Four skinheads drive through the city in a truck after a robbery.
Daisy puts on her clothing and wraps her hands.
The two men in the back get their rifles out, and realize that it's coming. Something hits the hood and takes out the engine, and the truck screeches to a halt. A nearby light blows out, and the robbers look for something to shoot. They open fire on a nearby shop window, and Daisy drops down behind one man and takes him out. He collapses, bleeding from the chest, and says that "he" will kill them all.
A robber grabs a gun and opens fire as a nearby pedestrian comes looking. Daisy gets the pedestrian to cover, while a black car pulls up down the street and the driver guns its engines. After a moment it speeds forward, and one of the robbers fires a missile launcher at the gar. It's blasted into the air…z and then lands and continues forward, flaming. It slams into the truck just as the robbers jump clear, setting the leaking gasoline on fire. The driver gets out and kills one of the robbers. The driver gets out and the driver knocks him down and tosses him into the trunk of his car. As daisy watches, the driver takes off in his car as the police arrive, and Daisy blasts herself away.
The next day, Mack and Coulson are aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Zephyr and playing backgammon. Mack complains that they've been flying around the globe recently, investigating Inhuman calls. When Mack calls him "sir," Coulson reminds him not to do it. An agent comes in and reports that they've been called back to HQ and the reason is classified.
At the HQ, Melinda is sparring with an agent and takes him down. The others finally point out the opponent's mistake, just as the Zephyr lands. Piper takes over the training while Melinda goes to greet Coulson and Mack. She admits that she called them in because she got a call from her law contacts in LA. Two civilians were violently killed, and the police have another victim in custody in critical condition. Under sedation he described Quake--Daisy. The Director pulled them off her case because they lost Daisy once too often, and Melinda warns that the Director thinks they deliberately let her go. Coulson and Mack insist that they didn't, and Melinda warns that they're now forbidden to go after her. She offers to bury the report for a few hours so that they can head to LA and check out the incident. After that, the armed forces will be sent in with orders to kill her. Coulson points out that Daisy has only been going after the Watchdogs, but Melinda tells them to head out ASAP.
One of the two surviving robbers wakes up in his hospital bed. The lights flicker and Daisy takes out the guard outside. She comes in and seals the door, and demands to know who was hunting them. The robber begs her to save his surviving friend, and warns that rumor has it that after their attacker burns someone, he burns their soul as well. The robber sits up and then collapses, bleeding from the unhealed wound on his chest. Daisy realizes that he's dead and blasts through the wall to make her escape.
At S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ in the lab, Jemma and Fitz are adjusting a helmet Radcliffe and Fitz created that feeds an environment directly into Jemma's brain. Coulson and Mack arrive and Jemma lets them in past the guard. Jemma explains that she got a promotion to Special Advisor to the Director in Science and Technology, and the Director has her administering lie-detector tests to check the people in her inner circle. Coulson explains that they need to leave in ten minutes, and Fitz gives them their new equipment. He has a new artificial hand for Coulson, and Coulson refuses to discuss their new assignment because it's classified. Once the two men leave, Jemma says that she can't join Fitz and Radcliffe to watch a match, and he admits that it's a shame that they can't see each other more. She says that it's better than the friends that they can't see again, and leaves.
At her hotel room, Daisy checks the bruises caused by using her powers. She then does a web search of related deaths in the area and leaves in her van.
At a garage, the attacker confronts the last robber that he abducted. The thug claims that he doesn't know who they stole it for. His attacker beats him, demanding to know who he was to deliver it to, and the thug says that he was supposed to send it to a warehouse belonging to the Chinatown Crew. When the thug refuses to tell him where the warehouse is, his captor warns that if he doesn't tell him then he'll have to tell "him."
Aboard the Zephyr, Coulson and Mack are checking the fourth man, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. They're suspected in the recent theft of a yellow big rig, and Coulson hopes to find it before Daisy does. They land at an airfield and their local asset--Yo-Yo--is waiting for them. She meets with Mack and says that if he wants to get to know her better, he can ask her to dinner again. Mack warns that there are rules about fraternizing with assets in the field, and Yo-Yo assures him that they haven't started fraternizing yet. She asks what the official mission is, but Mack says that he can't tell her. Coulson tells them that they found the truck, and Yo-Yo tells Mack to look her up the next time that he's in Miami.
Fitz arrives at Radcliffe's apartment and explains that Jemma won't be there. A naked woman, Aida, comes out, startling Fitz. Radcliffe says that he wasn't supposed to see Aida, and covers her with a coat. She goes into repeat mode and Radcliffe explains that she crashed. He uses a remote to shut her off, and Fitz demands to know what she is. Radcliffe says that Aida is her personal digitized assistant, and he built a robot body for her. Fitz reminds Radcliffe that he's not allowed experimentation without approval per his pardon conditions, and Radcliffe says that he wanted to show Fitz and Jemma what he had accomplished. He insists that Aida is nearly perfect, but needs Fitz's help to get her right. Fitz warns that Radcliffe could go back to jail, and Radcliffe agrees to full disclosure but offers to show Fitz how Aida works.
Daisy gets aboard a bus and sits down next to Yo-Yo. She says that Coulson and Mack are in town and looking for a truck, and gives her a bottle of bone-healing pills that she secretly stole. She warns Daisy that her body will break down if she uses her powers too much, and Daisy insists that she's fine. She explains that she was tracing the sale of a weapon and stumbled on a serial killer. Yo-Yo points out that Daisy has returned to LA and notes that everyone gets attached to something. Daisy prepares to leave and Yo-Yo warns her that Coulson won't give up on her. Unimpressed, Daisy goes.
