It’s that time again! Now at 10:00 PM which should allow for more “adult” plot lines. At least there was a lot of blood splatter in this episode.
We start with Daisy chasing after some goons and beating them up rather handily when a car approaches; who could it be? After some pyrotechnics and blood the mysterious driver takes off with a captive and Quake disappears into the night sky. Back at base we see Coulson and Mac are now field operatives who aren’t allowed anywhere near Daisy, May is training a SWAT team, Fitz is in the lab, and Simmons is now the Director’s (unseen and unnamed) right hand. Tension abounds, things aren’t like they used to be back in the good old days. Mac and Coulson head to LA to covertly search for Daisy, tipped off by May. YoYo has the hots for Mac something awful and is pretty up front about it. She appears to be just a contractor with her own agenda now, not part of SHIELD. But Mac stays true to his orders and nothing happens. YoYo meets up with Daisy on a city bus and gives her some meds to help with the broken bones from overusing her powers. They appear to be in contact semi-regularly.
The Chinese gang (who really cares where they came from) investigate the haul from the truck heist that started this whole caper, with Mac and Coulson observing electronically. When they open the box things get a bit weird and Mac calls in for help. Coincidentally, May and Mayettes arrive at exactly that time (Mac looking at his radio in disbelief is priceless, he gets the best takes on the show) and clean up the mess. The ghost that came out of the box and caused all the mayhem disappears without anyone noticing it. Daisy starts tracking down this Ghost Rider as he’s known, who she thinks is a serial killer. She figures out where to look and meets Robbie Reyes at the junkyard where he works and a fight breaks out. Daisy holds her own until Robbie goes full on Ghost Rider. He says he kills only people who deserve it, Daisy says she deserves to die but Ghost Rider thinks otherwise and leaves. The next day she’s watching Robbie help his paralyzed brother and realizes that there’s more going on with this guy than just a vigilante.
Fitz goes over to Radcliff’s house to watch a football game and meets Aida, the Life Model Decoy he has built. Fitz is horrified, but eventually comes around to the side of perfecting it before they tell the director. Since Simmons is going completely by the book he’s now keeping secrets from her. Back on the plane, May briefly sees Coulson go all dark and scary (just like the Chinese in the warehouse) but assumes it’s because she’s tired.
Not a bad starting episode but nothing wildly impressive. I’m still not clear on this take on the Ghost Rider - spirit of vengeance and all that. Quake is a fairly boring character - and she wears way to much dark makeup. She’s my least favorite part of the show. The intrigue at SHIELD is mildly interesting; let’s see how it all plays out. I hope the new director is an interesting character. Right now the only really interesting characters on the show are Mac, Coulson, and Radcliff.
