With many of our weekly-reviewed shows coming up, we thought it would be fun to predict what would will and what we want to happen this season. That way we can complain when they become too predictable or too reliant on fan service, or when things don’t go the way we want. Funny how it works like that.
So without further ado, here’s our Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 Predictions.
What I think will happen: Season 4 is a make-or-break season for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I’ve already made it clear in my State of Marvel’s ABC Shows article that the show is on shaky ground. That’s even truer now with it moved to 10 PM. In all honesty, ABC will probably cancel it in the spring. This might be one reason behind Ghost Rider’s (Gabriel Luna) appearance. It could generate some much needed interest in the show. Since ABC has been tight-lipped with the upcoming season, unlike how The CW has been with its comic book shows, how much of it Ghost Rider is going to be in is anybody’s guess. My guess is that he won’t be the primary focus. The primary focus early on will be Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the team hunting Daisy (Chloe Bennet), though apparently they will intersect to some degree, as Daisy will fight Ghost Rider. Each season has been 22 episodes. Expect Ghost Rider to be in up to 10 episodes, maybe more. However, don’t think that this will change the tone of the show too much. Ghost Rider is a demonic force, but this is still ABC.
So what will happen in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s search for Daisy? Well, as evidenced by the Season 3 finale, she will straddle some ethical lines, but it won’t be anything too major. The last part of the previous season was all about her doing bad things and alienating herself from the team by following Hive (Brett Dalton). Even though he manipulated her into doing so, it was pretty telling that she was willing to defect to his side again. Her objectives are murky now but I’m sure they’re well-intentioned. Other things that will likely happen are Coulson will, at some point, regain the title of S.H.I.E.L.D. director (no clue who his replacement, played by Jason O’Mara, is) and Dr. Radcliffe (John Hannah) and his cybernetics will show up occasionally. Even though he’s apparently working with the good guys now, I still don’t totally trust Radcliffe. He’s a wild card. I wouldn’t be surprised if he caused more trouble this season. Either way, we’ll see his Life Model Decoys in action.
What I want to happen: I’ve made it no secret that I wish Marvel would incorporate the movies into the show and vice versa. I’m not going to rehash that. I will say that I want to see Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to take some risks. I hope it doesn’t settle the hunt for Daisy and Coulson’s demotion too early. This late in the game the status quo can be broken. It might even generate more interest in the show. This might also mean doing some things that would anger some fans. Killing off a popular character is a gamble but handled correctly it could be a success. I’ve seen it happen on more-watched shows than this. It might even be good to make it about getting revenge or justice afterwards. The characters that come to mind the most are Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Jemma (Elizabeth Henstridge), who are cursed, according to Fitz. There would be something poetic in that, plus it would avoid ruining their relationship, something that can happen after a will-they-won’t-they couple gets together. My vote is Fitz. But that’s just an idea. If any of their hardcore fans are reading this now, they’re probably radiating with hatred for me for even suggesting it.
I guess my biggest wish is that the show will finally find the right balance between comic and serious, episodic and serialized. The show has drifted further away from the lighter nature of the early episodes, and it did even more so when Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) and Hunter (Nick Blood) left. I’m perfectly happy leaving them off the show without a spin-off, though it could utilize the spin-off storyline. It just needs to add a little humor back into the mix. As for serialized vs. episodic, the show does tend to do serialized a lot better than episodic, so it should continue to rely on that more. But episodic will help it if it can get syndicated and it can be great if the writers really think about what characters they utilize. There’s probably some cool villains and heroes in the Marvel pantheon that haven’t been adapted yet. In general, I have high hopes for this season, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Season 4 premieres September 20 at 10 PM on ABC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzIGi5xS0ag
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Aaron Sarnecky is Pop-Break’s television editor and covers Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, among other things. He is a graduate of Rowan University with a degree in television and film. He probably remembers that show you forgot existed. Follow him on Twitter: @AaronSarnecky
