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"FZZT" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American television series ''
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, ...
'' Based on the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
organization
S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...
, it follows
Phil Coulson Agent Phillip J. "Phil" Coulson ( ) is a fictional character portrayed and voiced by Clark Gregg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Coulson is depicted as a high-ranking member of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and longt ...
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 The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
(MCU) and acknowledges the franchise's films. The episode was written by
Paul Zbyszewski Paul Zbyszewski is an American television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on the series '' Lost'' and '' Day Break'', and he is the creator of ''Day Break''. He also wrote the feature film '' After the Sunset''. Career Zbys ...
, and directed by
Vincent Misiano Vincent Misiano is an American television director. He has directed episodes of 45 different series, including Chicago PD, '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', ''The Blacklist'', ''The West Wing'', ''Prison Break'', ''Medium'' and ''Third Watch''. He wa ...
.
Clark Gregg Robert Clark Gregg Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He portrayed Phil Coulson in films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008 to 2024, and voiced Coulson in an animated tele ...
reprises his role as Coulson from the film series, and is joined by series regulars
Ming-Na Wen Ming-Na Wen (; born November 20, 1963) is an American actress and model. She has won multiple awards throughout her career, including an Annie Award and a Saturn Award, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was honore ...
,
Brett Dalton Brett Patrick Dalton (born January 7, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Grant Ward and Hive in ABC's series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', as well as Detective Mark Trent in the NBC procedural drama series '' Found'', an ...
,
Chloe Bennet Chloé Wang (; born April 18, 1992), known professionally as Chloe Bennet, is an American actress, model and singer. She starred as Daisy Johnson / Quake in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020) and voiced Yi ...
,
Iain De Caestecker Iain De Caestecker ( ; born 29 December 1987) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying Leopold Fitz/The Doctor in the television series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020). He is also known for his roles in ''Coronation Street ...
, and
Elizabeth Henstridge Elizabeth Frances Henstridge (born 11 September 1987) is an English actress, model and director. She starred as Jemma Simmons in the ABC superhero action drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020), set within the Marvel Cinematic ...
. The episode draws comparisons to the plight of first responders to the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
by showing firefighters (with guest star
Vincent Laresca Vincent Laresca (born January 21, 1974) is an American actor. Laresca is of Panamanian and Italian descent. He first appeared in film in the 1992 movie ''Juice,'' as Radames. Since then, he has appeared in many popular films, including '' The De ...
playing one) dying as a consequence of responding to the Battle of New York, as seen in ''
Marvel's The Avengers ''Marvel's The Avengers'' (titled ''Marvel Avengers Assemble'' in the United Kingdom and Ireland and commonly referred to as simply ''The Avengers'') is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same na ...
''. The episode also features a major skydiving sequence, realized by combining live footage with CGI, as part of the development of the characters
Leo Fitz Leopold James "Leo" Fitz is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the pilot epi ...
and
Jemma Simmons Jemma Anne Simmons is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the 2013 pilot episode ...
, who received their own musical theme for the episode. It also sees
Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in '' Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O'Phelan in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television ser ...
reprise his role from the Marvel One-Shot ''
Item 47 ''Item 47'' is a 2012 American direct-to-video short film featuring the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division), produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios ...
'' as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
Felix Blake ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created for American Broadcasting Company, ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervent ...
. "FZZT" originally aired on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
on November 5, 2013, and according to
Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, was watched by 10.93 million viewers within a week of its release. The episode received a positive critical response, with the character development praised, especially that of the characters Fitz and Simmons.


