'Agents of SHIELD' Recap With Spoilers: "The Real Deal"

A DWARF drone investigates the wreckage of the Lighthouse basement. A mysterious figure walks by. There are three-fingered bloody handprints on the wall. There's a glowing crack in the wall. The drone is knocked down. Lash picks it up and destroys it.

Coulson and May check on Fitz. He shows them that level 27 of the Lighthouse now houses an outdoor forest. He shows them the crack in the basement. He believes that the three Kree monoliths all blowing up together caused a tear in space-time and another dimension is bleeding through. This may be what causes the destruction of Earth, not Daisy.

Mack visits Yo-Yo in the infirmary. Her arms are bandaged up where they were cut off. He offers to carry Yo-Yo out of the Lighthouse and never look back. She says they need to stay and fight.

Daisy and Deke search for medical supplies in the storeroom. A Kree suddenly appears and attacks them. Quake shoots the Kree and it deteriorates into dust.

Fitz shows the rest of the team the footage of Lash. He believes the tear in the basement is connected to a fear dimension. He thinks the dimension is reaching into their minds, finding their greatest fears and physically manifesting them. The forest seems to be a fear of Deke's, while the Kree and Lash are Daisy and May, respectively. The effects seem to be spreading. Fitz has an idea of how to stop it, but not without possibly sacrificing someone. He plans to use the gravitonium in Deke's belt buckle to seal the rift. Coulson volunteers to bring the device down. Everyone argues about who should go down, but Coulson is determined to do it himself. Daisy argues with him. Coulson says he needs her to lead and inspire SHIELD. Daisy tells him there is no SHIELD, that everyone is broken. Coulson is dedicated to the symbol of SHIELD. He passes out as he tries to explain.

Later, Coulson sends Deke on a mission to retrieve something.

He goes back to the see the rest of the team. There's an awkward silence. Simmons says it's not good. There's necrotic tissue spreading out from where Loki stabbed him. Simmons says she's not sure what's causing it. The tissue appears to have been dead for several years, and its spreading at a rapid rate. Coulson is dying. He admits he's known since he encountered Ghost Rider. Being possessed by Ghost Rider burned through whatever alien technology from TAHITI was keeping him alive. He believes it was a sacrifice he had to make, and he didn't tell them because he didn't want them distracted. Daisy points out that Tess was resurrected, they had a solution at hand in the future. He didn't want to go through that again. Daisy gets upset and leaves. May tells Coulson that he should have told them.

Coulson goes to check on Daisy. She says she's not capable of doing what Coulson is asking. She says Coulson is the symbol, that there's no SHIELD without him.

Yo-Yo is startled awake by her dreams. Simmons says they've all suffered enough and puts a pillow over Yo-Yo's face. Mack runs in and punches Simmons, revealing her to be an LMD. The real Simmons arrives and shoots the LMD dead. Fitz insists they have to seal the rift now.

Deke walks outside. A helicopter flies overhead. The military is swarming river's end after the police officer called in the sighting of Daisy Johnson. General Hale gets some information from the police officer about Deke.

May asks Coulson if this is why they took a step back. Coulson says she doesn't need to waste her time on a lost cause and that he's come to terms with his fate. He says he needs to make space for Daisy, that SHIELD needs fresh blood to lead them.

Fitz equips Coulson to head into the basement and warns him not to get too close to the rift when he sets off the gravitonium device or he may get sucked into the other dimension. Coulson makes Fitz promise to do that "other thing" they talked about no matter what, even if Coulson doesn't make it back.

Coulson heads into the basement. His connection to the rest of the team almost immediately cuts out. Coulson sees Mike Peterson, who says it's time he told Coulson what's really going on. Peterson tells Coulson that none of this is real, that Coulson is still dying on the table. Coulson refuses to believe it, but Peterson says they're still trying to bring Coulson back after Loki ran a scepter through him. Everything Coulson has experienced are random firings of his brain's synapses. Coulson realizes Peterson is his fear of death. Peterson says everything Coulson has experienced is the life he had left to live.

Alarms go off in the base as a quinjet comes in for a landing. Deke is on board with Deathlok and several other soldiers.

Peterson tells Coulson that the rift he's trying to close is Coulson literally walking into the light. He offers to go together. Coulson stops and says he's not buying it. Peterson becomes violent and grabs Coulson and threatens to take him in himself. Deathlok arrives and kills the other Peterson. Lash attacks, and Deathlok takes him out as well. Several Vrellnexians attack. Deathlok and Coulson fight them off together. Coulson releases the device. It goes off and begins pulling both Coulson and Deathlok in. Deathlok manages to hold Coulson back. Hive appears but is quickly defeated. The rift closes.

Hale's agents say there's no record of Deke. There have also been other Daisy Johnson sightings, and they decide to go chase those down.

Fitz tells Coulson then the rift is sealed for now, but they'll need a bigger, more long-term solution. Deke had seeded false Daisy sightings. Deathlok has been helping other agents on the run, but he operates solo.

Coulson realizes that Fitz is stalling about doing "the other thing." The elevator opens out into the green forest on level 27. The other SHIELD agents are all there watching. Simmons is in a wedding dress. Coulson officiates the wedding. Simmons and Fitz exchange vows and rings. Deke found the rings for them and notes that it looks like one his grandma used to have.

Hale's agents find a genetic link between Deke, Simmons, and Fitz.