Blaze of glory
(This review contains
spoilers!)
It’s only been about a month since I
released my extremely critical review of the Season 4 premiere, but since then
S.H.I.E.L.D has pulled out all the stops with this season. While it’s still
rough in several areas (the ghost makeup continues to be laughable, though
thankfully it looks like we won’t be seeing much more of it), I’ve really
enjoyed this whole season, with The Good Samaritan bringing everything together
beautifully.
It was advertised that we were going
to be seeing Ghost Rider’s origin tonight, and while the story itself provided
as many questions as it did answers, it was wholly satisfying and gave
reasoning to Robbie’s claim that he made “a deal with the devil”. After Robbie
and his brother were attacked by the gang as mentioned in last week’s episode,
the two of them were rescued from the car wreck from a second Ghost Rider, who
seemingly transferred his powers to Robbie. Considering all the hidden
references to the character in last week’s cold open, it’s not out of the
question that this second rider could be Johnny Blaze, the original motorcycle
riding Ghost Rider from the comics, perhaps most infamous for his portrayal by
Nicholas Cage in two…less than spectacular movies.
But the Ghost Rider origin was just
the icing on an already delicious cake of an episode. The showrunners continue
the plot from last week, as Director Mace is now coming after Coulson and the
crew in search of Daisy and Robbie. He also sent Simmons off to an undisclosed
location, with her vanishing for the rest of the episode, leaving an extremely
worried Fitz.
What I really like about Mace is that,
even when he’s cast in a sort of villainous role as we see here, you can still
clearly see where he’s coming from. With S.H.I.E.L.D back in the limelight
after two years of hiding, he doesn’t want another HYDRA incident on his hands
in the form of dangerous inhuman rogues. It all culminated in a battle between Mace
and Ghost Rider, after Robbie became the first person to ever break out of the
containment chamber.
It all culminated in an attempt to
rescue Robbie’s Uncle Eli, who was kidnapped by Lucy the ghost last week. Man,
that sounds really weird when you write it out. Anyways, the gang stormed the
base, but as it turns out, Uncle Eli was the villain all along! He wants the
power of the Darkhold all to himself, and it seems Lucy was just a pawn in his
game, as Ghost Rider made quick work of her.
The episode ended with Eli activating
the matter manipulator, releasing some sort of mist that enveloped Coulson,
Fitz, and Robbie. It wasn’t made clear what happened to them, but now Eli has
the ability to create matter out of nothing. What he does with this power and
what happened to the trio that vanished is unclear, and it’s unlikely we’ll
find out until S.H.I.E.L.D returns on the 29th (ugh!).
Everything about this episode was near
perfect. The Ghost Rider story, the conflict with Mace, the final mission, the
big reveal, and the cliffhanger were all masterfully done, leaving me on the
edge of my seat the whole time. It’s going to be difficult waiting until the
end of the month to find out what happens next, but I’m seeing Doctor Strange
tomorrow, so that’s cool.
FINAL SCORE
10/10
Legendary
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