We’re racing toward the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season four finale and what better way to build up some momentum than to have our primary antagonist achieve her goals and lose some of our main cast along the way?

Farewell, Cruel World! sees the end of the Framework arc, and while it’s been immensely enjoyable to watch, we needed to get back to the real world eventually and we finally get going on that plan. Daisy, Coulson, May, Simmons and Mack head off in search of Radcliffe’s backdoor (phrasing) and have to deal with a lot of emotional turmoil along the way.

But first, since this may well be the last time we get BJ Britt, we have some hilarious moments with him that really drives home that we’re missing a hilarious and sincere character in the main cast. Trip has some fantastic scenes with Daisy and Mack and is taking the whole idea of the world being wrong in stride, though he is disappointed that his other-world counterpart apparently has no game whatsoever.

It’s good to see there’s still something between Coulson and May as he encourages her to take a leap of faith and is rewarded on the other side with May admitting he’s cute. Awwww!

Less cute is Mack’s… departure? Is that what you’d class this as? It’s certainly emotional and understandable and while Mack staying in the Framework with his daughter is unsurprising, it’s a little hokey from a logistical standpoint. I mean, how long does he expect them to just leave him in there? Does he really think Yo-Yo is just going to let him stay there? Who would look after him and keep the Framework going? I guess they’ll explain it in the following episodes but Henry Simmon’s supposed final appearance is bittersweet to say the least.

As usual, Iain De Caestecker is killing it as both a cold-hearted HYDRA head and as the repentant real-world Fitz. This guy can act rings around everyone! Without Simmons there to support him, and Coulson not being that effective, his fragile mental state is easy prey for the now human AIDA/Ophelia who tearful reunites with him and TELEPORTS AWAY. The fuck!? When? How? What? Is her new body Inhuman? Is that tech-based? WHAT.

Questions need answers and we can only hope we get them when we return next week with… The Return.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to be amazing at both giving what the audience wants but dicking with them along the way. Last week we had Fitz go full HYDRA and this week we have a Trip-le bill of shocking developments!

First up, we see why Fitz is the way he is. Like Radcliffe says, it only takes a sentence to change someone’s world but what if there was a whole other person there? Having Fitz be raised by his father instead of his dear old mum has a huge impact as we see them share time. David O’Hara, an accomplished actor who is so Scottish it looks like it hurts him, plays a harsh Alistair Fitz; a man who subscribes to that BS mentality that men should be taught respect through beatings and Fitz is visibly uncomfortable around him. Despite the new reality shaping his personality, even he can see that the way he was raised was wrong on some level.

But in some ways, it’s so, so right because here come dat boi; oh shit, it’s Antoine Triplet! Hashtag Trip Lives! It’s truly astonishing to see BJ Britt return to the show after such a long absence and this kinda shoots my theory that this world won’t last long because you can’t bring back Trip and then go back to the real world next episode! That’s not fair!

What’s also not fair is while one cast member returns, one leaves us as Jeffrey Mace goes out like a big damn hero! At the very least, we got a beast of a fight scene between a temporarily super-powered May and Mace before he sacrifices himself to save the team, Coulson’s students and even May herself. It’s bittersweet to see Jason O’Mara leave the show but he got a badass out, even with the switch to reality as AIDA switches off his life support.

In the wake of Mace’s sacrifice and the revelation that HYDRA authorised a building full of children to be demolished, May turns face and gives Daisy exactly what she needs to escape and bring the Triskelion down on her way out. It’s good to see the two friends reunite in what promises to be a knock-down drag-out fight to survive next episode!

No Regrets offers exactly that with an emotionally engaging and high action episode that ramps up the momentum as we head towards the season finale but for now, we’ll see next week how Madame Hydra deals with this betrayal as she calls All The Madame’s Men.