Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 4, Episode 4 Review

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, mostly standing there to get exposition across and provide some cool action scenes, and I do find that Daisy's new attitude can get a little dull after a while. Can't she just be friends with everyone again? However, getting to see Robbie and Coulson race in their respective cars was pretty awesome to see, and hopefully we have a good dynamic beginning between the two there. On the opposite end of the action spectrum however was the Ghost Rider v Hellfire fight, which kept on being cut away from. Come on Agents of SHIELD! You have two fire-powered characters going toe-to-toe and you don't show hardly anything of their fight!
It is revealed however that everyone is after the Darkhold, a book which may contain secrets on magic and mysticism, although I do think SHIELD is crossing too many genres with this. If the show went full-Sci-fi this season, like the last, cool. If it went full Gothic horror, cool. If it went full magic, also cool. But all three don't quite gel together, especially in a superhero series. However, crossing these genres may work in the long-term run of the show, so I'm not too bothered about it.
If this episode is anything to go by, Agents of SHIELD's fourth season is kicking up some much-needed momentum, and is pretty damn cool.

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