History Recap / AgentsOfSHIELDS2E3MakingFriendsAndInfluencingPeople

* ShoutOut: The episode title is one to Dale Carnegie's best-seller ''Literature/HowToWinFriendsAndInfluencePeople''.

* ReverseMole: What Simmons has been up to since apparently leaving S.H.I.E.L.D.

* AwfulTruth: The team is revealed to be hiding information from Fitz, due to his mental state after nearly drowning and suffering brain damage from hypoxia. Ward was never referred to by name when Fitz was in the room, only calling him an asset giving up HYDRA intel. They also were pretending that Simmons up and left for personal reasons, rather than because she was assigned to infiltrate a HYDRA facility as a mole. Thanks to Fitz's discovery of Ward and nearly killing him by decreasing the O2 levels in his cell, Coulson discloses what Simmons is really doing for SHIELD. However, he does avoid answering if she asked for the mission as a mole.

* AffablyEvil: Even when brainwashing a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Whitehall is polite about it.

*** [[spoiler:{{The Stinger}} for the Season 1 finale of {{Agent Carter}} makes it likely that it was developed for HYDRA by the man himself.]]

* TheMole:
** Simmons has become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s woman in HYDRA.
** It's revealed that Donnie was the Mole inside the Sandbox, having been secretly brainwashed by other HYDRA moles working there, and that he'd been responsible for its takeover by HYDRA.

*** [[spoiler:{{The Stinger}} for the Season 1 finale of {{Agent Carter}} implies it was developed for HYDRA by the man himself.]]

** Skye tells Lance and Mac that, no, she didn't go to the S.H.I.E.L.D academy and earned her badge through "work study" instead. She also tells them said badge was worthless a day later due to the events of ''Film/{{CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier}}''.

** Skye tells Lance and Mac that, no, she didn't go to the S.H.I.E.L.D academy and earned her badge through "work study" instead. She also tells them said badge was worthless a day later due to the events of Winter Soldier.

* MoreThanMindControl: Ward tells Skye that HYDRA never used brainwashing on him but that he did everything of his own free will because of the way Garrett took a broken teenager and turned him into the man he wanted him to be.

** Skye tells Lance and Mac that, no, she didn't go to the S.H.E.I.L.D academy and earned her badge through "work study" instead. She also tells them said badge was worthless a day later due to the events of Winter Soldier.

** And considering that "Ragtag" parallels Fitz to Buddy the dog...

-->'''Skye:''' You don't give the orders, {{Trainspotting}}.\\

* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: Neither side gets Donnie Gill; Skye kills him because he was already brainwashed. However, S.H.E.I.L.D helped Simmons solidify her cover and managed to swipe an entire cargo carrier's worth of HYDRA tech once the mission was over. Donnie might be gone, but it wasn't a total loss.

* WeWinBecauseYouDidNot: In order to prevent Donnie's powers from being used by HYDRA, S.H.E.I.L.D's alternative mission was to kill him.

* ColdSniper: May is training Skye to always be in control when in the field. Given that Skye's first kill passes without even raising her pulse, she's apparently successful.

* MorningRoutine: Simmons' life post-S.H.I.E.L.D. is revealed through one of these, including a small but nice apartment in an unnamed city, and a new job working in a large and well-equipped lab... with a HYDRA logo on the wall.

* StepfordSmiler: Simmons' undercover persona involves a permanently sunny smile, but even discounting the fact that she's obviously nervous about the dangers of infiltrating HYDRA. Coulson deduces that she's barely eating and is feeling isolated even as she attempts to convince him that she's fine.

** And considering that "Ragtag" parallel's Fitz to Buddy the dog...

** {{Averted}} with Ward: despite Skye asking if he was subject to the same brainwashing by HYDRA, Ward responds that he wasn't valuable enough to merit it, and everything he did was of his own free will. [[UnreliableNarrator Whether he's telling the truth is another matter...]]

* BenevolentBoss: Simmons's supervisor tries to keep her from moving up in the organization because it's more dangerous the higher you go.

* JoinOrDie: HYDRA's policy regarding people with superhuman abilities.

* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: Neither side gets Donnie Gill, but given that they discover he'd been brainwashed already by HYDRA, S.H.I.E.L.D. might consider it more a WeWinBecauseYouDidNot situation (which was, admittedly, their alternative mission.)
** However, they helped Simmons solidify her cover and managed to swipe an entire cargo carrier's worth of HYDRA tech once the mission was over. Donnie might be gone, but it wasn't a total loss.

* StepfordSmiler: Simmons' undercover persona involves a permanently sunny smile, but even discounting the fact that she's obviously nervous about the dangers of infiltrating HYDRA, Coulson deduces that she's barely eating and is feeling isolated even as she attempts to convince him that she's fine.