REVIEW: Agent Carter "Smoke and Mirrors"
After the single weirdest episode of Agent Carter, we return this week to all of the things we’re set up for the other seven episodes. You know, that Wilkes is an intangible being, Thompson’s joining the evil group, and Whitney Frost just sucked up a dude. All of these would be fine except for the fact that I’m not sure why it’s called “Smoke and Mirrors.” Oh well, it doesn’t have the word “Hydra” in it, so I guess it’s one point for Agent Carter. For now.
Peggy Carter as a little girl was something I didn’t think I needed, but now I do. It almost makes the addition of another season almost worth it, because Peggy as a little girl for thirty seconds just adds to the already perfect setup of the character that is Peggy Carter. Developments continue in the present (or 1947, close enough) as Wilkes, Peggy, and Jarvis work in discovering Frost’s connection to Isodyne which undoubtedly means bringing out the tranquilizer guns to interrogate the man who tried to kill them last episode. I’m actually surprised that I thought we would have just ignored the guy who tried to assassinate Peggy. I guess that’s two points for Agent Carter.
Peggy’s not the only one with a flashback since we also get a brief look back at a young Whitney Frost fixing a radio while her mother pays the bills by seeing an awful man. It would be such an understanding backstory if it wasn’t juxtaposed with her experiment her zero matter abilities with lab mice. That’s not only crazy story material but also a waste of lab mice. On the bright side, besides the zero matter situation, the others are starting to get as close as the fourth episode will allow them by connecting the man back to the Arena Club and find the guy.
Peggy and a sedated Jarvis take their hostage back to the house only to find Sousa waiting for them. Friendly reminder that he is, in fact, part of their team. A team that probably would have helped being started last season, but it’s here nevertheless. Realizing that now does not give them a point. Peggy plans to interrogate her captive by injecting him with an enhanced cold and skilled bluff. We’re also treated to another backstory with (engaged!) codebreaker Peggy receiving a request to become a field agent for a special service headed by Winston Churchill. Peggy becomes more impressive the more we focus on her, but unfortunately, no one’s ever thought of having a series about that.
We have another flashback for Whitney Frost which would be nice except I’m not sure if these flashbacks are supposed to parallel each other or not. They’re good for the characters in a way, but they’re not particularly connected in anything except for the fact that they’re both women who do stuff later. Considering that’s what the episode seems to be about, that’s not exactly a good thing. Peggy and Sousa successfully get a name and some details from their hostage only for it to be ruined by the Arena Club leader at the last minute. I’m sure there’s some way I can blame Thompson for this.
I keep saying how there isn’t really a threat of Peggy in danger, and that definitely applies to meeting the Arena Club leader, but I do enjoy Peggy being given all the hero positions. Leading the team, confronting the bad guy, having her friends threatened, it’s pretty fun for the invincible Peggy. Even the flashbacks are pretty fun in introducing the concept of Peggy never becoming a secret agent to have a simple life with her military husband. It’s also an interesting wrinkle to Peggy’s life since it’s actually not a bad idea to think a boring life is a life of privilege, but we know Peggy’s life is more than that. Her desire for adventure also explains her later attraction to Steve Rogers, a representation of that call to duty. It’s these things that actually make a prequel worthwhile by mostly adding to the overall story that we do know rather than trying to do something new in such a small margin for error. This backstory for Peggy is one of the good decisions.
Of course, it’s not all that good considering Peggy’s story begins with the death of her military brother in action. I always leave it to Marvel to add a sense of solemnity in Peggy’s life of adventure, but that’s what makes her one of the best. Sousa manages to tag the assassin with Stark’s bug and listen to him make his way back to Frost. In the conflict between Chadwick, Frost, and the assassin leads to Frost demonstrating her ability, frustratingly unseen by our main characters. I can’t understand the properties of zero matter or why it gives Frost the power to absorb people or has Wilkes seeing a crack in the universe, but it’s starting to move to the unlikeable side of confusing.
Barring my usual complaints, I will say that the hints to Peggy’s backstory were one of the highlights of this season if not the series. Considering the position of these flashbacks, that doesn’t necessarily make this a good episode as a whole, but it at least has something to give the show meaning. If anything, it also helps us move through the slump these middle episodes usually have. Plus, me being a fan of learning any kind of backstory details, this was an enjoyable watch at these moments. I guess in the end, that’s three points for Agent Carter.