Jemma brings some eyewear to Melinda for her team and asks her to sign for it. Melinda points out that Jemma has a higher clearance then her and signs. Jemma says that they had a report about an Asian female dying in a hospital in LA, and Melinda says that she hasn't heard about it from her law enforcement contacts. She sarcastically tells Jemma to ask the Director since she's one of the few people allowed to speak with him.
Daisy finds a tagger finishing a mural of the killer: Ghost Rider. He warns that everyone who sees the face dies. Daisy notices a Charger painted on the mural and figures that it will lead her to the killer.
Coulson and Mack go to the warehouse where the truck was located, and the manager takes them in to the truck. Coulson scans the inside with his hand and they find several corpses of Asian men. It looks like they attacked and killed each other, and Mack finds a logo on the man's jacket belonging to Cosmogenic.
The attacker returns to the thug and says that there was no buyer there. He turns on the engine of his car and drives it forward into the thug, chained to the wall.
Daisy checks around the neighborhood, asking people if they've seen the Charger. One man, Diego, directs her to a salvage yard.
Jemma confronts Melinda, figuring that she called Coulson and Mack back to tell them that Daisy was in LA. Melinda insists that she doesn't have the authority to send them, and asks Jemma if she trusts the Director. She figures that the Director broke them up on purpose, and Jemma immediately says that he did. Once the President knew where the base was, she tried to get as much power as she could to keep as much control as she could. To keep the Director's trust, she has to take the appropriate action to adjust the break in in protocol. She orders Melinda to take a strike team to take Coulson and Mack out of the mess they're in, and Melinda agrees.
Mack and Coulson go into the Cosmogenic plant
Radcliffe insists that Aida isn't an AI like Ultron. Fitz warns that the robot could be used as a weapon, and Radcliffe admits that he's been cautious because he doesn't know the new people at S.H.I.E.L.D.. He turns Aida back on and Fitz asks her to say what she is designed for. Aida glances at Radcliffe and then says that Radcliffe designed her to put herself in harm's way to save agents. She insists that she will serve as a decoy target--a S.H.I.E.L.D.--but she won't kill. Radcliffe shuts her down and Fitz says that they can't tell Jemma about it because they don't know what the Director will do with it. He warns that they can't tell anyone... until Aida is perfect.
Coulson and Mack go in and spot four armed men. The two men delivering the box explain that the others went berserk and tore into each other. They were forced to kill each of them, and the leader--Chen--figures that since they didn't burn the bodies, they were traced there. Chen has his men knock the delivery thugs out and figures that the others went berserk because they saw what was in the box. He has heard that it's powerful enough to bring their enhanced enemies to their knees.
As Mack and Coulson watch, they realize that they can't call for backup without letting HQ know that they're on Daisy's trail. They figure that they should let it play out and see if anyone else shows up.
The man loads equipment into the trunk of his Charger... and Daisy comes in. He says that the yard is closed, and introduces himself as Robbie Reyes. Robbie says that he doesn't know anyone trying to buy parts, but offers to let her look through the book of sales in the office. Daisy agrees and they go in.
Chen opens the box and a burst of energy flashes out. Coulson and Mack are watching on a tablet, and the monitor goes dead. Meanwhile, a ghostly woman appears briefly to Chen. He sees his men as skull-faced demons and yells at them to get away from them.
As they go to the office, Robbie attacks Daisy. She blasts him back but he shrugs it off and grabs a pole. He sets it on fire with his touch, says that she must have the devil inside her as well, and charges at her.
Chen's men open fire on each other. Meanwhile Coulson and Mack realize that they have to call for backup. Melinda and her people arrive and she tells the strike team to move in. They go through the building, easily taking down anyone who gets in their path. They arrive at the box and discover that Chen and his men are dead. The ghost walks out behind them, brushing past Melinda, and no one sees her.
Daisy and Robbie fight and she pins him to a wall. He warns her that she shouldn't have gotten involved, and he only kills those who deserve it. When daisy says that he's not the one who gets to decide who dies, Robbie says that he's not the one who decides. His head ignites, revealing a flaming skull, and the "Ghost Rider" advances on her. He tries to bring a shelf down on Daisy, but she suspends it with her powers. The Rider stares at her, and Daisy tells him to kill her because she deserves it. The Ghost Rider stares at her for a moment and then walks away. Daisy rolls away as the shelf collapses, and winces at her broken bones as Ghost Rider drives away.
The Zephyr heads back to HQ, and a medical team examines Chen's people.
Fitz and Jemma are in bed together.
Radcliffe seals Aida away in a hidden chamber.
Daisy is on the street and looks at a photo of the mural.
Robbie helps his brother Gabe out of his car and into a wheelchair. Daisy watches them from down the street. After a moment, she drives off.
As they fly back, Melinda and Coulson play backgammon. Melinda warns that the Director will want to talk to him, and Coulson admits that he doesn't know if they have something. He says that the ground team is checking Chen and his people for contagion. Coulson tells Melinda that it's been a while since they've had a moment before. For a moment, Melinda sees a demonic face on Coulson, but shrugs it off.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 21, 2016