"Ragtag" is the twenty-first episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they search for a secret Hydra base. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Jeffrey Bell, and directed by Roxann Dawson.
Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by series regulars Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge.
"Ragtag" originally aired on ABC on May 6, 2014, and according to Nielsen Media Research, was watched by 5.37 million viewers.
Plot
In flashbacks, a teenage Grant Ward is seen in juvenile detention where he first meets John Garrett, and accepts his offer to join his organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. Over the years, Garrett trains Ward, and eventually tells him about Hydra and their presence within S.H.I.E.L.D..
In the present, Phil Coulson's team realize Cybertek Industries is a front for Hydra, and decide to investigate them to find out what Garrett is planning and stop him, despite not being officially sanctioned to do so (with Leo Fitz describing them as vigilantes). Antoine Triplett provides the team with 1940s SSR gadgets, which belonged to his grandfather, a Howling Commando. Coulson and Melinda May infiltrate a Cybertek facility posing as scientists, so they can remotely trigger a Trojan virus on Skye's hard drive, which will hack the Cybertek mainframe and give them access to Hydra's systems. They discover that Cybertek only keeps hard copies, to avoid being hacked, but they find a file on Project Deathlok, and learn that Garrett was the first test subject in 1990: after he was injured on a mission and received no help from S.H.I.E.L.D., he turned against them and joined Hydra, from whom he received cybernetic implants to save his life. The team realize that Garrett wants GH325 for himself, as his organs are failing and he is near death, but he is willing to also use GH325 to perfect the Centipede serum for Hydra's use.
While Garrett relocates Hydra's operations to a new Cybertek facility in the US, Raina reveals extensive information to Ward regarding Skye's origins, including the revelation that Skye's parents were the "monsters" which killed the villagers protecting her. Tracking Cybertek shipments, the team realize that Hydra is using the Cuban S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Coulson, May, Skye and Triplett go to the base to activate the Trojan program, and are attacked by several Centipede soldiers and a Hydra operative wielding the Berserker staff. Meanwhile, Fitz and Jemma Simmons search for the Bus and are captured by Ward, but Fitz uses an electromagnetic pulse device to damage Garrett's implants. Crippled, Garrett orders Ward to execute Fitz and Simmons, who lock themselves inside a medical unit, which Ward ejects from the plane, into the ocean. Having synthesized GH325 from the assorted T.A.H.I.T.I. drugs, Raina injects the sample into Garrett's Centipede serum intravenous filter, saving him.
In an end tag, Ian Quinn meets with generals in Washington to sell the Deathlok concept to the military.
Production
Development
In April 2014, Marvel revealed that the twenty-first episode would be titled "Ragtag", and would be written by executive producer Jeffrey Bell, with Roxann Dawson directing.
Writing
On the episode's focus on Grant Ward, Bell said, "Ward is showing all these different colors, and we thought it might be fun to show how Ward became Ward. Nothing definitive, because we're still driving towards our conclusion with Deathlok and Raina and Garrett and Quinn and our cavalcade of bad guys, but Ward really is front and center in this episode...I really do feel Ward is trapped between two families, or the two pulls. Because as we learned, he really does care for Skye. And I do believe he cares for Fitz and Simmons and the whole team, to a certain extent, and that he was following orders. On the other hand, he has this deathly obligation to Garrett". About the title, Bell explained, "The episode is called "ragtag" and they've kind of lost everything. Maria Hill has told us as much, that there's no more S.H.I.E.L.D., and so how do we go on and how does Coulson carry forward, when the organization that he believed in more than anything is disbanded? It seems like S.H.I.E.L.D. or no S.H.I.E.L.D. our team has to try and bring Garrett and Ward to some sort of justice and conclusion, and that's where we're speeding towards."