Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Five Things To Know Going Into Season 2

The Season 2 premiere of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is tonight. The series met with some mixed reviews early on, so it's possible that you decided to skip out on the series. But now you've heard from fans that it got a lot better towards the end. Maybe, having heard good things, you're now interested in getting onboard with the series' second season, but you don't have time to watch all of the episodes you missed.

This article is here to help you out. Here, we fill potential newcomers in on the most important things they missed in the show's first season. Read on to get ready for the new season.

S.H.I.E.L.D. as we knew it is gone.

When the Marvel Cinematic Universe debuted, S.H.I.E.L.D. was at the height of its power. It was a global peacekeeping operation tasked with saving lives. It played a key role in assembling the Avengers and protecting New York City from the Chitauri invasion.

All of that is gone now. It was revealed that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. at its highest ranks. The resulting internal conflict left the organization all but defunct. On top of that, since the government has no way of telling which S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were secretly working for Hydra, they've turned all remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into outlaws.

Phil Coulson is in charge

With S.H.I.E.L.D. crumbling beneath him, Nick Fury finally decided it was time to pass the torch. He makes Agent Phil Coulson the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and tasks him with building the organization back up after its tremendous fall. It is this mission that will propel Coulson and his team forward in the season to come.

Agent Ward is a traitor

Agent Grant Ward was a member of Coulson's team, Skye's commanding officer, and a secret Hydra mole working for the Clairvoyant, his mentor John Garrett. His betrayal shook the team to its core, but he was taken into custody following Garrett's defeat. It's not hard to imagine that S.H.I.E.L.D. could find a use for an imprisoned Hydra agent who may be looking for a path to redemption, so expect to see him continue to play a role, though a much different one, in the season to come.

Coulson and Skye were both saved by the same mysterious substance, GH 325

If you've seen The Avengers, you know that Phil Coulson is supposed to be dead. He was skewered by Loki's scepter. During the course of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, it was revealed that Coulson had been revived through Project T.A.H.I.T.I., a project that used a substance called GH 325, derived from a mysterious blue alien. That same substance was used to keep Skye alive after she was shot by Ian Quinn.

Thing is, this substance has some weird side effects associated with it, which is why T.A.H.I.T.I. was supposed to have been shut down. Subjects begin to experience strange delusions, slowly making them insane. After giving himself a huge does, John Garrett immediately started to show signs of these symptoms, talking about being able to see the universe in new ways and scrawling strange writing onto a glass door. Skye still seems to be unaffected, but at the very end of Season 1, Coulson began showing symptoms, scrawling the same strange text as Garrett onto a wall.

Skye has some father issues to work out

One of Season 1's biggest unresolved mysteries is Skye's parentage. We learned that Skye herself was classified as a 084, an object of unknown origin. Her parents were described as monsters who caused chaos and destruction searching for her. We still don't know who or what her parents are, but we do know that Raina brought her father information about Skye's recent doings. Skye's father knows she's out there, working with S.H.I.E.L.D., and you have to believe he's coming for her.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 premieres September 23 on ABC.