# Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D S01E06: F.Z.Z.T **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214 "2013-11-06T03:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/21 "2013-11-06T17:03:22Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Especially since it wasn’t Fury himself telling Coulson to throw her out of the plane. That would’ve made things interesting. _“Director Fury, I recognize that you made a decision – but given that it was a stupid-ass decision, I elected to ignore it.”_ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/22 "2013-11-06T17:22:24Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Why didn’t they use Lola? I expected that too, especially since she jumped out from right next to it. Ward could have hit the release button, jumped into Lola as she slid out the door, and zipped down to the rescue. Then they both would have had to face Coulson’s wrath. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/23 "2013-11-06T18:32:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I got a different feel from their scene. It wasn’t that Fitz realized he loves Simmons. It was him realizing she loves him. That’s the reason she always arranges to have him working with her. I think it was a bit of both. I think it hit him that she’s in love with him, but he also realized he has feelings for her. > [@Fenris](#): > > And they’ve got the “The Flash” problem. Where are the foes WORTHY of SHIELD? I don’t want to watch The Flash stop white-collar criminals from committing insurance fraud and I don’t want to see SHIELD fighting Electro-viruses with the “Race against the clock to create an antidote” plot that’s so cliched that it wouldn’t work as a parody. This isn’t the “Flash” problem, though - that was a person with superpowers fighting common criminals. If you have SHIELD taking down supervillians, you’re saying the Marvelverse doesn’t need superheros. That leads to the “Angel” problem where you build up a mythos that the threat can only be dealt with by superheros (one girl per generation with the ability to kill vampires), then have multiple vampires taken down by what’s essentially the neighborhood watch. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/24 "2013-11-06T18:36:14Z")
I liked: [ul] [li]Mai “questioning” the boy scout - first by quietly intimidating him, then by offering him a cookie. Not very original, but I enjoyed it anyway.[/li][li]All of the personal character drama - this isn’t a “game changer” type of show, but it did have a feel of “it just got good.” Kind of like the “Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne!” episode of _Firefly_.[/li][li]Fitz preparing to jump out of the Bus to chase down Simmons, then Ward pushing him aside and skydiving himself. Great stunt! Again, not original, but I enjoyed it anyway.[/li][li]Huggies b/w Skye and Simmons. It’s nice to see how these people are growing to care for one another.[/li][li]Agent Ward impressions from Fitz and Simmons.[/li][li]“The gun was still an ounce off.”…… “I know.”[/li][li]The scenes at the firehouse. Very touching.[/li][li]Mai and Coulson’s slightly creepily erotic interaction. Happy Halloween![/li][li]More insight into Mai. It seems that she was dead once, too. [/li][/ul] I didn’t like: [ul] [li]Agent Ward’s self-impression. Way too awkward.[/li][li]The Chitauri helmet. I was cooking dinner and not paying attention. I thought it was an Ultron helmet. Don’t want Ultron![/li][li]Killing off Simmons that way (or so I thought). I don’t object to killing characters I’ve finally started to like, but at least do it right. The sequence of events was a freaking mess. “The cure doesn’t work! I’ll knock my boyfriend out and kill myself!”….“Wait! The cure did work! I’ll pound on the glass and yell instead of pointing calmly at the mouse!”….“Geronimo!” Thankfully, the “Its comics” rule took over and saved the character.[/li][li]The overly melodramatic trailer leading up to this episode.[/li][li]Fitz being all goggly over Miss Perky Boobs. I know she’s hot sexy Chinese pop star Chloe Wang, but seriously, dude. Simmons![/li][/ul] For Comics Superhero Nerds Only - what I want for Christmas! [ul] [li]More alien races, like Kree and Skrulls (Chitauri?) and Watchers and Inhumans. No triangle-haired Shi’ar, however.[/li][li]Carol Danvers! If they’re not putting Ms. Marvel in the MovieVerse, at least put her in the TV show. Don’t tell me you need a good reason for a hot blonde with big hair, etc. to show up.[/li][li]Norman Osborne! Just kidding. I hate that guy. [/li][li]Power Man, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Daredevil, Moon Knight, Taskmaster… All those Marvel Knights that may or may not have S.H.I.E.L.D. training.[/li][li]Basically, just more characters we know from 50 years of comics.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/25 "2013-11-06T19:27:04Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I’m getting to the point where I’m probably gonna drop the show. I want to watch a series about Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., not a mediocre police show with bad drama\* with “encounter group” overtones. Yeah. I’ll probably stick it out until the _Thor_ tie-in, but this show is really failing to deliver. I was pleased to see lots of positive reactions to the episode on the internet… and then watched it and it turned out to be a bottle episode (with a few location shots). The end action scene really didn’t make up for that. But this show’s problem continues to be that there is no MARVEL in _Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD_. It doesn’t have to be a superhero show – but put some of the damn Marvel IP into the damn show already! Chitauri helmet is _not_ cutting it; this was a generic SyFy show plotline with the word “Chitauri” bolted on at an appropriate point. I half expect the Thor tie-in episode to be them standing around dialoguing about a Mjolnir divot. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/26 "2013-11-06T19:32:58Z")