Plot

In
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, a
Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...
leader is killed in an apparent freak lightning incident after investigating a mysterious humming sound. His body is found floating above the ground, warranting the intervention of Agent
Phil Coulson Agent Phillip J. "Phil" Coulson ( ) is a fictional character portrayed and voiced by Clark Gregg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Coulson is depicted as a high-ranking member of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and longt ...
and his team of
S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...
agents. Agents
Leo Fitz Leopold James "Leo" Fitz is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the pilot epi ...
and
Jemma Simmons Jemma Anne Simmons is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the 2013 pilot episode ...
are unable to determine the cause of death. Satellites pick up another lightning event not far from the first, and Coulson, with Agents
Melinda May Melinda Qiaolian May, also known as The Cavalry, is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appea ...
and
Grant Ward Grant Anthony Ward (born 5 December 1994) is an English professional Association football, footballer who last played as a midfielder for Bristol Rovers F.C., Bristol Rovers. He has previously played for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspu ...
, arrives at the source to find a second body, floating like the first. Civilian hacker and S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee
Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...
discovers that the two victims were both volunteer firefighters from the same station who responded to the Battle of New York. 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
Chitauri The Chitauri () are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, specifically in the Ultimate Marvel universe (Earth-1610). They were created by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch in p ...
helmet in Diaz's possession—a souvenir from the Battle of New York. Diaz and the other victims had been cleaning "rust" from the helmet several nights earlier, and Simmons deduces that they were all infected with an alien virus. Coulson helps Diaz come to terms with his situation, before leaving him to die. Aboard the ''Bus'' (the plane that serves as the agents' mobile base) the team are transporting the helmet to the Sandbox, a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility located in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, when Coulson realizes that Simmons has been infected as well. She gives herself only 2 hours to live, but the plane is above the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
and at least 3 hours from land. Agent
Felix Blake ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created for American Broadcasting Company, ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervent ...
at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters orders Coulson to dump her off the plane rather than risk the safety of the rest of the team, but Coulson refuses. Rather than let the rest of the team die, Simmons jumps out of the plane herself; moments later, Fitz discovers an antidote for the virus. Ward jumps after her with a parachute and the cure, saving her life. 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
Paul Zbyszewski Paul Zbyszewski is an American television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on the series '' Lost'' and '' Day Break'', and he is the creator of ''Day Break''. He also wrote the feature film '' After the Sunset''. Career Zbys ...
, with
Vincent Misiano Vincent Misiano is an American television director. He has directed episodes of 45 different series, including Chicago PD, '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', ''The Blacklist'', ''The West Wing'', ''Prison Break'', ''Medium'' and ''Third Watch''. He wa ...
directing. Zbyszewski credited fellow writers
Lauren LeFranc Lauren LeFranc is an American television writer, producer and showrunner known for her work on ''The Penguin'' (2024), a spin-off series set in the universe of Matt Reeves' film '' The Batman'' (2022). Career In 2014, LeFranc worked on '' A ...
and
Rafe Judkins Rafe Lee Judkins (born January 8, 1983) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He was the showrunner for the Amazon Prime Video television series ''The Wheel of Time'', has several writing credits for TV, and appeared as a contes ...
for "a lot of the fun" in the episode. Zbyszewski said the audition scene between
Elizabeth Henstridge Elizabeth Frances Henstridge (born 11 September 1987) is an English actress, model and director. She starred as Jemma Simmons in the ABC superhero action drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020), set within the Marvel Cinematic ...
and
Iain De Caestecker Iain De Caestecker ( ; born 29 December 1987) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying Leopold Fitz/The Doctor in the television series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020). He is also known for his roles in ''Coronation Street ...
served as the "genesis" for the events of "FZZT", with a similar storyline conceived by the creators as part of the initial scripts ordered by ABC. He also felt the story told in the episode was one that usually "isn't possible at the beginning" of a series, as it "must be earned", explaining the goal was to have the audience "feel for"
Jemma Simmons Jemma Anne Simmons is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the 2013 pilot episode ...
and
Leo Fitz Leopold James "Leo" Fitz is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the pilot epi ...
. "FZZT" was also the first episode where the series began to move away from the procedural "case of the week" into more serialized storylines.


Casting

Main cast members
Clark Gregg Robert Clark Gregg Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He portrayed Phil Coulson in films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008 to 2024, and voiced Coulson in an animated tele ...
,
Ming-Na Wen Ming-Na Wen (; born November 20, 1963) is an American actress and model. She has won multiple awards throughout her career, including an Annie Award and a Saturn Award, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was honore ...
,
Brett Dalton Brett Patrick Dalton (born January 7, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Grant Ward and Hive in ABC's series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', as well as Detective Mark Trent in the NBC procedural drama series '' Found'', an ...
,
Chloe Bennet Chloé Wang (; born April 18, 1992), known professionally as Chloe Bennet, is an American actress, model and singer. She starred as Daisy Johnson / Quake in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020) and voiced Yi ...
, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge star as
Phil Coulson Agent Phillip J. "Phil" Coulson ( ) is a fictional character portrayed and voiced by Clark Gregg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Coulson is depicted as a high-ranking member of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and longt ...
,
Melinda May Melinda Qiaolian May, also known as The Cavalry, is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appea ...
,
Grant Ward Grant Anthony Ward (born 5 December 1994) is an English professional Association football, footballer who last played as a midfielder for Bristol Rovers F.C., Bristol Rovers. He has previously played for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspu ...
,
Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...
,
Leo Fitz Leopold James "Leo" Fitz is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the pilot epi ...
, and
Jemma Simmons Jemma Anne Simmons is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the 2013 pilot episode ...
, respectively.
Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in '' Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O'Phelan in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television ser ...
reprises his role of Agent
Felix Blake ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created for American Broadcasting Company, ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervent ...
from the Marvel One-Shot ''
Item 47 ''Item 47'' is a 2012 American direct-to-video short film featuring the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division), produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios ...
'' (2012), while
Vincent Laresca Vincent Laresca (born January 21, 1974) is an American actor. Laresca is of Panamanian and Italian descent. He first appeared in film in the 1992 movie ''Juice,'' as Radames. Since then, he has appeared in many popular films, including '' The De ...
also guest stars as Tony Diaz.


