'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Season 4 Episode 16 Spoilers: How Will S.H.I.E.L.D. Fare With the Framework?
After Ghost Rider and the LMD, Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team will be facing their toughest challenge yet when "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season 4 returns for its third and final arc.
The end of the Jed Whedon-directed episode 15 finally brought viewers into the so-called Framework, wherein everything is familiar, but not quite. The S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives have been trapped in a world wherein they are living their dream lives away from the hustle and bustle of S.H.I.E.L.D. operations. Will they be able to find their way back to their realities? Will they even want to?
The episode also sent the remaining human S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Daisy (Chloe Bennet) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), into the Framework to try and find out where the real bodies of their crew are held. But who should Daisy see when she reawakens in the Framework, but her former supervising agent Ward (Brett Dalton), who is apparently her boyfriend again. It turns out that Jemma is dead in this reality, so one can't help but wonder where the real Jemma's consciousness went when she entered the Framework?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Whedon teased that Jemma's fate will remain a mystery until the series returns in April. As to Radcliffe's (John Hannah) chances of surviving after Aida (Mallory Jansen) cut his wrists, the executive producer said, "We'll see."
Whedon added that since Radcliffe told Aida that his body didn't really matter to him, his life or death in the real world might be irrelevant as long as he's alive in the Framework.
When asked if the possibility of any of the agents' bodies giving out on the mind should be a cause of concern for audiences, Whedon said that yes, someone's survival in the real world could potentially be put at risk due to a prolonged stay in the Framework.
The third arc of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." season 4 kicks off with an episode titled "What If..." on Tuesday, April 4, at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.