Written by: Kevin Berge
That's right, folks! Nicolas Cage is coming! (Image Courtesy of: comingsoon.net)
Quick Take: Agents of SHIELD season 4 feels like a rejuvenation for the series, capturing a darker tone and more steady focus on fantasy and science fiction elements. While Ghost Rider is a welcome addition to the canon, it is the second and third sections of this season that make it must-watch TV.
Agents of SHIELD Reviews: Season 1 | 2 | 3
***This is a review of the fourth season of Agents of SHIELD where the reader is expected to have seen the entire run of the series so far including the recently aired finale. Those who have not will be spoiled on events in the season.***
Agents of SHIELD has always been a fairly underrated show. After a rough few episodes to open the first season, a few important creative decisions alongside the effect of Captain America: The Winter Soldier jumpstarted the series into a fantastic exploration of Marvel's lesser known properties.
However, the series never had the popularity to make it sustainable, and a somewhat underwhelming season 3 made it look like this fourth season would be the last of the series. This was accentuated by the move of the show by ABC to 10:00 EST, often considered a TV death slot.
Perhaps these tensions were felt by the show's creators as season 4 was a different brand of television than its predecessors. Using its time slot to take a darker approach and utilizing the TV breaks to create three separate "pods", this is a new beast that throws its well-developed cast into Marvel's magic depths.
This season's three pods are titled as follows: Ghost Rider, LMD, and Agents of Hydra. The first focuses on the introduction of Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna), the man possessed by a flaming skull demon, and the search for the dangerous Darkhold.
The second focuses on Holden Radcliffe and his Life Model Decoys (LMDs) that slowly take over SHIELD. This leads to the final act where the cast are trapped in Radcliffe's virtual reality world, The Framework, and must deal with a world under Hydra control.
Despite Ghost Rider being an incredible visual character, the first felt fairly ordinary for the series, a race against an evil that seeks immeasurable power. However, the way the Darkhold ultimately builds Aida (Mallory Jansen) up as a threat leading to the incredible climax of LMD into the intense final third truly makes this a special season.
Combining dark fantasy with speculative science fiction, this season fully invests in the notion that this is not the same Marvel product as those seen in movie theaters. No more does the series ever seem beholden to the MCU whether in story or style as this is far removed from classic superhero television.
***This is a review of the fourth season of Agents of SHIELD where the reader is expected to have seen the entire run of the series so far including the recently aired finale. Those who have not will be spoiled on events in the season.***
Agents of SHIELD has always been a fairly underrated show. After a rough few episodes to open the first season, a few important creative decisions alongside the effect of Captain America: The Winter Soldier jumpstarted the series into a fantastic exploration of Marvel's lesser known properties.
However, the series never had the popularity to make it sustainable, and a somewhat underwhelming season 3 made it look like this fourth season would be the last of the series. This was accentuated by the move of the show by ABC to 10:00 EST, often considered a TV death slot.
Perhaps these tensions were felt by the show's creators as season 4 was a different brand of television than its predecessors. Using its time slot to take a darker approach and utilizing the TV breaks to create three separate "pods", this is a new beast that throws its well-developed cast into Marvel's magic depths.
This season's three pods are titled as follows: Ghost Rider, LMD, and Agents of Hydra. The first focuses on the introduction of Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna), the man possessed by a flaming skull demon, and the search for the dangerous Darkhold.
The second focuses on Holden Radcliffe and his Life Model Decoys (LMDs) that slowly take over SHIELD. This leads to the final act where the cast are trapped in Radcliffe's virtual reality world, The Framework, and must deal with a world under Hydra control.
Despite Ghost Rider being an incredible visual character, the first felt fairly ordinary for the series, a race against an evil that seeks immeasurable power. However, the way the Darkhold ultimately builds Aida (Mallory Jansen) up as a threat leading to the incredible climax of LMD into the intense final third truly makes this a special season.
Combining dark fantasy with speculative science fiction, this season fully invests in the notion that this is not the same Marvel product as those seen in movie theaters. No more does the series ever seem beholden to the MCU whether in story or style as this is far removed from classic superhero television.
Who knew when this show started we would eventually get Agents of SHIELD: The Terminator Chronicles? (Image Courtesy of: denofgeek.com)
At its core, this is still a series driven not by its ties to Marvel but its ties to its cast. Chloe Bennet has truly grown as an actor over the course of each season to the point where she is now as convincing as an action star as she is an emotionally scarred hero. She is starting to make it easy to forget that the veterans in the series are Ming-Na Wen and Clark Gregg who are good throughout obviously.
Still, this season is about three characters with their actors shining through the strongest: Daisy, Simmons, and Fitz. The best acting in the season might just be Elizabeth Henstridge who is consistently selling emotional distress and make it easy to see how her character has evolved. Ian De Caestecker also impresses particularly shifted to a more monotone and damaged villain role inside the Framework.
Henry Simmons plays the most fun-loving character of the series, but it's easy to root for Mack in the more emotional moments as well. Gabriel Luna (Matador) does a solid job as Robbie Reyes though he never stands out too strongly when not in Ghost Rider mode.
Mallory Jansen (Gallavant) fantastically captures the balance of humanity with machine, playing a variety of roles but primarily standing out as the original Aida seeking control. In one season, she became easily one of the series' best villains.
It's often difficult to say who's at the helms of AoS throughout the season, but Jed Whedon's influence is still clear in the series. He takes over, writing and directing, in perhaps the best episode of the entire series "Self Control" which is a one-hour claustrophobic thriller with Daisy and Simmons vs. LMD May, Coulson, Mack, and Fitz.
The core of this season is control in various forms from that over fate to that over life itself. The Framework so completely captures this theme that it makes every episode intense while the first third flounders in finding that same focus. It is impressive how steady the story builds when in a virtual world with the writers using significant contemporary real world ideas for the scripts.
I was ready to let this series go before this season. While four seasons is not a great length for any TV series, it would have been respectable for a series that never found the popularity you'd expect. However, season four was such a revelation, showing the quality this show can produce, that I can only hope more is to come.
Still, this season is about three characters with their actors shining through the strongest: Daisy, Simmons, and Fitz. The best acting in the season might just be Elizabeth Henstridge who is consistently selling emotional distress and make it easy to see how her character has evolved. Ian De Caestecker also impresses particularly shifted to a more monotone and damaged villain role inside the Framework.
Henry Simmons plays the most fun-loving character of the series, but it's easy to root for Mack in the more emotional moments as well. Gabriel Luna (Matador) does a solid job as Robbie Reyes though he never stands out too strongly when not in Ghost Rider mode.
Mallory Jansen (Gallavant) fantastically captures the balance of humanity with machine, playing a variety of roles but primarily standing out as the original Aida seeking control. In one season, she became easily one of the series' best villains.
It's often difficult to say who's at the helms of AoS throughout the season, but Jed Whedon's influence is still clear in the series. He takes over, writing and directing, in perhaps the best episode of the entire series "Self Control" which is a one-hour claustrophobic thriller with Daisy and Simmons vs. LMD May, Coulson, Mack, and Fitz.
The core of this season is control in various forms from that over fate to that over life itself. The Framework so completely captures this theme that it makes every episode intense while the first third flounders in finding that same focus. It is impressive how steady the story builds when in a virtual world with the writers using significant contemporary real world ideas for the scripts.
I was ready to let this series go before this season. While four seasons is not a great length for any TV series, it would have been respectable for a series that never found the popularity you'd expect. However, season four was such a revelation, showing the quality this show can produce, that I can only hope more is to come.
