Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Elizabeth Henstridge & Iain De Caestecker Talk FitzSimmons Kisses & The Planet's Creature

Tonight's episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. held several big moments. For those who have been shipping FitzSimmons since episode one, they finally had their moment when Jemma and Leo kissed. But what does that mean for their relationship now?

I spoke to actors Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker about what was going on inside their characters' head during that scene. I also ask them about tonight's other big reveals, that the monster on Simmons' alien planet is a powerful Inhuman, and that the ATCU is building an Inhuman army for it to come home to.

We've final seen the big FitzSimmons kiss, but there were a lot of different emotions boiling to the surface in that one scene. Which emotion was it that finally gripped Fitz and made him decide to kiss Simmons?

ID: Well the conversation boiled up, and he's trying in some way to compare himself to Will. He asks her whether she's in love with Will, and they've already had that scene in the episode before where she's kind of told him that she's thought about catching that wave sometime in the future. I think, like Elizabeth said, she's kind of had that moment with Will, and they've never had that moment, and I think it's been bubbling for a while. I think, in that moment, it's just been bubbling for a while, and he sees a quick opportunity. There's quite high intensity in that scene, and he's just kind of like, excuse my French, "F*** it," you know? Can you put that in? You can put that in. I think it's just that, and I think ultimately it just makes things more confusing and awkward. It's not him thinking about it. It has a very sudden, kind of impulse that you get.

EH: And I think they want to know. They've never explored that area, and it gets to a point where it's too, you know, they're screaming at each other, and clearly them trying to ignore it, or just trying to talk through it, isn't working. When Fitz kisses Simmons its, as Iain says, like an impulse, and just out of kond of almost frustration, and the situation is just, there are no words anymore to come back with. And when Simmons kisses Fitz, that's cognitive. She's thought about it, and it kind of felt good when he kissed her, and she wants to then – that second kiss, for me, is kind of a kiss that maybe FitzSimmons fans might want. It's very deliberate, and it's nice, and it's kind of familiar almost. That's when they know…because I think both of them were probably hoping that it would be terrible, because then the situation is just resolved. But it wasn't, it was really nice. So Fitz says that they're cursed, because they can't see a way through it.

So that second kiss was kind of showing that Simmons at least wishes she had the opportunity to explore this with Fitz the same we she had the opportunity to explore it with Will?

EH: Yeah, and I think, in that moment, she just wanted to. It's very different from anything she had with Will. With will it was very – close your ears Iain – it was very passionate, and visceral. Whereas her relationship with Fitz is just very loving, and they care about each other, and it does get kind of fiery at times, but it's always from a place of complete, unconditional love and care for each. So that was her just kind of saying "I love you."

ID: Can I take my fingers out of my ears now?

EH: Yeah, you can, yeah. I said some really great things.

Switching gears a bit, Fitz and Simmons don't know this quite yet, but we now know that the creature on the planet Simmons was stranded on is a powerful Inhuman. On top of that, Gideon Malick and the ATCU are trying to build an Inhuman army. Considering how anti-aliens/Inhumans Simmons was last season, if she knew this was going on, is this a kind of worst nightmare scenario for her?

EH: I think they'd be horrified. It's a new threat. We've had Inhumans that are potentially baddies, but Simmons has been on that planet, and she's faced that thing that's out there, and she is beyond terrified of it. So I think that she would be inconsolable really.

Would Fitz feel the same way, or is he a little more comfortable with Inhumans after, particularly after working with the now activated Daisy for as long as he has?

ID: Yes, I think last season Fitz and Simmons disagreed a little bit about it, but neither of them are wrong, really. They come from slightly different sides of science, and I think he in terms of Daisy, he sympathizes with Daisy. And I think, when he had his brain injury, people looked at him differently, and treated him differently, as damaged or not himself. So he felt something similar was happening to Daisy, and that there was some sort of bond between them in that sense. They shared a kind of similar thing, and he could kind of understand what she was going through. But he doesn't probably know enough about the science of Inhumans yet, it's not been completely unfolded and discovered yet, so there's still a side to it that's scary to him I think, and those powers being in the wrong hands, I think he understands can be dangerous.

Anything else you wanted to say to the fans?

EH: Just thanks for watching. We have such a great time, all the time, and for us to be given these scenes to finally kind of explore what the next step to their relationship might be, it was really cool to have that moment. And there's obviously so much going on with what's happening on the planet, and Inhumans, that it's nice to be able to get those smaller moments that's kind of character, relationship development there. We hope that people will like it.

Iain, anything you wanted to add?

ID: No, I agree with Elizabeth.

EH: [Laughs]