Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Round Table: "F.Z.Z.T"

at .

Things got more emotional than we ever expected from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 6, as a key member of the team had to decide between jumping to her death or letting an alien virus take out an entire plane.

Our TV Fanatics Kate Brooks, Doug Wolfe, and Christine Orlando are joined below by Craig from ShieldTV.net to debate if there's romance afoot on the S.H.I.E.L.D. team and if one member is more expendable than the rest?

Gather around and add your answers to ours down below.

----------------------------------

What was your favorite scene?

Kate: Definitely the dramatic lab scene between Fitz and Simmons, it was emotional and pulled on my heart strings!! They're so close and I don't think either of them would know what to do without each other. I love them, I ship them, end of story.

Craig: Can I pick two? I ask because there's the heart-wrenching choice, which would be Fitz watching as Simmons seemingly is going to fall to her death; but I'd also have to include the "fun" one, which would be everyone mocking Grant Ward and his seriousness. I literally was laughing out loud, in a good way, and it really made me like the characters, if they see Ward as much like he's a stick in the mud as I do.

Doug:  The intensity of the exchange between Coulson and the doomed firefighter was electric. You could tell that the firefighter was drinking in Coulson's words, as anyone would - if they knew they were about to die, and someone was telling them what to expect after their last breath.

Christine: Surprisingly it was Ward sharing his feelings with Skye about wishing the enemy was some evil superpower that he could fight because that way he'd have a chance at protecting his team. It was the first time I really cared about Grant Ward all season because it was a glimpse into how he views himself in connection to his team.

Is Fitz romantically interested in Simmons?

Kate: I think it's the other way around. At the beginning of the episode you see that Fitz has a crush on Skye but towards the end when he realizes it's Simmons whose been by his side the whole time, if he does have feelings for her - that's going to be where it starts.

Craig: I'm sure he loves her. Romantically? Before this episode, I would have said no. But maybe now, yes. And it might have taken nearly losing her for him to realize it.

Doug:  Contrary to what Craig and Kate had to say, I'm not feeling any chemistry between them.  Their dynamic seems more of a sibling thing than a romantic deal. If Fitz is interested in anyone it would have to be Skye - albeit in a forlorn sort of wistful way.  I think he feels he's out of her league.

Christine: Before this I would have said no but the look on his face at the end made me think things might be changing. Almost losing her may have pushed his feelings from platonic to romantic. I still think it's a big question mark though and only time will tell if it leads anywhere.

Does May truly believe that the only change in Coulson is the trauma of his near death experience? Do you?

Kate: It was near death, he died. May relates to the incident, which has sparked my curiosity. In the end, she probably believes it as much as I do - they did something to Coulson that no one is talking about. I think May either knows what happened or knows something went down. I hope we start chatting about it soon.

Craig:  I think she suspects something is up, but I'm not sure even she knows what is really going on. She might know more than she's letting on, or she might feel it's not her place to investigate more. She seems suspicious, though, to be sure.

Doug: No, and no. I think May knows more than what she's letting on.  Her blithe explanation about how someone can't go through the kind of trauma that he did and not change seemed like a diversion.  He already suspects there's more to the story because he doesn't believe he was just dead for only eight seconds.

Christine: Everything May said made perfect sense and I loved the scene where she showed his scars to drive home her point. That said, I wonder if May is being used to "handle" Coulson and keep him from asking too many questions about what they did to him to keep him alive. Every week I find myself hoping they give us more clues to the truth.

Where do you rank the case of the floating bodies amongst the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D cases this season.

Kate: If this wasn't so "alien" and included floating bodies, it could have been closely related to a Criminal Minds episode. I liked the twist of once again, bringing up the attack in New York. It addressed volunteer firefighters going to help clean NYC. Anyway, I really liked it.

Craig: This was by far the best episode since the pilot. It was very X-Filesy, and I loved the connections to the Chitauri and the Avengers movie.

Doug: I was a little disappointed with this case, actually - so, not very high.  An alien *virus*? I think what viewers are looking for are actual aliens.  People with super powers. Flesh and blood friends and foes with whom to grapple.  Guess that means I'm a little empathetic with Ward on that score.

Christine: I'm with Craig. This was my favorite episode so far. I liked that it used the Chitauri aliens from the movie and it all had a very The X-files feel to it. As a big fan of that show, I loved it.

If we did lose one member of the SHIELD team, who would you miss the most? Who would you miss the least?

Kate: Unfair question! I'd really miss them all, honestly. If I had to pick one, I'd say May - she's so mysterious that it's a little boring to me right now.  Once we learn more about her, I know she'll be a very strong character.

Craig:  Here's the funny thing about that: Before this episode, and even seeing East Coast Tweets about "FZZT," I would have been okay with Fitz and/or Simmons going. When I was East Coast-spoiled, I even wondered why they didn't just off Simmons, to give the show some higher stakes. When I finally saw the episode, I was much more okay with the idea of Simmons making it, even if the means of her rescue bordered on silly.

I do think the show should up the stakes by killing some people, though. Yep, I'm one of THOSE people. Grant Ward might be the first... with no offense to Brett Dalton; Ward is just bland. I'm sure that's what he's there for, but he doesn't work out for me.

Doug:   We can probably start by taking Coulson off of the table for this question - he's too integral to even consider.  That being said, I'd miss Skye the most.  She's the bold and emotional heart of the team, who can make people laugh and think twice.  She's the polar opposite of Ward, which makes the two of them a great team mates, if not an actual romantic couple.

The person I'd miss the least would be Fitz.  I like the guy but his constant squabbling with Simmons gets a bit irritating.  (Okay - a LOT irritating.)  But the season's still early and there's room for character development - some of which we saw in this episode.  So I'm not ready to let anyone go just yet.

Christine: Anyone who's watched other Joss Whedon shows knows that this is a possibility. Before this episode I probably would have been OK with Ward or Fitz being offed. Now, I think I'd miss all of them so I'm really hoping this isn't a plan for the near future.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.

Show Comments
Tags: ,