AGENT CARTER: “The Edge of Mystery”, “A Little Song and Dance”, “Hollywood Ending” {Roundtable}

Sadly we Nice Girls couldn’t cope with everything last week well enough, but given that the finale of Agent Carter aired we decided to just wrap up all our thoughts in one tiny (well…) roundtable.

1. Ken Marino – best thug for hire or BEST thug for hire? If not him, Nonna?

Rueben: Well, his Nonna was pretty formidable especially when she went after Souza with that knife; but Ken Marino (aka Joseph Manfredi) is THE best thug for hire…without question.

Roz: Nonna is second, but Manfredi is pretty much my best 40s Thug to exist.

Karen: I definitely vote for Ken Marino. He’s awesome in any role. And I LOVED him in 40s period costume.

2. Howard Stark has been long absent from the show, but he turned up today in a big way. What do you think of his design and or the possibilities of its success?

Rueben: I’ve kinda missed Stark so having his invention being introduced was rather cool.

Roz: Howard is so good when he wants to be, and I would have loved to have him there more.

Karen: I’m glad he never overshadowed Peggy, but he adds so much color to the show, it’s lovely that he pops up just when we need him. And INVENTIONS, amirite?

3. WILKES NO! NO! Choose your best reaction to his own reveal.

Rueben: Truthfully, I was screaming, “What! What! NOOOOOOO! What the hell are you doing, man?” I couldn’t believe he would take sides against Peggy let alone hold a gun against her (or Souza). Just SO very wrong!!!

Roz: I wanted to yell “NOOOOOOO!!!” and then turn my head away and wonder how long the show wanted (or planned) this.

Karen: Crushing. Painful. But I held out hope… (and then in the finale it turned out to be justified – kinda.)

4. Finish this sentence: Jack Thompson has…

Rueben: “…big hairy cajones!” and I’d love nothing more than for Peggy to take him down by both of them.

Roz: “…really bad taste.” Trusting all the wrong people until it’s too late.

Karen: “…a plan?” If you watched “Farscape”, you’ll know what I mean. If you didn’t, well, John Crichton’s plans never really worked as intended.

5. Why can’t Whitney just die already?

Rueben: I really want her to just die, but that’s obviously not going to happen given what we saw in the clip for next week’s big season (I hope it’s a season and not a series) finale. She has been one hell of a villain for them to fight, though, right?

Roz: Because the evil needs to stay alive until the very end? Or just that this show needed another woman to be the true villain.

Karen: Not to sound reductive, but she’s Madam Masque. She’s the Big Bad, and she’s alive in the comics. So… y’know.

6. How about that dream sequence?

Rueben: I was spellbound by that whole sequence; and it really makes one wonder what is going on in her mind. She’s obviously inwardly struggling with who to choose – before the showdown with Wilkes later in that episode – and she’s got plenty of other things on her mind (Jarvis and Ana, Angie and Dottie). Will we get to see more of the latter two though is my big question.

Roz: Angie! I mean, I loved the idea of it, but it came off as strange following the knock to the head.

Karen: I thought it was awesome, and then it reminded me of “Cop Rock” and the ‘wah wah’ sound went off in my brain.

7. Jarvis finally decides to lay blame on Peggy for their situation. Was he right to make it then or should it have waited?

Rueben: I don’t think there would have been a good time for him to blow up at her no matter what, but given all that happened – especially to Ana – it was time for him to let it all go.

Roz: No time was going to be a good time, but at that moment, it came off as petty and really more about Anna than Peggy.

Karen: Jarvis had a right to be torn up about his feelings. It’s easy to say “that was wrong of him”, but in the heat of the moment while dealing with everything, I could definitely see how he could transfer anger onto Peggy. It’s not the best scenario, but she’s there.

8. Holy cliffhangers, girls. What do you want to see in the next episode?

Rueben: I want to see Wilkes (somehow) survive to make amends for what he did to Peggy and Souza; I want to see Peggy take Whitney Frost down BIG TIME (and maybe figure out a way to get one step closer to catching Dottie) AND for Peggy to finally make a decision. Oh, it would also be great to see Thompson taken down a notch or two.

