Danny Hale reviews the fourth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4…
“We’re making a comeback”. Coulson’s statement this week to Eli regarding the state of S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn’t have been more accurate; ‘Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire’ did a great job of humanising Ghost Rider, reconnecting Daisy with her old team and tying all the recent chaos together into one plot. The episode began with Simmons en route to an apartment viewing whilst speaking to Fitz on the phone. It’s always nice to see these two tackle regular couple’s issues and to hear them so comfortably say “I love you”, especially given everything they’ve been through over the past three seasons. Of course all is not as it seems and Simmons finds herself lured into Daisy’s company. It’s immediately clear that Daisy is in pain; her injuries have evidently gotten much worse. Beyond administering aid to her old friend Simmons soon learns that the Watchdogs have been successfully hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. and using their databases to secure locations of known Inhumans. Quake quickly gains Simmons’ help, possibly due to her clearly damaged demeanour and they both set out to get Daisy access to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s databases in the hope that she can trace where the Watchdogs have been getting in. It was great to see Daisy and Simmons on screen together again and it helped highlight just how much Simmons has grown since last they’ve spoken.
I really appreciate the writers taking another episode for May to get back on her feet after her ordeal in ‘Uprising’. I desperately want May back in the field but it would have cheapened her condition if she bounced back too quickly. As a result we also got to see May interact with Aida. This was great and especially enjoyable that May warmed to her due to her “no nonsense” approach. It makes perfect sense that May would respond to her and I’ll be interested to see how May feels when she learns the truth.
We finally met Eli, Robbie and Gabriel’s incarcerated uncle this week. As it transpires Eli is tied to Lucy and the other members of Momentum. We learn that Eli was brought in as an engineer for Momentum to build a “quantum particle generator” but sensing how dangerous and radical their experiment was he voiced his concerns. He claims Lucy’s husband, Joseph proceeded with the experiment despite Eli’s warnings. The machine ended up malfunctioning and killing Lucy and the others. Eli “snapped” and left Joseph in a coma. He seems quite objective about what he did and appears content with doing his time. Eli’s answers were much appreciated as we still don’t know what exactly happened to Lucy and the others which is keeping me intrigued but we have enough information to tie in Robbie and the Darkhold.
Simmons and Daisy’s search leads them to an old face, James. Since most of our time with James was while he was under Hive’s thrall it was interesting to see him now, an (almost) free man. It seems he has suffered the same withdrawal and come-down that Daisy experienced post-Hive and Simmons claims that S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to help him but he didn’t seem to want it. It’s unclear if it’s just in James’ nature or if his experience with Hive and S.H.I.E.L.D. just left him bitter and angry but either way it’s revealed that he is in line with the Watchdogs and has been willingly aiding them in their hacking. He sets Simmons and Daisy up and with Daisy considerably weakened he nearly bests them. Fortunately and unsurprisingly Ghost Rider turns up to play fire with fire . . . in a fireworks store. I liked how last year when we first saw James use a chain to fight off some Watchdogs soldiers viewers speculated that he may be Ghost Rider or at least Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s version of him yet now here we have Robbie Reyes himself snatch the chain from James and, presumably add it to his own arsenal.
I wasn’t sure how Ghost Rider would play out on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this year, would he be introduced and aptly written out in the interest of giving him his own show? Or would he become a full-fledged member of our team? This week saw him apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. (and not before a great Lola vs. Ghost Rider car chase) but once Coulson gets the measure of Robbie he decides that he can trust him and releases him. As the episode plays out it seems that Ghost Rider can in fact play by the rules as he successfully brings in James, alive. By the end of the episode it looks like Coulson has convinced Robbie to help S.H.I.E.L.D. at least until this business with Momentum is over that is. If he decides to stay or head out alone at that point still remains to be seen.
‘Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire’ brought back James and an inevitable encounter between himself and Ghost Rider also marking Ghost Rider’s first mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. The Darkhold is also becoming an item of much focus and it’s now known to Coulson and our team. Coulson is subsequently able to convince Daisy and Robbie to help them on their quest, neatly tying all our plotlines together. Elsewhere Aida branched out and met May, Coulson and Simmons this week passing as Radcliffe’s assistant with only Simmons identifying her as an android right away. The ensuing conversation between Fitz and Simmons was handled excellently. Now let’s just hope Simmons can ace that lie detector test…
Danny Hale
Originally published October 20, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
