S.H.I.E.L.D., Nov 5 - F.Z.Z.T.

And in the beginning Josh Whedon was making the “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and the show was good. And on that show was the FitzSimmons duo, and that was good too. And then that duo began to fade into the background, and that was not as good, at least not for the duo – so Whedon decided to make an episode “F.Z.Z.T.” where the duo had all the attention and the rest of the cast took a backseat – and it worked.

At first “F.Z.Z.T.” seems a typical “Agents” episode when someone got their hands on alien technology, and go around killing people, only that is not the case. Instead, a group of volunteer firemen, cleaning up after the invasion of New York City took with them a souvenir – an alien helmet infested with a virus and it – the virus – began to spread from the helmet to the people, eventually killing them, until it reached the team’s own Dr. Simmons. Then, Dr. Simmons and her significant other, Dr. Fitz, had to race against the clock to save the humanity from the virus...starting with Dr. Simmons and the rest of the show’s team, of course. They succeeded, though “F.Z.Z.T.” did have a rather dramatic skydiving rescue of Simmons by Ward – a great piece of action in an otherwise mind-dominated episode. 

Let us be fair. The FitzSimmons duo is thinkers primarily, so any episode with them in the foreground simply has to be scientific – and “F.Z.Z.T.” delivered just that, including the duo’s almost telepathic communication (with each other), their interactions with the rest of their team and their experiments (mostly with lab rats). It was not as glamorous, but this episode set to show that what the duo did in the team was just as important as what the rest of the team are doing, and it worked. 

In the background, meanwhile, was Skye getting back into the team – sort of. The duo are willing to let bygones be bygones, Coulson is being reasonable, May – enigmatic, and Ward is a robot. Still, Simmons’ woes helped Skye and Ward grow closer once more so there is hope for that couple as well.

Coulson, though, had his own problems – with his own mortality, or rather – his brush with death. He got better, but he knows that he is different from who he was and has trouble accepting that. Still, May (whose own past so far is quite enigmatic) may help him get over those woes with some encouragement.

Finally, “F.Z.Z.T.” is also trying to tie-in with the main Avengers-universe by steady mentions of Captain America, Iron Man, etc. Considering that Marvel™ is releasing “Thor: The Dark World” movie later this week I am guessing that those mentions were deemed appropriate by Whedon: the creator of the worlds.

(Speaking of Whedon-worlds, Buffy had her own brush with a virus in BtVS S2, when she had to get sick in order to kill a child-slaying demon. Fancy that!)

So: A FitzSimmons-centered episode (something that really needed to be aired) that had all ads and disses of a FitzSimmons-centered episode. Skye is getting back into the team’s good graces, Coulson has overpowered his inner demons and S.H.I.E.L.D. superiors and the real world is about to see the greatness of Thor the thunder god (Marvel™ version) in recent future. Neat!