Well damn, that was an intense episode — one where the buildup was at an all time high. And man, it’s hard not to immediately touch on Dooley’s awesome scene. [Spoilers follow.]
His final scene, in fact. It was great to finally see more of Dooley’s background; that scene with his family at home was heartbreaking, as was his final lines to Peggy. I’m very proud of Agent Carter for not holding back and making that heat vest a no-win situation. Let’s be honest though: Dooley chose the absolute best way to go out and save everyone. Running across the office, through a window, only to explode mid-air (an effect that was visually impressive) made for an extremely impactful moment.
The show has proven how dangerous Dr. Ivchenko is, and that no one (excluding Carter) is safe. I really felt like any of the agents could die in this episode, and that made the hour all that more suspenseful.
It was nice knowing you, Dooley.
Last week I mentioned that Thompson didn’t seem to remember the Peggy he got to know in Russia. I was glad to see them correct that. He actually directly mentioned it, and was very unbelieving of Peggy being the traitor after their time together. I really liked the progression of trust — not rushed or drawn out. That’s a hard thing to do properly in 20 minutes, especially when you have so much else to do within an episode.
The scene with Peggy and Jarvis being handcuffed to a table in the interrogation room was fantastic comedic relief in an otherwise overly tense episode. Atwell and D’Arcy play off each other really well, and it’s always a joy to see them together. Both also had standout scenes in a more serious note, Atwell’s being the scene with Peggy confessing. You really see the raw emotion in her performance. As for D’Arcy, his best was during the critical vest scene with Dooley, putting the blame solely on Howard Stark and his invention.
Dammit, Stark…
As mentioned, this episode did a great job with Ivchenko; I was a big fan of the writers finding a different way to visualize his manipulation ability too. Seeing Dooley at the dinner table was haunting, and really gave Ivchenko’s abilities more weight. The way Ivenchko comes across is scary as hell, and no one would have suspected him had Peggy not saw him communicating with Dottie — who had a great encounter and escape of her own.
I know I said it last week, but this episode is the best so far, expertly balancing tension, emotion, and comedy. You can really feel the buildup to the end game. The threat feels real, and we know that these characters can die. With people like Ivchenko and Dottie on the loose, it’s hard not to be scared for our heroes. I think we have a very exciting season finale ahead of us. Here’s to hoping the show can follow through.
Article by contributor Russ Milheim.
Well put. The show is much more interesting than I expected. I wouldn’t normally write anything but I appreciate that these articles are up and wanted to say thanks since no one else has commented yet. I usually end up forgetting a bunch of pieces of the episodes so it’s nice to have an accurate breakdown.
Speaking of which, is Ivenchko supposed to be Whiplash’s father that worked with Stark or is that a different evil Russian scientist?
No, that’s Anton Venko, and he’s already appeared in the MCU, and is already dead.
“Let’s be honest though: Dooley chose the absolute best way to go out and save everyone. Running across the office, through a window, only to explode mid-air (an effect that was visually impressive) made for an extremely impactful moment.”
Only because the writers wanted it to be the best way to go out.
It’s not like there was a timer on the vest. There was no way for him to know the exact moment he’d explode, so if it had exploded a second earlier(like when he was giving his farewell speech) it would have killed everyone in the office. And a second later, and it would have killed a bunch of people on the street.