SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Window of Opportunity," the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Despite Fitz's death, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 ended on a hopeful note. Because the team averted the end of the world, they broke a time loop. So, though their present version of Fitz was killed, a past version of Fitz still exists out in deep space, where had had entered cryosleep in order to get to the future "the long way." Now, in Season 6, Fitz's partner Jemma Simmons and her fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are making good on their promise to find him -- but their job just got way more complicated.
As revealed in the Season 6 premiere, Fitz wasn't in cryosleep long before he and Chronicom anthropologist Enoch were attacked by Confederacy ship. In order to survive, they were forced to flee, which has pushed them out further into space. The end of the episode showed that he survived the explosion, but his whereabouts were left a mystery. "Window of Opportunity," the latest episode, offered a bit more insight into what he has been up to since.
As it turns out, Fitz has been putting his tech know-how to good use as an engineer aboard another ship. In order to blend in, he pretended to be from a planet called Sivos, like the rest of the crew. However, he made the mistake of insulting a Viscous Xandarian snail, considered a delicacy among their people, and told them he was from the very far north -- "an irradiated wasteland" on the planet. They soon discovered he used an Iriscope to change the look of his eyes and spurned him for being Terran.
Unfortunately for Fitz, Sivians are "notoriously xenophobic," according to Enoch. Vero, the crew's controller, threatened to throw him out an airlock until Fitz met an increasing list of demands. Because he was both smarter and more productive than the rest of the crew, he met them, but Vero grew greedy. He attempted to throw the whole crew off the ship, but Fitz intervened on their behalf. The conflict ended when Fitz tricked Vero into getting sucked out his own airlock.
With Vero gone, Fitz took over the ship. When he realized the crew could be executed for mutinying, he changed their destination so he could drop them off on Kitson, a planet where they would find employment. Enoch informed him that this would delay their mission to put him back in cryosleep. "I've got time," Fitz replied, unaware that Simmons was already looking for him.
Worse, as Fitz took the ship in a new direction, the S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjet dropped out of hyperspace. As Simmons, Daisy and Agents Piper and Davis soared into orbit, Fitz's ship went in the opposite direction, meaning they just missed each other. "He's here," Simmons insisted, clasping his wedding ring. "I can feel it."
Fitz and Simmons may not be separated for much longer. According to the synopsis for "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson," next week's episode, "It’s a wild night out on the planet of Kitson for the agents. While Fitz and Enoch try their luck at the casino, nearby, Daisy and Simmons find themselves in a much… groovier situation."
Though Kitson does not appear to have an analogue in the comics, the planet was mentioned in an earlier Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode. In the Season 5 episode "Fun and Games," Kitson was referred to as a planet known for its brothels.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Fridays at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.