‘Agents Of SHIELD’ Pays Tribute To The Late Powers Boothe In Its Shocking Season Finale

WARNING: Spoilers for the season finale of Agents Of SHIELD ahead. Be careful not to step on anything.

The latest season of Agents Of SHIELD came to a close on Tuesday, giving the show a proper sendoff from Tuesday nights as it heads to Friday with Inhumans and allowing it to revisit some old favorites. The main favorite that seemed to excite everybody online was the return of Ghost Rider. His entrance into the show at the start of this season was definitely an injection of life into the series that some folks might’ve given up on. It also allowed the series to introduce not only the Robbie Reyes version of the character but also the original version — with hints that we might get a Netflix series for the character.

But before we look at more cool Ghost Rider stuff, we need to get the sad bit out of the way. While it’s not a major tribute, it does matter when you lose a legend like Powers Boothe. I missed the chance to talk him up a bit when he initially passed away but the Agents Of SHIELD finale gives a second chance.

The show posted a short tribute to the late actor on screen during Tuesday’s finale, keeping it simple for a guy who probably deserved so much more. Southern Comfort, Extreme Prejudice, and Red Dawn alone are worth an entire half hour of the show. I’ll accept some small words on the screen, though.

Now from here on there might be spoilers, so watch out.

First off, let’s just say how badass Ghost Rider has been portrayed in this series. It might be a bit strange to say about a show that used to be the addition or filler in between Avengers movies — with some connections that Marvel Studios seems to want to bury. Bringing a known character into the mix pumped some much-needed life into the show and seemed to give it that vibe we see on DC Comics’ offerings over on The CW.

All shows that need a lift should add a flaming skull biker with a chain to their show. Have him busting through heads and creating havoc throughout and those ratings will bust through the roof. Even Coulson got a taste of the Rider inside him during the show.

Meanwhile, the show’s shocking ending seems to indicate that next season will head into space in some manner. A recap over at Bustle seems to think that this is Prison 42, a special prison that is in the Negative Zone during the Civil War event in the comics but might end up in space within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s if they’re even still acknowledging the series exists in the same realm as the films.

The space setting also raises a few interesting questions about what the show will do in relation to Avengers: Infinity War. Since the show won’t be returning until midseason on ABC, we’ll be ramping up to the massive Marvel blowout we’ve been working towards all this time. I certainly don’t expect anybody to show up in the movies at this point but we could be getting a whiff of whatever cosmic hijinks the Avengers will be using once the fight for those Infinity Gems begins.

That’s a longshot, but the space setting just seems like too much of a coincidence. Perhaps that’s what they want you to think.

Also, as many fans on Twitter pointed out, the season ended with a nice meal at a diner before the team was arrested. It’s that little Whedon touch that seems to stretch from sibling to sibling and it’s another loose connection to those Avengers. They’re still out there thinking Coulson is dead, the true evil deed of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(Via Bustle / Entertainment Weekly)