"Agent Carter" Recap: "Life of the Party" & "Monsters"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​​It's rare that I ever side with a villain in a story because hey, they're usually pretty freaking evil and that whole drive toward chaos and the end of mankind isn't really something I can get behind. Now, sometimes they're quite good at getting you to at least understand their psychotic reasoning for the plan, but for the most part they're nuts and you root for the hero.

But I did make mention of the fact that once in a great while, the bad guy or gal actually happens to have a valid point and I know that I find myself a little disconcerted that I'm sitting there, nodding and agreeing with them. Which is why I'm glad that it's a rare occurrence and quite honestly, it's been a while since I've seen it...until this week that is. In fact it turns out that Dottie Underwood just so happened to have the best observation by a baddie in a long time when she told Peggy Carter that her "idealism would be her undoing."

If anything Dottie more or less summed up every single action on Agent Carter this week, because "Life of the Party" and "Monsters" ended up being nothing more than one mistake after another for Peggy, all in the name of doing the right thing, and that was an interesting change for the show, since last season, doing her own thing, off the books was the best idea ever since her actions eventually saved the day. But this go round, Peggy doing what Peggy does best seems to be causing everything to unravel around her. Her decision to use Dottie to snag the Zero Matter from Whitney Frost turned into an all out disaster since it led to Dottie's capture and brought the heat on the SSR like no other and man...even the rescue plan for Dottie turned out to be a mess since it inadvertently led to Jarvis' beloved wife, Ana, to taking a bullet in the gut as Whitney drove away.

Do all these things mean that Peggy is incompetent? Heck no, this is merely a matter of her facing off against all new kinds of enemies. Leviathan was the traditional type of villain she had come to know in the war. An organized group of people working toward one goal. But Whitney Frost and the Atlas Club, well they are something special. It's all about power and domination for our group of villains this season and that's not an ideal that's easy to beat and I love the fact that Whitney all but confirmed this week that her disdain for her mother and the world that only sees her as another pretty face is driving some of her madness. That's something new for a Marvel baddie and it's working well. But, despite Whitney and her power play on the Atlas club being the focus this week...a new question came into my mind...is Jason Wilkes also a villain in the making? 

After all, he sure found himself bristling with fury over the rescue mission for Dottie and he eluded to something sinister during his tirade about her. Plus in the waning moments of the show he exhibited a temper we had to yet to see against Whitney. There may be something more sinister to this man and I wonder if Whitney will bring out the worst in him. But in the end, my only complaint about this week, is the fact that ABC is airing the show in two hour blocks now. While it's cool to get an extended run of the show in one night it also means we're barreling toward the finale and well...this is a show that's just too good to rush, but alas, not my call. At least we're getting more Agent Carter at the moment and that's all that really matters. As for this set of episodes however, well done. I loved the fact that Peggy was challenged in new ways and it was an absolute treat to see Dottie return in a larger role, hopefully she sticks around for the rest of the season. Until next time.

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