Less than 5 – Skip it, 6 – OK, 7 – Good, 8 – Great, 9 – Phenomenal, 10 – You owe it to yourself to watch this episode!
Howard Stark returns, Peggy meets an old friend (sort of) and was that Black Widow I saw? All this and more can be found in this week’s episode of Agent Carter!
The Blitzkrieg Button saw two major reveals that completely change the direction of the season and open up huge new avenues to explore. The first major reveal was that Howard (Dominic Cooper) was secretly hiding the last sample of Steve Rogers’ (Captain America) blood. When Peggy finds out that Stark has been less than truthful she gets a tad pissed. Hailey Atwell does a tremendous job showing just how hurt she is at how one of her only friends could use her so easily. It’s especially powerful considering she was just told straight up that “no man will ever consider you their equal” (good job on that one Jack Thompson). Peggy went from being an instrumental asset in the war to picking up lunch orders. It’s a difficult transition made even worse when your worst fears are realized by the ones you trusted the most. The scene between Peggy and Stark is by far the most emotional yet and handled masterfully. We get insight into both characters minds and see how life after the war has affected both of them.
The other massive reveal/Easter Egg came from the unsuspecting Dottie (Bridget Regan). Turns out she is more than just the ditz next door. The episode spends a lot of time setting up Mr. Mink (Gregory Sporleder) as a formidable villain (that automatic pistol was insane!) only to have him completely ruined by Dottie (over the insane pistol no less!). Dottie’s offensive style is eerily similar to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, and for good reason. The producers of the show have confirmed that Dottie is part of a Russian spy program that is the precursor to the Black Widow program. It’s fantastic to see Agent Carter fleshing out corners of the MCU that have thus far been ill explained. The Black Widow program makes perfect sense to have during Carter’s adventures and it goes a long way in helping develop Natasha Romanoff’s history. Tara Butters, one of the show runners, said that their job in creating the show is “to connect the world without stepping on the world.” I don’t think a more apt statement can be made and they are all doing a huge job.
Aside from the two reveals I just mentioned the episode was a bit of a mixed bag. A lot of the humor felt unnaturally forced but it was offset by some solid character drama and the progression of the story. The first ten minutes feel like a massive joke at the expense of Howard Stark. He is having quickies with all of Peggy’s neighbors (the dude moves fast, I doubt even Tony could keep up in his single days), James D’Arcy’s Jarvis (who is normally hilarious) has one of the worst poker faces in history, which is odd considering how stone faced he was in the last episode, and the SSR scientists electrocute and set themselves on fire with Stark’s tech. The show is normally quite good with allowing the humor flow naturally within the scenes but here it seems like it was shoehorned because Stark came out to play.
We do get a few good moments out of the SSR agents though. Sousa relates some of his backstory to a bum he believes witnessed Peggy and Jarvis on the “Heartbreak” and it makes him a much more relatable character. Thompson continues to prove he is an asshole with remarks like, “not everyone came back from the war looking for a hug.” It makes him seem like a jerk but you have to admit that his methods are effective (who knew booze and burgers could get someone to talk?). Shea Wigham gets some time in the spotlight this week as he went all the way over to Germany to speak to a Nazi war criminal before his execution. The way he so easily manipulated the inmate with promises of a merciful death, only to trick him out of the information was cold but showed how resourceful he could be. The conversation he had in Germany, combined with Thompson’s findings back at the SSR have once again pointed to Stark as the main culprit.
How it all comes together is still beyond me but with the Black Widow program rearing its head and the blood of Captain America in the prize pool I can see things getting heated very quickly.
And before I forget, the obligatory Stan Lee cameo happened this week. It was ok, kind of flew under the radar with all of Stark’s other shenanigans.
Overall I give the episode 8/10