Interrogation time. Sousa, Dooley, and Thompson all take their turn with Peggy, trying to convince her to sell out Stark. Peggy remains firm that she is not the one they want; Stark is not the one they want. They want Dottie Underwood.
Jarvis shows up at the “phone company,” demanding to see Dooley. Rose plays dumb while reaching for her gun – until Jarvis reveals he has a signed confession from Howard Stark. He is brought upstairs immediately and reveals that Stark has confessed to everything: the implosion, the vault, selling explosives. Of course, Stark is in the air right now. Dooley agrees that Jarvis and Peggy will both be set free as soon as he has Stark. Either way, Peggy is out of the SSR. She doesn’t appreciate the confession – it makes her seem like a doe-eyed damsel in distress who fell for a notorious Lothario. Jarvis admits that he forged the confession, figuring that it would buy them a few more hours. Through the conference room windows, Peggy can see into the captain’s office. While he is on the phone, trying to make amends with his wife, Ivchenko is tapping out a message to Dottie across the street. Peggy writes it down. Leviathan will be there in under 90 minutes.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Peggy tells Dooley that Stark’s confession is a fake. She is ready to tell him the truth. She is doing so because she wants him to trust what she is about to reveal about the doctor. She has one more thing to share, to solidify her trustworthiness: Steve’s blood. Stark took it because he feared the SSR scientists would squander it. She kept it because she wanted a second chance at keeping him safe.
Sousa, Dooley, and Thompson consult with one another in the hall. Sousa believes Peggy. Dooley doesn’t trust Peggy, but he trusts Sousa, and he sends Sousa, Thompson, and a few other guys to check out the building across the street. Dooley will babysit Ivchenko. No sooner than Dooley returns to his office, Ivchenko sets about hypnotizing him. Now under the doctor’s spell, Dooley collects Peggy and Jarvis, warning them it isn’t safe to talk here. He leads them into the interrogation room, and pulls a gun. He locks them in the room and breaks the key in the door.
Next, Dooley and Ivchenko clear the scientists out of the lab and start searching for item 17. Ivchenko is more taken by a vest that he had “heard whispers” about. Dooley finds item 17, and walks Ivchenko out of the building. Ivchenko suggests he go home to his family. Dooley goes home, surprising his wife.
Across the street, Dottie tangles with Sousa, runs into the stairwell, and runs into Thompson. With few options left, she rappels down the stairwell like a ninja, kills an agent on her way out, and drives to pick up Ivchenko and item 17. He says it has been in storage too long, and they must test it first.
Peggy and Jarvis decide to use the table as a battering ram to knock out the window. They do it – then realize they are still chained to the table. Luckily Thompson comes in and releases them. Peggy desperately needs to see Dooley. In fact, he is not at home; he is passed out over his desk – Ivchenko’s hypnosis is that good. Dooley is wearing the vest, which Jarvis identifies as a prototype for a new armor system that doubles as a heat source. Like many of Stark’s inventions, this one is built to backfire. It always overheats, with violent results, and any attempts to override the energy source causes it to heat up faster. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t device. Either way, it is going to explode, and Dooley knows this. He makes Peggy promise to get the son of a bitch who did this, and grabs a gun. He runs at a full sprint towards the window, shooting as he goes. He jumps out, and the vest blows him up midair.
The SSR is in disarray. Peggy worries that Leviathan was there to steal Steve’s blood. But no, it is still in the orb, untouched. They check the lab and discover that item 17 is missing. Jarvis has no idea what it does.
Dottie has hidden item 17 in a baby carriage and gone into the movies. She twists the top of item 17, letting a gas leak out, and leaves quickly. She and Ivchenko lock the doors. Before the film even begins, the audience is overwhelmed by the gas. But it doesn’t matter. The patrons turn violent and without provocation, beat the hell out of each other. Kicking, punching, eye-gouging… It’s like The Crazies in there. A couple arrives late. The usher takes them in… and finds everyone in the theater dead.
This show just electrifies me. I loved this episode. I was all revved up and excited during this episode. I am so bummed that next week is the last episode. I enjoy Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but ABC has been running these stupid promos pushing the “Ladies of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and frankly, the ladies of S.H.I.E.L.D. just don’t have what Agent Carter has. She is tough, badass, yet still feminine, and always has a sense of humor.
You can check out the promo for the season finale of “Marvel’s Agent Carter” in the player below. Titled “Valediction,” the episode is officially described as follows:
“Peggy faces the full fury of Leviathan, as Howard Stark makes his return in the explosive season finale.”
“Valediction” is set to air Tuesday February 24 at 9 P.M. EST.
