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

Hey there, gang! Let's talk TV. Yeah yeah no huge fan fare for a change. So this time around I thought we would check back with those wacky kids of S.H.I.E.L.D. and see what they're up to.

Operating in the darkness as they did for two years, Coulson and crew are hard at work trying to re-credit S.H.I.E.L.D. as it is being viewed under a microscope. With new management and a few surprises that occurred our team has had some restructure. This is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4.

Not Nicolas Cage.

After the near devastating effects of Inhumans all over the planet, the loss of one she cared for, Daisy "Skye" Johnson ( Chloe Bennett of Nashville, The Birthday Boys, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast and Jake and the Never Land Pirates) is on the lam, investigating weird happenings and serial killings in her old stomping grounds of L.A. Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg of The Spanish Prisoner, Magnolia, State and Main, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, Lego Marvel's Avengers and Thrilling Adventure Hour Live) steps down from being director of SHIELD as he is a "dead man" as far as public records are concerned and it might be a bit jarring having a man back from the dead due to an alien blood transfusion.

He and Mack (Henry Simmons of NYPD Blue, Taxi, No Good Deed, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) spend most of their downtime trying to locate Daisy and disprove she is the one slaughtering criminals of various background and level.

Agent May (Ming-An Wen of Street Fighter: The Movie, Spawn: The Animated Series, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Mulan, The Batman, SGU Stargate Universe, Eureka and April Rain) runs her own strike force, which means those boys and girls got even more vigorous training.

I'm so baked.

With new director Jeffery Mace (Jason O' Mara of Vegas, Son of Batman, Batman vs. Robin, Justice League: War, Sons of Liberty, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Infamous) being elected for the position of director of S.H.I.E.L.D., there are some that do not feel they can fully trust him yet. I agree. For one, he's mostly a D.C.and not a Marvel. With the Inhumans that have survived the onslaught of Lash's attacks, most are in hiding. A new threat emerges as everyone was just getting comfortable with the lulling peaces as the dangerous grimoire (spellbook of dark arts, necromancy and demonic incantations) known as the Darkhold is loose in the world of humanity once more.

As if that wasn't bad enough, rumors of a spirit of vengeance is roaming L.A.wiping gang bangers, drug dealers and anything else it deems evil. Yup a Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna of Bernie, Matador, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Patti and Marina, Rosewood and Dark/Web) is pretty predominant in this season so expect some decent effects and zero Nick Cage camera mugging.

With everything hanging in the balance once more, how will the agents deal with magic, sorcery and depths of Hell? Well thankfully this is a Whedon production so all these particular problems can easily be solved. Call in Buffy. Or you know, watch the season.

Visual effects wise, you can tell they poured in the money for just the Ghost Rider work alone, we have practical effects, explosions, gun play and some nifty gadgets as Coulson is a gadget guru.

Hydra appears to no longer be the bad guy of the week and frankly I think we all got a wee bit tired of hearing "Hail Hydra!" as often as we did.

Bad car accident or revenge of three bean salad?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2

How do gentle readers. We are back reviewing some popular TV series because... not really getting any feedback on what I am to be reviewing so here we are again. Well the fall came and dunking three multi-billion dollar flying aircraft carriers into the Potomac might have shaken the American people, its military and virtually every government on the planet's faith but the work must continue and resources are thin. Hydra funded by shell corporations, multi-conglomerates, satellite and probably even Cox Communications (They seem shady) posing towards world domination (So sorry Cobra, but you missed your window), who can stand up to these threats against the planet? Well I would say the Avengers but TV cannot afford those salaries. This is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2.

OoOoo...gang plank.

Special Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg of The Spanish Prisoner, Magnolia, State and Main, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, Lego Marvel's Avengers and Thrilling Adventure Hour Live) has been promoted to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division....of course in the sixties it was known as Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage Law-Enforcement Division) which would seem like an worthwhile promotion except, Hydra (Ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world...wait that's Cobra. Meh.) took their losses in Captain America: The Winter Soldier but struck a hell of a blow to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s credibility and now the surviving members of S.H.I.E.L.D.must operate under the cover of the shadows with less freedom than they had, jurisdiction and manpower.

 

Remember, this is the Fuhrer's highest order...next to the eugenics, werewolves and aliens..

With ops being ran through Agent May (Ming-An Wen of Street Fighter: The Movie, Spawn: The Animated Series, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Mulan, The Batman, SGU Stargate Universe, Eureka and April Rain) stepping up as second-in-command as well as CO for Agent Skye (Chloe Bennett of Nashville, The Birthday Boys, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast and Jake and the Never Land Pirates) they have their hands full fixing the mess Hydra created by released super powered beings, stolen tech ranging from extra-terrestrial and super genius level to ensuing mass hysteria. Armed with a handful of tech, contacts and more than a few good men and women, S.H.I.E.L.D. Tries to stay on top of things as best as possible. Dogged on their tails is Brigadier General Talbot (Adrian Pasdar of Near Dark, Top Gun, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Burn Notice, Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United, Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel's Avengers Assemble) hell bent to put the whole crew behind bars for being associated however indirectly with Hydra and brought up on war crimes. Upon these adventures a mysterious artifact of alien origin leads the team to a hidden city with a race of human/alien hybrids called Inhumans, that have been in seclusion for generations, fearing to live a normal life among the non-powered humans.

Can S.H.I.E.L.D. Bring them to the light and assure them protection? Is humanity ready to accept the existence of alien life? Will Hydra find them first and use them as bio weapons?

First off, this is a huge change up in story, the whole being unable to operate in the light of day, bringing covert ops back to the original source. S.H.I.E.L.D. Has collapsed and been rebuilt in the comics multiple times it is not even funny. Our stunts, practical effects and CGI are an excellent blend to the theme. Several folks are honked off that lesser known villains and heroes of Marvel are being tinkered with to fit the story and again I say, "Tough niblets." The fact these characters are getting screen time finally is a miracle enough as it is.

Hell several of these stories are from the original source material that Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby did in the sixties. Joss Whedon's writing crew has really been on the ball with developing relationships, back stories and complex opening subplot stories. So if you want some Marvel action that doesn't necessary have folks running around in spandex but you love the whole spy vs spy motif, give it a view. FYI if you are sick of hearing, "Hail Hydra", then you may want to skip the continuing series. Cockroaches don't have this much life span I swear.

So does that leather bind?