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Agent Carter – Smoke & Mirrors Review

On this week’s Agent Carter, we were given a look back at how Peggy became a member of the SSR, as well as a look into the mind of the villainous Whitney Frost in episode 2.4, "Smoke & Mirrors." The episode started off with a flashback of Peggy as a young girl, fighting with her brother Michael. It quickly became clear that Peggy has always been adventurous and unafraid to fight, even though her mother expressed strong disapproval of this particular characteristic. This quickly became a theme throughout the many flashbacks this episode- her mother constantly telling her that even IF she is smart, it’s what’s on the outside that counts. We see that the message started to hit home, as she came close to marrying a man who just wanted her to sit at home. That is, until her brother, Michael, died. Michael was the one person who saw her for who she was meant to be, an adventurer, and she decided to finally take his advice and work for the SSR. It was nice to get a look back at Peggy’s life, and I think they did a great job of balancing the past and the present. It wasn’t very surprising that people in Peggy's life convinced her that she couldn’t have a career as a spy, but I was glad to see that she had one positive influence in her life, her brother. I hope we get to learn more about him and their relationship. We haven’t gotten to see Peggy with any family members so far in the series and it is a different dynamic than we are used to seeing. [caption id="attachment_79711" align="aligncenter" width="600"]MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER - “Smoke and Mirrors” - Agent Carter and the SSR learn there’s more than just a pretty face behind Hollywood star Whitney Frost, Peggy’s most dangerous foe yet, on “Marvel’s Agent Carter,” TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 (9:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Richard Cartwright) HAYLEY ATWELL MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER - “Smoke and Mirrors” - (ABC/Richard Cartwright) HAYLEY ATWELL[/caption] Back in the present, Peggy and Jarvis were on the hunt for more information about Chadwick, when they stumbled across his assistant/bodyguard. Peggy noticed he had the same injury as her assailant from last episode and Jarvis came up with the brilliant plan to tranquilize him, a weapon that he happened to have on hand. He is apparently quite the animal wrangler for Mr. Stark and he confessed that he has had to use it on a koala. Something about picturing Jarvis fighting exotic animals just amuses me. Jarvis and Peggy teamed up to capture the bodyguard, aka Mr. Hunt. It didn’t quite go as planned, and Jarvis ended up getting a traqulizer dart in the arm, which brought us the best line of the episode. Peggy asked Jarvis if he is alright, which he answers, "I’m jarvelous," as he slid to the ground. I thought that was brilliant and by far the highlight of the episode. Now that they had Mr. Hunt in their custody, they questioned him to find out where Chadwick has been hiding his secrets. This whole scene revealed that Peggy is quite clever when it comes to torturing. Well, I guess she is clever at most things, but now we can add torturing to the list. She told Mr. Hunt that she had injected him with a super fast form of malaria when, in fact, it was just an amped up version of the common cold. Mr. Hunt confessed that there is information hidden in the Arena Club, and apparently this was enough to get a warrant. [caption id="attachment_79712" align="aligncenter" width="600"]MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER - “Smoke and Mirrors” - Agent Carter and the SSR learn there’s more than just a pretty face behind Hollywood star Whitney Frost, Peggy’s most dangerous foe yet, on “Marvel’s Agent Carter,” TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 (9:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Richard Cartwright) KURTWOOD SMITH, HAYLEY ATWELL MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER - “Smoke and Mirrors” (ABC/Richard Cartwright) KURTWOOD SMITH, HAYLEY ATWELL[/caption] Just as Sousa and Peggy were planning their raid, Vernon Masters waltzed in and shut it down. I really don’t know what his angle is. Maybe he is secretly working for Chadwick, but he doesn’t seem concerned at all about doing any investigative work. It’s frustrating that he is becoming a road block at every turn. He demanded to know who her source was concerning the Arena Room, but Peggy refused to give Mr. Hunt’s name. Instead she let Mr. Hunt escape, making him believe he has done it himself, but they have bugged him to see who he will tell about his kidnapping. Mr. Hunt ran straight to Whitney Frost, who was honing her zero matter skills throughout the episode by practicing on mice. Mr. Hunt refused to speak with her, insisting on waiting for Chadwick. Upon Chadwick's arrival, Hunt confessed that he told Peggy some incriminating information. Whitney, in a fit of rage, killed him with her powers. Every time she kills, the zero matter crack in her forehead spreads. After Chadwick saw this, he was naturally horrified. We also got a flashback of Whitney this episode, back when she was still going by the name Agnes. She met a casting agent who told her to smile, which was very similar to one of Peggy’s flashbacks. Whitney took the advice, whereas in Peggy's flashback, she told the man she was thinking so she wouldn’t smile. It’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between these two females. There’s no denying that they both are strong female characters. The difference is Peggy has always been struggling to stay true to herself, while Whitney is constantly trying to change who she is. It will be interesting to see what these two will do next time they encounter one another. Final Thoughts: - Overall this was a really strong episode. We got a lot of information, which was sometimes overwhelming at times, but still enjoyable. It was interesting seeing how Peggy became Agent Carter. - As always, I wish there was more Jarvis. And Mrs. Jarvis has disappeared, which is unfortunate. -We also found out that Wilkes isn’t getting any closer to becoming tangible again, instead he is close to giving up. I hope they can figure it out, because I like Jason Wilkes and Peggy. It’s a real bummer that they can’t even touch now.
Rating
7.5
Pros
  • Jarvis being tranquilized
  • Peggy's backstory
  • Whitney's character getting fleshed out
Cons
  • Still no return for Mrs. Jarvis
  • Very busy episode

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