BWW Recap: MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Rinse, Lather, Repeat

Episode Three of MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. in which Hydra relies on brainwashing and Coulson ultimately is the one who comes clean.

We begin episode three with a joke: how old is Hydra bad guy Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond)? So old, that the cheap scotch he bought has now matured and tripled in value. He bought cases of the stuff for mere pennies and now a single bottle goes for $2,000. You evil mastermind, you!

He's actually brainwashing a captured agent. Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) declines to comply. Whitehall says he was expecting it would be a long night.

We cut to Simons (Elizabeth Henstridge) awakening all bright eyed. She works out, gets dressed and goes off to work. She enters an office building, scans her fingerprint to get onto the elevator, enters a lab, and dons a black lab coat. On the wall next to her is the Hydra logo. Yep, she's working for Hydra.

Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns from yet another failed recruiting mission. Hydra has snapped up agent 33 (oh, Coulson! If you only knew it wasn't a superior dental plan, but rather brainwashing).

Back at Hydra, Inc. Simmons' boss needs her data, but she's not done testing. He's been called to present to the guys upstairs. She gives him what little notes she has, but not before she notices the picture of a young boy in the case file. It is Donnie Gill aka Blizzard (played by Dylan Minnette) whom we met last season at the S.H.I.E.L.D. college campus.

Next we see Gill in Marrakech where he has just fixed a radio for the owner of the outdoor restaurant he is seated in. Oh, and when he touches his drink, it freezes. The restaurant owner ratted him out. He freezes him and an agent sent to apprehend him. I guess we can just call him Blizzard now.

Simmons returns from her crappy day at the Hydra office. Someone has broken into her flat. She grabs her gun. It's Coulson. He's brought her food. She's working undercover at Hydra. They share a meal and she debriefs him. She's ever so pissed that she hasn't advanced at Hydra as fast as she has everywhere else. "They are intent on wasting my talents on doing rudimentary biochem and molecular analysis on blind samples." It beats the Hydra mailroom!

Coulson returns to brief the team. Most likely scenario is Hydra wants to use Gill as a weapon. While Gill was in custody at S.H.I.E.L.D. someone (most likely a Hydra agent) taught him to control and use his powers.

Skye pays a visit to Ward. Ward tells her he was never loyal to Hydra, he was loyal to Garrett. That makes it all OK, right? Not exactly. She calls him out: "you're a cold blooded killer."

He tries to make the conversation personal with a dig about her own family; she puts things back on track. He tells her Hydra's protocol on gifted beings is straight-forward: join, capture or kill.

Simmons is being escorted upstairs due to a security breach.She withheld the fact that she knew Gill (whose cell samples she has been testing).

Also in Hydra's brainwashing lab (your mind cleaned while you wait!), Whitehall continues to try and break Agent 33. She is still not ready to comply.

Meanwhile at the Playground, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lead on Gill: a ship in the Port of Casablanca is frozen in place. Hunter (Nick Blood) raises a red flag: it was a just little too easy to find Gill.

Back at Hydra, Inc. Simmons learns she is being sent on a mission to retrieve Gill. It's obviously a test to see if she is still loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.

With the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. off to recruit Gill, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) has been left behind with no one to talk to but Imaginary Simmons. She is trying to stop him from finding out what "The Asset" is. "You are not here," he says. And with that, Imaginary Simmons is gone and Fitz enters Vault D to find Ward. Fitz has a bit of a mental breakdown.

S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives late to the Port of Casablanca party. Simmons has already been escorted by Hydra on board.

Fitz is at a loss for words in describing to Ward what Ward did to him. So, he uses his tablet to show him. The oxygen levels in Ward's cell begin to drop. Ward damaged him and he wants payback. To save his own life, Ward gives Fitz some crucial information. Gill was previously brainwashed by Hydra and they are trying to trigger his programming

Back on the ship, Simmons is being fed the lines to trigger Gill's programming. Coulson orders Hunter to end the conversation, not realizing it is Simmons doing the talking.

May shoots Hunter before he can shoot Simmons. Gill snaps out of it and chases after Simmons right into a swarm of Hydra. His programming is triggered and he is ordered to stop S.H.I.E.L.D.

He begins to freeze the ship from atop the deck, trapping May and Hunter below as Simmons watches helplessly.

And then Skye takes the shot, seemingly terminating Gill. His body goes As the body sinks, it becomes incased in ice. Odds are we have not seen the last of Gill!

Skye checks her pulse (it's normal) and calmly tells Coulson "the threat's been neutralized."

Back on the air bus, just about everyone is pissed about being kept in the dark. Skye is mad that May and Coulson kept Simmons' mission secret from her, Fitz is upset that Coulson didn't tell him Ward is sitting in a cell. Coulson throws Fitz a bone and tells him Simmons is on an assignment.

The final reveal: Skye visits Ward to inquire about Hydra's use of brainwashing. Ward reveals everything he did -good and bad-he did of his own free will. He tells her he knows something and wants her to believe it when he says it.

"Your father is alive and he's looking for you. And someday, if you let me, I'll take you to him."

She runs out of the vault. Her pulse is elevated; he has managed to rattle her.

And with that, episode 3 comes to a close. What did you think? Comment below and come back next week when we recap the next episode.

Check out a promo for next week's episode titled 'I Will Face My Enemy':

Photo Credit: Kelsey McNeal | ABC

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