Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Review by John Keegan

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 4.02: Meet the New Boss

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 4.02: Meet the New Boss

Written By:
Drew Z. Greenberg
Directed By:
Vincent Misiano

Whether or not Agents of SHIELD has a direct impact on the film side of the MCU franchise, it cannot be argued that the writers are ignoring the larger implications of items like the Sokovia Accords or the rest of the fallout from Civil War.  And with Doctor Strange on the near horizon, the supernatural side of the MCU is getting a fair amount of exploration as well.

 


 

Ghost Rider continues to get some solid exploration in this episode, particularly in terms of how Robbie Reyes and Daisy circle each other warily.  Robbie is not at all happy that Daisy is intruding on his private life, and he is entirely justified when it comes to that point of view.  Daisy isn’t exactly thinking straight, though, perhaps due to the wear and tear of her abilities on her body.  Of course, once the fighting is done, they come to a kind of understanding, so it should be interesting to see where things go from here.

 

Meanwhile, the spectral figures seen in the season premiere get a lot more screen time.  It appears they are connected to a book called the Darkhold, which has deep connections within the Marvel source material and never means anything good (it’s nicknamed the Book of Sins, after all).  As it stands, Ghost Rider is the only one around that can affect the “ghosts”, which makes a lot of sense given that he’s the “Spirit of Vengeance”.  Whether or not there is a quasi-scientific bent given to all this paranormal activity is an interesting and open question. 

 


 

That wasn’t the biggest revelation of the episode, however; that is reserved for the first look at the new Director of SHIELD.  In a very interesting twist, Director Jeffrey Mace is an Inhuman, and this was a quality that made him a politically viable choice in the top spot.  Not only that, but it was Coulson’s idea, which he may already be regretting to a large degree.  (For those keeping score, in Marvel Comics lore, Jeffrey Mace was not an Inhuman, but rather The Patriot; he was a member of a WW2-era team called the Invaders, and at one point, a replacement for Captain America himself!)

 

Meanwhile, Agent May is not having a good time.  Her encounter with one of the “ghosts” has left her hallucinating and having visions of her friends dying.  May isn’t used to this kind of threat, even accounting for her experiences in the first season with Asgardian mysticism and berserker rage.  She goes on a bit of a violent rampage, taking out fellow agents left and right, until Director Mace comes along and quickly takes her down.  If anything serves to underscore his power level, taking out May will do it.

 


 

The second episode of the new season continued to add layers to the supernatural corner of the MCU, while also expanding on the aftermath of Civil War in some rather intelligent ways.  I particularly like how the writers are making an effort to meld the two together, especially since it is hard to imagine that Doctor Strange is going to take the time to connect many of these dots.  But given that all of these characters play in the same sandbox by the time Avengers: Infinity War comes along, the threads need to converge somewhere, and this is the most logical place.


Our Grade:
B+
The Good:
  • The supernatural elements of the MCU continue to get solid exploration
  • The new Director is going to add some fun layers to the intrigue within SHIELD
  • Daisy and Ghost Rider are starting to form a compelling alliance
The Bad:
  • Can this show handle the introduction of magic better than Arrow did?

John Keegan aka "criticalmyth", is one of the hosts of the "Critical Myth" podcast heard here on VOG Network's radio feed Monday, Wednesday & Friday. You can follow him on twitter at @criticalmyth

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD by - 9/29/2016 10:09 AM277 views

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