FZZT

"FZZT" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., it follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they investigate a series of deaths caused by an alien virus. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by Paul Zbyszewski, and directed by Vincent Misiano.

"FZZT" originally aired on

Plot

In

At the firehouse they discover a third firefighter, Tony Diaz, who can hear a strange humming sound. Satellites pick up a third electrical event at the firehouse, as May discovers a

In an end tag, Blake confronts Coulson about his insubordination, warning him that he could lose his team if he is not careful.

Production

Development and writing

In October 2013, Marvel revealed that the sixth episode would be titled "FZZT", and would be written by

Main cast members

Filming occurred from September 12 to 19, 2013.

For the scene where Coulson talks to the dying Diaz, composer Bear McCreary and the series' producers wanted to leave the scene mostly without music, feeling that Gregg's performance did enough on its own. Once Coulson "confesses that he once died, the orchestral strings sneak in with an elegant adagio." The scene ends with "a solitary flugel horn solo" giving a statement of Coulson's musical theme, which McCreary felt was reminiscent of a military funeral and highlighted Coulson's "sense of honor".^[5]

When it is revealed that Simmons is infected with the virus, McCreary felt that the most important element of the sequence was that the relationship between Fitz and Simmons, who had been treated as a "single unit" up until this episode, was at stake. McCreary subsequently introduced a "FitzSimmons" theme, starting as "a handful of [sparse] chords" that build throughout the episode, picking up energy and gradually weaving into a definitive theme. When the characters discover a cure for Simmons, the beats per minute of the theme increase to reflect Fitz's excitement. This is followed by a montage of the pair working on the cure. McCreary noted that montages are often scored with "montage music", but he felt that focusing on the two characters and their relationship was important for the sequence, and so chose "an even faster version of their theme" instead.^[5]

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

The alien helmet that is carrying the virus in the episode belonged to a Chitauri, the alien race that fought for Loki in Marvel's The Avengers.^[6]

Release

Broadcast

"FZZT" was first aired in the United States on ABC on November 5, 2013.^[7] It was aired alongside the US broadcast in Canada on CTV,^[8] while it was first aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 on November 8, 2013.^[9] It premiered on the Seven Network in Australia on November 15, 2013.^[10]

Home media

The episode, along with the rest of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 9, 2014. Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.^[11] On November 20, 2014, the episode became available for streaming on Netflix.^[12]

Reception

Ratings

In the United States the episode received a 2.5/7 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 2.5 percent of all households, and 7 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 7.15 million viewers.^[7] The Canadian broadcast gained 1.60 million viewers, the third highest for that day and the twelfth highest for the week.^[8] The United Kingdom premiere had 2.23 million viewers^[9] and in Australia, the premiere had 1.5 million viewers, including 0.7 million timeshifted viewers.^[10] Within a week of its release, the episode was watched by 10.93 million U.S. viewers,^[13] above the season average of 8.31.^[14]

Critical response

Eric Goldman of IGN scored the episode an 8 out of 10, praising "well-needed" development of Fitz and Simmons, the skydiving scene (despite what he calls "the less than stellar FX"), and the fact that Coulson could not save Diaz, while criticizing the amount of MCU connections, stating that the series is "Still too tied to prior Marvel movie MacGuffins."^[6] Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club graded the episode a "B", saying "Despite my problems with the series, I still look forward to watching S.H.I.E.L.D. every week. It does a good job capturing the thrill of the big screen on a TV budget ... the dialogue is breezy, and the cast becomes more appealing with each new episode. There's plenty of room for this show to grow, but I'm not ready to write it off yet."^[15] Alan Sepinwall at HitFix called "FZZT" "the first installment of S.H.I.E.L.D. to suggest the creative team was aware of what's not working, even if they couldn't solve every problem in a single installment", feeling that the episode made several positive steps forward in terms of character development.^[16] Will Salmon gave the episode 3.5 stars out of 5 for SFX, praising the performances of Henstridge and Gregg, but calling the episode clichéd, and concluding that "by fleshing out the characters, it does feel like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is now more than just a flashy brand extension."^[17]

Dan Casey writing for

While talking about the score of the episode, composer McCreary noted the parallels between the firefighter victims "who went to New York to help people and ended up contracting an incurable illness that will kill [them]" and the plight of the first responders to the September 11 attacks.^[5] Kevin Garcia, while writing for the Observation Deck at io9, noted that "Marvel does have a few significant firefighters. Most notably, although not well-remembered, are the heroes from Call of Duty", who were themselves inspired by the real-world heroes who responded to the September 11 attacks.^[21]

References