Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns next Tuesday with “The Ghost” (4x01) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific—note the time change!  What do we expect from this season?

What happened last season?

The short answer:  A lot (unfortunately I still haven’t written that recap…).  The long answer:

Coulson and Daisy start putting together the Secret Warriors, a team of Inhumans who can fight the battles against enemies too strong for the regular S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to face.  However, while they are putting their team together, Hydra is also collecting new Inhumans.  When S.H.I.E.L.D. rescues Simmons from the planet Maveth, they discover that an ancient Inhuman also lives on the planet, whom part of ancient Hydra worships as a god.  Hydra, led by Gideon Malick, orchestrates this ancient Inhuman’s return to Earth in the body of Grant Ward (oh yeah, Coulson murdered Ward).  The ancient Inhuman, Hive, gathers his forces and attempts to remake the Earth into a suitable habitation for his own people, the Inhumans.  As part of his plan, he mind-controls Daisy into working for him, though she is saved by Lash.  In the end, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Secret Warriors succeed in defeating Hive at the cost of Lincoln’s life.

The season ends with a flash-forward.  Coulson is no longer the Director.  Daisy has gone rogue.  Fitz and Simmons are working with Radcliffe, a mad scientist on the verge of creating the Life-Model Decoy.

Season 4 Synopsis:

In light of the Sokovia Accords, and with Hydra obliterated, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been legitimized again and no longer needs to operate in the shadows. Since the world presumes that Coulson is dead, the organization needed a new Director (Jason O’Mara) to be the face of the organization. Coulson finds himself back in the role as an agent and teamed with Mack (Henry Simmons), and together they are tasked with tracking down and confirming the presence of Enhanced people, aka Inhumans. They have been trying to track down and capture Daisy (Chloe Bennet), aka Quake, who has gone rogue in an attempt to atone for sins from the past. But with the world believing that Daisy is a dangerous outlaw who has taken down banks and bridges, the new Director has no qualms about taking her down for good. Agent May (Ming-Na Wen) is tasked with training specialist strike teams, and Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) have taken a big step forward in their relationship. But with Simmons’ new promotion as Special Advisor to the Director in Science and Technology, Fitz, as well as her former team members, finds it hard to confide in or trust her since she’s now the Director’s confidant.

Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna) will roar into the lives of Agent Coulson and the team as a junkyard mechanic who can turn on a dime into the terrifying Ghost Rider. Will Robbie be a friend or foe to S.H.I.E.L.D. – as well as the world, itself? Meanwhile, Fitz discovers that socially awkward genius and friend Dr. Radcliffe (John Hannah) has started putting the finishing touches on a new, secret invention.

Continuing plot points:

Based on the flash-forward and synopsis:

• Coulson is not Director anymore; he and Mack have a “buddy cop” routine going
• Who is the new Director as a person?  Where do his loyalties lie?  Is he a puppet (with Coulson more or less in control behind-the-scenes, as with him and Talbot last season)?  Is he another Nick Fury?  Is he working for someone else?
• Daisy off on her own; the team is trying to bring her in
• May training new recruits—including Inhumans?
• Life-Model Decoys—what do they mean for S.H.I.E.L.D.?
• Who is Robbie Reyes?

Other (based on movies and previous seasons):

• Terrigen in the water—it should cover the whole planet by the midseason finale or so
• The aftermath of the Sokovia Accords/Superhuman Civil War
• Magic and the MCU
• ALIENS!!!!!

What I am looking for this season:

• They will really take advantage of the later time slot to push the season darker
• So who is the new Director really?
• I expect us to find out *a* name for him very quickly
• Whether that is his real name and any ulterior motives will probably not come for a while
• Robbie Reyes is in the premiere; my guess is that he will appear about as quickly as Joey did in the season 3 premiere
• I expect his back story to be withheld until the second episode or so (maybe later)
• Quake fighting Ghost Rider would make for an awesome opening for the season!
• They are going to use Ghost Rider as their “in” to the world of magic (connecting with Doctor Strange)
• Magic will probably play an even more prominent role starting mid-to-late October
• Can we get a Sebastian Druid appearance?
• Sometime in the first half of the season, Daisy will return to the fold and be introduced to her new Secret Warriors (please?)
• I don’t think Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will really focus on aliens in the second half of the season—or at least I don’t really want them to—but I expect them to make an appearance
• The LMD plot will have a good resolution
• I kind of expect them to set up a spinoff (or two)

What would be awesome but probably won’t happen:

The Mighty Avengers make a major appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as part of their recruitment process to find their new Captain America—maybe that’s even a reality show, something along the lines of “American Icon”

So what are you looking for in tonight’s episode?  What is there that you really want to see but may not see at all?

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