Agent Carter - The Edge of Mystery & A Little Song and Dance - Review

Agent Carter once more aired two back to back episodes. While the action is seamless enough to make it seem like this was simply a two hour episode, I can’t help but be disappointed in what seems like the network’s determination to simply burn the series off. While I do take some issue with the more humorous tone this season, I really do like the direction that they’ve taken with Agent Carter (Haley Atwell), herself.

“The Edge of Mystery” was written by Brant Englestein and was directed by Metin Huseyin, who also directed “Monsters.” The episode begins with a flashback to 1946 and season one with Jarvis (James D’Arcy) helping Peggy for the first time. It’s hilarious to watch him try to tell Ana (Lotte Verbeek) that Peggy is a woman, but not like Stark’s other women…

In the present, Jarvis is struggling and has focused all his energy on providing a familiar environment for a still unconscious Ana. When he can’t get Benny Goodman on the radio, he loses it and breaks the radio. But Peggy is there to calm him down, and she tells him that all Ana needs is the sound of his voice.

Meanwhile, Whitney (Wynn Everett) has Wilkes (Reggie Austin) handcuffed. She wants them to work together to study each other – physicist to physicist. Whitney is hear a voice and thinks she may be going crazy. She tries to convince Wilkes that the zero matter is a gift not a curse and tells him to listen to it and it will guide him.

Back at Stark’s mansion, Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) is waiting for Peggy. She fills him in that Whitney has Wilkes and Ana was shot. He fills her in on Whitney’s new ally – Manfredi (Ken Marino). Peggy considers him a maniac, but Sousa says he’s just a man in love – because apparently love makes you do some pretty crazy things!

Jack (Chad Michael Murray) is apparently on a bender in England – and he’s done something to his hand. He tells his companion (Damian O’Hare) – who turns out to be MI5 – that he’s broken it in a bar fight. A search online yielded no explanation in real life for Murray to be wearing it – Did I miss something happening to Jack? Regardless, he’s not drunk and he gets a file with a lot of redacted content. Luckily, he’s got a handy device that can still read the file, and it has dirt on Peggy. Really, Jack? Just how stupid is he?!

Sousa and Peggy go to see Manfredi at his restaurant where he’s cooking dinner for his Nonna (Tina D’Marco). It’s hilarious that she likes Sousa but thinks Peggy is the Devil! They threaten to spread a rumor about him turning state’s evidence, so he agrees to take a message to Whitney – Peggy will give her the rods in exchange for Wilkes. Whitney agrees.

Jarvis keeps vigil beside Ana’s bed. He’s clearly exhausted – and once again D’Arcy delivers a terrific performance in this episode. Perhaps more so as so much less of his performance calls for broad humor in this set of episodes. He’s promising Ana a list of things if only she will wake up: he’ll wear the periwinkle tie she was knitting, they will have apple tort once a week, he’ll get her a Burmese Mountain dog, he’ll like her brown cardigan, he’ll believe in the horoscope, and he’ll protect her to his dying day. And they she echoes what she said to him in the flashback: Don’t make promises you can’t keep. She’s awake! And confesses she woke up about the time of the dog but wanted to see what else she could get!

Jarvis calls Peggy to tell her that Ana is awake. He then talks to the doctor (Tom Choi) who breaks the news that Ana will no longer be able to have children. Jarvis tells the doctor that he will tell Ana, but then can’t bring himself to do it.

Samborly (Matt Braunger) has made fake rods that read like uranium to use in the exchange. Once again he’s offended – this time because Sousa doesn’t know his middle name. Apparently, Peggy does – it’s Herbert. Jarvis also shows up, determined to help and to get revenge. Peggy doesn’t want to let him come, but before they can leave, Stark’s telex fires up with specs for a new machine that can neutralize zero matter. Samborly must stay behind to build the machine, so Jarvis is needed to drive.

Jack tries to strong arm Peggy to come back to New York with him. He tells her that he’s got the file on her, and she points out that Vernon (Kurtwood Smith) is clearly trying to frame her. It’s a bit convenient that that file should turn up at just this moment. Peggy assures him that his secret is safe with her – she would never betray him. She tells Jack that he’s better than cutting corners to get ahead.

