“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” left the airwaves with quite a cliffhanger. The winter finale revealed that May isn’t actually May. Aida has her locked up, and the May that’s flirting with Coulson is actually a Life Model Decoy (LMD). That doesn’t mean the romance isn’t real, though.

Clark Gregg, who plays Coulson, acknowledged that the LMD storyline would be an obstacle, but that doesn’t mean the real May (Ming-Na Wen) lacks feelings for Coulson. “That’s certainly a whole new part of the equation,” Gregg told TVLine. “I think there’s something going on between the actual Phil and the actual Melinda that is different.”

In an interview with Screener, Gregg elaborated and noted that the LMD version of May wasn’t designing fake feelings. “I think it’s important to remember that the android May — the LMD May — was built from the mind and spirit of the real May,” Gregg explained. “And those feelings have started to bubble up before any of this happened. It’s happening between the real Phil Coulson and real Melinda May, and just leave it to our sadistic writers to throw synthetic May into the mix. The A.I., ex machina love triangle. God forbid, imagine being thrown over for your Life Model Decoy?”

While it’s good to know that May harbors the same feelings, it still seems like it’s the LMD that’s going to be acting on those emotions. When executive producer Maurissa Tancharoen was asked if the LMD was starting a relationship with Coulson to try and win his trust, the writer wouldn’t give a straight answer. “That would be interesting. You can reason it either way,” she teased to Entertainment Weekly.

The producers haven’t dropped many direct spoilers, but at least they’ve revealed when fans can expect answers. Audiences will have to wait several episodes to learn just how long the LMD version of May has been with the team, but they’ll find out why she was replaced in the midseason premiere. In the first episode back, Aida’s intentions and the fake May’s mission will be revealed.

“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 4 returns to ABC Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. EST.

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