TV Preview 005 Agents of SHIELD Season Four {introducing Ghost Rider}
Agents of SHIELD Season Four (FOX) [092016]
Chance of Success = 80%
The start of the first Marvel television show was a great concept, to follow the government agency in the post-Avengers world, but the execution left a lot to be desired as the first season saw them trying to find their footings and having to find the perfect balance between the espionage and the superhero elements of the universe.
A lot of people who tuned in to find the same level of action and humour as well as sheen that is always evident in the movies were sorely disappointed with their too high and unrealistic expectation. Many of them left with the uneven debut as the only representative impression of the series but a few still tune in as a sign of faith behind the company and they are mightily treated with a more balanced and nuanced show that was delving deeper into the cinematic lore of the opposition, Hydra.
The focus was solely on the seesaw interaction between both organizations and the ongoing conflicts between their agents, entertaining the audiences with engaging espionage drama and smartly superhuman superiority as the competent cast of characters were able to play around with the secretive and also extraordinary aspects of the premise. With the latter being a more fascinating tale to be told than the former, the much needed change of focus to impart the more inhuman sides of the Marvel lore certainly revitalized the series and gave it a new lease of life.
As the clash of ideology and species between the two opposing groups started to escalate between the second and third season, the other interesting factor to take into account is the interconnected nature of the Cinematic Universe and the intriguing prospect of introducing the bigger concepts from the silver screen into the small screen but the final execution left a lot to be desired. Taking into consideration the smaller scale and budget this particular show is running with compared to the multi-million projects for every Marvel movie, there were more misses than hits in their attempts to blend as seamlessly as possible the increasingly extraordinary storylines into the contained world of SHIELD, with the worst one was the agents playing clean up after Thor’s rather messy visit in London and the best came out of the aftermath of the Winter Soldier’s revelation shifted the pace of the series into another gear and indefinitely reshaping the structure of the show itself.
With an in-depth dive into the rather fascinating backstory between SHIELD and Hydra and how they affected the trajectory each character was taking, they finally found the working formula to stuck behind and finessed it with every episode with increasing production value matching up with the personal and world stake yet as the last season finale ending on the highest of high. The very last scene clearly foreshadowing the introduction of Life Model Decoy, among many other tidbits that would continue on for the fourth iteration of this concept.
Ending of a chapter: Hydra and SHIELD's eternal feud finally ended.
With the Hive crisis finally subsided, the Sokovia Accords (the result of the general outcry for public disclosure, government oversight & accountability for enhanced beings) would finally be actively implemented by the new director of SHIELD by the forced revealing and registration of the Inhuman assets.
Created by an ex SHIELD agent, the Watchdogs created mainly because of the most recent fear of alien contagion with subdued demand for truth from the government to a now more direct and violent hands-on offense, which is now furiously being hunted down by the rogue Skye.
Suffering from the aftermath of the mind control of the Hive and the sacrifice of Lincoln, her treatment of her former teammates also contributed to her decision to leave the team and fight in her own vigilante ways, with the public view of her actions seeing only what were reported but not actually what really happened.
Moving on to the opposite end of the spectrum of reaction to the rise of alien issues, the Transhumanist movement's quest is self-enhancement, triggered to better themselves and evolve into something better with the help of their own creation, technology. This radical approach understandably ran underground without the supervision of government and while we only scratched the surface before, the inclusion of one Dr. Holden Radcliffe (who played a huge part in the extermination of Hive) into the SHIELD roster posed an interesting prospect.
He made a name by making so-called improvements on the human body and when being presented with the biology of Inhumans, his ongoing drive to experiment despite under duress resulted in the Alpha-Primitives being created as enhanced henchmen for the then Hive. As thrilled as he was as he was terrified of his creation, the professional relationship between him and Leo Fitz under the supervision of SHIELD was teased with his creation of LMD based on an old SHIELD program, possibly crossing over the ethical and philosophical lines.
The long-awaited introduction of a certain fan-favorite character into the current Marvel Cinematic Universe was met with mixed reactions because of the level of treatment it is receiving. With the silver screen adaptation of the 'superhero' didn't met everyone's expectation, the intriguing prospect of revitalizing it with its own unrestrained movie under the current supervision of Marvel or even television show in the Netflix series. Despite being billed as the main protagonist/ antagonist the team has to face, the rather reserved nature of the abc show compared to the more gritty Netflix shows could play a big part in how the character is portrayed, especially when this particular adaptation would solely based on the less well-known latest iteration of the hot-headed character.
[Spoiler Alert]
"They say when the rider burns you, he burns your soul," said a scared man on the established premise of the Ghost Rider's power.
The opening scene accompanying the quote showed the revving of a car's engine with Daisy appeared to be the intended target. The iconic fiery nature of his ride followed by the appropriate word 'vengeance' which was what literally fueled his quest, followed with his disregard of other human's lives with the ramming of the jeep and the foreshadowing with the victim's reaction of him approaching. The leather clad antagonist pre-transformation represented the look from the comic really well as the Quake looked to be in the same gear with the unnecessary addition of thick eyeliners. The beautifully made graffiti of the titular character's skull in flame indicated the revered status that he gained for his vigilante activities while the agents discovering a steel container covered with smears of blood uncovered his more sinister tendencies.
"You don't get to decide who deserves to die." "I'm not the one who decides."
The apparent interchange of dialogues between Skye incognito and the guy on fire showed the main clash of ideology, with her resolve to treat everyone equally without giving the ultimate punishment while he simply stated that he didn't really decide who should suffer, foreshadowing another person behind those decisions or it has already been made without his involvement.
Introducing a new dynamic between the core cast in the team, they had to move just out of the radar of the new director to possibly contact their runaway teammate, Daisy or the Quake, in relation to her possible connection with the victims of brutal killings that would be synonymous with a certain vigilante's modus operandi.
[Spoiler Alert]
~ Synopsis ~
The missions of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Cast
Clark Gregg -Phil Coulson
Ming-Na Wen - Melinda May
Chloe Bennet - Daisy 'Skye' Johnson
Gabriel Luna - Ghost Rider
...
+ Highlights: the return to the more extraordinary side of the Universe with them going after an enhanced individual, the possible inclusion of the more mystical side with the vigilante in flame's origin of power still up in the air
-Lowlights: the inclusion of Ghost Rider in the more subdued and restrictive Marvel television show
Sources: moviepilot
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