-It's all pin cushings, dressing gowns & sewer heist on Episode 3 of Agent Carter. Now, I am posting all of my recaps of this show, because they were all saved in my drafts....which was totally okay, because it gave me more than enough time to post all of the show recaps. Which agains reminds me, I haven't posted the Smackdown & Impact Wrestling recaps for this week. I'll get on that very soon.
On to the actual show, Agent Carter:
Rather than the customary “Previously, On…” segment where we see relevant clips from past episodes to get us up to speed, Agent Carter has hit on something inspired: have Peggy narrate the relevant backstory in the first person. This is great not only because it mixes things up, but also because it’s another way to make this show feel like a comic book. So far, Carter is on par with Guardians Of The Galaxy in terms of nailing a comics aesthetic, and in my opinion it’s the only comic-inspired TV show that does it particularly well.
We open in the Griffith Ladies’ Hotel, where a guy shimmies up the wrong drainpipe trying to find his girlfriend’s window. Peggy Carter has no sympathy, which is yet another reason I love her. She doesn’t bend over backwards to be sweet or helpful when it doesn’t benefit her. Meanwhile, at a much seedier hotel full of a different sort of ladies, the boys of the S.S.R. investigate Green Suit’s room. There’s some useful exposition here that answers a lot of my questions from last week about the “villain,” but sadly we quickly turn away from talk of Leet Brannis’ Soviet connections and onto this week’s far less interesting mission. You see, once upon a time, Houdini came to the Griffith Ladies’ Hotel to show off his escape artistry, and with this random anecdote from the Griffith’s stern landlady, we hit upon the real theme of “Time And Tide” – Escape.
Two major escapes form the backbone of our plot...
First, we’ve got the S.S.R.’s arrest of Jarvis in connection with the Roxxon implosion, and his eventual escape thanks to Peggy’s quick thinking. (Though I’m wondering how much career self-sabotage she’s willing to undergo on behalf of Howard Stark.) Later, we discover Jarvis is a bit of an escape artist himself, having stolen exit papers to get his wife, who is Jewish, out of Nazi-aligned Budapest, and then managing to wriggle out of the resulting treason charges with some help from Stark.
Secondly, there is the escape which forms the main plot of the episode, that of Leet Brannis from Stark’s vault with a pile of dangerous plot MacGuffins and assorted gadgetry. (Seriously WHY would anyone invent a back massager that breaks every bone in your body?) This storyline is kind of a letdown in terms of overall mysteriousness, but we do get a hilarious Brooklyn-accented phone call from Jarvis out of it. Also, the arrest of a third potential villain, who was hiding out on the boat – and who can actually talk! leads us to something we should probably come to expect from Agent Carter:
Anyone can die.
And it’s the chauvinist Ray Krzeminski, who is executed by Leviathan assassins. It’s hard to get too worked up over the loss of the S.S.R.’s resident Neanderthal, and in fact this story turn made me wonder whether we could slowly kill off all the icky sexists until the S.S.R. consists of Director Peggy Carter, her trusty second in command Agent Souza (I STILL SHIP IT), and their team of crack telephone operator phone phreaking spies. However, Peggy apparently has more sympathy than I do. The loss of Ray brings home the point that pushing people away can’t help her escape the constant loss which comes with the job of S.S.R. agent. Between trying to stay one step ahead of her keystone kop colleagues in the attempt to clear Howard Stark’s name and steering clear of Leviathan’s clutches, what Peggy really needs is someone outside her world of super-spies. Ideally someone who understands what it means to be a working woman in the postwar world. Someone like Angie, who she finally lets in during an endearing final scene which closes on a wide shot that can only be an homage to Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.”
Episode 4 - The Blitzkrieg Button
The return of Howard Stark after a couple of episodes out of the country gives Agent a nice boost, not that the show has needed it thus far. While AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. has used the opening teaser sequence to set up their episodes, Agent Carter jumps right into the mix with Jarvis and Peggy in the midst of an exchange for the returned Stark, smuggled in via a cargo crate. Jarvis uses some Bond-like gadgets while Peggy just kicks ass.
With the SSR on the hunt for Stark after losing one of their own in the previous episode, Peggy sneaks Stark into her apartment building via a dumbwaiter. At SSR headquarters, Chief Dooley continues the investigation of Stark. Stuck with redacted Army documents and the mysterious typewriter, Dooley investigates a former Nazi who may have answers about Stark's whereabouts. During his absence, Dooley places Agent Thompson in charge. Stark is en route to Rio but wants to know which of his inventions Peggy has recovered. He gives her a camera pen to get intel at SSR for him before he leaves again. Thompson immediately institutes round the clock work for all SSR agents to find the killer of Agent Krzeminski. Peggy is able to get the photos and we get a funny segment of SSR scientists hurting themselves with Stark's devices.
