Agents of SHIELD Season 4 Episode 4 Review “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire”

Agents of SHIELD is headed back to its season one roots – and that’s a good thing. When the show was new and first premiered back in the fall of 2013, it started off on a rocky start. Some will argue that the show really found its groove during the Hydra Uprising and the massive tie-in with Captain America: Civil War.

Sure, the show may had been off to a rocky start, but one of my favorite things about the show in those early days were seeing the SHIELD agents do very SHIELD things. During those early episodes, our agents really did explore the weird, strange, and unexplainable. Tonight, during the fourth episode of the fourth season, the show really channeled in some of the best parts of its early days – and that was seeing the team really explore the weird, strange, and unexplainable.

Because we are in the fourth season of the show, we’ve had time to become invested in our characters and where they stand in the vast MCU. For those of us who have stayed with the show since day one, we’ve had the privilege of following the core group of agents through their long journey against HYDRA and rogue Inhumans that has led them to this point in the series. Right now, Coulson is no longer director, but I have to say that’s it’s actually really enjoyable seeing him out in the field again as an agent.

Daisy and Simmons

One of my personal favorite parts of tonight’s episode was the Simmons/Daisy team up. I won’t lie, I was hoping for a Daisy/Robbie team up episode, and maybe that will come eventually, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Simmons and Daisy work together. The two women have a storied history together dating back to the first episode of Agents of SHIELD and it’s really been a treat seeing them come into their own as powerful players in the SHIELD game. I specifically remember back to season one when Simmons was literally incapable of lying – and now her skills as an agent include more than being the resident scientist – she’s very much an established field agent and able to hold her own as well. One of the best scenes in tonight’s episode was when Daisy and Simmons were at the place that housed the servers with the Inhuman location information and Daisy had come up with this grand scheme to get the flash drive into the server. Simmons had a much more simple idea, though. She is the boss, after all.

The Chase

I’m a sucker for a good car chase. Who isn’t? Seeing Lola and Robbie’s car chase through the river and the streets of LA was satisfying, to say the least. While I would’ve like to see some supernatural mojo from Robbie’s car or Coulson showing off some of the tech specs of Lola, the chase was fun nonetheless.

That Ghost Rider Moment

It was the moment that put a big nerdy smile on my face. There was the moment when Hellfire had blasted through the garage door of the storage unit that Daisy and Simmons were hiding in in which he grabbed a chain and lit it on fire. As he whipped the chain backwards, Robbie came up behind him and grabbed the chain and let out a “hmmm,” which was a clear nod to the character’s fascination with chains. After the battle, Robbie walked off with the chain still on his person, so here’s hoping he uses it more in the future.

Other Thoughts:

  • As someone who loves the MCU and all of its intricacies, I loved when Coulson talked about all of the people in the MCU who have tried to get ahold of the book. Everyone from Red Skull to Whitehall to Fury himself.