I liked it. A better episode. If they keep it up, this series might find its groove soon. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/27 "2013-11-06T20:08:53Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I’m getting to the point where I’m probably gonna drop the show. I want to watch a series about Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., not a mediocre police show with bad drama\* with “encounter group” overtones. > > The dialog ranges from forgettable to terrible (that thing between Coulson and whatshername at the end “Little heavy on the iron, but don’t worry, you don’t have to call me Iron Man” was cringe-inducing), but they make up for it by ignoring the actual _characters_. By episode 6, we KNEW who Buffy, Xander and Willow were. We had an idea of their motivations, their basic character…here? They care about what the character is, not who they are. We know nothing more about Coulson the person than we did in the movies. Yeah, there’s some subplot about him being a robot or something…but that’s not WHO he is, it’s what his plot function is. > > Ditto for everyone else. Hell, I don’t know if Fitz and Simmons are (as I thought up 'till this episode) brother and sister or just remarkably similar boring people. We know nothing about whatshisname, the main agent except that he’s a dick with a heart of gold, Skye…her big secret is “mommy and daddy issues”? Yawn. The only reason I care about Ming-Na’s character is because the actress is good. I’m sure once they give her a back story, they’ll remove any desire I have to like her though. 😉 > > And they’ve got the “The Flash” problem. Where are the foes WORTHY of SHIELD? I don’t want to watch The Flash stop white-collar criminals from committing insurance fraud and I don’t want to see SHIELD fighting Electro-viruses with the “Race against the clock to create an antidote” plot that’s so cliched that it wouldn’t work as a parody. They have ~80 years of Marvel/Timely/Atlas toys to play with. And this is what we get? I want them to explore the extreme/fantastic elements of the universe they’re in. I don’t want them to recycle crappy X-Files plots. > > You want to do a lightning themed story (and why did the dead bodies float? Lightning doesn’t make people float)? Have Zzaxx show up…or that Living Lightning guy…fight him and, if you MUST do the dumbass “create the antidote in too short of a time” plot, have him infect them. As opposed to a lame-ass quasi murder-mystery that took up 1/3d of the limp little plot. > > I’m really disappointed. I wanted to love this. > > \*I loathed the stupid “Come up with the cure in 2 hours” thing–and I really hated the parachute save at the end. Even by '60s comic book standards, that was pure cheese. Your criticisms are all valid. I think part of the problem is that we’re getting used to the calibre of shows on HBO and Netflix and AMC and the BBC and this second-rate clichéd tripe just isn’t cutting it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/28 "2013-11-06T20:40:40Z")
More to follow, but for now - how did they get back on the plane? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/29 "2013-11-06T20:40:56Z")
> [@Albert\_Rose](#): > > [li]All of the personal character drama - this isn’t a “game changer” type of show, but it did have a feel of “it just got good.” Kind of like the “Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne!” episode of _Firefly_.[/li] > [li]Carol Danvers! If they’re not putting Ms. Marvel in the MovieVerse, at least put her in the TV show. [/li] > [li]Basically, just more characters we know from 50 years of comics.[/li] Let’s have somebody knit a hat for…I’m gonna say The Cavalry. And I agree, more characters from the Marvel Universe. BTW, Carol Danvers is calling herself Captain Marvel now, according to a graphic novel I just read. Oh, and Ron Glass was in the pilot, playing a doctor. I wouldn’t mind seeing his character show up again. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/30 "2013-11-06T20:52:03Z")
I was very pleased with this episode. What I’ve wanted form this show is more about how “Regular people” deal with a world full of Super Powers, Aliens, Monsters and Death rays. I was really glad when they revealed the source of the problem. Leave the super villains to the movies (for the most part), I want more stories like this. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/31 "2013-11-06T21:10:27Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Would Nick have been upset with him? Coulson came out with his team intact - I haven’t read a bunch of comics, but Fury strikes me as an “all’s well that ends well/no blood - no foul” kind of guy. > > Especially since it wasn’t Fury himself telling Coulson to throw her out of the plane. After all, Fury himself defied orders in _The Avengers_. But that may have been what the show was hinting at; Fury is not the ultimate authority at Shield. There are higher political people Fury and Shield have to answer to. I’ve speculated before that Fury may have set up Coulson’s team as an essentially hidden group within Shield - a team that can do things Fury doesn’t want his superiors to know about. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/32 "2013-11-06T21:13:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > More to follow, but for now - how did they get back on the plane? There was a line by Coulson on how he hated dealing with the Morrocan navy. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/33 "2013-11-06T21:26:28Z")
