Agent Carter season finale review

The final episode of Agent Carter, Valediction, is over. Along with the previous episode, ‘Snafu’, they are best seen back-to-back. Hayley Atwell did not fail to convince me for 8 episodes that she was truly Agent Carter. It is sad the season was so brief. That said, the short duration did mean the story did not stall to fill up episodes. To think about all that has happened in the past 8 episode makes me hope there will be a second season.

Agent Carter season finale review

Following the incident at the cinema, Howard Stark enters the S.S.R. where he reveals to Peggy Carter, Edwin Jarvis, Jack Thompson, and Daniel Sousa that the gas in question was the Midnight Oil which was a failed experiment that was used to kill the Russian soldiers with Johann Fennhoff, Ivchenko’s real name, a survivor bent on revenge. Hearing that Howard Stark has been exonerated, Fennhoff orchestrates Howard’s capture at a press conference and brainwashes him to distribute the Midnight Oil on Times Square from the air during V-3. Arriving at Howard’s location, Jarvis follows a brainwashed Howard into the air while Peggy fights Dottie which ends with the assassin falling out the window.

Fennhoff knocks out Thompson and tries to brainwash Sousa only to be defeated by him since he was wearing earplugs. After Howard was broken free from the brainwashing, Johann was gagged and arrested while Dottie is shown to have gotten away. After leaving the S.S.R., given one of Howard’s penthouses for her and Angie to live in, Peggy learns from Jarvis that Howard decided to destroy his inventions as he gives her the vial of Captain America’s blood. Peggy later dumps the vial’s contents in the river, finally able to move on with her life. Meanwhile, at a prison, a special gagged Fennhoff meets his cellmate Arnim Zola who gives the Russian scientist a pencil and paper so they can exchange ideas.

Conclusion

The final episode of the season was quite good. Howard Stark had to confront his demons when his inventions start to harm other people. And confront them he did. Stark has during this season mostly remained on the background, where he doesn’t belong. With his vindication he finally steps from out of his own shadow. Peggy in her turn deals with her remaining feelings for Captain America. In a touching scene she empties the last vile of his blood into the Hudson. Now Peggy can herself step from his shadow. With Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca) and Peggy moving into their own apartment owned by Stark we can expect more Angie in the next season. If there is one criticism I have of this episode is that Leviathan failed to deliver the same impact as HYDRA. Dottie may not be dead but her defeat at the hands of Peggy came far too soon.

Now that Agent Carter has ended, normal scheduling will resume. Next Tuesday, Agents of SHIELD will start its second half of season 2 with the episode ‘Aftershocks’. For many Agent Carter only served as a tie over. For me, a new found appreciation for Marvel’s Universe was developed. Peggy Carter’s struggles in a male-dominated world is captivating. Her character goes against the grain of what is expected of her. Yet, she is not guided by malice and won’t disturb ‘the system’ just to make a point. With Thompson receiving a special commendations for saving the day everything seems back to status quo. However, that is only the outer appearance. Everybody at SSR knows what Peggy can do and she has finally received the respect she deserves. With that, the precarious position she found herself in at the beginning of the series has ended. This was Agent Carter season finale review.

Score; 8.8 / 10. Sadly Dr. Fennhoff and Dottie did not manage to make good on their menacing persona.

Source; http://marvel.com/tv/show/218/marvels_agent_carter

From next week onwards I will continue reviewing Person of Interest. With only 6 more episode left until season 4 ends it will be a race to the finish to conclude the war between Samaritan and The Machine.