Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 4.02: Meet the New Boss
Drew Z. Greenberg
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.
- 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
- Can this show handle the introduction of magic better than Arrow did?