Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. might not be a good show, but “F.Z.Z.T.” is a pretty good episode of television. It’s not that it improves upon any of the fundamental flaws of the show, it just manages to execute its formula with more skill than previous episodes. The cast remain underwhelming (though Fitz’s crush on Skye is a welcome addition) and the show’s tie-ins to the wider Marvel universe remain frustratingly slight. Meanwhile the fleeting attempts at serialisation (the mysterious nature of Coulsen’s resurrection, Skye’s ties to Rising Tide) remain less interesting than the writers seem to think they are.
“F.Z.Z.T.” finds success by wholeheartedly embracing the “monster of the week” gimmick – just minus the monster part. There’s less attention given to the pedestrian details of the problem (an electrostatic virus peripherally linked to the events of The Avengers) and more paid to its effects. Like a good standalone episode of Buffy or The X-Files, there’s a real sense of stakes – the campfire discovery, the resigned encounter at the fire station and Simmons’ realisation of her infection are all well-executed. Sure, Simmons has been more failed comic relief than character thus far, but her performance and storyline here demonstrate real potential.
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Completely agreed. Definitely the most promising episode they’ve aired thus far. Gave us some character (even if the acting was a bit lackluster – Clark Gregg learn how to be angry at subordinates, please, because you failed here).
All in all though, this was enough to get me to stick around another week, at the least.
I was really reluctant to watch this episode after the last one (hence my fairly late review) but hopefully this isn’t an anomaly. They definitely need to work on some more serialisation elements soon, though.
I thought Gregg was okay this episode. His speech to the fireman was well done, even if the show seemed to mostly want us to care about the mystery of how he survived (or didn’t) the events of The Avengers (I doooon’t caaaaare). Thanks for the comment.
Agreed. I think he was very good in the speech to the fireman. My problem is at the end of the episode when he was yelling at his two agents.
Yeah that scene didn’t quite work, but I think it was the writing more than anything. It wasn’t really clear if he was actually angry, faux-angry, a mixture of anger and relief … and Gregg’s acting didn’t make things any clearer.
That’s an excellent point. Not all on Gregg.
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