Roz: Wilkes not being evil is my first one, but after that, I’ve got no idea where the show will take us on what could be the final episode.

Karen: Yes, Wilkes = good & alive. And I’d like clarification on the whole plan thing. Maybe just a stitching together of the whole tapestry.

9. Jarvis does some good work with Frost, but do you have better ideas of how we could have first dealt with her?

Rueben: Given what Whitney did to Ana, I’d say that she got off easy. The car was a great idea (and a wonderful precursor to Lola on SHIELD) to end the rift without anyone getting hurt or sucked into it. I was okay with this move.

Roz: I think the car was a good – and safe – bet. But that doesn’t mean I don’t wish she’d been shot or something when she wasn’t consumed by Zero Matter.

Karen: Same here. I echo your comment Roz, that Frost become vulnerable and taken down in that split-second.

10. We’re worried about Whitney, according to Manfredi. Is that true? Related, do you like that turn from bad to good in this last episode?

Rueben: I can’t say that anyone was worried about Whitney except for him. Sure Peggy and the team were worried about what she would do next, but not worried about her as a person. It was quite refreshing to see his role reversal, wasn’t it?

Roz: Well, I’m worried that she was going to end the world with her plans, but I do appreciate that Manfredi wasn’t just canned evil. That he truly cared about her is important to what I imagine her sad life will be like now that she’s alone and without the ability to kill people with black goo.

Karen: Everyone has a soft spot for someone, and Whitney is Manfredi’s Kryptonite. (yeah, I know, that’s DC) The best villains should always have a shred of sympathetic vulnerability, and we see that through Manfredi’s eyes.

11. All work and no play make Whitney Frost…

Rueben: …go exactly where she deserved. Obviously that scene at the end with her looking in the mirror and Cal by her side was a delusion; and she couldn’t have ended up in a more fitting “home”.

Roz:…go to a very nice place where she can’t hurt anymore people. But now before she tries for her final Oscar (haha!) winner performance.

Karen: CRAZYTOWN. Yeah, this is making her into the “Bad Girl” she was meant to be. It’s essentially her origin story.

12. Jack found a key. How much do you think this season could have been spared had someone looked at those Arena pins earlier?

Rueben: As soon as he started looking at that damn pin and then twisted it, I thought, “how did no one else think to do that!” It SO would have saved so much turmoil, but hindsight is 20-20, right?

Roz: Since we don’t know what it actually opens, I don’t know if that would have solved the issue of Zero Matter and Whitney Frost, but that it’s still an open issue is something I worry about.

Karen: It’s definitely a “lantern hang”. (Hey lookee here! There’s more story we’re dying to tell you!) I’d love to see what it leads to.

13. We end on well, lots of unanswered questions. But we also know that the show hasn’t been the rating star. Which of the cliffhangers would you want to see moving forward into season three of the show?

Rueben: I actually felt kind of bad for Jack in the end. That was a horrible way to go, and do we really think he survived. Granted it wasn’t a shot to the heart, but who knows how long he’ll go unnoticed on that hotel room floor. If nothing else, I want to see Peggy and Souza running the LA office together, and being a couple outside of the office; Jarvis and Ana happy together with Jarvis helping Peggy and Souza out with more crazy cases and maybe even some assists from Jason. Plus there is always Dottie to do with; that could provide a whole season (or two) of mysteries to unfold and epic battles to watch.

Roz: Even though he’s a pill, if Jack makes it is my biggest issue. I’ll take shipping and Peggy’s happiness second to the man who stole Peggy’s file and ran off with it.

Karen: I’ve gotten used to these showrunners tying in all of their loose threads, so I’d expect to see most of them picked back up again. Although I’d be a little uncomfortable if they tried to put a wedge between Peggy and Sousa by making a love triangle issue. I’d also want a new “Big Bad” for next season. Whitney’s story is at a logical stopping point, so they should let her continue off-screen and bring in someone fresh.

Agent Carter may return to us in 2017, or it may be taken from our cold dead hands too soon for what we want.