Peggy, Sousa, and Jarvis go to make the “exchange” with Whitney. Manfredi proves that he actually does love Whitney when he tells her that the mark on her face doesn’t make her ugly. In fact, it’s what makes her beautiful because it is a mark of her power and that’s what he’s really attracted to. Wilkes is solid when they arrive, and Whitney laments that she and Peggy, being two strong women, should have been friends.

One of the thugs drops the rods after the exchange and there’s a gun fight and car chase. Just as Sousa and Peggy are wondering why they haven’t been overtaken, Wilkes turns on them. He tells them that Whitney is never going to stop. Peggy tells him about the Gamma Canon that Samborly is making. Wilkes threatens to kill Peggy to get the rods, and while she won’t give up the information, Sousa isn’t willing to risk her life. Wilkes proves that he’s been able to control the zero matter and he slips through the wall of the truck and returns to Whitney and Manfredi. Loved this scene as Sousa proves he’s the better man – though we can still believe the zero matter is having a negative effect on Sousa.

Jack is with Vernon at the office and voices his doubts about the file on Peggy’s veracity. Vernon points out the difference between what’s happened and what’s “true” – official documents are merely “true.” Vernon gets a call from Whitney to get the rods, which Jack overhears in the bullpen by listening in on the extension. Jack tries to stop him but is zapped by the memory-wiping device.

This is the final straw – we think – for Jack. I like how they’ve played this so we’re not quite sure whose side Jack is really on. I feel a bit bad for Murray as Jack has become a pretty thankless role to play this season. He’s either the dumb blond on the bad guy – but still a dumb blond… Regardless, Jack throws in with Sousa and Peggy when they arrive. Sousa stresses that they have to be dispassionate now as they go after Wilkes who is desperate. Peggy is angry that Sousa thinks she let her feelings for Wilkes get in the way and points out that Sousa let his own feelings get in the way when he told Wilkes where the rods were! Jack pipes in that he would have shot them both! Yep. That’s our Jack!

Jarvis calls Rose (Lesley Boone) to come and look after Ana while he goes to get revenge. He leaves her with a list of Ana’s things and a document, which we learn later is his will!

The two groups race to complete their task. Peggy arrives too late – Whitney has set off the bomb and the zero matter has manifested. However, Whitney loses it when the zero matter wants Wilkes and not her. I thought the special effects were very good for this. Wilkes is levitated and then sucked in. Whitney shrieks at it that it was supposed to be her – she wants it to take her – away? To continue to be transformed? For answers?

Meanwhile, Samborly is hilarious as he’s not even sure the gun will work. Jarvis is simple obsessed with getting Whitney and runs after her with Peggy in hot pursuit, leaving Sousa and Jack arguing. When Samborly wants to know what to do, Sousa and Jack finally agree on something and tell him in unison to “Do as Peggy says!” She might not officially be in charge – yet – but it’s clear she’s giving the orders.

The Gamma Canon works – though it only has one charge and one shot. Wilkes falls out and appears to have something crawling under his skin – the effect looks a lot like Ward at the end of the fall run of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I wonder if there is a connection?

Jarvis shoots Whitney, but it doesn’t kill her. Manfredi is about to shoot both Jarvis and Peggy, but Whitney stops him. She wants Wilkes alive and wants him to give her the zero matter he’s absorbed. The only way for that to happen is to keep those he loves alive. Peggy and Jarvis are knocked out to use as leverage…. And on to the next episode!

“A Little Song and Dance” was directed by Jennifer Getzinger, whose other credits include Mad Men, Law and Order: SVU, and Orange is the New Black, so check off period-piece, action, and quirky comedy/drama. The story was written by the team of Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters with the teleplay by Chris Dingess. And the episode really does contain a literal song and dance – as well as some more metaphorical cat and mouse…

As the episode opens, Peggy is dreaming. Her brother Michael (Max Brown) is in the New York office with her. He makes her own that what she’s doing is what she wanted to do all along. Much like The Wizard of Oz, we move from black and white through green light to color.

