No flashback this week. We start off with Agents Carter, Sousa and Thompson investigating the aftermath of the theater incident. I will say this episode started off running and never really stopped. Not to say it didn’t have comedy and tender moments. It had all that and some.
Stark decides it’s time to end all this silliness, and turns himself in to deliver some much needed exposition. There is another hilarious scene with Jarvis that I won’t spoil. It’s funnier if you see yourself. Also, how great is Jarvis? I would totally watch his spin-off. The Adventures of Stark and Jarvis, coming this Fall to ABC. Okay, that will never happen. I do want to see him in more shows though.
The device released a chemical called Midnight Oil, which may or may not be from the comics. It was originally created to keep soldiers awake for days at a time. So – basically the Russian sleep experiment.
There is a funny scene with Stark fussing over the handling of his devices, including picking one up, turning it over and laying it in the same spot and declaring it was fine then. I love how he can be silly and serious at the same time. This scene is important because at the end Stark grabs Roger’s blood. We’ll come back to that.
Stark volunteers to be the bait in an attempt to lure Ivchenko and Underwood into a trap. This plan works very well, for the bad guys. There’s an obvious switch out taken directly from The Dark Knight with a gun rigged to shoot and distract the agents. Not sure how I feel about that. I mean, Stark kinda had to get kidnapped for the story to move along. That or have a very short episode.
Ivchenko hypnotized Stark, taking him back to his greatest regret, never finding Steve Rogers. This is really a nice story bit because up to now all he’s really talked about is how Roger’s blood could be used for the good of mankind and all that jazz. Historically famous last words of mad scientists the world over.
Stark is hypnotized into believing he is flying to rescue Rogers. In reality he is headed for Times Square with a plane full of crazy juice, which is Ivchenko’s crazy revenge plan. This is actually a very touching scene. It shows he cared about Steve as a person, and thus makes him a more personable character. It also puts Jarvis in the awkward position of being the last line of defense against Stark if Carter can’t talk him back to reality.
Meanwhile Agent Thompson does what he does best and gets knocked out again, leaving the fate of the city to Carter. And I guess Jarvis to a secondary degree. Carter and Underwood have their return bout while Ivchenko escapes, and Underwood gets knocked through a window where she surely died. Except she didn’t. Not right away at least. Sequel bait!!
Ivchenko is stopped by Agent Sousa, who seemed to be taken under the not-so-good doctors spell– actually, not gonna spoil this one. It a great scene for Agent Sousa though.
After all the drama Agent Sousa asks Carter out and is gently shot down. Which honestly surprised me. The way she smiled though, maybe she is playing hard to get. Waitress Angie and Carter get a mansion on loan from Stark in lieu of a thank you note (told you guys hose two would get together. Or something like that) and lastly, Agent Carter pours out Steve Rogers’s blood, symbolically letting him go and letting go of her hope for his return. It was very bittersweet, and something we don’t see enough of these days.
And of course we got a post credits scene, albeit before the credits actually rolled. Sorry, not gonna spoil that either. You’ll thank me later for not telling it.
Suffice is to say I feel much more confident that we will have a season two. So in wrap up, Agent Carter is fun, engaging and smart. It incorporates comedy with action with drama in that way Marvel Studios does so well. As I said in the past, some of the early episodes ram Captain America at us a bit hard. Mostly though, it manages to be wholly its own universe while still being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even expands it with characters like Dr. Ivchenko. This was a great show with lively characters and more genuine laugh moments then I have mentioned. It really is worth checking out if you like the Marvel movies and/or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
See y’all next season.