A while back I shared my thoughts on the first three episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I expressed that I felt the show had its share of flaws, but with such lovely quips and hints of more to come, it left me satisfied enough to keep tuning in. The show continues to get better each week, and this last episode, FZZT, seriously gave me ALL THE FEELS. It finally made me fall in love with two of the show’s characters: Fitz and Simmons. It starts off like a normal case of the week, but halfway through when they’re wrapping the case up, you know there’s more to go. (Not only because it’s wrapping up quickly, but also becuse virtually nothing from the preview for the episode has happened yet!)
Basically this episode was all about why you should ship Fitz and Simmons if you don’t already. OK, not really, but I think that’s what some of us got out of it, myself included. I tried to hold out, but now it’s hopeless. When Fitz yelled, “Jemma!!! NO!!!!!!!” it was all over. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
One thing I lamented about when I talked about my first thoughts on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was that I didn’t really love any of the characters yet (except Coulson, who we already knew), and that was just so weird for a Whedon show (based on my experience with Firefly and Dr. Horrible; I haven’t seen any other Whedon shows yet). And lately, everything has felt so Skye-centric and I’ve just gotten tired of her. So to have the focus to shift on the scientists of the group, who have always had such quirky conversations but we knew so little about, was great. We knew they went to school together, but what is their history exactly? At first, before I caught that they had different last names, I thought they were brother and sister because of their obvious connection but lack of romantic behavior toward each other. Then I learned they were just long-time friends, and of course your mind jumps to the conclusion that guy + girl + friends = future romance, but there are an equal number of guys and girls on the cast of this show and somebody needs to keep it platonic, right? That’s what I told myself anyway, as it was obvious they wanted to set up Skye and Ward for future romance.
There was some great dialogue that I think revealed a lot about Fitz and Simmons’ friendship without spelling out all the details of their background together.
Every minute of every day you’ve been stuck in a lab right beside me. At the academy. At PSYOPS. This plane. You’ve been beside me the whole time. You have to fix this. -Fitz
We’re doing what we always do. We’re going to fix this. Together. – Fitz
It wasn’t Ward by my side in that lab searching for a cure. It wasn’t Ward giving me hope, when I had none. it was you. -Simmons
But seriously, despite all my ship talk, I don’t want for things to get ruined by them rushing into romance too quickly. A lot of times when couples hook up on shows, the dynamic is suddenly a lot more boring. I don’t think that has to be the case with Fitz-Simmons, but I don’t want to see any hyper-acceleration into a relationship either. And if and when they get into one, I want them to still be normal, not all lovey dovey. I want them to have the same kind of fights and say the same kind of things to each other. I just hold a personal belief that best friends can make great life partners.
And honestly, other than Simmons’ thank-you kiss to Fitz, I don’t think the episode was actually trying to be heavy-handed with a romance potential. Obviously Fitz is worried about his friend and lab partner, because they are so close. I just love how pure-hearted their friendship is, and seeing those kinds of relationships usually make me want to see it become more, but still remain pure-hearted. Typically TV shows like to dramatize these things though, and honestly, I’d rather them be friends forever than see a ruined romance. So I’m not thinking ALL about romance here. I just want what’s best for their friendship, and them, because now I love their characters.
Another highlight of this episode was seeing Fitz, Simmons, and Skye poke fun at Ward, and then to see Ward loosen up and poke fun at himself. And then also we got to see Coulson open up to May, and it continues the mystery of just what happened when Coulson died, and just how much May knows about what happened to him, and perhaps if she knows something about dying herself. Overall, this was the episode that made me care the most about everyone, and I think that’s a sign of a strong episode, fangirling aside.
For differing thoughts on this episode, check out what Nashville Bookworm had to say.
If you saw the episode “FZZT,” where were your thoughts? Are you a Fitz-Simmons shipper or do you want it to stay platonic?