Agents of SHIELD (SPOILERS)

[juan678]

[DjMichael691]

Combined with the references in earlier episodes to the fact that Simmons had "a very long time" to create the time travel tech, I don't believe the person on the Zephyr is actually the real Gemma Simmons. But an LMD/Chronicom duplicate created, probably by Enoch and FitzSimmons themselves, to interface with the team. The real Simmons is actually with Fitz, but they are both really old, or possibly even dead (of old age). It's a reverse Steve Rogers from Endgame.

That can't be because felt emotions off Simmons and doesn't with Coulson.

[juan678]

[The Watcher]

Combined with the references in earlier episodes to the fact that Simmons had "a very long time" to create the time travel tech, I don't believe the person on the Zephyr is actually the real Gemma Simmons. But an LMD/Chronicom duplicate created, probably by Enoch and FitzSimmons themselves, to interface with the team. The real Simmons is actually with Fitz, but they are both really old, or possibly even dead (of old age). It's a reverse Steve Rogers from Endgame.

That can't be because felt emotions off Simmons and doesn't with Coulson.

I don't think Simmons is a Chronicom. But she does have Chronicom tech in her. Maybe the thing in her neck is an implant that slows or stops aging, which would be the reason why she and Fitz could have "a very long time" to create time travel tech. Or maybe her current body is a cloned copy and the implant was used to download Simmons memories and consciousness into it.

[AndrewCrossett]

I think the thing in Simmons' neck is a memory eraser. She needs to communicate with Fitz, but she can't know where he is because (as Deke knows) the Chronicoms could somehow get that information from her head. It's possible that even the information he gives her has to be erased from her memory after she acts on it. But the implant occasionally causes disorientation and non-Fitz-related memory issues, which Enoch has to adjust.

Fitz is being kept out of the timestream as a wild card, his location and actions totally unknown to the Chronicoms and even his own team. At the critical moment he will seem to step into existence out of nowhere as a "black swan" to disrupt the Chronicoms' carefully laid plans.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Maybe in the end Fitz and Simmons will end up in some virtual world like they've been in before since their bodies will have died and the fact that they're in a virtual world would be removed from their minds and somehow that world would be kept going so that they'd be together but in an odd way...a weird twist at the end or something like that...otherwise I wonder why Fitz will probably only show up in like two episodes if even that sadly...really makes it hard for me to bother even watching this season...

[AndrewCrossett]

Fitz is a great character, but the show is still doing very well this season IMO, and the mystery of his absence is one of the more interesting parts. I do hope they bring him back for more than just one or two episodes, though.

I assume this is because Iain de Caestecker is busy with other projects. According to IMDB he's filming a miniseries called "Us."

[Kirby101]

Best title sequence ever!

[Anarchist]

Best title sequence ever!

Yep.

And great episode.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Fitz is a great character, but the show is still doing very well this season IMO, and the mystery of his absence is one of the more interesting parts. I do hope they bring him back for more than just one or two episodes, though.

I assume this is because Iain de Caestecker is busy with other projects. According to IMDB he's filming a miniseries called "Us."

Then one is left to wonder if that's why he's not there or if the writers only wrote him in a few episodes so then he went out and found something else to do...just keep expecting the show to give us some twisted ending for Fitz and Simmons, some bittersweet ending...while most of the others get happy ones...

[Kirby101]

BTW:

The meaning is that although you did not see the dairy farmer do it, he most probably dipped the milk pail in the stream to water down the product. It’s not direct evidence but a very strong circumstantial case.

It is attributed as follows: "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk. ‘ (Henry David Thoreau)

[AndrewCrossett]

Then one is left to wonder if that's why he's not there or if the writers only wrote him in a few episodes so then he went out and found something else to do...just keep expecting the show to give us some twisted ending for Fitz and Simmons, some bittersweet ending...while most of the others get happy ones...

It looks like they used the money they saved on his salary to boost the VFX. That scene in the rocket launch hangar was pretty cinematic.

[Cyke]

Before they got with their respective partners, I was really hoping these two would become a couple. Maybe due in part for Simmons being slightly thirsty for Mack.

But speaking of Mack, while he's faced with an impossible choice and it helps build up the cliffhanger, could I just say how strongly he's grown into the role of Director? Up until the end there of course, and throughout the season, he's been pretty firm and determined. He may not have all the plans or the facts, but he's confident in his and his team's abilities to meet those challenges. Even his "I don't know" in this episode was delivered with more certainty than that common sentence usually denotes.

Also, yes, big ups on the budget this season. From the set pieces and wardrobe to the SFX, the show's in top form. I've felt previous seasons dragged on a bit but for the most part it's been hit after hit this season. Hopefully this means the show ends on one heck of a high note.

Lastly, I could listen to Enoch read from the phonebook all day and just relax. I wish we had a scene on the plane where everyone just expresses how happy they are to see Enoch (or whatever low-key version of happiness Enoch would have for being back with the team). I know the episode moved a little too briskly to have time for that kind of exchange other than Enoch saying he was abandoned, but still, it's good to have him back in the main story.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

I really viewed Simmons as not liking Mack because he had taken her place in dealing with Fitz and his problems after suffering the brain damage, past that I don't remember her having any interest in him or vice versa...as for Enoch, maybe he's just mad that Fitz isn't around...

[Cyke]

I really viewed Simmons as not liking Mack because he had taken her place in dealing with Fitz and his problems after suffering the brain damage, past that I don't remember her having any interest in him or vice versa...as for Enoch, maybe he's just mad that Fitz isn't around...

Yeah, early on she didn't like Mack. I can't pinpoint the episode but I'd say it was maybe a season or two later, where she was kind of eye-****ing him and a little shortness of breath when talking to him. But that can easily be chalked up to just momentary attraction and hormones and nothing more, like anyone else in the real world (plus Simmons herself was classically socially awkward until she and Fitz became an item). And I'd also lean to think that it was one-sided at the time, with Mack not really being aware of it or reciprocating at the time. In any case, it was fast and inconsequential. Still, at the time I thought they were cute together and was rooting for Simmons to do something about it.