"I was sure you were dead." "Because I was dead."
Full spoilers for Marvel's Agents of SHIELD continue below.
It's a big week for Agents of SHIELD, which delivered an episode that finally told audiences Ghost Rider's origin story while also serving as a lead-in to the release of Doctor Strange.
Let's start with the cliffhanger first. Assuming Agents of SHIELD didn't just kill off Fitz, Coulson and Robbie (which seems like a pretty easy assumption to make), they were clearly affected in a big way by the explosion set off by Eli Morrow's transition. The question is where they are if they're not dead; wherever they went, they're definitely not still in the Roxxon lab.
That's probably a good thing, because Eli Morrow is only going to cause more and more trouble. Beyond the Ghost Rider origin story (which we'll get to shortly), the big kicker in this episode is learning that Eli is the real cause behind the trouble at Momentum. His quest for power caused the creation of the ghosts, and Coulson & co didn't realize they were just playing into his plan when they got him out of prison. He wanted the god-like powers the Darkhold could help provide, and got them by the end of the episode.
Considering Eli is an antagonist in the comics, it's not much of a surprise to see him take a villainous turn in "The Good Samaritan." Season 4 has been lacking a bad guy, so finding out Eli has been pulling the strings is a nice twist -- especially since he isn't responsible for Robbie getting Ghost Rider powers.
Speaking of which, that entire flashback sequence was fantastic. It had a slow burn as Robbie and Gabe talked through the ill-fated car ride, but the payoff was worth it: Robbie Reyes seemingly got his abilities from Johnny Blaze -- or at least another Ghost Rider. Robbie called the man "the Devil," but it's clear this good samaritan is a Rider from his flaming skull-faced visage, and given the fact he rode up on a motorcycle it certainly seems like it was Johnny (who was hinted at in last week's episode).
The fallout from that reveal, with Robbie showing how powerful his abilities are in front of Coulson and Director Mace, wasn't nearly as exciting as that sequence. It also set up a number of big questions: Does this mean we'll actually get to meet Johnny Blaze later this season? Did he transfer his powers, or just create a second Ghost Rider? Will they have to team up with the Inhumans and SHIELD to take down the super-powered Eli? This scene got me even more excited for the possibilities of what's ahead than the cliffhanger.
Though he wasn't the focal point of this episode, it's worth noting that Jeffrey Mace is again shifting to being more of a problem for Coulson than a help. While it's easy to see Mace's side of things and why harboring Daisy and Robbie would be a big problem, his general antagonism seems to be implying there's more to his actions than he says. Why would he come all the way to get Robbie and Daisy, after all? That being said, the fight between Mace and Robbie was pretty great.
That leads to another big question: where is Simmons? Mace uncerimoniously shipped her off at the beginning of the episode, and Fitz made a point to express concern that she was M.I.A. multiple times. With his mysterious disappearance, chances are her absence is going to be especially important.
I have a few theories about how this cliffhanger will tie into Doctor Strange and vice versa, but we'll wait to dig into them until after the film is out and after we see how everything plays out in next week's episode. The more notable crossover was Agents of SHIELD's shoutout to Agent Carter (RIP) when we learned that Roxxon tied back to Isodyne and the whole dark matter plotline in that show's second season. We miss you, Peggy.
The Verdict
Ghost Rider's backstory reveal was just as great as its premise promised to be, with the appearance of another Ghost Rider (it's totally Johnny Blaze, right?) and a deeper understanding of his abilities. The real kicker of the episode was finding out Uncle Eli is more villain than friend, and learning how he was behind all the trouble at Momentum -- and now he has god-like powers. This episode felt a bit like a mid-season finale, which is likely because it's the lead-in to Doctor Strange. Hopefully next week's episode pays off the Coulson/Fitz/Robbie disappearance in a satisfying way.
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