Brett Dalton

“The Writing on the Wall” is season 2’s first major call-back to the TAHITI Project and Coulson’s big mystery in season 1. As Skye says, the show is starting to collect all these stray pieces of the puzzle and fit them together into a larger picture. Ward, Skye’s father, TAHITI, and the pattern that Coulson keeps drawing are all connected, but the team needs more time to figure it out. Unfortunately, Coulson is running out of time with his compulsions driving him to sleepless nights and madness. The clue that they need to solve his madness is found in the mystery of the week, a former SHIELD agent found murdered with Coulson’s pattern carved into her flesh.

In the aftermath of SHIELD’s destruction, Agents of SHIELD splits “Providence” between the remaining members of Coulson’s team trying to figure out what is next and Ward and Garrett heading off to the Fridge for evil plotting and mustache-twirling. At first, Coulson wants to go completely off the grid, but he rethinks this plan when he discovers glowing coordinates on his SHIELD badge. He believes the coordinates are a clue from Fury himself as to where to go and how to find him. May, however, thinks that Coulson isn’t thinking clearly in the aftermath of SHIELD’s demise, and she worries that his decisions are putting everyone else in danger.