Mission Accomplished: Agent Carter Finale Recap

Well, Agents, it’s time for our final mission: A recap of the Agent Carter season finale.



I cannot believe eight episodes are over already! I was desperate to know how it would end, but I’m not ready to accept that is has ended now.

Here are the facts on how the last escapade plays out (as always, there are explosive spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution at your own risk.)

Episode 8: Valediction

At the start of episode 8, Agent Carter goes in alongside Thompson and Sousa to investigate a murderous scene at a theater.

Forty-seven people were found dead in gruesome ways. The theater manager has no idea what could have killed them, since the auditorium doors were locked from the outside. After a quick review of the bodies, Peggy concludes these people killed each other. But why? Inside the destroyed theater, Agent Sousa uncovers a canister of noxious gas. Some of the substance sprays him in the face, and he suddenly goes off in a rage, attempting to kill Agent Thompson before another officer knocks out Sousa. Back at the S.S.R., Sousa recovers from the effects of the toxin, and the team continues to investigate how it was used in the theater. They know Ivchenko stole a major supply of it, and now that they’re aware of its effects, they need to figure out where he plans to unleash it. Their work is interrupted by the arrival of none other than Howard Stark, escorted by Edwin Jarvis. (Yes, Mr. Jarvis has a first name that I continually forget about.)

Howard is immediately arrested, and blamed for all the destruction his inventions have caused. He rightly accepts the blame and explains it’s why he’s returned. The gas is called Midnight Oil, he says, and it’s what was used in the battle of Fennel to cause an entire troop to wipe each other out. Stark saw the effects and has to stop it from happening again. Since Ivchenko is after Stark, Howard is going to face the situation. The agents reluctantly realize they need Stark’s help and so they formulate a plan to reel in Ivchenko (whose real name is Fennhoff) and his assassin, “Dottie.”

The plan goes awry, and Howard ends up captured by the Russians. The team quickly deduces that Fennhoff is planning to use one of Stark’s private plans to spray Times Square with Midnight Oil during the V-3 celebration. Ivchenko/Fennhoff reveals that his brother was killed in Fennel, thanks to Midnight Oil, and so the Russian survivor is now bent on revenge.

He brainwashes Stark and Howard’s plane takes off before Peggy and her team can stop him. Peggy gets into a vicious fight with Dottie, and Fennhoff escapes.

 

Agent Sousa and Thompson bring the man down, while Peggy finally defeats Dottie by pushing her out a window. Peggy attempts to break through Howard’s trance over the dispatch, but he insists he is doing the right thing and is bringing back Captain America. 

Meanwhile, Jarvis, the only one who knows how to pilot, has Stark in his sights. The butler is ready to shoot down Howard if necessary, but Peggy refuses to give the order, trying desperately to snap Stark back into reality. At the last minute, he breaks out of hypnosis, saving his life and also sparing Jarvis from taking it. (Stark is indignant when he later learns about the plan. But hey, I would have shot him down for the greater good, too!) Fennhoff is thrown into prison, wearing an odd metal gag to keep him from speaking. After all, Agent Thompson was right when he said, “If he talks, you’re dead.” At last, Fennhoff can’t tell people to focus! Dottie (or whatever her real name is) somehow manages to get away.

As for the S.S.R. team, Agent Thompson becomes chief and takes all the credit for their mission’s success. He does offer Peggy her position back, though she doesn’t accept. At least, not yet. I can’t imagine the S.S.R. without Agent Carter forever! In the meantime, Stark gives her one of his “smaller” penthouses and Angie moves in as her roommate. Howard goes on to destroy his inventions, not trusting any government with them after his past experiences. He already believes Captain America’s blood is lost, and in a way, it is. Jarvis nabbed it and turns it over to Peggy, saying she’s the only person who he can imagine taking care of it. She’s touched, and later spills it into the river, releasing Steve at last, with the words, “Goodbye, my darling…”

Let’s pause a moment and listen to the sounds of our hearts breaking.

Now, to keep them from breaking further, I do have a glimmer of hope. The end of Agent Carter neatly tied up a lot of loose ends and details, but it left some dangling. Fennhoff’s cell mate is the scientist Arnim Zola- the guy we remember from working with Red Skull. They begin to communicate through writing, as Fennhoff can’t talk. And Peggy says she doesn’t believe they’ve seen the last of Dottie. Furthermore, I expect Leviathan reaches further than Fennhoff and the blonde assassin. And since Peggy hasn’t officially returned to the S.S.R., her next moves are a question still open. This all leads me to believe there will be a season 2 after all!

So take heart, agents. Our mission may not be over yet!

Speaking of loose ends, here are a few loose thoughts I jotted down after the finale:

· HOW did Dottie live? I’m pretty sure she’s not fully human. Either that, or she is dead and someone else carried her away. Given the bloody footprints, if that were the case, I’d bet it was another female operative. 

· I’m not completely satisfied that Dottie and Fennhoff lived; however, I can overlook it or even approve if it means I get another season of Agent Carter.

· Fennhoff’s main motive in unleashing Midnight Oil was revenge. I would have preferred him to be after something else as well, but I suppose revenge can be vicious enough on its own.

· It was awesome seeing Agent Carter team up with Agent Sousa and Thompson as equals! Sousa really had me worried when Fennhoff seemed to have him hypnotized; but it turns out that Daniel Sousa is far cleverer than I credited him for. As for Thompson, he was great on the mission but hasn’t changed entirely. I had a pipe dream of Peggy becoming head of the S.S.R., but the position seems to suit Thompson. Even if his ego irked me immensely at the end.

· I love Peggy’s response when Daniel asks how she puts up with Thompson taking the credit. She knows her value; no one else’s opinion matters in that case.

· Howard Stark is definitely Tony Stark’s dad. If anything proves it, it’s the scene in the lab. “This should be kept in the dark. And this should be kept cool! And this- it’s fine now.”

· Jarvis is dearer to me with each episode. He really stepped up to get the job done, and although his next mission is to organize the spice cabinet, he’s proven himself to be more than a butler. He’s also proven that he has one of the strongest characters in the show. As he states before giving Peggy Cap’s blood, “I owe Mr. Stark a great deal, but he does not own my integrity.”

Well, agents, I think we can say our mission is accomplished. 

Now excuse me while I go cry some more of Peggy and Steve.

Goodbye, my darlings.

SHARE

The Fangirl Initiative

The Fangirl Initiative is a collection of contributors dedicated to writing about the things we love.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•