Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Trip Inside the Framework Just Hinted at a Return We Never Saw Coming

It looks like an original cast member is making their way back to ABC's Marvel series

By Billy Nilles Feb 22, 2017 4:00 AMTags
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.ABC

Warning: The following contains major spoilers from tonight's 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!

Grant Ward, is that you?

Following a harrowing ordeal to escape S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ after learning that the entire team had been compromised and replaced with LMD versions of themselves on tonight's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., including a heartbreaking fight scene between Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and LMD Fitz (Ian De Ceastecker) that forced Jemma to kill the man she loves (or a version of him, rather), Simmons and Daisy (Chloe Bennet) realized their only hope at finding their captive friends would be voluntarily entering into Radcliffe's (John Hannah) Framework and hoping Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the others could offer up some info about where they were being held.

And what they saw as they crossed over into this alternate virtual Earth was a doozy.

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So what simulated lives had Aida (Mallory Jansen) created for everyone to give them what she thought would be a sense of peace as she kept them captive in the submarine? There was Mr. Coulson, high school teacher, preparing to deliver a rather out-of-character lecture entitled "Inhumans—Why We Fear Them." Meanwhile, Mack (Henry Simmons) was doing dad duties, picking up a clearly alive-in-this-world Hope's bike in the yard. Framework Fitz was revealed to be quite rich and dressed rather sharply as he exited his chauffeured car, reaching for the hand of a female passenger. Simmons, you ask? Not quite, as a flash to a cemetery revealed a headstone for our beloved Jemma, the date of her passing obscured, leaving us with a dreadful feeling that poor Jemma will come to in the Framework trapped in a coffin. And May? Well, May was looking boss AF at work, as the camera panned out to reveal the logo on the building wasn't that of S.H.I.E.L.D. That's right—Hydra's back.

Normally, the return of Hyrda would be the thing to truly flip our lid, but what Daisy woke up took the cake. Coming to while taking a bubble bath, she received a text message telling her to wake up her boyfriend as they were being called in. As she rushes to find what she believes will be Lincoln sleeping in the bed, we catch a glimpse of a framed photo on the dresser. It's a long-haired Daisy posing sweetly with none other than Grant freaking Ward. After perishing in the season three finale alongside Lincoln, Brett Dalton hasn't been seen on the series. It looks like that's poised to change. Is this hiatus over yet?

Whose Framework reality surprised you most? Let us know in the comments below!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns on Tuesday, April 4 at 10 p.m. on ABC.