The Return

The Return is the twenty-first episode of the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the sixth episode of the Agents of HYDRA pod.
==Synopsis==
Coulson and the team's victory in the Framework is short-lived, as an even deadlier enemy looms against them all.
==Plot==
At the Ivanov Oil Platform, Phil Coulson and Melinda May are confronted by Anton Ivanov, who is now able to kill them since Aida finally obtained a biological body, lifting all restrictions about killing other people. Ivanov attacks May and Coulson, withstanding several bullets and easily knocking May down thanks to his enhanced mechanical body, but is finally destroyed when Coulson uses his Energy Shield. However, Coulson and May quickly discover that they will have to deal with several copies of Ivanov. They lock themselves in a room and May uses this time to catch up on all the events she missed, ranging from the final assault on Eli Morrow and the disappearance of Ghost Rider.
Aboard the Zephyr One, Jemma Simmons and Daisy Johnson are finally awake, enabling the crew to restore the plane's power into the weapon system. Though the plane is heavily damaged because of the assaults of Ivanov's men, Piper and James Davis manage to get rid of their enemy. The Zephyr One then flies to the Ivanov Oil Platform in order to rescue the rest of the team. On the way, Elena Rodriguez blames Johnson for leaving Alphonso Mackenzie in the Framework, though Johnson explains that Mackenzie would not leave his daughter. Shortly after, Simmons and Johnson learn that S.H.I.E.L.D. is once again considered dangerous by the authorities after the destruction of the Playground, with Glenn Talbot suspecting Johnson to have something to do with it.
After teleporting Leo Fitz and herself on a beach, Aida enjoys the sensations provided by her brand new biological body. Fitz then confronts her about what happened in the Framework, holding her accountable for manipulating him. Aida replies that she only repaired his relationship with his father and confesses that she feels love for Fitz. She then teleports with Fitz to an apartment designed to look familiar for Fitz. However, Fitz is still highly troubled and worries about his friends who were in the Framework with him. He tries to have Aida feeling empathy for them in order to rescue them. 
At the oil platform, Coulson and May are still struggling to fight their way out. They manage to destroy more of Ivanov's clones. However, the Watchdog intends to leave the base with his submarine and to destroy the facility. Aida teleports into the base and tries to stop him after Fitz managed to persuade her to do the right thing and save her former captives. However, she fails and Ivanov leaves. In the meantime, Coulson brings May on the surface and at the same moment, the Zephyr One finally arrives. Aida returns at the apartment to get Fitz and then teleports again at the oil platform, rescuing Mackenzie by teleporting him and the Framework equipment to which he is still connected aboard the plane. Then, Simmons shoots Aida and Fitz with an I.C.E.R. and the team places them in the plane's Containment Module.
The team returns to a destroyed Playground and lock Fitz and Aida in one of the remaining Containment Chambers, waiting for their awakening. They further discuss what happened in the Framework and how they feel now that they are back, with Simmons fearing that Fitz could still be a cruel and ruthless person and still in love with Aida. She decides to monitor the Containment Chamber's video feed in order to hear their conversations. After waking up, Fitz and Aida also discuss what happened in an alternate reality, with Fitz still traumatized that he showed an evil nature because of the education provided by a father figure, much like Grant Ward. He also laments over the fact that his friends could never forgive him and that his future with Simmons is now destroyed. Aida tries to comfort him, but she mistakenly thinks that Fitz is still in love with her after their liaison in the Framework. Therefore, when Fitz states that he still loves Simmons and only her, it drives Aida insane. 
Aida assaults Fitz and tries to escape with him in order to live with him, whether he wants it or not. However, her teleportation abilities are blocked by the Quantum Field Disruptors of the Chamber. In the meantime, Simmons tries to go to the Chamber to extract Fitz, but she is stopped by United States Air Force soldiers sent by Talbot, along with Coulson, May, and Johnson. While Coulson tries to explain the situation, Fitz is pulled out of the Chamber by Piper, Davis, and Prince. 
