Or rather to use it as a means of exploring the morally gray sides of our characters - especially Fitz and May.

I just think that would be too cruel. May hasn't been out and herself on the show since early in the season. And to have her time in the Framework end with her dying or being left behind would be a disservice to her character.

End of second season and opening half of third season was building up a whole "May doesn't really know who she is outside of SHIELD" that culminated in her becoming the Cavalry again in putting down her ex-husband…that was then completely dropped and got no further exploration or consideration the rest of the season.

I feel like it's been pretty clear that May still carries Bahrain with her - something Radcliffe even noted when discussing with LMD May why she wouldn't carry forward a romance with Coulson. We learned of Bahrain in second season, but there really wasn't a moment when she put it to rest.

But see that's kind of my point. I love the show, but I think it would be an even better series if its pacing didn't necessitate running headlong into the next story elements over exploring character development and repercussions of its storylines. It's happened to everyone, but I'm particularly sore about how often…

And oh how I wish it was.

I didn't know that was his daughter. That's awesome!

Io9 was speculating that she might be the lead in the Whedon Batgirl movie.

I feel like they're kind of hard to compare, since LoT only went for one episode, while AoS has committed to it for an entire arc.

Maybe we'll find out that this Phil Coulson has Patriot trading cards instead.

Hannah's been fantastic in this role - sometimes villain, sometimes kind of not. Since he's dead in the real-world, I imagine he'll be gone after this season (unless they decide to download him and Ward into LMDs or something).

I thought Lincoln's nickname was Lightning-Bro.

Also, the team-up episode near the end of season two when they were all wanting to take a shot at Ward, and he was all, "I just don't understand why you can't forgive all the betrayal and murder attempts so we can be friends again."

That's interesting you say that. Because my opinion is that too often I've felt like AoS has undeserved its characters - to disappointing degrees. My favorite character is May and I've often been frustrated by the way the show shortchanges emotional development, exploration, or story arcs for her character in favor…

And we're listening to Manimal now? :P

I imagine having better writing helps too.

That's fair. And each has their own experience with it, ya know? :)

"and at least one of us had virtual sex with an evil AI."

I can see that.

Well, and it's also very subjective. I get that, for instance, you might find Arrow disappointing and that's fine. But I happen to love it - warts and all.