Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Meet the New Boss

September 28, 2016 8:50 AM - Season 4, Episode 2

Daisy goes to battle Ghost Rider at a terrible cost, and Coulson faces the new Director, and his bold agenda surprises them all.
posted by fimbulvetr (16 comments total)

Hm. I really liked this one. Specifics:

* Daisy has way better chemistry with Ghost Rider than her old team. Their banter was witty, their interactions were tense, the whole thing just really worked. I was pleased when she got in the car with him at the end, and I feel like they will actually be a fun team-up.

* The Darkhold got name-checked, so there's no way this doesn't tie into Doctor Strange. That could be fun. I like that they don't have any real defense against magic.. yet. (Simmons' reaction to 'it could just be a ghost' was priceless, and a sign of how screwed they are right this minute.) I also like that the ghosts are not all on the same page.

* I (mostly) liked the new Director, except that he didn't need to give May a concussion. It's forgivable in that those are a 'walk it off' situation in the comics. Everything else was actually pretty fun. I cannot, for instance, blame him for not letting Coulson and the gang operate as a sort of shadow cabal inside of the rebuilt SHIELD. I appreciate that they decided to give the post to a nigh-invulnerable super strong Inhuman and not tell anyone too, given what a target anybody in the big chair will be. (Coulson was smart to pass on that.)

* Poor Mack and Fitz. That encounter was suitably tragic, and I feel like they were in the right to be looking for her. (It still comes off as creepy from Coulson - I never really liked the weird quasi-parental attachment thing going on there because it came out of left field - but Mack and Fitz are her peers.) Also, poor Yo-yo, since her secret's out now.

* The shotgun-axe made an appearance!
posted by mordax at 10:34 AM on September 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

Is anyone doing TWOP-style recaps of this thing? I am still at least quasi-interested in following the story, but not interested enough to pay for access to the show, or to spend 50 minutes a week watching it. This is exactly the situation where I used to turn to TWOP, but since it's gone now..
posted by Alterscape at 10:44 AM on September 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

I wanted May to put up more of a clear fight against the ghost. She was doing it for a while, and then she just wasn't; the sudden change felt less earned. I liked the new director generally, who captured a certain of kind of charm that seems smarmy, but isn't really and which makes me genuinely uncomfortable in life. I felt like I was along for Coulson's weird ride of meeting him.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:24 AM on September 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

Alterscape, I found something nearly as good: the Video Speed Controller extension for Chrome. I watch AoS on Hulu at 150% speed, sometimes higher depending on how terrible it is.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:11 PM on September 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Alterscape - AV Club & Vulture are still recapping the show this season, I've added the links to the recap sidebar.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:50 PM on September 28, 2016

Comics Alliance and Comic Book Resources are as well.
posted by sardonyx at 7:25 PM on September 28, 2016

There seemed to be some flip flopping on Ghost Rider's character this week. I thought Robbie made it clear last episode (sadly I'm primarily familiar with the Johnny Blaze version) that the Rider acted independently of the host. This week he seemed to indicate he had control (or at least a say) in the Rider's actions. I know that's the kind of detail that this type of show can easily skip over, but it was bugging me as I watched the episode.

Just to confirm my hunch, Momentum Industries is a new addition to the Marvel Universe, correct? Or have I just missed something new (or at least new to me)?
posted by sardonyx at 7:39 PM on September 28, 2016

So, the scuttlebutt seems to be that the new director, Jeffrey, is Jeffrey Mace. I liked him a lot, as Bulgaroktonos noted he had that kind of charm that seems like it ought to be phony but mixed with a kind of intense true-believer sincerity that, in combination, just makes people like me feel really awkward. The perfect government-bureaucrat foil.

I also liked the Daisy/Ghost Rider banter in this episode, they're gonna be a fun superhero team-up.

Overall I thought this episode was a big improvement over last week's.

Momentum Industries is a new addition to the Marvel Universe, correct?

As far as I can tell, yes.

At first I was a little annoyed that it seemed like they were backing away from going full-on mystical with their ghosts, having them be tied to a lab accident somehow, but then they name-checked the Darkhold, so we'll see I guess. I am really looking forward to Fitz and Simmons having to grapple with the existence of the supernatural at some point.
posted by mstokes650 at 7:46 PM on September 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

It will be interesting to see how far they go with the Patriot back-story. I don't think it will be that deep a dive, but I could be wrong. So far, at least the new director is proving to be an interesting addition.
posted by sardonyx at 8:01 PM on September 28, 2016

I have a question for everyone... I haven't watched any of the movies since... maybe Iron Man 3? Winter Soldier? Which means I've missed Ultron, Ant-Man, and Civil War I think. Oh, and all the Netflix series. There are some elements (Sokovia accords) that I'm obviously clueless about (and please don't tell me about them), but I do feel like there's a bunch of other stuff I'm missing.

