A Hen in the Wolf House

Did You Know?

• The episode began streaming on Netflix on June 11, 2015.
• It was removed from Netflix on February 28, 2022, and became available on Disney+ on March 16, 2022.

Plot

Hydra agents kill eight U.S. Navy anti-Hydra officers using a weapon reverse engineered from Obelisk victims, but most targets survive. Undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jemma Simmons, working inside Hydra, is consulted and says full replication requires the actual Obelisk. Unable to obtain it from "The Doctor," Raina blackmails Coulson by threatening to expose Simmons. Meanwhile, Skye investigates alien symbols from the Obelisk. Skye confronts Coulson, who admits carving the symbols and suggests Skye may have alien DNA. Skye concludes the carvings form a map.

Production

In October 2014, Marvel announced the episode title "A Hen in the Wolf House," written by Brent Fletcher and directed by Holly Dale. Main cast members included Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Nick Blood. Guest cast included B. J. Britt, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, Ruth Negga, Reed Diamond, Kyle MacLachlan, Simon Kassianides, Adam Kulbersh, Dale Waddington, Chase Kim, Caleb Smith, Amir Talai, Valorie Hubbard, Jessen Noviello, Adam Dunnells, Ronnie Blevins, Charles Fathy, and James Hutchison; several did not receive guest star credit. Britt, Simmons, Negga, Diamond, MacLachlan, Kassianides, and Kulbersh reprised earlier roles. Palicki said she was approached for the role, was a comic book fan, and found playing an action hero exciting but scary, weighing options before agreeing.

Reception

In the U.S., the episode earned a 1.6/4 share among adults 18–49 and 4.36 million viewers. The Canadian broadcast drew 2.36 million viewers, third highest that day and sixth for the week. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave an "A−," praising Palicki and MacLachlan's performances and the overarching storylines, but calling Simmons and Morse leaving Hydra a "big negative. Eric Goldman of IGN scored it 8.7 out of 10, praising Palicki's introduction, Coulson-Skye interactions, and MacLachlan, but finding Simmons handled "oddly.