Why We Love FitzSimmons
Today, I want to talk about FitzSimmons from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Now that we're 101 episodes in to the ABC television show, I think more than any two characters on the show, Leopold Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) have grown the most over the years and, frankly, are two of the reasons I still very much enjoy the show.
By the way, before I start this, I wanted to warn people that I will be spoiling events in various seasons of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. So, proceed at your own risk.
Say what you will about the show, but there is something really special to these characters that you just want to root for.
They first appeared as this plucky team of tech geeks being picked for Agent Coulson's (Clark Gregg) team. The two would finish each other's sentences and were basically interchangeable to most of the team. They were just known as FitzSimmons. They were cute, but you didn't really think they'd add anything to the show aside from comedy relief. I've seen characters like this before on other shows and they are just known for their wise cracks while supporting the rest of the team.
Then, when the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier impacted the show and Ward (Brett Dalton) was revealed as a Hydra agent, the paths of these two changed from funny characters to two star crossed lovers. While trapped in a tank at the bottom of the ocean, sent there by Ward, Fitz, who is in love with Simmons, saves her life by sacrificing himself as they escape. The result is that Fitz suffers from some brain damage.
Feeling a level of guilt, Simmons takes a field assignment as a mole in the Hydra organization. This leaves her separated from Fitz who is now hallucinating that Simmons is still there. The two spend much of the season apart, but are finally reunited for a short time before Jemma is sucked across the galaxy by an Inhuman teleportation tool called the Monolith.
Again, the two spend much of the next season apart with Simmons trapped on a desolate world with a dangerous and deadly alien presence. She finds comfort in Will Daniels, the only other human on the planet who was also teleported there by the Monolith years ago. Meanwhile, on Earth, Fitz goes through much agony trying to find a way to bring Jemma back. He starts making dangerous decisions and will not stop. His persistence pays off, though, and is able to rescue Jemma.
As all stories go, there is a tension between the two because Jemma had grown affection for Will for whom she was trapped. Despite the awkwardness, Fitz helps Jemma try to find him. A high official in Hydra kidnaps Fitz and Simmons to find a way to return to the Planet. He wants to bring back the dangerous alien creature who turns out is an ancient Inhuman. Fitz goes in her place along with Ward and Coulson. Fitz hopes to rescue Will for Jemma, but it turns out he was possessed by the ancient Inhuman. The Inhuman then jumps into Ward's body and comes to Earth. But, with the Will story resolved and the two finally being together, they both mutually share they have feelings for each other and plan a date. And, for all of us who rooted for them, we finally got to see them happy and in the beginning of a relationship. So, what could go wrong?
Into the 4th season, Fitz becomes involved with Holden Radcliffe who is developing a robotic Life Model Decoy named Aida who looks as close to human as possible. Fitz, though, keeps his work from Jemma secret. You know how that goes. When Aida reads a magical book called the Darkhold, she starts developing sentience and builds a plan to send our Agents into a simulated digital world called the Framework. In the Framework, everybody is supposed to have what makes them content. But, Fitz becomes a very cruel Hydra leader serving alongside Aida who is Madame Hydra.
Once they are rescued from the Framework by Simmons and Daisy, Fitz is feeling great conflict not understanding how his happiness could have involved being such an evil person. But that even had to wait because, at the end of the 4th season, all the agents, except for Fitz, are sent 91 years into the future to a post-apocalyptic world where Earth has been destroyed by Daisy Johnson's (Chloe Bennett) earthquake power. The remaining hit of humanity is governed by the aliens know as the Kree who use the humans as slaves. It is up to the team to help save humanity.
And, the reason why Fitz is left behind, it is discovered, is so he could rescue all of them. And that he does. So happy is he to see Simmons that he proposes marriage. And, in the 100th episode, all of us who have loved FitzSimmons were treated to their wedding. Finally!
I'm going to stop here as the future continues to be untold for these two, but I wanted to end on a happy note. And I also wanted to say how much I've not only loved to see the development of Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, but it's been a pleasure to see the actors who play them be able to perform such emotional scenes that have made us come to love them.
And, its great to see these characters come into their own and be important members of the team then comedic relief support. They've proven to be so popular that they have made their way into other parts of the Marvel universe, including in the comics and in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated show on Disney XD. Now, if we can only see them in the movies!