MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD Episode 6 Review


IAIN DE CAESTECKER, ELIZABETH HENSTRIDGE

We had to wait two weeks for the newest installment of my favorite TV show; and it was worth it.  MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD Episode 6, entitled “FZZT,” was the best yet.  Best yet.  No real big reveals; just solid and well done.  Fitz and Simmons were highlighted as well; which was awesome.  It was interesting to see Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker expound on their characters; who were largely bit characters until this point.  We even got a Big Lebowski reference/joke.  Classic.  More tie-ins to the Avenger’s movie and the (kind-of) return of the Chitauri (at least their equipment).  Coulson’s mystery is deepened at the same time some light is shed on his character.  Clark Gregg’s best episode yet by far; great range – although I did just recently catch Much Ado About Nothing (and he was AMAZING in Joss Whedon’s Shakespeare take).  The gist is you should have caught this episode.  We even get a Thor: The Dark World snippet (opening this Thursday fangirls and fanboys).  The short preview was a battle scene between Thor and Malekith; it was pretty cool, if a little short.  If the episodes keep coming like this I will be in fanboy heaven.  If the rumors floating around about the tie-ins to The Dark World are true, then I think we will not be disappointed.  SHIELD is a hit that keeps getting better each and every week.  Golden Age of TV indeed!

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This week’s episode opens in Pennsylvania with a ghost story around a campfire.  Maybe a belated Halloween nod?  Either way, the gathering is rudely interrupted by a weird electro/kinetic death.  Cue the SHIELD crew being summoned.  The crew arrives at the scene and begins their investigation; amidst some tension between Agent Ward and Skye over her betrayal (Brett Dalton and Chloe Bennet, respectively).  The team is stumped; or rather Fitz and Simmons are clueless – from the get go they had a much larger part to play.  With another electro/kinetic burst nearby the group rushes off to find more clues.  During the whole episode Fitz and Gemma go back and forth and we get a good deal of knowledge on their backgrounds and relationship.  And who doesn’t appreciate good nerd arguments; they had some pretty funny and touching moments.  In fact “FZZT” was filled with tender moments and emotion, but more on that later.  When the agents arrive at the new scence they find another floating body similar to the first death.  Fitz and Simmons begin their research while Skye follows the trails and info on the deceased men.  Skye’s info leads the gang to a firehouse where they find a Chitauri helmet taken from the Battle of New York.  Apparently firefighters are big fans of alien memorabilia, who knew?  Fitz and Simmons put together the clues and discover that there is a virus on the old Chitauri helmet.  Nobody is being murdered; people are sick with an alien virus!!  Nice throw back to the Avengers as well.

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Coulson has a nice sit down with an infected firefighter and you can see how it galls him to have to walk out on the guy.  There is no cure yet.  In fact, Coulson’s gang has to transport the helmet to a classified SHIELD facility called the Sandbox.  There a cure may be discovered and the helmet will be safe.  En route, Gemma is infected and given two hours or so to live.  The plane is 3 hours from the Sandbox; let the fun begin.  Phil shows his mettle again and disobeys direct orders to dump his infected ‘cargo.’  Coulson is adamant that Simmons can figure it out and cure herself.  Fitz and Simmons bond through the glass and eventually just lets himself in to help.  He realized Gemma and himself were always with each other; they do everything together (De Caestecker and Henstridge were so convincing and sincere)  I can see these guys hooking up eventually; it would be…cute.  Eventually the nerd duo discovers a cure, except at first the cure doesn’t appear to work on the test rats.  Simmons then decides to sacrifice herself to save everyone else.  Thinking she is doomed, Gemma jumps from the plane to Fitz’s horror.  After a bad-ass TV sky dive scene, Ward manages to save Simmons.  Cue the applause.  It worked quite well.  Everybody was on edge as they thought Simmons would be dead.  The actors did an amazing job throwing this out there for us.  Lots of damn good acting in this slice of SHIELD from everyone.

Agent Coulson’s condition was teased the whole episode.  He admits to dying and admits that it was probably longer than eight seconds.  Phil even shows Agent May his scar on his chest; a nasty thing almost right over his heart.  May reveals that things change you and hints at a near-death or death of her own (maybe we will get her Calvary story).  Coulson admits to feeling different; but all the physicals he took say he is healthy.  He declares that he feels not like himself.  In a wonderful closing scene, Coulson is confronted by his superior, Agent Blake (played by the wonderful and busy Titus Welliver), and was scolded and told his actions were not like him.  He replies that he knows and he is different, get used to it.  It was such a great scene but, unfortunately did nothing to reveal what is really going on.  If there is anything going on (please be Vision!!!  Please)  So more questions and a little more mystery, but that will give us something to do until next week now.  If you are bored, rewatch this episode – it is worth a second or third look, even.

S#!T Talking Central

  • Theo

    This show kind of sucks