<P> At the end of February 2018, the writers were planning the end of the pod, and were planning for the final episode to be able to serve as both a season and series finale, with some elements that could be adjusted based on whether the series was renewed for a sixth season or not . Whedon added, "we're ready for if this is the end . We're definitely going to make it rewarding either way ." The season ends with the agents having to make a choice between Coulson's life or saving the world, which was "where we were always going" when the showrunners were plotting out the season . By killing Fitz in "The End", but revealing there was another still in space journeying to the future, Bell noted it helped solve "the one time loop problem we had". Whedon explained when deciding when to bring the characters back to the present, it was discussed to have them return to the diner where they were taken, but Fitz would still be there, so the group was brought back after Fitz left to avoid that problem, which "became this great opportunity . What we realized is the thing that would weirdly have the most impact, one of the most painful things that you can experience, could be then experienced and then, not brought back, but a loophole could be revealed ." </P> <P> The showrunners spoke to not including a bonus scene at the end of "The End" to tease what would come, Tancharoen said, "We felt like it needed to end in Tahiti . To take away from that would be wrong ." Bell added, "It's also, emotionally, about the two senior members of the team, who in a sense have retired to Tahiti, and there they are watching the future of S.H.I.E.L.D. fly off into a new adventure...It felt like a nice, succinct ending ." Coulson's journey was always meant to end at Tahiti, something the showrunners revealed was decided since the start of the series . Whedon explained, "We thought it was a beautiful image...It's one of the things where you don't overthink it . We latched onto that and went,' That will be great .' It's an emotional thing for him . We even heard from Mike Peterson that this was something he always wanted . Our big mystery in episode 1 was, "Never been to Tahiti ." He doesn't know, and he can never know . And here he is, finding some sort of peace on that beach . We love that image and we were solid on it all the way ." </P> <P> Main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming - Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Henry Simmons return from previous seasons as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Daisy Johnson / Quake, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, and Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie, respectively . Before the 2017 New York Comic - Con, it was revealed that Natalia Cordova - Buckley had been promoted to series regular for the season, after recurring in the past two seasons as Elena "Yo - Yo" Rodriguez . De Caestecker also portrays "The Doctor", the version of Fitz from the Framework reality . </P> <P> In September 2017, former series regular Nick Blood was announced as returning to reprise his role of Lance Hunter . Blood left the series during the third season, to star in the spin - off series Marvel's Most Wanted, which never came to fruition . Adrianne Palicki, who portrayed Bobbi Morse and also left in the third season for Most Wanted with Blood, expressed interest in October 2017 in returning to guest star in the season, saying she "would absolutely come back" if asked . Also returning from earlier in the series are Joel Stoffer as Enoch, who was simply credited as "silhouetted man" in his previous appearance, and Lola Glaudini as Polly Hinton . Polly's daughter Robin also appears, portrayed by multiple actresses, after the character made an uncredited appearance in "Ascension": Lexy Kolker appears as 7 - year - old Robin, Ava Kolker appears as 12 - year - old Robin, and Willow Hale appears as an older Robin, when she is also known as The Seer . </P>

The cast of marvel's agents of shield season 5