History Heartwarming / AgentsOfSHIELD

* Why has May not returned? Her father was injured in a Hit-and-Run (which may-or-may-not have been Ward's doing) and she's been staying with him to make sure he's OK. From the other side, he's noticed that she's bothered by something and is trying to inspire her to overcome it. Made even better by May's father being played by none other than James Hong a.k.a [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda Mr. Ping]], one of the best examples of GoodParents out there.

* On a somewhat meta level, all the build up and hints about Mace's past were put forth in very sinister tones, suggesting he might be TheMole or otherwise turn out to be a bad guy the main characters would have to defeat. It turns out that his "dark secret" is [[spoiler:that he was given credit for heroics he didn't actually do, and he feels guilty as hell about it]], showing that he really is just a good guy who's trying to do right. A rarity for authority figures in the MCU so far and it's refreshing and heartwarming to see Coulson empathize with him.

* On a meta level, after the disappointment of Hunter and Bobbi's spinoff not getting greenlit, the show now takes the time to assure us that even if we don't get to see it, the two of them are still doing everything that would have been on the show, WalkingTheEarth as heroes for hire.

* In a straighter and more emotional moment during the last time loop, Daisy gathers Simmons, Enoch, Deke, and Coulson in the LMD lab to tell them about the solution to fixing the looping and malfunctioning time drive: they need to install an Electrochron Displacement Machine (the Chronicom equivalent of a human heart). Unlike the time she broke the news to Coulson that he's actually an LMD-Chronicom hybrid, she makes sure to break it gently.
** And in response, Enoch cuts her off by extracting it and offering it to Simmons and Deke ''right on the spot,'' no discussion needed.
** Meta example. Diana, Simmons' brain implant, was named after Creator/ElizabethHenstridge's engagement ring, as she was engaged to her husband during production

* "I already have a sister to save. Her name is Jemma Simmons."

* Crossed with Awesome: Cora bringing up that a young Grant Ward would be a target of Project Insight, Coulson responds not only with the fact that he's only a child right now, but that Garrett will be the one responsible for making him the way he would be. When Cora retorts that he could've ended up worse anyway—while bringing up people who died because of Ward—or that he was partially responsible for their dying (Andrew, Rosalyn and Lincoln), Coulson then explains how they met a version of Ward—the Framework one—who proved otherwise because the right person came along and guided him on the path to become that. It's definitely another way in which Ward's to a certain degree been vindicated in the eyes of the team—and that May who had a particularly low opinion of Ward back then silently acknowledges it too also speaks volumes.

* Deke deciding to take Sousa's place in staying behind to make sure the team get back to their original timeline partially because he realized Daisy and Sousa's budding romance and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy genuinely wanted Daisy to be happy]]. Daisy was truly touched by the gesture.

* When the press spots Daisy she's a doe in the headlights. Then Mace steps forwards to cover for her; he admits that he lied and then says that "''Agent Johnson'' saved us all". The fact that, at the start of the series, he considered her a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s image makes this moment all the more heartwarming.

* Coulson first meeting Hive and telling him: "I did wrong by you." His regret towards killing Ward is the reason for this as it's his way of apologizing and trying to make amends for it.

* Crossed with Awesome: Cora bringing up that a young Grant Ward would be a target of Project Insight, Coulson responds not only with the fact that he's only a child right now, but that Garrett will be the one responsible for making him the way he would be. When Cora retorts that he would've always ended up that way anyway, Coulson then explains how they met a version of Ward—the Framework one—who proved otherwise because the right person came along and guided him on the path to become that. It's definitely another way in which Ward's to a certain degree been vindicated in the eyes of the team.

* Framework Ward not wanting Daisy to think he's anything like his counterpart. And Daisy responding that she didn't totally understand real-life Ward until she met Framework Ward, and guessing there was some good in the former all along, and hoping that Framework Skye comes back to him.

!!Meta
* When announcing this show and that Coulson would be the lead, the powers that be at Marvel acknowledged that Coulson, through Creator/ClarkGregg's portrayal, had become the heart of the MCU.
* While promoting the show at Comic Con, Clark Gregg was asked what it was like to be brought back to life and given his own show. His answer was to happily lean over and hug Creator/JossWhedon.
* Creator/JaimieAlexander's guest appearance as Sif happened because she ran into Creator/ClarkGregg one day and he asked if she'd like to be on the show. Her answer was an immediate "Yes!" because she considers Gregg to be a good friend and wanted to work with him again.
* Creator/IainDeCaestecker steadfastly refused to believe that Ward could be a bad guy even after being given the script that said so because he and Creator/BrettDalton had become such good friends over the course of the first season and he couldn't fathom his friend playing such a treacherous character.
-->'''Creator/JephLoeb:''' [Iain] and Brett have a bromance that is a little embarrassing. So he absolutely would not buy it at all.
* Ward was supposed to die in the Season 1 finale, but the production team rewrote it so he'd survive his fight with May because they liked Brett Dalton and decided to see where he could take his character in Season 2.
* In an interview with Marvel.com just before the release of the sixth episode of the second season, Creator/AdriannePalicki admits she was somewhat nervous about joining as she felt like 'the new kid', being that she was coming into a cast that had already developed strong bonds, and was relieved that they'd welcomed her. This also makes an earlier interview with the rest of the cast HeartwarmingInHindsight when, during the interview, they mentioned how much they loved working with her and how pleasant she was.
* [[http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/12/10/agents-shield-trip-death-bj-britt/ In this interview]], shortly after [[spoiler:Triplett's death]], BJ Britt makes it clear how much the cast cares for each other, and talks about how [[spoiler:during the read through of the episode, Clark called a group hug and there wasn't a dry eye in the room about Triplett dying and Britt leaving]].
* [[http://www.hypable.com/2014/12/11/agents-of-shield-farewell-to-trip/ This video]] made by the cast as a send-off to [[spoiler:B.J. Britt after Trip's death]]. Bonus points for Clark Gregg himself personally kickstarting a Twitter movement to [[spoiler:bring Trip back]] with the hashtag [[spoiler:[=#TripLives=]]].
** [[spoiler:Guess who is alive in the Framework, and working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Your man Trip of course!]]
* At San Diego Comic Con 2018, Creator/ChloeBennet confirmed that by the time season 6 starts, [[spoiler: Coulson is dead, but Clark Gregg will still be part of the show directing episodes]].
* The last frame of the season six premiere is, simply, six white words on a black background.
--> "In loving memory of Creator/StanLee."
* In Season 7, actor Creator/JamesPaxton got to play a younger version of John Garrett, who had been previously portrayed by his late father Creator/BillPaxton. James was even roughly the same age his dad would have been in 1983. To prepare for the role, he watched all footage of his father from the show's first season.

* While the scene where Coulson tells Skye [[spoiler:about the alien corpse that provided the miracle drug]] that saved them both is plenty serious, it still counts because he sounds more worried about her than for himself or she is for either of them. Thus, he sounds like an OverprotectiveDad.

--> "In loving memory of Creator/StanLee."