During our visit to the set of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we got the chance to talk to the producers and cast members in different groups. It was perfectly fitting that Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker were presented to us in a pair. As Simmons and Fitz, the two characters have had a complicated journey together. We spoke to the two about the relationship between the characters, how they might feel seeing Ward's body possessed by Hive, and whether or not evil characters can be redeemed.
QUESTION: Talk about the hunt for Lash and how Simmons feels responsible for letting him out. How is she feeling with him still out there?
ELIZABETH HENSTRIDGE: She does just feel incredibly guilty. It's one of the first times that she — it's a recurring theme for her that she needs a man to save her. On the planet, she only got back because Will sacrificed himself for her. Now, she let him out because she wanted to save herself, and she didn't know how she was going to do it. She knows she doesn't have the combat skills to be able to take on all those Hydra soldiers.
Selfishly, in hindsight, she sacrificed all of those Inhuman lives to save her own. She's just done with not being able to look after herself in that way. She didn't know that that was going to happen, she didn't know he was going to kill the Inhumans. She trusted him in that moment. She was speaking to Andrew rather than to Lash, but she definitely feels very guilty. I also think she's beating up on herself that she allowed herself to make an emotional decision with someone she felt like she trusted who then betrayed her, because making emotional decisions, she's still kind of new at it. She doesn't trust that instinct in her as much as she trusts the scientific side, and it came around to bite her in the bum a little bit.
QUESTION: Can you tease how she'll get some combat training?
ELIZABETH: She's going to try to better arm herself against those situations happening again, but I think it's also a case of Agent May has said throughout the different seasons that it's never easy; failing at something is never easy. Killing someone, even if they're bad, never feels good. We're seeing that now with Coulson. Yes, she's going to try to arm herself, but also it's a period of growth for her to realize you make mistakes and you make decisions in an instant. It's another thing she's got to carry on her back. It's another motivating factor to keep being a SHIELD agent and keep trying.
QUESTION: How will she feel if and when she discovers that a version of Ward is still out there and the thing that terrorized her is still in play?
ELIZABETH: I think she's going to feel so guilty, because it was her that aided that all to happen. If she hadn't of got sucked into the monolith, if she hadn't been on that planet, if Fitz hadn't risked everything to save her, he would never be back here. She didn't think Ward could get any worse, but he did, and it's kind of her fault, in a way. She definitely feels guilt for that.
QUESTION: You guys get to make out more. What's navigating that like for you as actors?
IAIN DE CAESTECKER: I've not been enjoying it very much. No. Me and Elizabeth are like really good friends, so it's weird that side of it. It's like kissing my sister, not that I would. But having seen the evolution of their relationship, it does seem quite fitting that eventually they [did]. It always seemed like it was going in a romantic direction.
QUESTION: The first half of the season had a lot of FitzSimmons drama, but now they've made a decision to dial it back. They've agreed to be friends again. What is that like to play, and will that last?
ELIZABETH: In a way, it feels to me like we've earned this moment of calm a little bit; that you can't have too much volatility in a relationship and you can't ask too much of the audience to be like, "OK, now you need to care about this massive argument too." You need to earn that. They've been through so much and have nearly lost each other so many times that for them where they are at the moment, we don't know what's happening, we don't know what our relationship is going to turn into, or if we're going to be friends or more, any of that stuff, but it doesn't really matter because at least we're both alive and on the same planet.
QUESTION: There's potential for this vaccine for the Inhumans. Will FitzSimmons be on the same page as far as its potential application?
IAIN: They usually agree on most things, but they have clashed in the past, certainly when it came to Inhumans. But they seem to be able to get over most obstacles. I think throughout their relationship as well, which I think has always been quite nice, is they can always have a big fight and shout at each other, and then 10 minutes later be all right. It's that kind of relationship.
ELIZABETH: That makes sense, but I do think that would be something that they would disagree on.
QUESTION: Will there be more follow-up on Fitz and Coulson both being killers on that planet?
IAIN: Yeah. They have secret, in a weird way. I'm sure that will be explored somehow. He saw a side of Coulson that he probably had never seen before.
QUESTION: Where is Fitz in terms of the cognitive damage?
IAIN: If you were to look at that character before and since that accident happened to him, they're two different people. I talked about it before, but after that kind of injury, you'd never be able to go back to exactly the way you are, but you find new ways around things. The uplifting part I suppose is he's come out almost a new side of himself, but a better side of himself in lots of ways.
QUESTION: Team Cap or Team Iron Man and why?
IAIN: Hypothetical, you'd expect Fitz to be on the side of technology.
ELIZABETH: Simmons would be Iron Man, right? I think he could be Cap, right?
IAIN: We're so scared doing interviews.
QUESTION: Nick said he was Team Hunter, so there's also that option.
ELIZABETH: Oh no, I won't be that.
QUESTION: Hive is this hive mind and we get the sense that he's every person he's ever absorbed, which means he's partially Will. Would you like to see some closure for Simmons with this character?
ELIZABETH: It would just be so weird. Yeah, I mean, yes and no. I think that she's worked so hard to get to this point where she's able to function and has compartmentalized that crazy, traumatic period of her life. I think that would just bring more trauma honestly than comfort. But I guess it's a possibility.
