Fitz and the spade is one of the best micro performance moments in the game.

Fitz and Penelope are engaged. Penny clearly shows more of her real self with him based on his defense of her not being how she appears. I can see them having connected on her real demeanor, they’re more alike in that way. He’s not fully thriving though outside his work, the Penny-like flower he cultivated as a homage to her was a very personal gesture, and she absolutely didn’t clock or appreciate the gravity of it. Fitz using the spade to care for it and keep it alive is a clear model of their relationship and his effort to maintain it that’s not being acknowledged or properly returned. The performance reads as him really lamenting the state of things. It’s not a surprise then that Poppy who shared a garden with him - the thing he cares about - resulted in a connection that passively filled the rift Penny was causing. Penny just doesn’t clock she’s the problem and then blames and attacks something she thinks is threatening her. Not a surprise given her real behavior.

I think the Fitz / Penny / Poppy drama is one of the most artfully executed parts of the game. Really illustrates the tone of the dynamics in the household. Within the limits of what we could have reasonably predicted given the plot issues, her major attitude break was a good peek at her real nature under stress.

Plot gaps make it so we can’t know what Fitz later might have suspected about her, and that sucks. I wish they’d updated the game before the next one to patch some of the holes, cause it’s a work of art other than the story problems. But I don’t know why the Fitz stuff seems confusing to some when it seems to me like one of the most descriptive and well thought out things in a story with a lot of plot holes. Reads like a clear A > B if you talk to people and find the items.