Join us each week as we review the latest episode of AGENT CARTER. Warning: the following review contains major spoilers for the newest episode of the show.
Episode 7: "Snafu"
Synopsis: Peggy is cornered and more vulnerable than ever as Leviathan makes their move against her. As the SSR zeroes in on Howard Stark, they may pay the ultimate price as they find their true enemy is closer than they realized.
Recap: The penultimate episode of AGENT CARTER brings to a head all of the secrecy and lies building this season. Beginning with a flashback to Russia in 1943, we find Dr. Ivchenko aiding soldiers tending to the wounded. Out of anesthetic, they ask the psychiatrist to help save lives using hypnosis. Flashing forward, we find Sousa in the midst of interrogating Peggy. Sousa accuses Peggy of killing Krzeminski and working against the SSR. Peggy urges them to go after Dottie, the trained killer they are looking for. Dooley and Thompson press Carter as well but she doesn't crack. Peggy admits to her own investigation of Stark but Dooley doesn't want to hear it. He instead asks about the Battle of Finow.
Across town, Dottie shops for a baby carriage and blankets, for unknown reasons. While Thompson tells Peggy her deal is about to expire, Edwin Jarvis arrives claiming to have a signed confession from Howard Stark. Dooley brings a cuffed Carter to Jarvis where he provides a signed document admitting to everything he was accused of. According to Jarvis, Stark will turn himself in exchange for his freedom and that of Peggy Carter. Dooley agrees but also tells Carter she will be absolved from prosecution but kicked out of the SSR. While alone, Jarvis apologizes to Peggy for everything and admits that he wrote the confession and Howard Stark is not coming. But, Jarvis feels confident that they can prove Stark's innocence in the next few hours rendering the confession moot.
In his office, Dooley calls his estranged wife and begins the process of forgiving her for cheating on him. Ivchenko listens in and Dooley thanks him for helping with the healing process, unaware of the man's ulterior motives. From the other room, Carter and Jarvis witness Ivchenko tapping out Morse Code to Dottie across the way. The message they intercept reads that Leviathan is coming within the hour. Peggy rushes to Dooley and reveals everything she had been doing since being drafted by Stark in order to prove to them what she learned about Ivchenko. The agents are dubious and question how she could have pulled off the operation and she cites that as a woman, they don't see her or listen to her. Still not believing, she shows them the vial of Steve Rogers' blood.
The agents discuss whether they can trust Carter and Dooley says he can't. But, he still sends a team across the street to check on Carter's story. Returning to his office, Dooley tells Ivchenko to close the window. As he does, Ivchenko sees SSR agents going across the street. He quickly turns and hypnotizes Dooley with a memory of his family cooking together. Across the street, Sousa and Thompson cautiously check the various floors while back at the SSR, Dooley quickly tells Carter and Jarvis they need to get out of the building. They follow him to an interrogation cell where Dooley pulls a gun on them and locks them inside, breaking off the key in the process. As Sousa checks rooms, Dottie hides in one. Dooley clears the SSR lab and leads Ivchenko to an item of Stark's, labeled Item 17 which they quickly find.
Sousa sneaks up on Dottie who easily takes him down. Sousa lunges for his gun, chasing Dottie into a stairwell where she hops down several flights,parkour style, taking out an SSR agent on the way. With the item in hand, Ivchenko hands Dooley a vest and tells him to get what he deserves and leaves the building. Dottie pulls up in a car and picks up Ivchenko. She asks if they should go to the next phase but Ivchenko says they need to test the device first. Dottie is worried since they have been compromised but Ivchenko says they will soon be too busy to worry about them.
Carter and Jarvis clumsily break the mirror in the interrogation room as they try to get out when Thompson walks in. Peggy asks about Dooley whom we soon see arriving at home. He finds his son making a birdhouse and his wife asks why he is home. He admits to what Ivchenko had him do but he is not upset and embraces his wife. As his son hammers the birdhouse, we see that it is actually a dream and Dooley is locked in his office, wearing Stark's vest which is glowing red. Jarvis recognizes it as a prototype for a new type of armor which also serves as a heat source. Jarvis reveals the experimental vest is prone to explode.
Sousa finds Dottie's notes in the office of the murdered Dentist while at the SSR, Dooley admits that Ivchenko played him. They struggle to find a solution to help Dooley who realizes there is only one way out. He takes Thompsons gun and asks the agents to tell his family that he is sorry and makes Peggy promise they will get Ivchenko and Leviathan. Giving her an "atta girl", Dooley shoots out the window and jumps from the building, exploding in mid-air.
The SSR tend to their wounded and deal with the shock of Dooley's demise. Peggy blames herself for bringing Ivchenko to the SSR before realizing it hinges on Stark's inventions. She recalls Leviathan tasked Leet Brannis with stealing something and deduces it was Captain America's blood. At a movie theater, Dottie rolls the baby carriage into the middle of the room and opens a canister of some sort of gas. Carter finds the blood is still in the lab and they search for what he did steal. When Item 17 is found missing, Jarvis admits he has no idea what it does. At the movies, the patrons begin to cough and begin an orgy of violence, gouging each other's eyes out and killing everone in the room.
Marvel Cinematic Universe References: Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter's relationship is referenced.
Review: What AGENT CARTER has been able to do in just seven episodes to date rivals every comic book series on television. This hour was the most gripping to date, wrapping up the arc for Shea Whigham's Roger Dooley. Dooley was one of the most interesting characters on the show and I was hoping to see him grow over additional seasons, but his ending was perfectly executed to motivate the SSR and bring Peggy Carter back into the graces of her fellow agents. Ivchenko has proven to be a nice foe over the last couple of weeks and teamed with Dottie could be a nice foil for additional seasons. We still do not know who or what Leviathan is, but I can say I am completely bought in to what Marvel has here. I am hoping that next week's finale can live up to this lead-up which is by far the best of this season.
Episode Grade:
Next on AGENT CARTER: "Valediction" airs February 24th, 2015: Peggy faces the full fury of Leviathan, as Howard Stark makes his return in the explosive season finale of Marvel's Agent Carter.