Danny Hale reviews the sixth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4…
‘The Good Samaritan’ gave us a clear look at both Lucy Bauer and Robbie Reyes’ origins whilst still keeping the story moving forward. Following on from the events of Lockup Coulson and our team pursue Lucy and Eli in search of the Darkhold while Director Mace arrives on the scene demanding Quake and Ghost Rider be turned over to him.
I was delighted to see Director Mace react so abruptly to Senator Nadeer’s threats from last week therefore pitting himself against Coulson right from the off. It shows that he took Nadeer seriously and also how eager he is to protect his public image. The evidence against Robbie is condemning and Mace clearly doesn’t care for Coulson’s agenda in light of Ghost Rider’s actions. His sparkling reputation is now at risk and thus Robbie needs to be apprehended and distanced from any further S.H.I.E.L.D. actions. Honestly, I sympathised with Mace; he was just doing his job and although his motives were somewhat selfish, Coulson did lie to him and waste his time. Coulson is harbouring a known killer and since the Sokovia Accords have gone into effect, Ghost Rider truly is a vigilante. It was nice to see Mace get his hands dirty and we also got a glimpse into a tougher side of his personality. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been excited to see Mace engage in combat since his reveal as an Inhuman so to see him square off briefly with Ghost Rider this week was great, even if he did blatantly lose. The man can take a punch at the very least.
Lucy Bauer met her end this week which was sooner than I expected but probably a smart move for the overall arc of the season. Lucy always felt more of a catalyst for our plot than a main villain for me. She never exuded a sense of threat and her character’s journey was more to set up the Darkhold than to represent any sort of big bad. On that, I really didn’t see Eli’s betrayal coming; I did believe him to be a sweet uncle who got caught up in another man’s madness. Watching him talk with Coulson this week I figured he was under the thrall of the Darkhold but now it looks like he has been after it all along. If the impetus to acquire the book stemmed from his own curiosity and lust for power or if he was indeed ensnared by the book itself remains to be seen. What we do know is that the effects Joseph’s experiment have had on him seem to allow him to create matter with his bare hands. I am assuming Elli will be taking centre stage as our villain from here on out and I’m keen to see how he utilises his abilities.
‘The Good Samaritan’ also saw Robbie come clean with Gabe about his alter ego and about the night that they were attacked. The flashback did a great job of showing a happier, younger Robbie. In fact I felt like I was watching Gabriel Luna play a different character at first. The ensuing attack felt appropriately brutal and knowing at least that Gabe would be left unable to walk was grim enough but to discover that Robbie in fact died when he was thrown from his car made all the bigger impact. Now when I see the Robbie Reyes we know after witnessing what he went through, it really hits home how much that night changed him and by extension informs Gabriel Luna’s entire performance this season. The complete birth of the Ghost Rider sequence looked great, particularly Robbie’s voiceover as he was flung from his car. We now know he made a desperate plea for his brother’s life before dying on impact with the street. Is that what called the spirit to him? I found the fact that Robbie was revived from death makes the whole storyline far more intriguing; we keep getting reminded that Ghost Rider is not an Inhuman so that should mean something. Here we see someone brought back from the dead and although that has happened before in the MCU it certainly puts Ghost Rider in a much more alarming light.
Most intriguing and for a lot of people, the show-stopping moment this week was the reveal of the eponymous “good Samaritan”. As soon as I saw the bike it was clear who they were teasing. We see a figure pull Gabe to safety and then by laying a hand on Robbie’s face revives him and thus imbues him with the spirit of vengeance. The reveal of “another” Ghost Rider was a powerful one; there was of course the sense of passing the mantle but also seeing (I’m assuming) Johnny Blaze was a massive moment for comic book fans. Seeing such an iconic character was the next best thing to having one of the Avengers show up; it added weight to the world Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has created and also confirms the existence of another Ghost Rider. I am inclined to feel that that’s all we will see of him on this particular show but hopefully I am wrong. At the very least we can hope for another appearance elsewhere in the MCU.
This week did a great job of balancing some necessary flashbacks as far as Robbie and Lucy were concerned without hindering the main plot. With Coulson, Fitz and Robbie ominously vanishing due to Eli’s experiment and Simmons dispatched on a mystery mission the wait until the show’s return on November 29th just got a lot harder.
Danny Hale
