Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Blog 1.6 F.Z.Z.T.

Writers: Paul Zbyszewski,

Director: Vincent Misiano,

Starring: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Titus Welliver, Vincent Laresca,

Synopsis: A camp is terrorised by an unseen force which leaves a man dead, hovering in the air.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back after a week’s hiatus that instead saw the cinematic release of Marvel’s THOR: THE DARK WORLD on the big screen. It’s a film I’m yet to see, but reviews have most certainly been mixed. Well, they can’t all be winners, but surprisingly (at least to me) the latest episode in the Marvel based TV show had some moments I would simply describe as stunning. This was also in the week where Marvel and Netflix announced a further 4 TV shows based on Marvel properties were in the works, so Agents really needed to bring their A game if they wanted to secure viewers for future endeavours.

It didn’t seem as though it was going to be a memorable one at the outset though, with a campfire setting more reminiscent of Scooby Doo or Are You Afraid Of The Dark?. Some tales of ghost stories are shared before things actually start floating in the air with the head of the campers then found dead and floating midair. The team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents must then investigate such a strange occurrence. What was unexpected was how quickly the plot seemed to move along, it was almost all wrapped up by the halfway point, with this and a subsequent (apparent) murder linked to an alien virus brought to Earth via a Chitauri helmet. This supplied Coulson and Writer Zbyszewski with an incredibly affecting moment that surpassed any emotional element from any Marvel film so far. Coulson was left talking to a man he had no way of helping, and could do nothing but try and make him feel calm about death. The way a connection between two characters that had never met was qickly established puts many long running shows to shame, and even made me question why I cared more about guest star Vincent Laresca than any of the other actors and their characters.

Fortunately the show proved me wrong, as we still had some way to go before the credits rolled. And how exactly can a show dealing with viruses that has hit an emotional peak get any bigger? Simple! Give the virus to one of the main characters. Now I’ve been really harsh on the interchangeable double of Fitz and Simmons over the last 5 episodes, and I don’t think I’ve done so unfairly. Their characters were annoying, stereotypical, exposition dumpers, and having one of those in a show is fine, but two was almost painful. But again, Zbyszewski and director Vincent Misiano take it upon themselves to separate these two characters and make them the focus of the episode. Their relationship and their fear is explored, with Fitz having some flirting time with Skye and refusing to enter a room with a dead body. Simmons is the unlucky one to be struck down by the virus and the final half of the show is heartbreaking.

Now most shows of this ilk, at one time or another, have an episode where a main character is struck down by some kind of virus, but there is usually never any sense of threat that they may actually die. I was convinced Simmons was actually going to die, in no small part because she was so similar to Fitz. I considered her expendable, but with Elizabeth Henstridge’s phenomenal performance, I certainly didn’t want her to go. It was the subtlety in the dialogue that made this dialogue so powerful. With Simmons asking Coulson to tell her dad before her mum because she’d take it better hearing it from him being a real gut punching moment. The show even took it to the extreme of flirting with true tragedy as Simmons throws herself from the plane moments after Fitz has discovered the anti-serum did actually work.

Thankfully Simmons was saved in an epic action sequence in which Ward, proving himself a true man of action, threw himself after Simmons, but not before Fitz fumbled around with a parachute in a touching and comical fashion.  It truly was edge of your seat action, and I would have no qualms placing this episode above some of the Marvel films. There are still some kinks to work out, such as the continuously forced references to previous Marvel properties, but this was a fantastic surprise in a mediocre series. Hopefully it will continue to hit the right notes in the future.

Best Bit: Being the best episode so far is a real plus, but the stand-out moment was Fitz and Simmons throwing off their shackles of annoyance and delivering some hard hitting emotion. It created real feeling and actually seemed as though the show may kill off a major character just 6 episodes in, and in a very tragic way as well.

Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. hits Channel 4 every Friday at 8pm.