Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Welcomes Back An Old Friend While Saying Goodbye to a New One

Warning: The following contains spoilers from the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you haven't watched yet, you might want to bookmark this page and return once you have. Proceed with caution.

Boy, the Framework is just full of surprises, isn't it?

Just weeks after the alt-world simulation created by an out-of-control Aida (Mallory Jansen) resurrected Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and made him Daisy's (Chloe Bennet) boyfriend on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we were treated to another unexpected reunion when Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Mace (Jason O'Mara) rescued none other than Antoine Triplett (B.J. Britt) from a Hydra compound.

"Tripp?" Coulson asked, shocked and startled by his recognition of a man he couldn't remember ever meeting. Why'd he use that nickname, Trip wondered. "It's just felt right," Coulson said. Indeed.

As S.H.I.E.L.D. continues this Framework-given reunion tour while our heroes fight like hell to find a way out, we're really hoping that there's time for an appearance from the alt-world versions of Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood), too. If we're going to do this thing, let's do it full out!

Sadly, it wasn't all happy quasi-reunions in the Framework. No, tonight also saw the first victim fall to Aida's dark simulated world when Mace, trying to hold up a crumbling Hydra building just ordered destroyed by May (Ming-Na Wen) long enough to get all the kids inside out to safety, fell under the weight and was crushed to death. His loss may not have been entirely in vain, however, because it seemed to be just the thing to wake May up from her Hydra indoctrination and give Daisy her powers so they might have half a chance of getting out of this place. Well, that and the realization that Hydra was brainwashing kids that they were also willing to let die. 

For more on Mace's death, be sure to check back with E! News after the episode finishes airing on the West Coast for our in-depth Q&A with O'Mara himself.

Now it your turn to sound off: Were you ecstatic to see Trip back, even if he is just a simulation? And are you sorry to see Mace go? Let us know in the comments below!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC.