The synopsis for "What If..." promised that we would "hail the New World Order," and I certainly feel like hailing after this delightful venture into the Framework. The excellent cliffhanger at the end of "Self Control" set up a world very different from our own, and this return episode more than delivered.

Daisy

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Plenty of shows have pulled the "what if everything is backward and upside down" twist, like recent examples The 100 and The Flash. But Agents of SHIELD made two especially smart moves with this dive into the Framework: first, it didn't resolve everything in one episode (and actually burned Simmons and Daisy's way out), and second, it used our expectations of these characters' behaviors against us.I'm embarrassed to admit I thought "the Doctor" was going to be Radcliffe, when in retrospect it was obviously Fitz. (Maybe Radcliffe is the leader of the Resistance?) Same for being pleasantly blindsided by Ward being the good guy for once and being an agent of the Resistance, thus making him a good ally ofSkye and Simmons. If we're going to have Brett Dalton, this is the way to do it. He seamlessly returned back to the SHIELD world, and I particularly loved that opening scene with the "hand thing" and how organic his return felt to this season's dynamic.We got a bit more of an understanding in this episode about how Radcliffe's best laid plans veered off in such a terrifying way to create this Hydra-led world. It makes sense that it was the major change in May's life that would set everything off course considering she was the first SHIELD agent he caught and embedded in the Framework. May not killing the girl in Bahrain is what triggered that Inhuman going on to decimate SHIELD Academy, which thus led to Simmons being killed, Fitz becoming cold and evil, May having a new set of issues and Hydra's anti-Inhuman stance -- or at least that's what we're told. Simmons seems to think there's a Hydra cover up involved, which at this point, I wouldn't be too surprised.So now we have Madame Hydra -- played to perfection by Mallory Jansen -- on the one side while Simmons and Daisy try to rescue Team SHIELD on the other. The post-credits scene reveals Daisy getting through to Coulson, and with only six more episodes left this season, my hope is Agents of SHIELD doesn't go the route of rescuing a different SHIELD agent each week. (Worth noting: we still don't know what Mack or Mace are up to.) But SHIELD has done an admirable enough job this season of trying to switch things up in interesting ways that hopefully it doesn't go down that route; I honestly would be intrigued to get an episode just catching up with what Yo-Yo is up to in the real world, or doing some other sort of capsule episode within the Framework.For now, this is a really fun way to ride out the season. It's exciting to see new twists on familiar characters (evil Fitz!) in a way that feels honest to the show. This darker timeline enlivens the series and makes it even more unpredictable as we head into the final stretch toward the season finale.