Danny Hale reviews the first episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4…
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returned with a new energy, new threats & new questions and as a viewer I couldn’t be happier. After the heavy emphasis placed on Ghost Rider in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s marketing, promising his MCU debut this season I was very grateful that he opened the show. Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancheroen’s script wasted no time in highlighting Ghost Rider in his brutal glory. Seeing his car hit by an RPG only to flip, wheels aflame landing back on the road to continue his attack was an excellent way to open the show and Daisy’s following glimpse of the spirit of vengeance obscured through the chaos was the perfect amount to reveal in the opening; it showed that the writers were not shying away from Ghost Rider and more than just a gimmick he was a force to be reckoned with.
Apart from introducing Ghost Rider, The Ghost did a great job of setting the board for the rest of the season; firstly we began to see how our team have slotted in under S.H.I.E.L.D’s new regime and how that has caused a rift in the relationships of the characters we love. We also got many a tease as to S.H.I.E.L.D.S’s new director without ever getting a confirmed identity. Having our impressions created for this new leader from our existing characters worked as it prevented the premiere from being too overcrowded while also building intrigue for the coming weeks. Although I do hope we meet the director next week as the episode title suggests as it is a device that works but can grow stale very quickly.
Mack and Coulson seem to be paired up which worked quite nicely; these two have clashed in the past but usually due to Coulson being in a leadership role and Mack questioning the bigger picture. United under the joint desire to find Daisy seems to be a winning formula for these two. May is where we would expect, training new recruits for combat. Notably a young officer named Piper, Piper made at least one appearance last season and at the time I was wondering if she would get more screen-time. Perhaps we will see a bit more of her as the series develops. May meanwhile has become aware of Daisy’s whereabouts and passes on information to Coulson and Mack spurring them on an unsanctioned mission. This leads to a clash between Simmons and May and we start to see the strings attached to each of our characters and the rift this new director’s command is causing.
With the main cast down on Bobbi, Hunter, Lincoln and Ward the show feels far less packed allowing room for new characters like Piper and hopefully Elena to get fleshed out. I was pleasantly surprised to see Elena again so soon as I feared they were writing her out at the end of last season, at least for some time. Reintroducing her with added mention of the Sakovia Accords and a tease at her and Mack’s potential romance was good but having her secretly work with Daisy was an even better move; we’ve seen Elena’s distrust for bureaucracy and her aiding and in fact sympathising with Daisy both makes her a far more dynamic character on the series while also staying true to what we know about her already.
Fitz meanwhile catches up with Doctor Radcliffe and we discover his AIDA project teased at the end of season 3 has undergone some major progress. This plot in particular just got the ball rolling but most notably puts Fitz in a position in which he is lying to Simmons while AIDA itself poses numerous possibilities for the show going forward. For me though this week the most interesting change was Simmons now outranking May. Simmons has really gotten a great arc over the course of this show, not as obvious as Sky/Daisy/Quake maybe but she has been growing and getting stronger as the years progress. And it must be noted she successfully stood up to May and made a very decent point; it makes perfect sense for Simmons to do whatever she can to maintain control in this new dynamic but it’ll be interesting to see how far this will push her from her teammates and indeed, Fitz.
Before the episode ended we got a Daisy vs. Ghost Rider fight and a full reveal of his flaming skull. I was slightly anxious about how the CG would hold up but damn they really delivered; Ghost Rider looked awesome and was further sold by a very strong performance by Gabriel Luna as Ghost Rider’s alter-ego Robbie Reyes. Daisy doesn’t gleam much other than as Robbie claims, he doesn’t decide who deserves to die, the spirit does. It was also nice to see that whatever Daisy has done during the time jump between last season she has not crossed a line as the spirit of vengeance spared her.
All in all this was a very strong start to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s new season and throw in a mysterious box that contained what I can only describe as a ghost and some sort of contagion that caused a group of men to slaughter each other and you have me intrigued. Finally, that post credits scene does not bode well for May . . . and in turn anybody on the team. I feel we are about to see May slowly become more and more unhinged as this ominous new threat takes hold. Roll on episode 2!
Danny Hale