Is that just from not seeing the movies, or do the folks who are up to date on the movies feel a little in the dark? Beyond the set-up for Strange, of course. I know they've tried to keep the show and the movies separate enough so you don't have to see both (although the impacts of Winter Soldier and Ultron have been felt in the show), but I'm wondering if that's changed. Have they just determined that the number of people like me who haven't watched the movies is low enough not to bother, or is it just creeping in because they expect people to have caught up by now, or am I just imagining things?
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:22 AM on September 29, 2016

It was really unsettling to see May so out of it and off the rails. She's mostly beena rock for the team and Phil in particular, so with her "going crazy" the team feels really off balance. Hopefully this goes somewhere great narrative-wise.

* Daisy has way better chemistry with Ghost Rider than her old team. Their banter was witty, their interactions were tense, the whole thing just really worked. I was pleased when she got in the car with him at the end, and I feel like they will actually be a fun team-up.

Yes, I'd agree. Perhaps the problem is that Skye/Daisy/Quake has usually portrayed as a 'good girl', with May and Phil as parents of a sort. The character needs to get out on her own and, you know, experience life.

Is that just from not seeing the movies, or do the folks who are up to date on the movies feel a little in the dark? Beyond the set-up for Strange, of course.

Yes, but it's intentional. We don't know exactly why Phil gave up being director, what Skye did that caused her to be chased by SHIELD, and whole bunch of other stuff. That's ok, there was a deliberate time jump, things have changed and they'll fill us in as the season goes, or at least I hope they will.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:13 AM on September 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

Even the things you're missing aren't really that important. Seriously, look up Sokovia Accords. In just the Google results page (without clicking on any of the links), you can find out all the information you really need without it being too spoilery. Actually part of me just wants to say, "it's about..." but I'll be nice and won't do that since you asked. But if you change you mind, a lot of the MeFites here can explain it in one sentence that won't ruin any of the movies you haven't seen.

But as Brandon Blatcher said, this season has opened with SHIELD being in a situation that the viewers can't entirely explain, whether they're fully caught up on the MCU or not. I guess it's an easy way to ramp up the tension and the drama without really earning the results.
posted by sardonyx at 10:26 AM on September 29, 2016

I don't think you even need to look stuff up; getting it from context should be more than sufficient. The few times the show has had things within it dependent on events from outside (the Hydra stuff from Winter Soldier) they provided enough exposition and situation that you'd know what happened anyway.

Really, AoS is about the people on the team and the stuff they get up to. There may be some vague pokes to the direction of the boat but for the most part nothing goes on narratively that isn't contained within the show.
posted by phearlez at 2:15 PM on September 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I don't think you even need to look stuff up; getting it from context should be more than sufficient.

Yep.

What we know, show-only:
* Last season, Yo-yo was allowed to be on Daisy's secret team. Now, she is barred from mission participation and required to make her whereabouts known at all times. So... something to the effect of registration clearly happened. Specifics require movie knowledge, but the fact it happened at all is obvious and explained well enough, IMO.

* Coulson's transition was voluntary, which makes as much sense as him staying top dog, really. I could see him going either way. Politically, it makes sense to drop him, though: he's the face of SHIELD as an outlaw organization. If they're stepping back into the public square, they'd want a change in management. He and Talbot were feuding in public, the people might never accept him as a legitimate figure now. For his part, the 'Director' role clearly skips field-work now, so he probably would've been unhappy. He's depicted as loving it, while Director Mace barely gets out of his office.

* They've talked about Daisy going vigilante on the show. She's caused huge property destruction battling the Watchdogs, (knocked down walls, bridges, etc.). She's also apparently robbed banks to fund her crusade. Given Yo-yo isn't supposed to be doing stuff, she's probably breaking one or more laws just by not being available for check-ins.

The only thing I'm puzzled about is the magic stuff, and that's obviously intentional: they'll dole it out over the season, and if it's anything like prior seasons, Doctor Strange will mostly just get name checked a bit, it won't be critical. (I mean, Ultron got, what, five minutes? Less?)

You're good. Just wait for it.
posted by mordax at 3:09 PM on September 29, 2016

I'm enjoying the smarmily cheerful new director.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:02 PM on October 30, 2016

She's also apparently robbed banks to fund her crusade.

Also apparently as an attempt at some form of atonement for what she considers her sins - last episode we saw her meeting a woman with an infant in a park & handing her a bag of cash, and from their brief conversation it was clear the woman was a widow of someone who died (I realized who at the time but I've forgotten already) because of SHIELD (and/or Daisy), at least in Daisy's eyes.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:31 PM on November 30, 2020