Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Son of Satan Episode

After my rant last Friday, you knew this was coming...

This, natch, would be the Halloween Episode.

The story starts naturally enough, in Salem…New Hampshire.

Late one night, a house in the suburbs spontaneously bursts into flames. The next morning, as the Salem FD investigate the scene, they learn the fire started in the basement. When they get down there, the fighters notice some bizarre writings on the walls. Pentagrams. Sanskrit. Obviously some weird occult something went down. Not knowing what else to do, the Chief calls it in...which leads to Coulson’s phone ringing.

As the team heads to Salem, he fills them in. The photos the Chief took at the scene were unique enough for Coulson to contact a Specialist Team he’s worked with in the past. Ward asks who they are, but Coulson just tells him they’ll meet up at the house.

The “Specialist Team” is already there when they arrive – Daimon and Patsy Hellstrom, a husband and wife team of occult investigators. Ward laughs out loud. Coulson tells him and the others that they first met on a classified case in Massachusetts several years ago. Ward mentions having Level-7 clearance, but Coulson tells him the details from that case are on a need-to-know basis…and Ward, who keeps pushing, doesn’t need to know.

They enter the basement together and see what the Chief photographed. After a quick once-over, as Coulson tells everyone that despite the extent of the damage no human remains were found, both Hellstroms agree - whoever lived there tried to do something very…very dangerous: summoning a demon. 

Ward of course questions this.

“You actually think this guy raised the Devil?”

“He didn’t,” Daimon replies, “he raised a devil…not the Devil.”

“And how do you know that?”

Daimon looks straight at him. “I know.” 

Back on the “Bus”, Patsy explains: What we know of as both Heaven and Hell are understandably described differently through different religions. What isn't known, is that each "place" actually exists on a different dimensional plane. Normally, the dimensional planes are separated both from each other and our own by barriers. But once in a while, some “nut job” (where she takes a quick glance at her husband) tries to break one of those barriers. And while most of these occurrences end in failure, something occasionally comes through. And that’s what’s happened here.

This of course not only disturbs Ward and May, but scientifically-minded Fitz and Simmons. Daimon tells them that the next step is to keep an eye out for “Devil” sightings, and Coulson turns to Skye.

She gets on the net and learns that since the fire in Salem, there have been several un-official postings about demon sightings. She puts their locations on a computer map, but there’s too many from all over the country to investigate. Then she looks into unsolved arson reports within the last few hours, and after adding those locations to the map the team find a trail leading from Salem…to Greentown, Mass.

This gets the Hellstroms attention, since their base of operations (and home) is there.

Believing that’s the creature’s destination, everyone camps out at the residence. May and Ward, who don’t believe a word of this, set up the perimeter, while Fitz and Simmons stay on the “Bus”, and try to find a scientific explanation for everything.

Patsy and Skye, who are going over more of the evidence from the Salem fire, bond a little while she tells the “agent” how she and Daimon met after he left the orphanage. They discover something, and Patsy calls her husband with an idea about who they’re facing.

Coulson, meanwhile, goes with Daimon into his private library and they do a little reminiscing while he looks up some stuff. Phil apologizes for what happened to his sister, and Daimon tells him he hasn’t stopped looking for her. Daimon’s phone rings. He answers, and confirms Patsy’s guess: The demon they're fighting is Mephisto, from a dimension that the Hellstroms been aware of for sometime. He’s a trickster who’s been trying to enter our realm posing as the traditional interpretation of the Devil, but is by no means “Satan” - a different entity entirely.

At that moment, the creature approaches and blows through all their defenses. It reaches the front yard when Daimon steps out, and using his occult knowledge manages to trap the beast. The creature fights back, and sets Hellstrom on fire. Ward starts to make a move, but Coulson stops him.

The fire burns Daimon’s clothes, but not his skin. His shirt burns away, and everyone can see the pentagram shaped birthmark on his chest.

The flames of the demon start to go out, and as they do, we hear a voice:

“How could you do this…to your father?”

Daimon looks at him in disgust. “You...are not my father!”

The creature screams in laughter, and the fire dies out, leaving behind burnt human remains.

We learn that the remains belong to the original victim from Salem, NH, Marduk Kurios. Skye does some digging and learns that Kurios legally adopted Daimon from the orphanage when he was a teenager, which is why his possessed body spoke of being Hellstrom's father. Coulson admits that he already knew that, but didn't want to bring it up. Skye asks why not, and Coulson replies that she "doesn't need to know".

As the team prepare to leave, Coulson - who understands that this event marks a breakthrough - has another moment with Daimon. They mention the map we saw earlier of all the sightings and the fact there's more of them. Daimon tells him that they've been keeping an eye on the other dimensions for a while now, and more and more people are trying to summon these creatures. Problem is, with all that's happening, those creatures are becoming aware of us…and are trying to come through. 

This would be a great way to introduce demons and astral planes to the MMU.