Marvel's Agent Carter: "Snafu" Review

That one was a doozy.

The penultimate episode of Agent Carter hit us with several big payoffs and saw a major character death.

The episode opened with a flashback to the war with Dr. Ivchenko. This scene didn’t serve much purpose; we’ve already seen what his mind-controlling ring does in the present, and it didn’t shed any more light on his character than we’ve already seen, so the opening felt like fluff. That was forgivable because the rest of the episode packed some great scenes.

At the end of last week’s episode, Peggy was captured by her “meathead coworkers,” setting up the episode for some long-time-coming confrontations. Peggy got interrogated by Sousa, Jack Thomas and Chief Dooley, himself, and in a wonderful scene, Peggy got to put them in their place for underestimating her abilities on the basis of gender. The scene worked so well because while the males agents seemed semi-resilient to her jabs, you could tell that the truth behind it all started to sink in.

Jarvis's impromptu rescue of Peggy had me in hysterics.

Dooley and friends’ initial instinct to peg everything on Carter brought the feminist undertone that has permeated the entire season to the forefront, creating new conflict out of a subtle, preexisting theme.

The episode focused heavily on Ivchenko and his plans to shake things up at the office. One thing I’m still disappointed in is the absence of Leviathan in the plot. Dottie is badass – don’t get me wrong – and The Iron Ceiling fleshed out a juicy back story for her, but her motivations don’t reveal anything about Leviathan. Ivchenko is the other character meant to represent the organization, but with Leviathan just “existing” in the background of the show, it almost feels like Dottie and Ivchenko are in it alone. Marvel creates compelling groups of characters, but the main antagonizing force in Agent Carter is still a group we know little to nothing about. I hope that the final episode pulls away the curtain that’s masking what could probably be a really interesting, villainous organization.

Dooley got a proper sendoff in this week’s episode – that is, if you consider blowing up after jumping out a window a proper sendoff. Ivchenko’s ring device gave us the chance to learn more about Dooley’s character, specifically the toll the rigors of his job has taken on his presence within his family. This was a creative way to give a supporting character a does of development. Dooley has remained static throughout the season, but seeing the scenes with his family combined with his ultimate sacrifice made him much more dynamic. It will be interesting to see how his absence affects the agents of the S.S.R.

The original Human Torch... (Too soon?)

The stage is set for a promising finale. Each episode has delivered fun action with a twisting plot and some cheeky humor, so at this rate, the finale should be no exception. Let’s just hope that the writers use it as an opportunity to delve into the mysterious Leviathan before the episode’s end.