- "I need to get off this plane now."
"That should put you in... rural Utah. And you think you're pissed off now..." - ―Ghost Rider and Quake[src]
Utah is a state located on the western region of the United States.
History[]
StatiCorp Particle Accelerator[]
- ""Particle accelerator explodes." Hannah Hutchins, one of the quality control engineers. Was it her fault?"
"The town blames her. Four technicians died in that blast." - ―Skye and Phil Coulson[src]
StatiCorp maintained a research and development facility in Batesville, working with Particle Accelerators. For several weeks, safety inspector Hannah Hutchins received false reports from section two of the facility, filled by technician Tobias Ford in order to draw Hutchins' attention. The part was replaced and triple-checked for damage to ensure the safety of everyone in the facility.
An accident, caused by Ford's efforts to spend time with Hutchins, resulted in an explosion that killed Arlene Willoughby, Frank Delacourt and Jack Benson. The explosion opened a wormhole that trapped Ford between two different worlds, with the ability to uncompletely shift between the two worls.
Hutchins blamed herself for missing the cause of the problem that caused the explosion without knowing the actual reason. The entire city of Batesville also blamed her, while Ford started stalking Hutchins to protect her from the people who confronted and attacked her, appearing as a phenomenon of telekinesis developed by Hutchins.[1]
Gas Station[]
- "She blew up that gas station. Why aren't you arresting her?"
- ―Batesville Citizen[src]
Hannah Hutchins went to an Roxxon Corporation gas station in order to buy some groceries a few days after the explosion.
Taylor, the shop owner, blamed Hutchins for the explosion, arguing that Jack Benson, one of the victims, was his friend, and Benson's wife blamed Hutchins, as she was a safety inspector, and he continued to confront her even when she wanted to leave and avoid troubles.
Tobias Ford, trying to protect Hutchins, started to attack Taylor throwing cans at him, appearing to be some kind of telekinetic power displayed by Hutchins. Taylor ran away scared by the attack, but Ford caused the gas station to explode, while a scared Hutchins thought it was her fault.[1]
Angry Mob[]
- "Officer, is there anything you can do to get these people to disperse?"
"Been trying, but it's a free country." - ―Phil Coulson and Batesville Police Officer[src]
Phil Coulson and his team were assigned to investigate the incidents related to Hannah Hutchins and her possible inclusion to the Index, verifying her possible telekinetic powers.
Coulson approached Hutchins' house with Grant Ward and Melinda May, finding an angry mob surrounding her house and demanding the police to arrest her, as they blamed Hutchins not only of the explosion of the Particle Accelerator, but also of the explosion at the gas station.
Coulson tried to talk to Hutchins and let her know they were there to help her, but members of the mob started attacking Hutchins throwing eggs to her. Tobias Ford, in order to protect Hutchins, drove a car straight to the mob, with Coulson having to jump in to save Roger from being hit by the car. Martha, another of the citizens reunited, blamed Hutchins for trying to kill them, and Skye left the S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV where she was waiting in order to talk Martha down.
One of the police officers drew his weapon and pointed to a scared Hutchins, and before things escalated, May shot Hutchins with a Night-Night Gun to sedate her and take her to the Bus.[1]
Facility Investigation[]
- "Sir, the Department of Energy's declared the particle acceleration lab too dangerous to enter."
"But the good news is we still think we can retrieve the disaster event data from the instruments."
"We'll determine the cause and see if there's any correlation between telekinesis spontaneously forming and a particle accelerator exploding." - ―Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz to Phil Coulson[src]
Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz investigated the StatiCorp Facility, being unable to enter the facility itself because of the risks, and using the D.W.A.R.F.s to retrieve the data from the instruments.
Simmons discussed the low probability of the existence of telekinetic powers, and Fitz reminded her a prank they suffered at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy that made them question the possibility of the existence of telekinetic abilities. However, Fitz and Simmons came across the idea of making the pranks they could not perform at the Academy, using Skye as her own freshman.
Agent James Davis approached Fitz when the last D.W.A.R.F. returned, and Fitz informed that they had finished downloading the information, so they returned to the Bus.[1]
Forced Landing[]
- "There's a decent sized field up ahead, but it's gonna be rough."
- ―Melinda May[src]
Tobias Ford hijacked the Bus while Phil Coulson and his team were taking Hannah Hutchins to the Fridge in order to study and contain her seemingly telekinetic powers. With the plane losing power, Melinda May had to make a forced landing in a field.
In order to protect Hutchins and the rest of the team from Ford, May took Hutchins to a nearby barn to use her as a bait for Ford. Ford followed them to the barn, and appeared in front of Hutchins, who believed him to be dead. May attacked him, but Ford's ability to shift between worlds allowed him to fight and gain the upper hand against May.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team deduced Ford's intentions and the true cause of the explosion of the Particle Accelerator, so Leo Fitz deployed the Golden Retrievers in order to locate May and Hutchins.
May was able to incapacitate Ford just when he was about to kidnap Hutchins, but he lost the opportunity to knock May unconscious to protect Hutchins from one of the beams that was falling from the ceiling of the barn. Hutchins convinced Ford that May was not trying to hurt her, and that he had to stop.
Ford confessed his role in hijacking the Particle Accelerator to force Hutchins' visits to his section of the facility in Batesville, and thought he was transported to Hell for being responsible of killing three of their co-workers. For that reason, he tried to stop people from blaming Hutchins for the accident, but he ended up hurting even more people.
Ford asked for Hutchins' forgiveness, but May convinced that he could not undo what had been done, and that he could not cling to the person he thought he could be was the real hell, and he was drawing Hutchins to hell with him, so he needed to let her go. Ford was convinced by May's words, and disappeared for the last time after holding Hutchins' hand.
Coulson arrived with Skye and Grant Ward to observe how May convinced him, and while Skye rushed to comfort Hutchins, Coulson asked May what she said to convince him. May answered that she said the same things Coulson told her during their mission in Bahrain.[1]
Steel Serpent's Sales[]
Salt Lake City, Utah, was the hometown of one of the Hand's clients that bought their Steel Serpent using the Rand Enterprises' resources.[2]
Framework Network[]
With the knowledge of the Darkhold, Holden Radcliffe and Aida began perfecting the Framework. Upon completion, the code had become so powerful that it had to be processed on devices from all around the world. Part of the data was transmitted to an USAF server in Salt Lake City, Utah.[3]
Appearances[]
In chronological order:
Iron Man 2 (alternate universe)- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Episode 1.09: Repairs
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Episode 4.05: Lockup (mentioned)
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Episode 4.14: The Man Behind the Shield (monitor)
- Iron Fist | Episode 1.07: Felling Tree with Roots (mentioned)
- Cloak & Dagger | Episode 1.02: Suicide Sprints (mentioned)
- Thunderbolts*
