FZZT

In Pennsylvania, a Boy Scout 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 and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons 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 and Grant Ward, arrives at the source to find a second body, floating like the first. Civilian hacker and S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee Skye 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 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, 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 and at least 3 hours from land. Agent Felix Blake 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.

In October 2013, Marvel revealed that the sixth episode would be titled "FZZT", and would be written by Paul Zbyszewski, with Vincent Misiano directing.^[1] Zbyszewski credited fellow writers Lauren LeFranc and Rafe Judkins for "a lot of the fun" in the episode.^[2]: 31:13 Zbyszewski said the audition scene between Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker 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.^{[2]: 2:58-3:30} 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",^[3]: 82 explaining the goal was to have the audience "feel for" Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. "FZZT" was also the first episode where the series began to move away from the procedural "case of the week" into more serialized storylines.^{[2]: 17:45-18:50}

Main cast members Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge star as Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Grant Ward, Skye, Leo Fitz, and Jemma Simmons, respectively. Titus Welliver reprises his role of Agent Felix Blake from the Marvel One-Shot Item 47 (2012), while Vincent Laresca also guest stars as Tony Diaz.^[1]

The Chitauri 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 (2012), but learned the film had only featured CGI helmets,^[3]: 83 requiring him to request the rights to the design from Marvel Studios to fabricate the helmet.^[2]: 53:47 Because of time constraints, only one helmet was able to be made for filming the episode.^[3]: 83

Filming occurred from September 12 to 19, 2013.^[3]: 81 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 on wires and a turntable, with the sky, clouds, and ocean added with computer-generated imagery. 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.^[4]

For the scene where Coulson talks to the dying Diaz, composer Bear McCreary 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".^[5]

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 [sparse] 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.^[5]

The alien helmet that is carrying the virus in the episode belonged to a Chitauri, the alien race that fought for Loki in Marvel's The Avengers.^[6]

"FZZT" was first aired in the United States on ABC on November 5, 2013.^[7] It was aired alongside the US broadcast in Canada on CTV,^[8] while it was first aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 on November 8, 2013.^[9] It premiered on the Seven Network in Australia on November 15, 2013.^[10]

The episode, along with the rest of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 9, 2014. Bonus features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel.^[11] On November 20, 2014, the episode became available for streaming on Netflix.^[12] The episode, along with the rest of the series, was removed from Netflix on February 28, 2022,^[13] and later became available on Disney+ on March 16, 2022.^[14]