REVIEW: Agent Carter "Life of the Party"/"Monsters"
Another two-part episode this week which means another two-part review. I’m honestly wondering why they decide to do this in the first place. I mean they have to fit ten episodes in this short time, I guess, but it’s such a hassle. I know SHIELD had a two-part season finale, but that had some effort to make it feel like one long episode. These just feel like…so much effort. I’m just tired, but here’s your dual review for not the last time.
We get a brief look at Wilkes experiencing the zero matter universe before coming back to reality following the last episode. Never mind that Peggy’s supposed to be near-death injury, but they’ll get to reminding us later. Peggy inspires Wilkes to create a new containment unit for himself while Frost is just slowly going more crazy talking to herself. The council’s waiting to review her situation with her husband which sounds terrible and boring. Or it could involve her sucking up evil white dudes and taking charge as the alpha. That could be fun.
In order to create the unit, Wilkes requires a sample of zero matter which can only come from inside Whitney Frost. With Peggy being injured, Rose being out of town, and no one able to properly go incognito with Jarvis to a campaign event, Peggy’s forced to turn to Dottie Underwood for help. Or they could have, you know, gone with Angie. I’m sorry, no amount of Peggy in disguise with her fake accent will make up for the fact that they seemed to have completely forgotten about a character who appeared in more than half of last season. Anyway through some negotiation, Peggy manages to sneak Dottie out of prison. After Peggy disarms the guard, and Sousa knocks her out unconscious. They’re not stupid you know. I like people remembering that.
Peggy, Dottie, and Jarvis prepare for the mission, which, unfortunately for both him and his wife, can’t involve weapons which Dottie could use to kill people. It’s already been more than twenty minutes, and no real mission has happened. I understand that they need to close all loopholes for them possibly letting Dottie near anything, and that this is a two-parter now, but that’s a pretty long wait for something that will eventually be a single episode anyway. Eventually, Dottie and Jarvis make their way to the campaign event only to find Frost and Chadwick speaking to Agent Thompson. You just knew his next appearance would be for something awful.
Here’s the new structure. Jarvis needs to keep Thompson away from Dottie while Thompson’s now eager to bust Peggy for the council. At least at this point, I doubt I’m supposed to have any sympathy for Thompson at this point, though it is a shame to not have at least one secret organization to trust since SHIELD won’t be a thing for…I don’t know. This show’s not that clear on that timeline. After collecting the sample, Dottie predictably escapes out to sneak into the secret council meeting. Also predictably, the meeting doesn’t turn out well.
After displaying her power in absorbing a rat, Frost is almost quickly taken down by the members, including her husband. She finally breaks and kills half the council, including Chadwick in order to take control. Huh, look at that. I was right. That happens semi-regularly. Meanwhile, while Jarvis continues a frantic search for an escaped assassin, Sousa lets it slip that he and Violet broke up. Their almost moment is interrupted by a dead body leading back to Dottie being caught by Thompson with the zero matter.
I don’t know what’s more difficult: Peggy and Sousa trying to find a way to get Dottie back or believing Thompson could in any way take Peggy down. I think him saying “I can’t kill Peggy Carter” is the most believable thing he’s ever said in his life. Fortunately, Wilkes and Ana have started designs on the containment unit, and Peggy faces Thompson. It’s the usual back-and-forth banter with an added twist at the end: Frost finds Dottie.
In case you’re just reading this, this is the next episode now. Frost covers the press for her husband’s death while Peggy and Sousa try to find Dottie before Frost sets her loose without discussing the fact they nearly kissed, the usual stuff. I will admit that while I don’t know who to root for in a scene between Dottie and the council head, it is fun to watch her clearly not being amused with his forms of torture. Wilkes question why they can’t just kill her, but Peggy’s adamant in the face of crazy.
The tables finally turn when Frost interrogates Dottie with her own interdimensional forms of torture. She tells Frost about Peggy and Wilkes’s situation, allowing herself to live when Frost removes her tracker necklace. Peggy, however, apparently has what she wants when the containment unit works to bring Wilkes back to tangibility. Don’t worry, things are still precarious when Masters comes to Sousa’s office, and is anybody else wondering why Peggy’s feeling fine now? It could be a continuity error, but I’d prefer to think that Peggy just heals as fast as Wolverine. That is now canon.
Peggy and Jarvis prepare to walk into a trap with one of Stark’s inventions that produces a force blast worthy of Daisy Johnson (who incidentally appears in a new promo during these episodes). But we’re not here for that. We’re here for the small but tender moment between Jarvis and Ana who understand the danger of going on missions with Peggy Carter. The only other moments include Sousa thwarting the attempt at bribery that worked on Thompson or Jarvis confronting Peggy on her new love triangle. They’re nice, I guess.
Peggy and Jarvis are captured when the machine fails and taken to a room with Dottie. The two manage to get Dottie out when the backfire of the machine actually causes an explosion knocking the guards out. Unfortunately, this reveals the real plot of Dottie confronting Wilkes trapped in his containment unit, putting Ana in danger. In the moments between Wilkes and Dottie, Wilkes manages to take some of her zero matter. There’s the usual offering of power scenario which thankfully ends with Wilkes having to be knocked out to be kidnapped. That sounds a lot worse than it is.
Sousa also gets the rough end of some hired hands beating him to a pulp courtesy of Vernon Masters who takes over the SSR LA branch. And, worst of all, Ana is shot. Honestly, if that is not your number one priority at this point of the episode, I will just stop right now. If she’s dead, I would almost want to stop. Either way, that’s a pretty solemn way to end episode seven. That’s right there are still three more episodes.
Well, these weren’t the most exciting episodes, and they weren’t the funniest. I will commend on how well these episodes seemed to mesh as a two-parter as compared to even the opening. I suppose that can be a decent accomplishment to ride home on. That, and the fact that they are now holding me hostage to see if Ana’s okay. I hate that they did that.
