Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 Episodes 2-3 review - Meet The New Boss/Uprising

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. Ghost Rider continues with a week's break between episodes, here are my thoughts on episodes 2-3.

Meet the New Boss

Well, we’ve met the new boss… I still think he’s going to die before the season’s end. Then again my predictions don’t always pan out.

So, apparently Coulson voluntarily gave up his role as director for someone who could give a more enlightened public image to the organisation that he, having spent so long in the shadows couldn’t have done himself, I guess, they’re a little unclear on this. But that’s not the reasons for this story.

Ghosts, some kind of crime family (??) that possessed a book of magic I think. This season is not holding back, they’re diving straight into magic, ghosts, possession, demons and we’ve only just started. But then Ghost Rider is a doorway straight into those horrifying elements.

Speaking of our hot-brained hotskull, a nickname I will never use again, Ghost Rider is thoroughly outed by Daisy who finds out just about everything about him, apart from the source of his powers but that’s neither here nor there at the moment. Apparently he sold his soul to the devil but I don’t think that’s Robbie Reyes’ origin from the comics so they could be pulling a bluff there, particularly since they were so blasé about the whole thing.

Yeah, the new director is by far the least interesting thing about this episode, apart from the fact he was an inhuman, I did not see that coming but really the ghost plotline and May going nuts were far more interesting that whatshisface’s guided tour. How does Coulson get his near unlimited funds anyway?

Speaking of May going nuts, May’s going nuts this episode. It’s clear she got exposed to the gas and they’re not delaying this plotline. She fought her way through her trainees, even the only one with actual combat skills (who is female, because the only male in the show thus far with combat skills ended up being the evil traitor – and no Hunter and Mack don’t count here, they’re not fighters) but was eventually taken down. I’m glad they didn’t delay on this plotline

Also when it comes to not delaying a plotline. Last week Ghost Rider and S.H.I.E.L.D. had not met, that changes by the end of the episode, as does Daisy stealing the drugs from a bit I didn’t mention last week. Hell, it seems the LMD is the only secret left thus far. That one might be worth building up a little longer.

It’s a good episode, and season 4 is off to a great start.

Rating 8.5/10

Uprising

You remember how I mentioned that the watchdogs are among the least interesting elements of last season. They’re trying to move them to the forefront now, yay…

So yeah, they’re really trying with the watchdogs this season, commendable, I guess, but they were one-dimensional before and they’re one-dimensional now. To their credit, they’re only the second least interesting part of this episode and since I only really consider there being strands to this episode, that’s commendable I guess.

The main thread of this episode is the escalating tension between humans and inhumans. You see with Yo-yo’s friend (forgive me, I forget her human name) turning against her, Mack confronting Yo-Yo about the stolen meds and most importantly, and it’s the really the only point to this sub-plot, the relationships between Daisy and the Reyes family. Yes, we finally get a good look at Gabe Reyes, and he’s a… what’s the right word… no, I’ll leave you to fill in the blank, I got nothing.

In all seriousness, I get why they went down this road with Gabe, I just wish they’d maybe saved it and he had a better reason to not like Daisy than talk about inhumans and the fact that in the 10 minutes they’ve known each other, all she’s done is save his life. But to their credit, this thread, including the rest of it is the most interesting part of the episode

What’s the least interesting part? The May revival scene. Seriously, was there ever any doubt that May was going to survive this? There certainly wasn’t from me and that killed all the tension and everything just came off as cliché. Also, they seemed to forget that the EMP was a pulse burst that knocked out electrical devices in a matter of seconds.

Speaking of things that I didn’t quite grasp. It didn’t seem to me like Coulson had any problem fighting with his mechanical hand despite them making a thing of it not working. So yeah… the watchdog’s plan was to stage an attack and threaten the government to drop the Sokovia accords in an effort to spread fear of inhumans and allow their vigilante gangs to hunt the inhumans down

It’s certainly more elaborate than previous efforts from this group and they have in-government backing who gave herself away in the bloody speech. Seriously, she said that the newly public S.H.I.E.L.D. were puppets of the inhumans and that she had it on good authority the inhumans were responsible for the attacks. Yet she did not deny S.H.I.E.L.D. having turned the lights on, so what the f*ck? Oh and there’s something about her brother being killed in terrigenesis or something

This episode isn’t as good as the last two, but it’s far from a bad episode and strong enough to keep me hooked for the time being

Rating 7.5/10

For initial thoughts on movies, comics and video games as well as exclusive updates, click here to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @rageformedia

Images/clips used are from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. All images in this review are subject to fair use