Who ya gonna call?
(This review contains
spoilers!)
I’ve been extremely critical of the
ghost plotline ever since it popped up, and this episode was a good example as
of why. I like that the Darkhold has been brought in (kind of obviously to tie
into Doctor Strange, though), but exactly why
it’s here isn’t great.
With Daisy and Robbie now on board to
help track down the spooky spectres, Coulson and crew are stopping by the
prison where Robbie’s uncle is being held in hopes that he’ll help them track
down the Darkhold’s location before the ghosts can get to it. Unfortunately,
the ghosts get to the prison first, and all hell breaks loose. Meanwhile,
Simmons needs to help Director Mace with an interview, while simultaneously hiding
the truth about Aida and Ghost Rider from him.
The Simmons plotline was the best part
of the episode, if only because she and the director make a great pair. Mace
revealed to the world on live television that he is an inhuman, and it seems
that the anti-inhuman lady who lost her brother to terrigenesis is trying to
use him as a means to take down the inhumans from the inside. We also got the
reveal that Simmons sort of has Mace wrapped around her finger, as she has some
secrets about him that it seems he’d rather the public didn’t know.
I’ve been a fan of Mace ever since he
first appeared, and this episode is no exception. I’m glad we’re finally seeing
some of that dark side to him the characters were talking about back in the
premiere, because now we have reason why everyone was suspicious of him. I did
feel he was a bit too squeaky-clean early on, so I’m extremely excited to see
where the show takes him next.
Meanwhile over on Coulson’s side, while
having the S.H.I.E.L.D crew mixed up in a prison break caused by ghosts sounds
like a good idea on paper, in practice it’s just a clustered mess. The writers
seem to be trying to give all the main characters their own plotline, but
ultimately it just winds up causing each of these smaller stories to feel
weightless. The ultimate payoff is also extremely frustrating, and Daisy’s part
in the story is just as good as everything else she’s done this season. I’m
just glad that the other characters are calling her out for acting like an emo
kid all the time, because frankly, it’s getting incredibly grating.
The other major problem with the
episode is that we’re several episodes into the season, and the ghosts still
look like rejects from a local haunted house. Granted, they’re better than last
week, but that’s only because they didn’t use mannequin hands for Lucy this
time. The effects and the makeup, in conjunction with one another, creates a
laughably bad effect that never looks believable. Maybe the entire budget went
into creating Ghost Rider, but regardless, I expect better from this show.
This episode was extremely half and
half. While the Simmons/Mace plotline and some elements of the prison break
were fun, the cluttered plot, frustrating ending, and continued use of the
awful ghost effects and emo Daisy really dragged it down for me. With the
promise of Ghost Rider’s origins next week, hopefully things will pick up
again.
FINAL SCORE
6/10
Okay
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