> [@Albert\_Rose](#): > > I liked: > > [ul] > [li]More alien races, like Kree and Skrulls (Chitauri?) and Watchers and Inhumans. No triangle-haired Shi’ar, however.[/li][/ul] Chitauri. My understanding is that the FF Franchise has “Skrulls”. Also, I suspect they’d have Inhumans and Watchers. (Kree first appeared in FF, but they’re more of an Avengers thing). Shi’ar belong to the X-Franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/34 "2013-11-06T21:39:25Z")
With the floating bodies, why didn’t anybody bring up the gravity-manipulating mineral? And neither of the two supergenii thought to check the mouse’s vitals? ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/35 "2013-11-06T21:50:31Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > Coulson is forced to quarantine her. He receives a video conference from a SHIELD muckity muck at the Sandbox and he is told that HQ has told him to jettison any material that is infected. He feigns technical difficulties to buy more time. Knowing that if she succumbs to the virus she will cause the entire ship to explode. This, I think, adequately explains why Simmons pulls the “I’m going to knock him out and jump out of the plane maneuver.” > [@pricciar](#): > > antidote (it’s an antivirus!). [Simmons voice]_ANTISERUM!_[/Simmons voice] Not the best episode, but I like where they’re going with Coulson and the character development on Fitz & Simmons. Going to keep watching for a bit. Especially given the people involved, I’m willing to give it about a season to hit its stride. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/36 "2013-11-06T22:10:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There was a line by Coulson on how he hated dealing with the Morrocan navy. I recall, but they landed in the Atlantic somewhere off the west coast of Africa without survival gear, and they got back on the plane and the helmet _still_ hadn’t been delivered? So the plane alerted the Moroccan navy that two people were in the ocean, somewhere, and then the plane landed, somewhere, and then waited around for the Moroccan navy to find the castaways, rescue them, deliver them, and only then did they continue on to the sandbox which at the point of the jumping, was only about two hours away, anyway? “Okay, we’ve got an extremely dangerous alien artifact in transit and nearly at destination, but we’ll take a day or two out for a quick search-and-rescue, except it won’t be us doing the actual rescuing, is that okay?” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/37 "2013-11-06T22:11:17Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > With the floating bodies, why didn’t anybody bring up the gravity-manipulating mineral? And neither of the two supergenii thought to check the mouse’s vitals? I want my next pet to be a hovermouse. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/38 "2013-11-06T22:34:55Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > So the plane alerted the Moroccan navy that two people were in the ocean, somewhere, and then the plane landed, somewhere, and then waited around for the Moroccan navy to find the castaways, rescue them, deliver them, and only then did they continue on to the sandbox which at the point of the jumping, was only about two hours away, anyway? In a world where bodies float in the sky due to a “virus” transferred by electric shocks, _this_ is where you can’t suspend disbelief? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/39 "2013-11-06T22:50:41Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > By episode 6, we KNEW who Buffy, Xander and Willow were. We had an idea of their motivations, their basic character… Really? Who was Xander? Beyond, “I’m gonna say _vampires are bad._” No, that’s unfair. He got a big piece of development in the first two episodes, but he was pretty much That Guy for a long time. > [@](#): > > You want to do a lightning themed story (and why did the dead bodies float? Lightning doesn’t make people float)? Have Zzaxx show up…or that Living Lightning guy…fight him and, if you MUST do the dumbass “create the antidote in too short of a time” plot, have him infect them. As opposed to a lame-ass quasi murder-mystery that took up 1/3d of the limp little plot. Hey, Whedons? Just do the opposite of what this guy asks, OK? > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I will admit to cracking up that the guy who plays Ward is such a crappy actor that he couldn’t even imitate himself, unless he was intentionally doing a bad imitation, in which case he’s a freakin’ genius. I can’t imitate myself. How many non-actors can? “Ah, but he is an actor,” you say. _Ward_ isn’t. > [@Quimby](#): > > I was very pleased with this episode. What I’ve wanted form this show is more about how “Regular people” deal with a world full of Super Powers, Aliens, Monsters and Death rays. I was really glad when they revealed the source of the problem. Leave the super villains to the movies (for the most part), I want more stories like this. I’m with you, Quimby. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214/40 "2013-11-06T23:14:08Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I will admit to cracking up that the guy who plays Ward is such a crappy actor that he couldn’t even imitate himself, unless he was intentionally doing a bad imitation, in which case he’s a freakin’ genius. Yes, he (the actor) was going an intentionally bad impersonation. He wasn’t trying to impersonate himself. He was impersonating her impersonation of himself. And he was doing it for a comedic reaction to show he wasn’t bothered by her trying to put one past him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-s01e06-f-z-z-t/673214.md?page=3)