This article is about an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. For the television network that has occasionally aired Disney programming, see Hub Network.
"The Hub" is the seventh episode of the ABC/Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It premiered November 12, 2013.
Plot[]
Coulson, bound with a burlap sack over his head, is put in a chair for "the interrogator". When he comes Coulson asks if he has the intel on him and that they only have three minutes to make their escape. May and Ward fight off the thugs, and it is revealed that the interrogator is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The four agents ride off on sleds propelled by the Bus.
On the Bus, Simmons extracts a data chip through the undercover agent's nose. Coulson tells him that they will take him and the intel to "The Hub". He then informs the other agents that he cannot tell anything about the mission since it is of level 8 priority.
When they arrive, Skye is impressed with the size of the secret place. The agents pick up their name badges and Coulson tells that her monitoring wristband is her badge (meaning she is a long way from level 1). Agent Sitwell meets Coulson and tells him that Agent Victoria Hand is waiting to debrief him. Skye is denied access to the meeting area because of her wristband. Hand informs Coulson and his level 7 agents, Ward and May, that an organization in the Caucasus Mountains has built a superweapon (its name translated means "overkill") that will cause weapons to activate and could be used against the wielder. She sets them on a mission for two people: Ward and, surprisingly, Fitz. She intends for him to dismantle the weapon's core on site.
Fitz and Simmons say their good-byes and she gives him a special homemade sandwich. Skye questions why S.H.I.E.L.D. is sending only the two instead of the whole team but Coulson tells her to trust S.H.I.E.L.D.
Grant and Fitz show up at a Russian bar to meet up with an old contact of Grant's, but a gun-wielding patron informs them that Uri is dead.
Skye and Simmons are both worried and hope to find something out from Coulson.
Fitz and Grant are tied up in the back room of the bar awaiting the boss. She comes in and says that Uri is dead as a result of his involvement with separatists. The agents inform her that they have come to stop the separatists. A Russian is about to shoot Grant, when the power goes out.
Coulson refuses to tell anything about the mission to Skye who remarks that he is "acting like a robot version of himself." She and Jemma devise to go behind his back to discover the mission plans.
Fitz works to restore the power and then talk business. Grant is unhappy with Fitz's negotiation skills but the two receive a ride to the border where the patrol stops the truck they are in. Before they are discovered, Grant knocks them out and they both run.
Coulson vents his frustrations about keeping things from his team to May while she does Tai Chi. Without saying a word she assures him that some things must remain secret.
Skye sends Simmons to use a flash drive to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. Jemma is so nervous however that she uses the night-night pistol on Agent Sitwell. Because of the mistake, Simmons gets May to aid their rescue.
Grant and Fitz find refuge in a drainage pipe. When night falls, Fitz pulls out the sandwich but Grant throws it away because the dogs will be tracking them by smell. Ward says Coulson ordered him to protect Fitz.
While hacking, Skye looks into data concerning her parents. She quickly saves them and looks at the mission files but she discovers that there is no extraction plan for Ward and Fitz. Coulson finds her and is not happy she disobeyed but she informs him of her findings.
Fitz and Ward hide in the mag pouch as a truck drives over them. Hitching a ride underneath, they sneak into the compound.
Coulson reprimands Skye because he might have to trust her with a secret and he wants to be sure she can keep it.
When the two agents arrive at the superweapon, Fitz begins work at deconstructing the core.
Coulson asks Agent Hand why she lied about an extraction team for the mission. She does not see their worth but Coulson does. She tells him he needs to trust the system.
Skye, Simmons, and May set out to rescue the two agents and Coulson informs them that he will join them.
Grant is aware that the extraction plan is not in effect. Fitz dismantles the energy core. When they power it down, alarms go off, alerting the separatists. They devise a new plan. Fitz rewires the weapon, and they both realize that S.H.I.E.L.D. is already attacking the base. Fitz uses their own superweapon to disarm the mobsters and even assists in fighting. As they run, their path is cut off by more militant assailants. The bus flies in the retrieve them. Using the boosters, May knocks down the enemies.
Back on the bus Ward and Fitz thank Coulson for coming back for them. Simmons asks Fitz if he enjoyed the sandwich. He remarks that it was delicious though he never really ate it. Skye is glad Grant has returned and he says Fitz had his back. Coulson informs Skye that she was brought to the orphanage by an unknown S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He returns to May who is digging through a file. He says he cannot tell Skye the whole truth until more information is known. May lays down a picture of an unknown dead woman.
Coulson retreats into his office and calls to find out about an agent's recovery in Tahiti. The man on the other end informs him that he does not have a high enough clearance to gain access to this file.
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