Note: There will be spoilers in our summary.
Recap
A woman is on a date with guy. It's the tattoo guy we saw before. They met at a bar and go to her apartment. She feels like they know each other. She's says she's an art teacher when he notices art supplies and books in her place. He says they do know each other. Opens his shirt to reveal carvings on his body. "How do you know about that?" He pulls out a knife and says he'll help her remember.
Coulson is carving again. Skye hasn't been sleeping. Says it's all connected--Ward escaping, knowing about her father who has the alien device plus the fact they both had the serum put in them. May and the others are out looking for Ward.
In Philadelphia, Agent Triplett finds Ward at a bus terminal. Ward grabs a bag out of a locker. Triplett is about to get him, Ward lifts shirt to show he has bombs strapped to him. One of Skye's contacts found signs of the symbols at a crime scene. Coulson says the woman was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent and not an art teacher. They head over to her place and break in. In a room, she has a bunch of art with the symbols. In the corner of one is written "A Magical Place." She was Level 6 at the Triskelion. She "died" six years ago. They get the body and Simmons examines it. Coulson feels he should know something more about her if she was just Level 6.
In Atlanta, Georgia, Ward gets off bus finds a woman and child to "help out." He tags along with them as they get on a bus to Dallas. Bobbie Morse is on the bus and he sits next to her. He noticed she was reading a book and is still on the same page. He calls her bluff even though she denies it. He shows his deadman switch and tells her to stay put. He gets off bus and gets on another bus but Hunter is on, wearing a cowboy hat and using a Southern accent.
Simmons is getting results from he body. There was skin from her attacker was under her nails. Both had GHD-25 in her blood too. So did the killer. Coulson says they'll have to torture the information out of him using the same device that helped him get his memories back. It seems the Tahiti Program was used to bring back other agents from he dead and he was in charge of it. Memories are coming back. He's alone in a room. There's a file on the table and then the dead agent is there. Now he's seeing several other agents--six of them. He's starting to have a reaction. The memories are getting freaky. One guy didn't show any signs go becoming unstable. Coulson remembers trying to order the program be shut down along with the host, who is thousands of years old. A doctor says it could be memories of the host. If they erase all their memories, they'll never be agents but will be able to live normal lives.
Ward is in Boston. Goes into a bar. The bartender welcomes him back. Sunil Bakshi, Whitehall's man, enters he bar with a couple guys. He knew Garrett and it turns out Ward called him. He says now he's finally free. Since Strucker is overseas, he wants to meet whoever is in charge. Says he can get them close enough to Coulson to put a bullet in his head.
Coulson is remember the killer agent. Says he doesn't need to be erased. Already started carving symbols on his arm. Mac insists they pull him out. They call May and she says to lock Coulson up. He's not being cooperative so Skye pulls a gun on him. The guy was Sebastian Darick. He was a killer. Coulson tricks Skye and pushes her into the cell so he can go "take care of something."
Mac and Fitz are playing video games. Fitz says Coulson's memories haven't been deleted, just disconnected. Coulson tracks down an agent and pulls a gun on him to pick his brain. The rest of the team are preparing to take out Ward. Coulson realizes too late the killer agent got there first. He knocks him out. In the bar, they find Bakshi bound and gagged. A note says "For Coulson."
Sebastian has Coulson tied up and starts cutting him. Says the pain brought back memories. He tried tracking Coulson down first but he was already "dead." Sebastian killed the others to try to find out what the symbols mean. He says the answers aren't two-dimensional. Skye and Mac find the agent, who escaped, and his family. They go to his house. Coulson and Sebastian are fighting. The symbols were a map. The agent built a city for toy trains and Coulson says the symbols are a map to a city. Coulson says the compulsion to carve is gone. Now they just need to find where to go. They have Bakshi in the prison. Coulson comes clean with the others about his recent missions and the symbols. The bad news is HYDRA is also looking and they have more resources. But they have the map. They just need to find it before anyone else.
Ward finally shaves. Skye hacks into Bakshi's phone. It rings. She answers "Hail HYDRA." It's Ward. He says he was true to his word about getting Bakshi close to Coulson. Says they'll see each other soon. Looks like he's going after his brother first.
Thoughts
We finally know what the symbols are about. While it was an interesting plot, it did start to feel it was dragging on a little. The show was getting too sidetracked with Coulson being so distracted. What's interesting is the fact that Coulson was in charge of the Tahiti Program. Sebastian asked him why he would volunteer himself knowing what it would do and Coulson responded that he didn't volunteer.
It's good seeing the team working together to try to find Ward. The problem is, they apparently were no match for him. Ward outsmarted them way too easily. Is Ward just supposed to be that great of an agent? Of course they couldn't catch him or else this storyline would be over already. Perhaps it would've been better if they didn't have so much interaction with him and Ward outsmarting them. It also felt they tracked him down too quickly.
The continued development of the semi-friendship betwen Mac and Fitz is fun. Mac is wondering what he got himself into by signing up to work with these guys. He's also helping Fitz overcome his problems without realizing it.
The secret of the symbols is interesting. What is this lost city? Is it Attilan? We've long suspected that the "host" of the GHD-25 could be a Kree or Inhuman. Is Skye part Inhuman? Is this Marvel Studios' way to introduce Inhumans? If so, it's something people will want to pay attention to.
It's always a good thing when we get some answers. We may not know everything about the symbols but it looks like something is starting to brew.