Building the Marvel Cinematic Universe means there is over a decade of lines out there that are a huge part of pop culture. While a lot of those lines come from the movies, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has plenty of memorable moments for its characters as well. As the longest running series in the MCU, and the last one standing, its characters have actually logged some of the most time on screen.
One of those characters is - Jemma Simmons. In the early episodes of the series, Jemma wasn't adept in the field, and she and Leo Fitz worked more as a comedy duo in their scientific pursuits. As the show has progressed, however, the two have become the emotional centers of the series, providing Jemma with plenty of memorable comedic and emotional lines.
10 "I LIKE FOLLOWING THE RULES AND DOING WHAT'S EXPECTED OF ME. IT MAKES ME FEEL NICE."
In the first season of the series, Jemma Simmons is a model S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. She doesn't break the rules, question orders, or do anything that might interfere with protocol. That changes when she starts working more closely with Skye and the rest of Coulson's team.
Jemma tells Skye that she can't be part of her "bad girl shenanigans" because of her rule following in the season one episode "The Hub." It's a stark contrast to the character who, a few seasons later, would be more comfortable on the run than she would be following orders.
9 "QUITE A STRANGE FEELING, ISN'T IT? NEVER WANTING TO BE WITHOUT SOMEONE."
Fitz and Simmons have quite a few separate storylines in the series, even though they were introduced as a pair. In fact, the writers love to separate them, giving their relationship physical hurdles to overcome as they grow as individuals.
That separation definitely isn't by choice for Simmons. In fact, while making video logs when stranded on Maveth, she admits that she admired Fitz from their first interactions at the Academy, and knew then that she never wanted to be without him. It's the closest the show has to an outright confession of her feelings for Fitz before they become a couple, even though she always maintained that she only thought of him as a friend before he admitted his own feelings to her.
8 "IT'S SCIENCE, FITZ. I HAVE TO DISSECT SOMETHING."
Jemma and Fitz spend a lot of their time on missions discussing scientific applications of the equipment they design or investigating strange happenings - especially in the early seasons. One of the areas they frequently find themselves bickering over is biological materials.
As a biochemist, Jemma is at home with oozing substances and strange organisms, while Fitz, as an engineer who doubles as the team's physicist, is decidedly not. Fitz being uncomfortable with dead things and strange chemicals often leads to amusement and exasperation from Jemma, like in this season one quote.
7 "I'M QUITE COMFORTABLE BLAMING MYSELF, ACTUALLY, FOR THE LOT OF IT. FOR ALL THE MISERIES ENDURED TO RESCUE HELPLESS LITTLE AGENT SIMMONS."
Because Jemma trained in science and technology, she never truly trained to be a field operative. That leads to her being very aware of her shortcomings in the field, especially in the third season of the series.
She points out to May when the two meet up at the firing range that she's the only woman on the team incapable of taking someone down with her bare hands, and as a result, she keeps ending up putting other people in danger. Will stands in the way of Hive so she can leave an alien planet, Fitz takes her place so Hydra will stop torturing her, and Jemma releases Lash to get herself away from people who might harm her. As a result, she harbors a lot of guilt - though a lot of her guilt and trauma doesn't come to a head until the sixth season.
6 "THE STEPS YOU TAKE DON'T HAVE TO BE BIG; THEY JUST NEED TO TAKE YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION."
This might be some of the best advice doled out by the show. So many of us get frustrated when progress seems small, but Jemma has the right idea. She dispenses this advice to Elena in season five after the other woman loses her arms in a fight and finds herself facing a difficult road ahead.
It's also the quote that starts to hit home that Deke Shaw has a larger connection to the team. It's the same advice his mother gives him growing up, starting fans on the road to the reveal that Deke is Jemma's grandson.
5 "WE DON'T MOVE ON. WE HOLD THAT PLACE IN OUR HEART, WE CLOSE IT OFF, WE LOCK THE DOOR, WE VISIT FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT WE DON'T MOVE ON."
Jemma's sentiment here from season five is one that fans of Avengers: Endgame might recognize. It's very Captain America and Black Widow of her. Despite trying to move on with their lives after the snap, the two can't help but hold out hope for a solution.
While Jemma might grieve for the people she's lost, she's not the kind of person who simply puts things behind her. Instead, like May, she uses her grief to motivate herself.
4 "A TIDY LAB IS A HAPPY LAB."
This particular Simmons-ism doesn't come from the series proper, but instead from a webseries released to coincide with season four called Slingshot. The series focuses on Elena as she tries to get justice for her cousin, but it brings the audience a few moments with other characters.
It's not a particularly funny or dramatic quote, but it is something that defines her personality in the lab. When Jemma disappears for months, Fitz makes sure no one touches her station in the lab so that she doesn't have to deal with anything out of place. She is someone who needs order in her workplace to thrive.
3 "I AM FRESH OUT OF SYMPATHY FOR LIARS WHO KIDNAPPED MY FRIENDS AND REPLACED THEM WITH KILLER ROBOTS."
Jemma is one of the sweetest characters in the series, but if you cross her, you'll regret it. She doesn't shy away from vengeance in the least.
Case in point: this line, aimed at Radcliffe when he tries to appeal to her. Jemma, who at this point has seen half of her friends as Life Model Decoys, and had her boyfriend's LMD stab her with a screwdriver no less, has no room left to empathize.
2 "I'M A BIOCHEMIST, NOT A BIRD."
Time travel to the past can lead to some pretty misogynistic comments for the ladies of S.H.I.E.L.D. Jemma, an accomplished scientist with multiple PhDs who can speak multiple alien languages and who has performed emergency surgery despite not being a medical doctor doesn't appreciate it.
When Koenig calls her a dame, she refutes it with the knowledge that she's a doctor. When he calls her a bird, she again reminds him that she's more than that.
1 "I LIKE TO THINK ABOUT THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS... EVERY PARTICLE WILL GO ON TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING ELSE..."
The first season barrels toward a conclusion with Jemma trapped in a pod at the bottom of the ocean with Fitz, sure that they're going to die. It prompts a speech from her that has become an iconic part of her character.
The speech is comprised of the poetic idea that in death, the particles of someone will go on to give life to a new organism - or even a star. It's part of the beauty that Jemma sees in science, and one of the reasons fans love her.
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June 19, 2020 at 05:30AM
