Despite the fears of many, the character of Ghost Rider continues to integrate into the overall cast instead of overshadowing the series entirely.  In fact, Ghost Rider himself doesn’t appear in this episode; instead, the focus is on his human host, Robbie Reyes, and his evolving relationship with Daisy.  That, in turn, connects him to the larger family of characters, given that Daisy will always be connected to SHIELD.

 

 

The central action of the episode is triggered by a series of EMP attacks throughout the country, including Los Angeles, where Daisy is hanging out with Robbie and his brother Gabriel.  In yet another smart connection to Civil War, the attacks are supposedly perpetrated by a rogue group of Inhumans protesting the Sokovia Accords.  These leads to riots in the affected cities and mob action by heavily-armed members of the increasingly powerful Watchdogs organization.

 

Daisy and Robbie manage to save Gabriel from one of the rioting mobs, but Daisy exposes herself as Quake in the process (also massively breaking her arm, demonstrating that she still suffers horribly when using her abilities).  In a bit of irony, Gabe has no intention of turning Daisy over to the mob to be hurt or killed, but the price is that she has to leave, because Gabe doesn’t want Robbie to have to deal with super-powered criminals.  It suggests that Gabe doesn’t know about Robbie and Ghost Rider.

 

 

The anti-Inhuman sentiment is underscored in another subplot, in which Yo-Yo is at a bachelorette party when a blackout strikes.  The Watchdogs violently arrive on the scene, and ultimately, Yo-Yo ends up being betrayed by her friends when she tries using her powers to protect an innocent.  As one would expect, Team Coulson arrives just in time to prevent a grisly fate for Yo-Yo, but the psychological damage is done. 

 

The blackout also has some serious implications for Agent May, since Simmons and Radcliffe are in the midst of using technology to try to save May from the visions that are driving her insane.  They want to “reboot” her brain, but that’s a bit difficult during a blackout.  Radcliffe manages to pull together some technology just in time, as one would expect, but it’s hard to watch the usually stoic May in such dire agony.

 

 

By the end of the episode, it is revealed that the Watchdogs were the true architects of the blackout attacks, all part of their anti-Inhuman agenda.  And that forces Director Mace to accelerate the timetable (on Coulson’s advisement) and publicly reveal the resurrection of SHIELD.  It’s a big moment that could foreshadow the return of SHIELD to the MCU films currently in production, which would be a nice way to reintegrate the various MCU properties across the board.