The latest episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6, “Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson,” saw Simmons come within a hair’s breadth of reuniting with her beloved Fitz - and raised several questions about some brand new villains. Simmons and Daisy have been searching for Fitz for a year now, and they finally learned that his ship was supposed to have docked at Naro-Atzia. Unfortunately, they soon found they weren’t the only ones looking for Fitz, discovering a squad of Chronicom Hunters who were also on his trail.
The best TV shows are a blend of light and dark, and in the case of “Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson,” this was done by adding a simple conceit; not all alien delicacies are safe for human consumption. The plot was seeded early on, when Fitz arrived on Kitson and came close to eating confectionery that has a hallucinogenic impact on Terrans. Enoch warned him away, but there was no Chronicom Recorder to tell Quake and Daisy. Soon they were stoned, giggling and high-fiving one another, ultimately spending 20 minutes talking underneath a gambling table.
It’s now pretty clear how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6 is going to work; episodes will essentially alternate between the two S.H.I.E.L.D. groups, Mack’s on Earth and Daisy’s in space, with just a handful of intersections. So let’s explore the key questions raised by the latest episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
4. Why Are Chronicom Hunters Pursuing Enoch And Fitz?
“Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson” introduced a whole new group of villains, Chronicom Hunters. Where Enoch is a Chronicom Recorder, tasked with monitoring events on Earth, the Hunters appear to be tasked with correcting abberations in the timeline; they believe Fitz to be one such abberation, a man who should have died a year ago. They’re also responsible for eliminating rogue Chronicom Recorders such as Enoch. In the original timeline, Enoch was operating within his programming when he sent the S.H.I.E.L.D. team to the future and placed Fitz in cryogenic suspension; he is allowed to intervene to prevent extinction level events. Now the Earth’s destruction has been averted, though, he’s unwittingly breaking his oath as a Recorder.
3. What Was The Chronicom Hunter Doing With The Zephyr?
S.H.I.E.L.D. captured one of the Chronicom Hunters while on Naro-Atzia, but he escaped from imprisonment while on Kitson. The Chronicom actually used the Zephyr’s communication systems against Enoch, successfully transmitting a signal that interfered with Enoch’s programming. Enoch was shut down, with an alarm triggered that told the Hunters just where he was. Unfortunately for the Hunters, they weren’t the only ones to hear the alarm, and they soon found themselves on the wrong side of a drug-addled S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson.
2. Is Enoch Malfunctioning?
All this raises one curious question; is Enoch malfunctioning? For all his advanced technology, Enoch appears incapable of understanding human behavior, and is effortlessly manipulated while attempting to gamble to make money for Fitz. That isn’t the only odd scene; another moment sees him spontaneously spend his one remaining credit on an expensive drink for Fitz, leading to a conversation in which Enoch admitted he now views Fitz as his best friend.
It’s a rather touching moment, and Joel Stoffer handles it with consummate skill. The experience of being on the run with Fitz has changed Enoch; for millennia he’s merely been a watcher, an observer, but now he’s actually involved with someone else’s life. That has awoken emotions inside the Chronicom Recorder that he never knew he had, and isn’t entirely sure how to deal with. No doubt Enoch will be relentlessly focused on finding Fitz, now he’s teamed up with Simmons.
1. What Is Sarge Doing On Earth?
Finally, “Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson” ends with a closing scene set back on Earth, where Sarge fires his mysterious device into the heavens. Surprisingly, rather than initiate an apocalypse, it instead appears to just take some sort of measurements. Sarge seems pleased by them.
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