Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode 2.04 Face My Enemy

In Miami, at Santa Maria de Las Flores church, a painting from the early-1500s survives a tragic fire. There are etchings on the back that look a lot like the ones Coulson has been drawing in secret. On a South Beach bike trail, Skye speeds by to grab an item that Hunter swiped to get Coulson and May into a private fundraising event to rebuild Santa Maria de Las Flores. The place is filled with diplomats and state officials. In others words, there aren't many friends of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the guest list.

To keep their cover, Coulson asks May to join him on the dance floor. They reminisce about old missions in between dips. The small talk takes a serious turn when May lets Coulson know that if this mission is too much for him, she'll pull the plug. A further chat about what needs to be done should the new Director go the way of John Garrett gets put on hold when General Talbot is spotted at the bash. There goes their cover.

Coulson approaches Talbot. The general promises he won't interfere with the mission unless he feels the need. Coulson calls an audible anyway. They are bumping up the timeframe for their planned theft of the painting that survived the fire. Too bad General Talbot got to it first. He reports that S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the premises. The person he informs is Daniel Whitehall of Hydra.

General Talbot catches up with Coulson and May as they try to escape. He wants to know what the writing on the back of the painting means. Coulson asks for an hour before he surrenders quietly. He needs time to find out why Talbot is trying to play him. May is on the case. She tracks down Talbot, only it's not really him. May rips off a mask to reveal Bakshi in disguise. May is knocked unconscious by the Hydra-conforming Agent 33, who uses the mask to become her identical lookalike.

Fitz keeps his distance from his fellow agents as they bond. He doesn't feel like part of the team. He tells the imaginary representation of Simmons that he feels he has no value. Elsewhere, Agent 33 (as May) makes her way onto the bus. She plants a device onboard just before luring away Coulson, who wants to know if she will take over S.H.I.E.L.D. if he goes south.

Agent 33 fakes her way through the heart-to-heart conversation. She then grabs Coulson's hand assuring him that she won't let him down. This act of affection, along with a few other uncharacteristic responses, effectively blows her cover. Coulson punches Agent 33 in the face/mask. They tussle in the hallway outside the room where Bakshi is torturing the real May, who breaks free. Now it's her turn to inflict a little pain.

May makes her way into the hallway where she gets into a brutal brawl with her lookalike. Coulson chases after Bakshi, who flees with the painting. He ices him. Coulson grabs the painting. He races to May, who takes down Agent 33. A Hydra extraction team arrives a little too late.

Circuits aboard the bus begin to fry. Everything shuts down. The team is sealed in. Fitz sees the sabotage device. He knows that the bus is going to explode. Fitz uses Hunter to help him neutralize the situation. A short time later, Hunter brings some beers down to share with the boys. Fitz finally feels like part of the team. He opens up about Simmons. Hunter doesn't know Fitz very well, but he says that the woman of whom he speaks is missing out on a good thing.

Coulson tells the real General Talbot that the painting everyone was after was destroyed in the fight. It's a lie. The analysis of the painting comes back. The writing on it is new. There's someone else out there carving. May lets Coulson know if things go south, she's getting him out. No matter what happens, she'll take care of him. That's her plan. Coulson appreciates how much she cares. Then he orders her to abandon that plan and shoot him in the head if need be.

Raina sees a newspaper article about the miracle painting. She is in the middle of making plans to head to South Beach when Daniel Whitehall takes a seat in the back of her car. He places a device on the back of her hand that controls her. Whitehall lets Raina know that she has 48 hours to return the obelisk to him. He releases her from the controlled hold so she can go off and do just that.