We’re back at the lunch counter in New York and Peggy chats with Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca). I was SO happy to get even this small dose of Angie. One of my great disappointments in this season is that Angie didn’t come with Peggy to LA. I mean, it was a perfect set up! Of course an aspiring actor would come to Hollywood!

Wilkes, Sousa, and Dottie are all also in Peggy’s dream and we get a huge song and dance number. Ana does a really impressive splits, and Jarvis is also there. Rose shows up and tells Peggy that she’s just not right for the Auerbach Theatrical Agency and punches her! Which is what wakes Peggy up.

Peggy is not happy with Jarvis when she wakes up. She gets them out of the truck with a super cool hot wire she has in her belt! Jarvis is then angry at her for pushing him out of the moving truck, but naturally follows her when she heads off.

Peggy is angry that Jarvis risked everything for a personal vendetta. Jarvis counters that Peggy was trying to sooth a guilty conscience, and then he lashes out with everyone around her dies. He apologizes immediately, but it can’t be unsaid. Peggy points out that he’s begged to come on her “adventures” which are just a lark to him, a diversion. She tells him that when there’s an ugly consequence, he doesn’t have to take responsibility for it and can go on knowing nothing of loss. Jarvis confesses that Ana can no longer have children, and of course, that’s all on him for bringing the danger right to her. Peggy is shocked and says she’s sorry. Jarvis admits that no one else knows, not even Ana because she is married to a coward.

The two see a truck coming, and Peggy bends over a prone Jarvis. While one thug carries Jarvis to the back, Peggy takes out the other one. Peggy sends Jarvis to Ana while she reunites with the others back at the office – when they pull her off of Vernon when she starts punching him out!

The other three have been picked up in the desert. I really liked how they kept us guessing about Jack’s loyalty. He seems to sell out Samborly and Sousa to Vernon. And in the end, it seems that Jack had his own agenda all along.

Wilkes regains consciousness in the back of Manfredi’s car. His eyes are completely black at first. He’s terrified that he’s going to lose the control he’s barely holding on to. He begs them not to take him to a populated area. In the end, they go to one of Manfredi’s bases of operation – which is literally a dump! Whitney uses a gigantic needle in an effort to extract the zero matter from Wilkes who continues to refuse to give it to her.

The plan is for Jack to go in and distract Whitney while the others get the Gamma Canon ready. Jack and Whitney flirt outrageously, and Jack appears to sell out Vernon for a seat on the Council. He also says he’ll deliver the canon to her. Peggy is convinced that Jack is up to something. Interestingly, Manfredi simply goes home to dinner during the flirting even though he’s clearly jealous.

Samborly finally reveals that Jack told him to turn the Canon into a bomb. Sousa and Peggy tell Samborly to jam the signal and against Sousa’s better judgment Peggy goes in. She takes out the guards – and I do love watching Haley Atwell fight! Peggy makes it to Wilkes who is losing control. He tells her that he doesn’t deserve her help and tells her to get out.

Jack has left Vernon to Whitney. Vernon takes what comfort he can in the fact that they got Whitney too. Wilkes realizes that something cataclysmic is about to happen, and he’s ok with it being over. Jack, Sousa, Peggy, and Samborly are all at the car. Jack pulls a gun on Samborly to get him to unblock the bomb, while Peggy pulls a gun on Jack because Vernon needs to be brought to justice. He’s their only real proof! It’s all moot when Wilkes explodes.

We also get a wonderful scene between Jarvis and Ana in which D’Arcy once again shows off his really wonderful acting skills. Jarvis tells her the case is going very well, but she knows he’s lying. He finally comes clean and she wonders why he’s with her – he should be helping Peggy! After all, she has an army of doctors while Peggy only has Jarvis. Ana is a smart woman, she asks Jarvis what else he’s not telling her, and the scene fades as he braces to give her the bad news.

Two more wonderful, action-packed and surprise filled episodes. What did you think of the episode? Favorite scene? Favorite line? Did you love the musical number? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.

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