FZZT

“FZZT” opens with a ghost story, and in a way, it ends with one too. The plot comes back around to New York and the invasion in The Avengers thanks to the episode’s threat, a virus carried to Earth by the Chitauri. This type of Marvel Universe connectivity is something many viewers have been hoping for since the beginning of the season. Rather than vaguely referencing the events of The Avengers, writer Paul Zbyszewski brings the action around to New York in an unexpected way, grappling with something that the Marvel movies so far have missed. New York was a victory for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, but it was a victory with casualties. There are obvious parallels to the volunteers who worked tirelessly in the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center only to be rewarded with cancer and respiratory illnesses years later. The episode’s three firefighters demonstrate that the world is still reeling from the attacks, and their sudden deaths represent the unforeseen damage still lurking under the surface.