.H.I.E.L.D….Hogwarts or whatever.”
Read more at http://collider.com/marvels-agents-of-shield-season-1-episode-9-recap/#uSHWe1gJ2xOXO7Wk.99

"Go back to your stupid SHIELD Hogwarts or whatever"- Skye to Fitz-Simmons
"Fact is, a bullet will take you out of any dimension you're in"- Ward
"She used her British-ness on us"- while playing Scrabble (or whatever that game is called)
"He's lived through all the bad stuff-- the Crusades, the Black Death, disco"- Skye about the Asgaardian
"Not everyone gets to go to Tahiti"- Hand. "It's a magical... place"- Coulson. OK people we all know something is up with Tahiti! We just don't know what it is yet.
"Trust the system"- Coulson “He’s acting like a robot version of himself right now”- Skye to Simmons. Is that because... maybe he is a ROBOT now! Who knows.
"You can't undo what's been done. That will be with you forever. But trying to hold onto this life, clinging to the person you thought you could be… That's hell, and you're dragging her down with you." What May said to Tobias to get him to leave. This is the same thing Coulson said to her in Bahrain.
“Horny. Met a French girl in 1546. God, she loved stories”- why Professor Randolph revealed he was a god. That guy is funny. I hope we see him again.
He’s lived through all the bad stuff. The Crusades. The Black Death. Disco.”
Read more at http://collider.com/marvels-agents-of-shield-season-1-episode-8-recap/#Lrtwc3kYLoukuXf0.99

He’s lived through all the bad stuff. The Crusades. The Black Death. Disco.”
Read more at http://collider.com/marvels-agents-of-shield-season-1-episode-8-recap/#Lrtwc3kYLoukuXf0.99

Go back to your stupid…S.H.I.E.L.D….Hogwarts or whatever.”
Read more at http://collider.com/marvels-agents-of-shield-season-1-episode-9-recap/#uSHWe1gJ2xOXO7Wk.99

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). I liked these three episodes much more than the previous ones. The show is at its best when its revealing the backstories of the various agents (with some cool tech and fight scenes thrown in). Now we know a little more about May, Ward and Skye.