Aida, who acquired several Inhuman capabilities like Lincoln Campbell's electrokinesis, escapes in turn and chase them. She kills several U.S. soldiers, Prince and Davis, but Fitz and Piper manage to get on the Zephyr One. Fitz orders them to take off immediately and Talbot reluctantly agrees to let the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents go.
Aboard the plane, Fitz remains in the Containment Module. After hesitating, Simmons joins him and comforts him. Both of them cry together, traumatized but finally reunited. In another part of the plane, Coulson and Johnson discover that Rodriguez plugged herself to the Framework in order to bring Mackenzie to the real world.
Filled with anger and a desire for revenge, Aida returns to Ivanov's submarine. Ivanov explains that they could use the knowledge of the Darkhold to rebuild the world of the Framework in the real world, thus restoring Aida's domination over everyone and everything. Aida agrees, stating that she wants her enemies to suffer.
After inspecting the ruins of the Playground, Talbot and his men leave the base. Shortly after, an Inter-Dimensional Gate spared by the destruction activates and Ghost Rider emerges from it.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez wakes up in the Framework to find herself strapped to a chair in a burning building. Recognizing where she has arrived, she screams in horror. 
==Cast==
Main Cast:
*Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
*Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
*Chloe Bennet as Daisy Johnson/Quake
*Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
*Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
*Henry Simmons as Alphonso Mackenzie
*John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe (credit only)
Guest Stars:
*Mallory Jansen as Aida
*Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Agent Yo-Yo Rodriguez
*Zach McGowan as Anton Ivanov/Superior
*Adrian Pasdar as Brigadier General Glenn Talbot
*Briana Venskus as Agent Piper
*Max Osinski as Agent James Davis
*Ricardo Walker as Agent Prince
*Brennan Feonix as Whitley
*J. Michael Evans as Richardson
*Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider (uncredited)
==Appearances==
===Locations===
*Earth
**Playground
**Ivanov Oil Platform
**S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy (Framework)
**Washington, D.C. (Framework)
***Triskelion (Framework)
**Pentagon (news)
**Soviet Union (mentioned)
*Multiverse
**Dark Dimension (mentioned)
===Events===
*Escape from the Ivanov Oil Platform
*Escape from Aida
*Cold War (mentioned)
*Battle at the Chinatown Crew Headquarters (mentioned)
*Siege of the Playground (mentioned)
*Escape from the Framework (mentioned)
*Infiltration into the HYDRA Enlightenment Cultivation Center (indirectly mentioned)
===Items===
*Phil Coulson's Prosthetic Hand
*Backscatter X-Ray Eye Implant
*Energy Shield
*Framework
**Framework Headset
*I.C.E.R.
*Quantum Field Disruptors
*Inter-Dimensional Gate
*Ghost Rider's Chain
*Quantum Brain
*Darkhold
*Quantum Batteries
*Hellfire Chain (mentioned)
===Vehicles===
*Zephyr One
*Containment Module
*Watchdogs Submarine
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===Sentient Species===
*Humans
*Inhumans
*Life-Model Decoys
===Organizations===
*S.H.I.E.L.D.
*United States Air Force
*Watchdogs
*WHiH World News
*HYDRA (mentioned)
===Mentioned===
*Jeffrey Mace
*Melinda May LMD
*Phil Coulson LMD
*Alistair Fitz
*Alistair Fitz
*Hope Mackenzie
*Hope Mackenzie
*Eli Morrow
*Grant Ward
*Holden Radcliffe
*Gordon
*Agnes Kitsworth
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==Trivia==
*Since the characters escaped the Framework, the title sequence of this episode features a normal "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." title whereas this title was changed into "Agents of HYDRA" in the previous episodes in the final pod for the fourth season.
==Video==
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 4x21 Promo (HD)
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 4x21 Sneak Peek (HD)
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 4x21 Sneak Peek 2 (HD)
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episodes