Had you heard that Ghost Rider was going to be a major part of the fourth season of Agents of SHIELD?  Well, if you hadn’t, they left very little secret as to that fact once the season premiere hit the airwaves.  This episode was primarily the coming out party for the Spirit of Vengeance, and right away there are indications of magic and spiritual forces that have been more or less sidelined in the MCU up to this point.  Clearly with Doctor Strange also on the horizon, this is going to be a bit of a prominent topic.

 

 

Much of his interaction is with Quake, aka Daisy Johnson, which is a nice way to tie her new status into this new direction.  Daisy is struggling with the events of the previous season and the loss in her life, and this is actually an important plot point when it comes to her interactions with Ghost Rider.  While he is going after those with abilities and those with a lack of repentance for their criminal activities, Daisy’s guilt and self-loathing stay his hand.  It should be interesting to see what kind of bond the two of them form in the episodes to come.  Hopefully it will steer well clear of romantic inclinations, as Daisy hasn’t been allowed to grow outside of relationship issues in quite some time.

 

On the other hand, it’s nice to see a bit of a contrast between the sweetness of the FitzSimmons pairing, albeit with some stumbling here and there, and the growing relationship between Mack and Yo-Yo.  Mack could use a bit more time in the spotlight, and exploring the boundaries of his stiff adherence to rules and protocol is a good way to delve into his character traits.  And since Yo-Yo sees the rules as a bit more flexible, there’s a nice tension to exploit. 

 

 

One very interesting turn of events is the promotion given to Simmons, especially with May.  While there’s inevitably a bit of complication with her relationship with Fitz, they have other connections that seem to balance it out well enough.  May, on the other hand, is bristling at the thought that Simmons is her superior, and one can assume that some of her resentment is also reserved for the shakeup of SHIELD as a whole.

 

That last point feels like May taking on a bit of the anger that she feels Coulson ought to have, now that he’s been stripped of his former directorship and made an agent again.  Even without meeting the new boss quite yet, one can see how the establishment of the Sokovia Accords (see Captain America: Civil War) and the restoration/legitimatization of SHIELD had some unintended consequences for Team Coulson.  I would expect those ramifications to make themselves more apparent as the season marches forward.

 

 

It’s worth noting that the darker direction of the series, something mentioned as possible due to the move to the later timeslot, is already evident.  Whether or not it was truly necessary to allow for the kind of material that the inclusion of Ghost Rider suggests remains to be seen.  The realization of Ghost Rider is actually pretty impressive for television.  I hope this continues to be the case!