Design

The
Chitauri The Chitauri () are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, specifically in the Ultimate Marvel universe (Earth-1610). They were created by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch in p ...
helmet featured in the episode was created by props master Scott Bauer. Bauer had originally looked in Marvel's archives for one from ''
The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...
'' (2012), but learned the film had only featured CGI helmets, requiring him to request the rights to the design from
Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...
to fabricate the helmet. Because of time constraints, only one helmet was able to be made for filming the episode.


Filming and visual effects

Filming occurred from September 12 to 19, 2013. Mark Kolpack, visual effects supervisor for the series, explained that multiple techniques were used to create the effects for the climactic skydiving sequence in the episode. Henstridge and Dalton were filmed in front of a
green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...
on wires and a turntable, with the sky, clouds, and ocean added with
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
. The two actors were also digitally scanned to produce digital stunt doubles for use in "larger scope shots that were not possible with the real actors." For these shots, skydiver Hannah Betts and stuntman Greg Rementer performed on the Sony Motion Capture Stage, with the movements captured through performance-capture technology and used to drive the digital double performances.


Music

For the scene where Coulson talks to the dying Diaz, composer
Bear McCreary Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American composer of film, television, and video game scores. His work includes the scores of the television series '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', '' Black Sails'', '' ...
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". 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
parse Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is a process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar by breaking it into parts. The term ''pa ...
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.


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 Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...
in ''Marvel's The Avengers''.


Release


Broadcast

"FZZT" was first aired in the United States on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
on November 5, 2013. It was aired alongside the US broadcast in Canada on CTV, while it was first aired in the United Kingdom on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
on November 8, 2013. It premiered on the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
in Australia on November 15, 2013.


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 Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
and
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on September 9, 2014. Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. On November 20, 2014, the episode became available for streaming on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
.


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. The Canadian broadcast gained 1.60 million viewers, the third highest for that day and the twelfth highest for the week. The
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
premiere had 2.23 million viewers and in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, the premiere had 1.5 million viewers, including 0.7 million timeshifted viewers. Within a week of its release, the episode was watched by 10.93 million U.S. viewers, above the season average of 8.31.


Critical response

Eric Goldman of ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' 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
MacGuffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail fo ...
s." Oliver Sava of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' 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." Alan Sepinwall at
HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
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. 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." Dan Casey writing for
Nerdist Nerdist Industries, LLC (also simply known as Nerdist) is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast ( The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a net ...
felt the episode was "the most dramatic, tense hour of television we've seen from" the series, stating that "One of the show's biggest problems has been its general lack of depth, particularly in terms of the characters and making them feel like real people rather than glossy superspies with a seemingly endless wellspring of one-liners" and decided that the episode "made significant steps towards fixing this problem, thanks to some wonderful character interactions and an exploration of Fitz/Simmons' past". James Hunt of ''
Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
'' said "whether this episode continues the show's upwards trend, that's debatable. It could've been worse, but there wasn't the leap forward that we saw from episode three to four, or four to five. I'll say this for an episode: it was better than I thought a Fitz & Simmons episode would be. That's progress, of a sort."
Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comics artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, Illusionist, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with th ...
, known for his work on ''
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is the title of several American comic book series published by Marvel Comics focusing on the various adventures of the character Nick Fury while working for the fictional organization S.H.I.E.L.D. Publicatio ...
'', criticized the scope and scale of the episode, but praised the character development for Coulson, feeling it brought his character closer to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents of the comics.


Analysis

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
hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
and the plight of the first responders to the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. Kevin Garcia, while writing for the ''Observation Deck'' at ''
io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...
'', noted that "Marvel does have a few significant firefighters. Most notably, although not well-remembered, are the heroes from ''
Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...
''", who were themselves inspired by the real-world heroes who responded to the September 11 attacks.


References


External links


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ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
* {{Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2013 American television episodes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 episodes Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover episodes Television episodes directed by Vincent Misiano Television episodes set in Africa Television episodes set in Pennsylvania Television episodes set in the 2010s Television episodes written by Paul Zbyszewski