“Hands up!”
(screencap from CTV.ca)
It’s the final episode of Agent Carter’s first season, and we’ll be doing things a bit differently here this week as a result. What do I mean by that, exactly? Read on and find out. But, first…
The Story So Far
Her name is Peggy Carter, an agent for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, America’s premier covert intelligence agency. During the war, she fought side-by-side with Captain America in the battle against the hordes of Hydra. However, her post-war role has her instead getting coffee and covering the phones for her co-workers. That all would change when Howard Stark tasked her to become a double agent in order to clear his name after his weapons and inventions begin to turn up all over the black market. Together with Edwin Jarvis, Stark’s faithful butler, Carter works in the shadows to clear the name of a good friend.
This investigation has led to the emergence of Leviathan, a Russian organization with mysterious aims that have now become quite clear. Dr. Ivchenko and Dottie Underwood, two of Leviathan’s agents have made off with Item 17, a biological weapon that causes mass psychotic rages – as demonstrated at an innocuous movie theatre. It is now nearly evident that Item 17 was the cause of the massacre at the Battle of Finnow.
Recap (Warning: Full Spoilers Ahead)
So, we’ve reached the terminus point of Agent Carter with closure of the main plot threads, and some threads to pick up should the story get a chance to move forward. In the meantime, the thrilling and heartrending season finale penned by executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters that provides a satisfying conclusion for the main story arc that’s been building since the series’ January 7th premiere.
The story picks up from last week, with the SSR scrambling to stop Leviathan’s Dr. Ivchenko – or rather, Johann Fennhoff — and “Dottie” from carrying out their plan of releasing a psychosis-inducing gas onto an unknown (to them, anyway) target. The true applications of the gas, dubbed “Midnight Oil” was meant to originally to keep soldiers alert for days at a time, but it naturally ended up backfiring. It’s revealed that Midnight Oil was unleashed on Finnow not by Howard Stark, but by U.S. Army officials. This revelation certainly makes Stark less of an asshole for coming up with such an invention, also serving as the means of ultimately clearing his name with the SSR. With the applications of Midnight Oil now made clear to our heroes, they now have an idea how to stop Fennhoff, but it ultimately is not without sacrifice.
The prevailing theme throughout Agent Carter’s eight episodes has been “self-sacrifice” and the subsequent consequences that spin out of such sacrifices. Certainly, it’s no accident that self-sacrifice is prevalent at the heart of Carter, given its status as a semi-sequel of sorts to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, a film where a hero’s sacrifice to save millions of lives is pivotal to its most dramatic moment. From Peggy’s own initial sacrifice of her reputation within the SSR in order to clear Stark’s name, to the one in the previous episode to get her peers to trust her word regarding Leviathan by bartering Cap’s blood sample, the notion of sacrificing personal standing to benefit the greater good is a theme that looms over the miniseries as much as the thought-to-be-dead Captain America does. That once again shows up here in full force with Peggy’s heartbreaking radio speech in order to snap Stark back from Fennhoff’s mind controlling that has him falsely convinced that he’s bringing Cap back (though, in actuality, he’s set to unleash Midnight Oil over Times Square). “I know you loved him. I loved him, too. But this won’t bring him back,” she says on the verge of tears, “I cannot lose you. Steve is gone. We have to move on, all of us.” It’s certainly not easy for Peggy to have to make that particular admission, but it’s a sacrifice that she is willing to make in order to save lives. The decision she makes to dump all of the remaining samples of Cap’s blood over the Brooklyn Bridge is another sacrifice she makes, this time not representing a chance to save the world, but rather a chance for Peggy to heed her own advice to Howard of having to move on from the past.
As the title character, it’s no surprise that Peggy got a great deal of character development throughout the course of eight episodes. I’ve noted in previous recaps how some of Peggy’s ordeals in Agent Carter kind of parallel the ones faced by Captain America, and that’s not to imply that she’s just simply a distaff counterpart to Cap. These aforementioned experiences help augment her own worth as an individual that’s a part of something bigger. She went from being a glorified secretary, to a wanted criminal, before finally becoming a respected member of the SSR, and all that achieved through her own efforts. Future seasons of Agent Carter ideally can focus on her efforts of maintaining her status in the face of a very patriarchal system that won’t even give her credit for her hard work (as evidenced by the U.S. Senator coming to congratulate Thompson solely for the efforts in saving the Big Apple), while she continues on her path in paving the way for the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agent Sousa’s character arc mainly focused on his own investigating of the blonde-haired saboteur at the nightclub, which would lead him to correctly deducing Peggy as being the saboteur in question. His development consistently put him ahead of his fellow SSR agents, often showing him as the only truly competent agent aside from Peggy herself. As mentioned before, he’s the only one in the SSR who figured out Peggy’s ruse, plus Sousa manages to be the only one smart enough to confront Fennhoff with earplugs to block out his hypnosis techniques so that he can take down the not-so-good doctor with ease. There is also a hint of Daniel wanting something more than just a simple workplace rapport with Peggy, evidenced by a few times where he’s more than willing to stand up for her in the face of chauvinistic co-workers. This culminates in the finale where he finally musters up the courage to ask Peggy out for a coffee. It’s sadly rejected, but a smile from Peggy following the proposal seems to suggest that Sousa’s affections aren’t falling on deaf ears. It also helps feed the potential idea of Peggy ending up marrying Sousa in later years.