Down at the docks, Sousa follows up on the anonymous phone call that led to finding the ship of Stark's inventions. Meanwhile, the thugs Peggy took down in the opening relate how Stark escaped to the platinum blonde Mr. Mink. Mink quickly kills them with a cool railgun style handgun after he learns Peggy Carter was at the scene. Back at her apartment, Peggy finds Howard with yet another woman. The sheer Starkiness of Dominic Cooper's portrayal of Tony's father is brilliant here. Sousa interrogates the homeless veteran from the docks and relates a story of how they are the same as soldiers returned from war. The vet doesn't budge and Thompson wants him released, but Sousa has a feeling about the guy. Back at her apartment, Stark tells Peggy he needs her to steal one of his inventions back from the SSR lab: the Blitzkrieg Button. It functions like an EMP and shuts down an entire tri-state area but he never discovered a way to turn the lights back on. Stark gives Peggy a decoy to exchange for the functional Button since he is the only one who can disarm it. Peggy makes her way to retrieve the Button with Jarvis with Mr. Mink in pursuit. Meanwhile, Thompson steps in with a hamburger and a bottle of Scotch which gets the homeless guy talking, revealing he saw a man and a woman board the boat before hell broke loose. Sousa asks if it was the same blonde from the party photographs but the vet says this woman had dark hair.
At Nuremburg Prison, Dooley meets with the Nazi war criminal, Mueller, and offers to help him escape in exchange for intel on Leet Brannis and Green Suit. Instead of hanging, Dooley offers cyanide caplets to give him a quick death. The criminal instead says there was no battle at Brannis' death site but rather a massacre that they did not undertake themselves. Dooley is incredulous but gives the cyanide to Mueller anyway which turns out to be breath mints. Sneaking into the SSR, Peggy overhears what Thompson and Sousa learned at the docks before switching the Buttons. As she looks over the device, perturbed by Jarvis' reaction to it on the way over, Peggy presses the button which instead of triggering an EMP opens the sphere to reveal a vial of amber liquid. As she tries to get out, she runs into Thompson who gives a nice misogonystic speech about how Peggy will never be equal with the men she works with. Back at her apartment, Mr. Mink sits outside waiting. Peggy confronts Howard about the vial which he reveals to be Steve Rogers' blood. Mink poses as a flower delivery boy and learns Peggy's room. Peggy punches Howard in the face for lying to her Howard says it is his natural instinct to lie and it is all a part of what it takes to elevate your status in the world. As to why he has Captain America's blood, Stark says as a member of Project Rebirth he and the government have a vial and the goverment is almost through their supply. If they learn Stark has his, they will take it and it could represent a cure for diseases, vaccines, and save millions. Peggy accuses Stark of wanting the blood to make money rather than do good like Steve Rogers intended to. Peggy takes a walk and demands Stark leave.
At the same time, Mink makes his way through the air vents to Peggy's room. Her neighbor, Dottie, comes out and Mink orders her back to her room. Her expression changes when she sees his gun and she quickly jumps acrobatically through the air, twisting Mink's neck and kills him. I did not see that coming. Peggy and Jarvis speak the next day but she clearly has lost respect for Jarvis due to his part in Stark's lie. Stark sits at a nearby shoeshine stand and tells Jarvis he can get her back. Jarvis voices his displeasure at the recent events and departs. Next to Stark, the one and only Stan Lee makes a cameo. I was waiting for that to happen! Dooley returns and shares his findings with Thompson who shares his own find: Howard Stark landed at an airfield the day after the battle Dooley investigated, prompting them to assme a conspiracy is building. Peggy hides the vial of blood in the wall of her apartment while Dottie admires her new weapon. At the SSR, Dooley reviews their evidence when Brannis' typewriter begins to self type.
Marvel Cinematic Universe References: The origin from CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER is key to this episode.
Review: I loved this episode. Thrilling, funny, and with a big heaping dose of Howard Stark, this entry in AGENT CARTER not only gave us some nice action but also deepened the conspiracy and mystery surrounding Stark's supposed crimes. The reveal that Dottie is some sort of superhuman was shocking but well executed and Stan Lee's cameo was perfectly timed. Hayley Atwell handled the dramatic exchange with Stark about Steve Rogers perfectly and exemplified why this show should get a season two. Shea Whigham was given a nice subplot this week as were all of the supporting players. For a one hour episode, this week's AGENT CARTER managed to cram in a ton of stuff without the episode feeling unbalanced.