Agents of SHIELD S04E03 Review: Hate Crime

Agents of SHIELD, Season 4, Episode 3: Uprising

We take a break from the ghostbusters plotline to go back to some Inhuman plotting, in a way that feels like an organic extension of season three's development whilst not retreading the same ground. At the end of the episode, SHIELD reveals itself to the world as being up and running, and we get to see yet another Politically Powerful Enemy, one Senator Nadeer, who is determined to paint the Inhumans as monsters hiding within us to murder all normal humans, because her... husband? Brother? Died in a failed terrigenesis process.

The plot is simple enough, a group (later revealed to be the Watchdogs, a group that Quake's hunting for the past two episodes) uses a super-powerful EMP pulse to shut down cities, pretending to be the Inhuman Resistance fighting back against the humans government and making threats, while actually sending their people to kill the actual Inhumans, who aren't doing anything wrong. Jeffrey sends in Coulson, Fitz and Mack into one of these blackout zones, and they had to improvise in taking down the Watchdogs and reversing the blackouts. With Yo-Yo's help, it's a laughable task where we get a combination of Flash and Batman with the scenes flashing back and forth from total blackness to the aftermaths of Yo-Yo's zooming in and out. It all ties in nicely with Jeffrey revealing to the world that SHIELD is back and it's one of the good guys now. 

We get some much, much-needed screentime with Yo-Yo that shows her socializing with her friends and complaining about high heels and whatnot, trapped in ground zero while the Watchdogs arrive to murder her. SHIELD shows up for some much-needed backup, but her good friend that joked with her throughout the opening scene is terrified to death of Yo-Yo. Mack also has some beef with Yo-Yo, though it's less about her being an Inhuman and more of her betrayal of SHIELD and his trust. And Gabe Reyes' reaction to Quake and telling her that she's 'bad people' show that, yeah, SHIELD may have won this battle, but the damage is done -- people distrust the Inhumans. If not for their power, for the preconception that associating oneself with them is not a good thing.

Quake and Ghost Rider, meanwhile, continue their B-plot investigation regarding the Momentum Energy Lab, though they make a pit stop to save Gabe from a bunch of jackass thugs who want to steal Gabe's wheelchair. Because there's a special kind of dickery that does that. It is a pretty awesome scene that focuses more on fisticuffs than earthquake shockwaves and hellfire chains, but it's still awesome. Gabe witnesses Quake using her power, and puts two and two together. And while Ghost Rider goes off to get some supplies, we get the confrontation above. Quake leaves for the moment, though I'm sure it won't be a permanent thing. Robbie is an interesting character, and as someone who isn't familiar with this version of Ghost Rider, it's nice to peel back the layers behind Robbie Reyes, the man who is bound to the spirit of vengeance, who wants nothing more to do with it and be free of "it", as Robbie keeps calling the Ghost Rider.

We get a lead because Robbie's uncle is jailed in prison, and previously worked in Momentum Energy Lab. Robbie is convinced that his uncle is innocent, and Robbie is of the opinion that if he can clear his uncle's name, get vengeance for his uncle, he will be free of "it". This particular plotline is the most divorced of the whole blackout thing, beyond the setting and the association of Gabe's dislike of Quake. Though, to be fair, Gabe thinks Robbie's nightly activities are like drug dealing or illegal racing, so.

Meanwhile, May, who's seeing everyone dying around him, is about to die in 24 hours. Simmons and Coulson are livid at being kept in the dark, but Jeffrey quickly shows up and tells Coulson everything he wants to know... and points out that Coulson is so irrational about his little family-team that he would disobey orders to get there, leaving him unavailable for a crisis if it strikes. And it did! I... really like Jeffrey, actually. He's nowhere as unlikable as the main cast makes him out to be, he's just not as gung-ho as Coulson, but he's completely reasonable and just wants what is best for the team. Coulson grudgingly goes off to save the world, while Simmons teams up with dr. Radcliffe to help May. We get a fun moment with a version of Tony Stark's super-awesome hand-wavy hologram where Radcliffe and Simmons discover that May's brain is being hyper-stimulated with fear and causing her body's adrenaline to be produced non-stop, eventually causing death.

Radcliffe's idea is to force a 'hard reset' by killing May and bringing her back to life, so of course the blackout hits right the second before May is supposed to be jumpstarted back to life. It's a bit of an obvious thing that May's going to return to life, and probably the weakest of the three main plots in this episode, though it does involve Radcliffe talking to AIDA like a daughter or something and apparently taking AIDA's power source to supply the electrical jolts to bring May back to life.

What else is thre to say? The scripting is pretty awesome. From the visceral but not gory descriptions about Quake's bones snapping when she uses her powers, to Fitz's absolute exasperation that Coulson and Mack has no idea of basic rudimentary science like making a compass, to Radcliffe's snarking, to Robbie's well-acted speeches about redemption... it's the kind of script that keeps you engaged in what is arguably a minor filler plot. 

It's a solid episode, with a pretty cool story-weaving that all seamlessly integrate the multiple plotlines that are going on in SHIELD -- Watchdogs, Inhumans, Ghost Rider, SHIELD going public, May being affected by the ghost touch, Radcliffe's robot daughter -- so while it's not spectacular, it's a very well-crafted 40 minutes of superhero television.