Far and away, Edwin Jarvis proves himself to be the best supporting character out of the cast, thanks in big part to an endearing performance by James D’Arcy, who plays off of Atwell greatly in every scene he shares with her. Throughout the eight episodes, his loyalty serving as Stark’s butler is brought into question, with Jarvis growing fonder of Peggy’s presence the more he gets to work with her in the investigation to clear Howard’s name. This fondness becomes quite evident when Jarvis chews out Stark for keeping the blood sample of Captain America for himself and deceiving Peggy as a result. As Jarvis tells Peggy in the closing moments of the finale, he owes Howard Stark a great deal, but his own personal integrity is not one of them. That being said, should the series continue and get a chance at covering the circumstances behind Jarvis’ death, it probably has a high chance of being a tearjerking moment.
Agent Thompson started off as an over-the-top sexist caricature who gives Peggy a hard time, but the series’ fifth episode (“The Iron Ceiling”) gives him some characterization not only helps him warm over to Peggy, but also adds some needed depth that helps him grow somewhat beyond his initial jerkiness. Perhaps, then, it’s fitting that the last we see of Thompson has him taking credit for saving the day when a U.S. Senator declares him a hero for saving Manhattan from devastation. Old habits certainly do die hard, but you can’t fault a guy for trying. And now that he’s seen what Peggy is capable of on the front lines, maybe he will get a chance to further change for the better.
Howard Stark may have only showed up in person in a few episodes of the season, but his presence was ever permeating. After all, it’s his inventions being stolen by nefarious forces and perceived status as a traitor to America that necessitates the plot of the season in the first place. The season also reveals some surprising elements of Howard’s character, like the implication that he didn’t grow up into a life of luxury and the outstanding guilt he felt in instances like being indirectly responsible for the massacre at Finnow and Cap’s disappearance in the arctic. He may be a millionaire playboy and famed inventor, but as we’ve seen, there are certainly a few chinks in his metaphorical armor, so to speak. He’s far from perfect, but Howard certainly can’t be faulted for not trying to be the best person that he can be.
While Angie ultimately served the purpose of simply being Peggy’s friend outside the SSR and someone she could have a friendly conversation with, the character’s overall bubbly nature and friendship with Peggy allows her to be memorably lovable. Despite limited screentime, Lyndsey Fonseca makes the most of it and delivers moments filled with humor and heart that helps add some breathers amidst all the espionage and action.
While he served as the true “main” villain for the latter half of the series, the reason for Fennhoff’s actions come not as being evil for the sake of evil, but rather as a means of avenging his brother, who ended up being one of the casualties of the infamous Battle of Finnow. He wants to make Howard Stark pay for being partially responsible for his brother’s death, even if it’s at the cost of innocent lives. This motivation helps him move past being a one-dimensional villain for Peggy and the SSR to stop, giving a believable reason for his courses of action.
The season’s final moments not only give us a certain closure to these characters we have come to care about – or in the case of Thompson, love to hate – in the long run, while opening up new opportunities for the story to continue. Peggy is now respected by her SSR peers and has found a new place of residence for her and Angie inside one of Howard’s many homes, as well as having the loyalty of Jarvis should she need him. Meanwhile, Dottie is still on the loose and Fennhoff has found a new friend inside his place of captivity. In grand Marvel tradition, Agent Carter leaves us wanting more by revealing this “friend” to be Dr. Arnim Zola, the former Hydra chief scientist and the man behind Project Insight from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as well as the conspiracy that ultimately brought about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s downfall. Traditionally, such a scene would functionally serve as an overt hook to keep audiences anticipating a second season, but I feel that the scene with Fennhoff and Zola might help explain certain things from Winter Soldier and even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., especially as it relates to brainwashing techniques seen in the aforementioned movie and series, respectively.
But alas, Agent Carter is complete. So, what’s next? While the immediate future of the various characters that make up the world of Agent Carter’s post-war America are unknown and the status of a possible second season is still up in the air, we can take solace in the fact that we got a solidly produced action/adventure series that puts a fully-realized female lead in the spotlight in the interim. On that note, we can conclude that the season’s final chapter continues the consistent solid excellence we’ve come to expect. Here’s hoping that the showrunners get a chance to continue that excellence in future seasons.
Quick Hits
- The Captain America Adventure Hour program from the second episode makes a brief return at the beginning to simply set the stage for the final chapter.
- A great comic showing for our intrepid Agent Carter is the 2011 one-shot Captain America and The First Thirteen, which features Peggy doing what she does best.
- Interesting to see the “evil Russian” trope get shot down when Peggy brushes off Thompson’s deduction that Fennhoff’s motives are because he’s a “Russian jerk”.
- Fennhoff’s motives of getting revenge on Howard won’t definitely be the last time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where a villain tries to get revenge on a member of the Stark family, if the Iron Man movies are any indication.
- “You were gonna shoot me out of the sky?” “I thought that was what you wanted?” “No! No, it’s not!”
- If there’s one thing I’ll miss about Agent Carter, it’s the little things that help the series’ 1940s atmosphere and setting feel authentic. The use of 1940s songs, set design, costuming, and so on were a big success in taking viewers back in time.
- I wonder if the Super-Soldier Serum has any effects on sea mammals…
- As we close the curtains on Agent Carter (the series), I find myself wondering where the Marvel One-Shot also titled Agent Carter fits in terms of continuity. The pilot shows a few scenes from the aforementioned One-Shot as flashbacks indicating the events having taken place in the past, but there are no indications exactly on where they take place.
Next Week
Agent Carter may be over, but I’m certainly not. Be here next week when we rejoin Phil Coulson and pals with the mid-season premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Marc Quill just happens to cover shows aired on Tuesdays at 9/8 on ABC that are also based on Marvel Comics. He’s also very Canadian. You can reach him on Twitter @MarcQuill.