Yeah, promotional material is not at all shy about waving around the fact that Marvel Studios has gotten the rights to Ghost Rider back, and they're introducing him in
Agents of SHIELD. And they're definitely using the iconic Marvel superhero as a hook to bring viewers in (I, for one, am definitely more hyped about Ghost Rider than that Iron Fist dude that they're making a Netflix show out of... that I'm sure will be good, but I'm not hyped for it) after the more self-centralized Inhumans/SHIELD-Hydra plotline that ran throughout the first three seasons. And after the big shakeup and the change of status quo between seasons three and four, well, it's honestly a very good spot to jump in even if you're mostly uninitiated. The shakeup means that the status quo is something that new viewers and old-timers alike have to learn anew -- and we waste no time in exploring it. In quick succession: Quake is a vigilante, our team is split up, Coulson and Mack are this rogue rule-disobeying washout team, May is leading a super-elite strike team, Simmons is teacher's pet, Radcliffe builds a naked sexy robot and Fitz is caught in it all... and the rest of the main cast has actually been trimmed off -- either killed, written out or as we learn later with Yo-Yo, kept in reserve. It's definitely a change for the better, as we'll talk about a bit later.
And, yeah, while I was absolutely unfamiliar with the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider -- I wasn't even aware that there
was another Ghost Rider apart from Johnny Blaze -- it was a huge treat and the episode definitely puts emphasis on him being the cool new addition to the cast... though surprisingly they managed some restraint and we don't get Ghost Rider All The Time. The Rider gets as much screentime as any of the main characters of the show, enough to be spotlighted but not quite so that he becomes a gloryhog, if you know what I mean.
Before we talk about the geeky stuff, let's talk about the procedurals. There's definitely a shift of tone to a more... adult audience, shall we say. It's not quite Netflix-level of brutal action scenes quite yet, but we
do start off the episode with close-up panty shots of Skye (or Daisy, or Quake,
whatever), and later on we do have a naked scene with Aida. And, yes, we don't see any of the goods, but it's a bit jarring considering the most risque we've ever been in
Agents of SHIELD, even with sex scenes, is just them humping each other or starting to take off their clothes. The action scenes are also a bit more visceral in a brutal way, with Ghost Rider's (awesome) takedown of the Aryan brotherhood in the beginning, the car-crash murder scene, evidently more blood compared to the previous clean-headshots and superpower-assisted-takedown series, and the mentions of Ghost Rider apparently going all Predator and ripping out some poor dude's spine.
The episode starts off with a scene of Quake (fine, I'll call her that) being all vigilante and stuff. We get trickles of information later on down the episode from Coulson, May, Yo-Yo and Quake herself about her
modus operandi. She's established to be hunting down fanatics, watchdogs, basically all the bad guys and shit... but the military and SHIELD's new unnamed boss just sees her as an uncontrolled, dangerous Inhuman that goes around collapsing bridges. And, well, considering how her attempt at interrogating one of the 'marked' Aryan gangster in this episode would appear to the hospital orderlies -- superhuman comes charging in, locks herself in the room with the patient with her ambiguous powers, patient drops down on the floor dead a few moments later... yeah.
But Quake's attempt to enforce justice early in the episode gets interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious muscle car... and holy shit, the introduction was awesome. I knew it was coming, but it doesn't make it any less awesome when the car was flipped into the air by the big bazooka explosion, before hellfire starts to get encompassed into the car, and Ghost Rider goes into full crazy mode. Quake and the audience don't get to see much of Ghost Rider himself in this early scene other than a vague silhouette of a dude with a flaming skull and the absolutely pants-pissed terrified reactions of the gangsters. That was definitely some cool CGI and some cool usage of camera angles.
We then cut away to the titular Agents of SHIELD, because Quake and Ghost Rider aren't Agents of SHIELD. Coulson and Mack are on this long-period mission, and apparently they're not quite in the good graces of SHIELD's new unnamed boss, who thinks they're purposefully letting Quake get away from them. Which, y'know, knowing Coulson and Mack (a.k.a. "Father Figure" and "Big Brother"), might very well be true. But May calls in Coulson and Mack to share a tip with them, about a possible Quake sighting.
May herself, meanwhile, is on a separate team with Coulson and Mack's more control-based team, training, well, basically secret agent death squad. Which includes Agent Piper! Yay recurring background character becoming somewhat important!
We also get a short pit-stop at the science division, and it's clear that, well, the old gang has been broken up into different departments, something that May points out herself later in the episode. Simmons is apparently very high ranking, in the rank that shortens to SADIST. We see how there are many random agents that are unfamiliar with our old buddies, and while they're all happy to see each other, the other agents are, well, doing their job by being obstructive, I guess. Doctor Radcliffe has made a good career for himself in SHIELD, and apparently has grown quite close with Fitz and Simmons and they have this little ball game watching session that Simmons declines to follow.
Fitz gives Mack an exploding pen just
because, and Coulson's new robo-arm gets an X-Ray scanner upgrade.
The scenes with Fitz and Simmons shows how... well, different SHIELD is. There are some unsubtle jabs at the new management, an emphasis on how everything is classified, even between departments. There is a scene where Simmons and May argue about how the number system has been changed to a stupid nonsensical colour system... that still ends up showing rank anyway so what's the point.
