Pete Messum Reviews...

This week in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, the over-arching plot of Season 4 finally developed in a very engaging forty-five minutes confirming exactly what this new season is all about: broken SHIELD teaming up with Ghost Rider to find out the mystery behind some weird ghosts while Daisy fights the Inhuman-hating Watchdogs. Quite why it took this long for the season to find its feet, especially given its new format, I have no idea. The new format, for those who don't know, is that this season is split into 'pods', with the first several (eight?) episodes covering the 'Ghost Rider' arc, the second covering the 'LMD' arc, and the third being something else. Clearly these 'pods' will intertwine with one another, but I'm surprised that its only half-way through Ghost Rider's arc that things finally start moving. 'Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire' isn't a perfect episode though. Robbie Reyes is given little to do character-wise, mos

The Watchdogs are back in this latest episode of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, building on from their previously-established story-line in Season 3, as they attempt a mass attack on the Inhumans through a series of power cuts across the world. While I've never been a fan of Agents of SHIELD tackling such political ideas with a slightly black-and-white perspective, thankfully this episode was a bit less bog-standard and the whole blackout concept was utilized quite effectively...even if I couldn't help but compare it the whole CADMUS story-line in Supergirl. It works much better on a narrative level, even if the Watchdogs themselves lack any complexity as characters. I also have to admit that the scenes between Gabe and Daisy felt a little weak with the handling of the whole Inhuman topic. Gabe never felt truly justified in pushing Daisy away, and singling him out as almost an antagonist felt a little too forced in some ways. The episode did start off with an interesting

"Meet the New Boss" is the second episode of Agents of SHIELD's fourth season, finally introducing the new SHIELD director, in fact an Inhuman with somewhat strict policies on his team, but generally an all-round good guy. While I'm sure this new character is going to go somewhere at some point, it still seems odd that we've got a whole new character taking over as director, as opposed to say Agent May, and the Captain America comparisons the episode makes don't make him seem any more applicable for the role. That said, at least we're not saddled with a much more arrogant and grumpy character for the team to work with. Meanwhile, Daisy tries to interrogate the mysterious Robbie Reyes, who confirms that his powers are in fact granted by the devil to take vengeance on those who deserve it. It's sadly an idea that the episode skims the surface of, especially given how far-removed it is from anything the MCU has previously established, but I think the

Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna) © Marvel Marvel's Agents of SHIELD returns for its fourth season in its opening episode 'The Ghost', introducing the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Ghost Rider, played by Gabriel Luna. Several months after the end of Season 3, Daisy Johnson has now run away from SHIELD, becoming a vigilante known as 'Quake', who discovers the mysterious Ghost Rider. As now-Agent Coulson and Mack try to find her again, back home at SHIELD HQ loyalties are divided, with Simmons now a personal assistant to the new director, and Agent May being pushed to the side. Meanwhile, Fitz discovers that Dr Radcliffe has turned his AI Ada into an eerily realistic robot. 'The Ghost' is very much a set-up episode, with very little actually going on. Every scene feels like its establishing a plot thread of a new side to the characters that will become important later, and thus makes the episode feel a bit nothing-y on its own. I suppose my first criticism is th