QUESTION: How will Fitz react to Hive having Ward's face?
IAIN: If the show was at 11pm at night, he'd probably go, "Fucking hell," but since he won't, he'd probably go, "Oh sh—," and not actually swear. It would be very confusing since he saw him die and there's all those different conflicting emotions that surround that character and his face for a long time, so it would all boil up to the surface, I think.
QUESTION: Fitz felt very guilty about killing Will. Will that be assuaged by the fact that he was terrible and that needed to happen? Or is it if I hadn't killed the Will body, would the Ward body have become Hive?
ELIZABETH: I haven't thought about that. That's a good one. Everything could've changed if you hadn't of—
IAIN: What are you trying to say? It's my fault?
ELIZABETH: No, I'm just saying Hive would've had a different face.
IAIN: Yeah, but if you hadn't of given him hope on that planet.
ELIZABETH: Excuse us for one minute.
IAIN: Yeah, I suppose. There's a lot of guilt people could put on themselves in a lot of different situations and they probably will. The concept is crazy.
QUESTION: How does Fitz handle it because he's always been a little bit more emotional and open? Is he learning to adapt to the way of life where you don't talk about things?
IAIN: I think he's still someone who is probably quite open about stuff, but he's also grown up over the last couple of seasons in this very intense environment, so he's probably become hardened. He's probably more sensible, and knows maybe to wait to the right moment to reveal things, or don't judge something until you've seen things play out.
QUESTION: Fans were rooting for FitzSimmons immediately, even though you said they were just friends.
ELIZABETH: We said that so many times.
IAIN: We even said that after season 1. If someone went, "Do you think you're in love with her?" I went, "I don't think he is." "But he did declare his love for her at the bottom of the ocean." I went, "Yeah, but…"
QUESTION: Do you see why people connect with this romance?
IAIN: Yeah.
ELIZABETH: Oh yeah, I've always felt like they should get together. I just think you've seen them go through so much. The further down the road we get, the more they are too suited for each other and way unsuited to anybody else they're ever going to meet having been through so much together. They owe it to themselves to at least explore that. This is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Who knows how long a good, functional relationship lasts? I think they had to at least try. When they finally had their first kiss, some of that was just to get it out of the way so they could see what was on the other side of that. It could be that they just stay friends, but they've tried every other option at this point, so I understand why they're at least exploring the more romantic options.
QUESTION: How early did you know they were going to go down a romantic road?
ELIZABETH: Like the day before we shot it. The season 1 finale. I didn't know that you were going to say that you loved me.
IAIN: Even now, I'm still sure that it's like bro love.
QUESTION: What does starting over mean for their relationship moving forward?
ELIZABETH: I don't think they know. I think it's just a day by day thing. What we saw in last night's episode is that their dynamic is that they kind of bicker and they don't really address the elephant in the room, and then, at some point, it becomes too much, and then they say it. In last night's episode, Simmons just said, "I miss you. There it is. I don't know what comes after that, I just miss you, so what do we do about it?" I think they're just going to be constantly taking the next steps and seeing what they can handle and what they can't. At this point, they're —
IAIN: Also, the main thing as well is being good friends and working well as a team. They work better with each other than without.
QUESTION: Simmons has always been in that position to be saved. Will we see that feeling of letting other people save them?
ELIZABETH: Yeah, I think so. I think we saw that with Fitz when he jumped through the portal. He really stepped up in a very physical way. You only got back because of your brain. But even just going on a mission that was very dangerous. Basically yes, I think that's something they want to be better at.
QUESTION: There hasn't been much followup after Simmons killed Bakshi. Will she be quicker to pull the trigger the next time she's in the field if it was called for?
ELIZABETH: It just depends on who it is. She harbors hate for certain people. Bakshi was one of them. Then Ward is the other person. There are very specific people that she'd have no problem. With Bakshi, she didn't even think about it. I hated reading that scene because we all loved Simon [Kassianides] so much. I see him all the time and I still feel guilty about it. Yeah, she has a part of herself that's very pragmatic, very black and white. I think that aspect of her makes her a pretty good killer really. But then there's certain ones like Lash where she can really be swayed, so I think it just depends who it is.
QUESTION: Is there a certain line characters can't come back from? Is there a way to redeem Ward/Hive? Should the show say there are some lines you can't come back from? Or is there always a chance to be redeemed?
ELIZABETH: I think there's always a chance.
IAIN: Also, there's so many unknowns, like with someone like Lash. There's still unknowns about all that stuff.
ELIZABETH: What it does to him.
IAIN: I mean Ward probably got to a point where he was probably pretty unredeemable.
ELIZABETH: I kept thinking any second now and it just kept getting worse and worse.
IAIN: I couldn't pin point exactly where that point was, but probably after he killed a bunch of people in cold blood.
QUESTION: Is there an end for Hive that isn't Brett just dying?
IAIN: It would be cool if there was.
ELIZABETH: Can't he just be alive and evil?
IAIN: Forever and ever.
ELIZABETH: I'm hoping we're alive and good forever and ever. I don't know if Hive is ever going to be able to be good.
We'll have to keep watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to see what happens when they come face to face with Hive. We'll have more interviews from our set visit coming up.