Team Coulson uses the cover of checking up on one of their Inhuman assets (Yo-Yo!) to investigate Quake, and we did get to see Yo-Yo a bit here. She doesn't steal the show other than a short scene with Mack, who is all 'we shouldn't fraternize' and shit. Also, apparently thanks to the Sokovian accords, metahumans aren't allowed to do anything without authorization and all that. Which means that, yeah, the Secret Warriors are probably defunct right about now. That doesn't mean Yo-Yo can't help, though, because she gives a bit of a tip to Quake while riding a bus. Not sure if this is something that Coulson and Mack know about, or if it's just an Inhuman sister thing, but it's cool. Quake also has been using her powers way too much and without the SHIELD dampener gauntlets her old fracture problems are cropping up. Thankfully she doesn't have to fight until near the end of the episode, but she does go through some vigilante detective work -- interrogating the wounded gangster, looking for the muscle car, getting caught up on the local gossip (that wall mural is
gorgeous).
While all this is going on, Fitz accidentally stumble on a sexy naked chick that walks up, who is Radcliffe's new human-like android, AIDA. We saw her a bit at the end of the last season as a teaser. She resembles a human quite intimately from a physical standpoint (though Radcliffe
claims not to build her as a sexbot) though she hasn't quite gotten the 'beyond just an A.I.' problem quite yet. Ultron and Vision, you aren't, but well, not all of us are Tony Stark. Radcliffe claims that AIDA isn't built to kill, but rather to serve as disposable human shields so agents wouldn't have to die. There's definitely a bit of emotional manipulation as AIDA almost goes through a list of the people we've lost through the journey of the show, but Fitz ends up wanting to help out Radcliffe... without telling Simmons, their supervisor.
And, well, as befitting a British-accented lady, Simmons is the unseen director's teacher's pet, going through lie detection tests randomly, and getting into an altercation with May. Simmons discovers the May/Coulson team-up, and she pulls rank to order May to retrieve Coulson's team back. There's a bit of an argument between the two as May points out how they're purposely split up, whereas Simmons defends her decision to claw up the ranks and grab power as the only way that one of them can actually gain a modicum of control -- and better the devil you know, right? Better to have Simmons be in a position of power than none of our guys, right? Or is this effectively a betrayal? Time will tell, but May swallows the order. Bossy Simmons is an awesome direction to take Simmons in.
Meanwhile, Coulson and Mack find two random dead bodies at the back of a truck, and follows it to the drop-off between a bunch of Chinese gangsters or something... I don't really pay attention that much to this side of the plot. The Chinese gang leader notes that whatever was in the case is a weapon that can be used to take out powered people, but apparently inside is a mist.. that takes the form of a ghost lady. It causes the gangsters to undergo hallucinations and start shooting each other up, while Ghost Lady just fades in and out. Quite creepy. Of course, Quake doesn't show up as she's caught up with something else, May Death Squad shows up and murders the out-of-control gangsters, while the Ghost Lady just... mysteriously fades in and out, and apparently it hitched a ride with May or something? It's not quite clear, but I think that's what happened?
Is the mist lady an Inhuman? Or something more mystical? With Ghost Rider introduced here and the Hand's more mystical aspects introduced over in
Daredevil a couple of months back, I wouldn't count out this being an actual Ghost Rider character. Not being familiar with Marvel lore means I have no idea what's happening, and that's cool.
The rest of the episode has this running plot of Quake finally confronting Robbie Reyes in the junkyard, a short while after he kills the Aryan gangster that he captures by crushing him onto a wall with a car. This altercation saves Quake and Ghost Rider from showing up at the meeting and encountering SHIELD, but, well, it's a very cool scene nonetheless as the two super-powered vigilantes battle each other. Like how the non-Team-Coulson people probably view Quake, Ghost Rider also operates with his own code of honour but his methods are destructive... though something that's far more visceral than Quake's "mere" property damage.
Robbie does make it clear that even the teacher and police officer he killed are pedophiles and dirty cops respectively, and he only seeks out vengeance onto those who deserves it. Pretty cool! And, yeah, "I'm not the one who gets to decide", Robbie says, as his eyes glow and his skin burns off in an absolutely cool transformation sequence to reveal the absolutely
metal skull design of the new Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider's a judge, jury and executioner all wrapped up in a neat bundle of hellfire and vengeance, and I cannot stress it enough -- his skull transformation sequence is cool.
Quake's a bit death-seeky, which... probably because of Lincoln? Oh get over it already, that's not worth being damned to hell by a vengeful hellfire-spitting muscle-car enthusiast over. Ghost Rider's magic abilities are able to sense that Quake's not evil, just emo, and leaves her alone, making his escape. After recovering from nearly-being-squashed-by-metal-tools, Quake tracks down Robbie Reyes and finds out that, hey, in-between hanging out at junkyards, surviving bazookas and ripping out Aryan supremacist spines, Robbie Reyes is also a loving brother that hangs out with a crippled little brother. Being attached to something is a running theme throughout the episode, with Quake and Yo-Yo repeating it several times, and various characters like Coulson, Ghost Rider, May, Mack, Fitz and Radcliffe all showing their own attachment to various stuff.
Overall we have a great setup for Ghost Rider and SHIELD's new status quo, and I cannot wait to see how this turns out. So much things are quickly being laid on the ground. What's going on with the new SHIELD leader? What's going to happen with Aida? How's Ghost Rider and Quake going to fall in all of this? Who's the mysterious buyer trying to collect anti-Inhuman weapons? What's the creepy ghost lady in the box? So many questions.
Side-note: Superhero TV reviews will probably be a bit more erratic depending on how soon I can watch them. Until this year ends I don't really have a nice schedule to watch these shows as they come out -- again, reading manga is a lot easier -- so yeah.
