A Hen in the Wolf House
Clark Gregg reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by principal cast members Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Nick Blood.
The episode received a positive critical response, with the performances of Palicki and guest star Kyle MacLachlan praised, though the ending of the character Simmons' Hydra storyline was seen as a missed opportunity for the series.
Agent Jemma Simmons, working as a mole inside Hydra and dealing with unusual cases, is consulted about the project and states that they can only replicate the effects of the Obelisk completely if they actually have it.
Director Phil Coulson about the matter but is photographed doing so by Raina, who Hydra leader Daniel Whitehall has given 48 hours to hand over the Obelisk.
Unable to get the Obelisk, which is in the hands of "The Doctor", Raina decides to blackmail Coulson into protecting her from Whitehall by threatening to reveal Simmons to Hydra.
In an end tag, "The Doctor" aligns himself and the Obelisk (called the Diviner in its native language) with Hydra, wishing to kill Coulson, "and everyone else".
In October 2014, Marvel announced that the fifth episode of the season would be titled "A Hen in the Wolf House", to be written by Brent Fletcher, with Holly Dale directing.
[1] In October 2014, Marvel revealed that main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Nick Blood would star as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Grant Ward, Skye, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, and Lance Hunter, respectively.
[1] It was also revealed that the guest cast for the episode would include B. J. Britt as Antoine Triplett, Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse, Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Ruth Negga as Raina, Reed Diamond as Daniel Whitehall, Kyle MacLachlan as "The Doctor", Simon Kassianides as Sunil Bakshi, Adam Kulbersh as Kenneth Turgeon, Dale Waddington as Dr. Lingenfelter, Chase Kim as waiter, Caleb Smith as bartender, Amir Talai as Schneider, Valorie Hubbard as Aunt Cindy, Jessen Noviello as lead tac agent, Adam Dunnells as Brick, Ronnie Blevins as Deacon, Charles Fathy as head chef, and James Hutchison as tac agent guard.
[1] However, Waddington, Kim, Smith, Noviello, Dunnells, Blevins, Fathy, and Hutchison did not receive guest star credit in the episode.
[11] Jame Hunt, writing for Den of Geek, praised the introduction of Morse as "great on just about every level", and said "The plots might be getting more interesting, but what really gives me hope for the series now is that the script and character moments are also starting to work.
He concluded that "There was nothing tonight as cool as last week's May vs. May smackdown, but "A Hen in the Wolf House" maintained the strong forward momentum this season has had.
interesting, funny, entertaining – and, in its first season, exasperating – but at no point in its run has it plastered a mile-wide grin on my face that lasted long after the end credits.
The fact that this grin isn't the result of one-liners or references to Marvel movies, or one specific performance or moment has me smiling again now.
