Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S4E21 "The Return" Recap

Coulson is horrified to realise that Ophelia has Inhuman abilities in her new body after she teleports away with Fitz. All the agents on the Zephyr One plane must fight off Ivanov and his men, which are all robots that look just like him. Tensions run high as Rodriguez resent Daisy for not getting Mack to return from the Framework, though her anger is softened somewhat when she learns that his daughter is live in there, and May is somewhat perturbed that Coulson took so long to realise she had been replaced with a copy. Everyone on team S.H.I.E.L.D. must fight off Ivanov and the other robots to protect themselves and Mack's particularly vulnerable body still hooked up tho the machine.

Fitz and Ophelia are isolated while she discovers the new sensory experience of human emotions and Fitz remembers all the bad things he did inside the Framework. Ivanov launches torpedoes to try to destroy Mack's body but Fitz has already implored Ophelia to be good and focus on her empathy. She uses her new Inhuman abilities to save Mack's body. Simmons tranquilizes both Fitz and Ophelia to keep them in custody and everyone all escapes together. The team discuss what to do with Ophelia and the ethical problems of killing her since she is now human and rescued Mack. Simmons is upset when she learns from Coulson and May feel like they experienced another life by being put in the Framework and what the implications are for Fitz.

Fitz wakes in an isolated area with Ophelia. They discuss her new state of existence and the emotions that come with it. Fitz is shaken by everything he did inside the Framework but admits that even after everything that has happened, he still loves Simmons over Ophelia. Unbeknownst to them, Simmons is listening in on the entire conversation and Ophelia becomes enraged. Simmons tries to warn the others that Fitz needs to be extracted from the room and finds that Talbot has arrived at the base with many other soldiers. Fitz manages to get out of the containment unit but Ophelia uses her abilities to escape too. She kills many soldiers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and in the process is how to be immune to gunshot wounds.

The surviving people escape in the Zephyr and Ophelia returns to Ivanov who reveals his intentions to use his knowledge from the Darkhold to transfer the reality of the Framework into the real world. Rodriguez enters the Framework in a desperate attempt to get Mack to return to the real world. Finally, the Ghost Rider returns through a portal from the dimension he had previously thrown himself into.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesdays on ABC at 10/9c.