Agents of Shield Season 4 'Meet the New Boss' review

Meet the New Boss blends individual stories with an exciting fantasy idea that feels unique and layered with mystery. When a new series begins again and the first episode is out of the way, there is an uncertainty of whether the audience can begin to see how the story is going to be shaping out. Here, the writers had given us a psychological story arc that sets to resolve around how the ghost rider decides on who gets to live and who dies.

Coulson is having to deal with the ramifications of his decision to step down as Director and in this episode he is clearly undecided as to whether it was the right decision when he is restricted from how May and Daisy are going to be handled.

Connecting with this, it was brilliant to witness May getting to tackle a really disturbing story with the 'ghost' infection causing her paranoia and an obsessive tendency to find whoever has been infecting people.

Ming-Na Wen excelled at the build up of tension and burst of anger and hopelessness. Daisy's journey is becoming more interesting as she feels compelled to repent after Lincoln's death by helping as many people as possible. The Ghost Rider's way of dealing with criminals, liars and murderers etc seems to intrigue her as she asks the question of whether powered people should have the right to decide who to punish and how.

One geeky highlight was seeing Simmons and Fitz debate what the invisible technology is likely to be and the conflict between how Fitz feels towards Daisy and her departure was compelling because you're given a glimpse of how Fitz feels about her leaving and how this has affected him.

Lastly, as the ghosts multiply they became even more gripping to watch as they talk about a book and killing who caused them to become ghosts in the first place. With the reveal that the ghost rider was the one who caused their incorporeal state, the story has just been ripped open further as the audience asks more questions about who these people were and what they have done to cause the ghost rider to exact vengeance.

Season four continues to raise complex and compelling questions, complete with some adventurous action scenes and unique fantasy elements that make this series feel richer and darker.

Agents of Shield Season 4 'The Ghost' Review

Finally, the fourth season for Marvel's Agents of Shield is here and the inclusion of Ghost Rider allows the darker tone to lift the series and its characters to fresh, complex and exciting avenues.

The team has been divided which allows their own stories to breathe and explore what has been happening to each of them. The decision to move the show to a 10pm slot was a smart move as the darker and sometimes, disturbing aesthetic creates a raucous viewing experience.  

Daisy introductions felt overtly strange to portray her sexuality in such an instance where there was no reason for it to be there as the show has perfectly shown Daisy is more than capable of showing her sexuality in a healthy and positive way. This felt quite forced as if the show was trying to make a statement about how the character has become darker, even though the audience can see this already.

Moving on, the darker themes have not only resided around Daisy but Shield itself feels weaker, almost ruptured in its absence of what the mission actually is anymore. Coulson and Mac are tracking Daisy but Yo-yo is feeding her information which is how Daisy has been able to be one step ahead.

It was comforting to see Simmons and Fitz again but even their relationship feels strained as Simmons has now been promoted to a more senior role. Personally, Radcliffe is a character who doesn't seem to have a role to play as it is clear that he cannot be trusted and his disturbing creation of a robot- AIDA which could be Shield's protector, or 'Shield' felt very suspicious, but it will be interesting to see whether Fitz decides to help him or tell Simmons. 

It made me very happy to see that Shield is beginning to use virtual realities to aid them in their missions and it is hoped that May will be given an exciting and darker story this season. This may prove true with a mysterious box that was the home to a supposed ghost that passed through her. Also, it looked a lot like it was using zero matter to infect or subdue its victims. Could she be infected? 

Daisy's confrontation of the Ghost Rider was fueled with adrenaline and he seems to share similarities to Daisy. He has attachments and explains that the Ghost Rider decides who deserves to die, which are mainly people who manipulate, are  killers and liars and hold secrets. 

Conclusively, the opening to season four certainly achieved a statement that the show is heading down darker paths. The Ghost was compelling, bloody, disturbing and a whole lot darker.