The biggest thing Agents of SHIELD has made clear through the first two episodes in season 4 is that thing are changing. Not only is Daisy on the run, but with a new director running SHIELD, he has the team pulled apart and it seems like one by one, each character is being pushed to their limits. It’s a unique direction to move the show in, but one that feels appropriate in this new, darker version of Agents of SHIELD. Not only has Agents of SHIELD gotten darker, but it’s helping establish the introduction of supernatural and magic elements through Ghost Rider, that will inevitably tie in with Doctor Strange, which viewers saw more of last night.
One of the most major topics to come out of Agents of SHIELD’s offseason was the fact that viewers would be seeing a new Director in the fourth season, who is played by Jason O’Mara. Nothing was truly revealed about his character aside from small details like “his Marvel roots go back to the 1940s.” However, last night really helped to give more insight into his character and who he might be. “Meet the New Boss,” reveals that Coulson fully stepped down from his position and recommended that with SHIELD returning to the public spotlight sometime soon, the director should be a fresh face powered person that the public can trust. This isn’t too surprising considering Coulson is still considered to be dead and is so tied to SHIELD that a fresh face might do some good. So who is the new Director? The best guess after last night seems to be Jeffrey Solomon Mace a.k.a the Patriot. He has super strength and with his reference to the absence of a Captain America currently, it would make sense. Jeffrey Mace was created in 1941 and took over the Captain America role at one point in the comics. Regardless, the reveal with the Director’s power was an awesome moment and he seems like a unique addition to the show that will probably be both loved and hated by viewers depending on his actions.
This week’s episode of Agents of SHIELD also returned with more Ghost Rider and the ghost woman (now known as Lucy), giving viewers some possible teasers as to how everything this season might tie together. The ghost plot has felt rather boring, but at least in this second episode more information helped point us. It’s been established that this isn’t just one ghost in Lucy, it’s a group of people who were caught up in some type of supernatural situation that ended up leaving them stuck in this ghostly state. The Momentum Alternative Energy Labs story feels very confusing right now, mainly because when the group of ghosts argue about events viewers don’t yet understand, but they made a small mention of a book that they have to get. The Darkhold, also known as the Book of Sins. Again, while the ghosts themselves are rather uninteresting characters, the inclusion of that book opens up the show to immense supernatural possibilities and is the big connector to Doctor Strange because the book has always been a popular and important item in his stories. The ghosts and book seem like they are what’s going to unite everything and everyone this season; Ghost Rider claims that he is the key to everything and why the ghosts are happening, but SHIELD is also on the trail as seen with Mack and Fitz last night.
Agents of SHIELD really introduced a lot of new plot development in “Meet the New Boss,” and it continues to elevate the season through only two episodes. While the ghost characters and their background hasn’t been extremely interesting, it has, at the very least, been the linking factor that will reunite Daisy with the main characters. There is still plenty of healing to be done, which was displayed by Fitz last night, but it’s clear Daisy will cross paths with her friends again in the near future, when the time is right. She deserves to have her own story with Ghost Rider rather than quickly trying to bring him to her friends, and the two characters have a really great dynamic currently which fans are going to want more and more of. This season of SHIELD has really done a great job of taking viewers down a darker road like promised. There are a lot of interesting elements going on this season and the first two episodes have been carried by Robbie Reyes and Ghost Rider. The character has proved himself to be very compelling and he is still a massive mystery that will be fun to figure out. It’s interesting that Daisy can’t accept his whole “vengeance” and “deal with the devil” ideas and believes he has to be Inhuman, but it’s almost makes her feel like us, the viewers in the situation.
SHIELD is really nailing its character relationships in season 4 and last night did a great job of introducing the new Director as well as continuing to make Ghost Rider a cool mystery. It will be neat to see how much this season connects the universe to supernatural elements, but it’s really beginning to help fill out the mythos of the MCU and give the show a greater purpose that is really interesting. This is what comics are about, and Marvel has slowly started to give fans the full world where anything is possible, which is really fun. Ghost Rider has been a great inclusion, and it seems the writers aren’t wasting viewers time by trying to drag out the mystery of the ghosts, so hopefully things heat up (ha) more soon and the season continues to roll at the same fast pace these first two episodes have established.
Other Thoughts:
- Pretty tired of the Snapchat filter ghost faces……..
- I’m definitely worried for May, we can’t trust the new Director just yet and he wouldn’t reveal what was happening to her to Coulson either.
- SHIELD has always been hit or miss with their tie ins to the Marvel movies, but the inclusion of the Darkhold seems like a great way to introduce people to elements of Doctor Strange.
- Can’t take claim for this reference, but the Ghost Rider & Daisy – Bonnie & Clyde thing is a fun dynamic.