BWW Recap: Two Mays Are Better Than One on MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agent May literally fights with herself as an art heist goes wrong on this week's episode of MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Let's bypass security and jump right in!

We open on the remains of a burned-out church. A portrait of the Virgin Mary has survived the blaze. It's no miracle. The back of the painting has markings much like Coulson likes to carve on blackboards.

Director Coulson (Clark Clegg) and Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) are sent in to retrieve it from its current location, the basement of a house where a posh charity benefit to rebuild the church is currently in progress; the agents crash it in style. May wears a glittery, silver gown. Coulson is in a suit with white linen shirt with several buttons unfastened.

Coulson and May take a moment to show off some fancy footwork (to maintain their cover, Coulson says). Oh, Phil. Surely there are better ways to get pretty ladies to dance with you.

Of course, the entire time they are casing out the place. It takes a single slow dance for them to figure out where all the security detail is.

Major Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) is also at the party. Coulson assures him the outcome of his current mission will be beneficial to both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Talbot. Talbot agrees to back off.

Always one to hedge his bets, Coulson tells May that because of Talbot's appearance, the timeline has been moved up. They are grabbing the painting before their cover is blown.

May flirts with the host. Coulson volunteers to take a photo of his "wife" and the host. The camera is actually some technology that captures a retina scan of the subject's eyes, which the pair use to break into the basement vault.

The painting is gone. Talbot appears to be working with Hydra bad guy Daniel Whitehall (Reed Diamond).

Talbot confronts May and Coulson, hoping to gather some intel on the writing on the painting from them. Coulson agrees to work with Talbot in a government facility to decipher the painting, but asks for an hour to debrief his team. Coulson knows it's a trap and is buying some time.

Speaking of Whitehall, last week's brainwashing of Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) is a success. She and May duke it out when May catches her with Hydra files in Talbot's hotel room. Talbot sucker punches her. She punches him in the face. His face flickers for a minute. She grabs some sort of electronic mask off him. It isn't Talbot, but rather Whitehall's minion Bakshi (Simon Kassianides). 33 tasers May and assumes her identity. Fake May phones Coulson that Talbot's offer is legit.

Fake May returns to the bus and plants a device that Bakshi has told her will "neutralize Coulson's team." The device sabotages the plane. Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) explains that it's basically going to self-destruct.

Coulson sees through Agent 33 when he suggests they "get that cup of coffee we were supposed to get all those years back." When Agent 33 agrees, he punches her. Everyone knows May hates coffee.

The pair fight. The sound distracts Bakshi from the torture in progress, giving May time to escape. May and Agent 33 fight (well, actually it's May fighting May, really). Coulson runs after a fleeing Bakshi and retrieves the painting.

On the plane, Fitz still doesn't have full use of his hands due to the brain damage. He guides Hunter (Nick Blood) through quickly re-wiring the plane and saving the day.

At the Playground, Coulson debriefs May. The painting is over 500 years old, but the writing is new. Someone is out there writing this strange script just like Coulson. He presses her for a contingency plan should he go rogue. She declines to opt for shooting him in the head and promises to get him out and take care of him. He says it's sweet and selfless, "but I need you to forget all that and kill me as ordered." She reluctantly agrees.

Final reveal: Raina (Ruth Negga) is cornered in her car by Whitehall. He implants a tracker on her hand and tells her she has 48 hours to turn over the obelisk from episode 2.

Comment on this week's episode below and come back next week for the next recap of MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Below, get a sneak peek at next week's episode titled "A Hen in the Wolf House':

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