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The team's tripping balls at a space casino in the latest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

By Trent Moore
Agents of SHIELD Fitz and Enoch

After splitting the action between the off-world and on-world teams the first few episodes, this week almost exclusively focuses on the S.H.I.E.L.D. members out in far-flung space — and things are going off the rails in a hurry.

Spoilers ahead for "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson," the latest episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which aired Friday, May 24, 2019.

As Fitz makes a pit stop to drop off the crew of the ship he liberated, they turn on him and leave him with nothing — nothing except one gambling chip that can be used at the on-planet casino. Luckily for Fitz, Enoch can pass for human and is adept at counting cards, so he makes them a ton of money … only to lose it a few minutes later because he doesn't quite understand the concept of bluffing. This leads Fitz to sign up for a game of high-stakes alien blackjack, where getting the wrong hand can literally get you shot at the table. It's largely played for a gag, but it's nice to see S.H.I.E.L.D. getting a chance to play in that Guardians of the Galaxy-y cosmic corner of the MCU.

Over on the Zephyr — which is just a nearby planet away from Fitz at this point — Daisy, Simmons, Piper, and Davis run into a mysterious bounty hunter who is searching for Fitz and Enoch. They get the drop on him, but it doesn't last long. The team determines Fitz is not on the cryo-chamber planet of Naro-Atzia, and is instead on the space Vegas locale Kitson. So they jump over there, and we finally have the whole space team on the same planet. They just have to contend with being super stoned in space first.

Davis and the rest of the team eat some alien puffy food when they arrive (Fitz avoided it, thanks to Enoch's warning) and pretty much spend the entire episode tripping balls. For a show that is often on the serious side with a few good zingers thrown in, this one went all out with the concept. We have wacky hallucinations, stumbling trippin' fight scenes, and Davis (who ate way more puffy things) going hilariously off the reservation. Incorporating Davis and Piper into the ensemble has been a great addition this season, and just when it looked like Davis might be canon fodder, he turns out to still be kickin' (and trippin'). So maybe he will get to finish his awesome story one of these days.

After teasing it out for three episodes of deep space searching, we finally get the long-awaited reunion between Fitz and Simmons this week — which lasts about two seconds, sadly. The bounty hunter gets the drop on Fitz, grabs him, and disappears with some kind of teleportation device that looks almost like a portable ring platform from Stargate SG-1 (sorry, went deep nerd there for a second). It's a shame, but it makes sense, as this arc looks to drive at least the first part of this shortened season. That said, we're really starting to miss FitzSimmons.

Assorted musings

Agents of SHIELD mercenary

Daisy and Simmons tripping out under the casino table was hilarious. It's not often these actresses get to play like this, and it was some surreal levity.

Also, Simmons threatening to fight Daisy over potentially turning back and going home was a badass moment. No fear, yo.

Remember Deke? The future dude from last season who came back with the team? We're three episodes in, and we haven't seen anything from the time-displaced associate of S.H.I.E.L.D. He's been in a bunch of the cast shots, so it'll be interesting to see what pulls him back into the fold.

It seems Enoch has finally pushed the boundaries of a Chronicom past the brink. Enoch is remotely shut down, presumably by the other Chronicoms, but decides to stay on task even after being decommissioned to help out his BFF Fitz. He's also mighty confused to see Simmons after Fitz is Fitz-napped. Yeah, we think everyone has a lot of explaining to do.

Post-credit scene: Hey, Evil Coulson is still out there causing trouble! He shoots some mysterious weapon into the sky to get readings on the planet Earth? We think this is probably not a good thing, since we know his crew has already destroyed at least one other planet with matter-eating portals in the sky. Is this what sets the stage for those planet-killing McGuffins?