Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1E6 - "F.Z.Z.T." Recap

A counsellor named Mr. Cross tells a creepy story about "The Crying Man," who is said to haunt the woods in search of his lost sister. Mr. Cross leaves the group around the campfire in search of the ousrce a strange noise. Objects begin floating and they hear Cross scream. They run into the truck but a blot of lightning rips the battery from the truck. They then go in search of Cross and find his dead body floating in the air as electricity crackles it.

Simmons runs a physical on Coulson and she clears him, saying he is fit as a fiddle for a "man of his age." Ward tests out the night-night pistol and tells Fitz that it's an ounce too heavy. After he leaves, Fitz imitates him. Skye laughs and we learn that she has been trying to win back everyone's good favour. Ward has been particularly stubborn. Simmons comes in and busts out a Ward impersonation of her own. Ward returns to tell them they have a mission and Simmons convinces him that the pistol is the right weight.

The team investigates the campsite and when Simmons approaches the body, she is mildly shocked and the body falls to the ground. Back on the Bus, Skye doesn't find anything helpful to their investigation in Cross' background. May interrogates the other camp counsellor.  Fitz locks himself in the other part of the lab because he has taken issue with the body's smell. He picks up another electrostatic event happening relatively close. Coulson, May, and Ward head off to the location - a barn. Inside, they find another body floating in the air with a burn mark on his forehead like that of the previous victim. Skye finds that the victims were both volunteer firefighters following the Battle of New York. We then see another firefighter polish a Chitauri helmet that lets off a crackle of electricity.

Fitz's flying robots get the body down. Coulson, May, and Ward visit the firehouse. Simmons figures out that the forehead marks are actually exit wounds. At the firehouse, Tony Diaz (the one who has the helmet) says he isn't feeling well and he's not looking too good, either. Coulson follows him into another room and Diaz says he hears a humming noise. Coulson pulls his weapon when metal objects begin to float behind him. May finds the Chiraturi helmet and Diaz says that all they had done was clean the rust off of it. Simmons tells them that the "rust" was an alien virus. Coulson has the others clear out, knowing there's nothing they can do to save him. He stays with Diaz, saying that he died once and that "there" is beautiful. Coulson leaves and the firefighters and SHIELD watch as an explosion of electrostatic energy bursts through the firehouse.

The team is tasked with flying the helmet to "the sandbox" (a research facility specialising in hazardous material). Coulson has Simmons continue trying to find a cure in case any of the other firefighters are infected. Simmons shows Coulson that she has found that the virus is transmitted by electrostatic shock by studying the brain cells of the dead firefighters. Coulson then sees a metal object floating behind her and he exits the lab. He apologises to her and locks her in. She turns around and see the floating object, also realising that she is infected.

Coulson determines that they have no more than two hours. Additionally, if they can't land the plane in time (they're currently over the Atlantic), they'll all die with her. Simmons injects some mice with some antibodies, but it doesn't work. Ward tells Skye that he feels helpless and is angry that he can't protect the team from something he can neither see nor understand. He says that now all they can do is wait and be ready for whatever they're called upon to do. Agent Blake orders Coulson to dump the "infected cargo," but Coulson refuses and hangs up.

FitzSimmons argue about how they came to be on the plane instead of safe in a lab, but it's evident that they're just afraid of losing each other. Simmons notes that no one has survived the virus, except for the Chitauri host who wore the helmet. Fitz runs and grabs the box containing the helmet and storms into the lab. Simmons doesn't want him in there, risking getting infected himself, but he insists that they will fix it as they always have - together. They begin their work and try the new serum on another mouse but it appears to fail again. Simmons asks Coulson to call her father so he can be the one to tell her mother. She then asks for some time alone with Fitz. She apologises to him and knocks him out with a fire extinguisher.

Coulson gets a call from Blake but refuses to answer. The alarm sounds, indicating that the cargo hold is open. Fitz wakes up and finds that the mouse they injected was fine and merely knocked out by the pulse. He screams at Simmons right as she jumps off the plane. Ward grabs a chute and prepares to jump after her and Fitz tells him the serum worked. Ward snatches the serum out of his hand and jumps after her. Ward catches up to her, injects her with the serum, and grabs hold of her. Coulson chews both of them out, following their rescue, telling them to never do anything like that again. After they leave his office, Simmons thanks Ward for saving her life and apologises for lying about the weight of the night-night pistol. He tells her that he knew and busts out an imitation of her imitation of him.

May checks in on Coulson and he tells her that his tests show he is fine. He then reveals that he ordered the tests for himself, due to his feeling different. May opens his shirt and examines the scars over his heart. She tells him that after dying, there's no way he could have come back unchanged. She also hints at her knowing from personal experience. May tells him he must concentrate on the future. Fitz shares his feeling guilty for not being the one to jump after Simmons but she tells him he is a hero and kisses him on the cheek.

The team arrives at the Sandbox to drop off the helmet. Blake warns him that if he continues to disobey direct disorders, someone may take away his "dream team." Coulson says, "I'd like to see them try. Blake says that that phrase makes him sound different and Coulson says he is different.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesdays on ABC at 8PM.