"Agent Carter" Recap: "Better Angels"

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

As I settled in to watch Agent Carter this week, there was really just one word that kept coming into my mind as the latest adventure of Peggy Carter unfolded before my eyes...magical. I say that because every single thing we loved about the first season of the series finally came into play on Tuesday's episode and while "Better Angels" may not have the most cerebral episode, it served as a fine little spy story, one worthy of the Bond franchise as our mystery villains came into focus and after a brief absence in the series premiere, we finally saw the return of the mighty Howard Stark, and just like he did last year, he managed to steal the show in every single scene he was in.

But more on Howard in a moment, because as I mentioned before, the spy part of the show was top notch this week as we finally learned that the mysterious group of men that met to shut down Isodyne last week belong to the Atlas Club. It's apparently the same organization that Dottie was trying to steal from and well...they seem quite powerful and I'm dying to know more about them. I mean, they can influence elections and stock market crashes and while they don't quite seem like Hydra, one has to wonder if the two are related. I'm also fascinated by Vernon Masters, played by the iconic Kurtwood Smith, and his ties to this organization and why exactly he and the Atlas Club are so intent on keeping Zero Matter a secret.

The highlight of the night however, was of course Howard Stark and it's great to see that well...he hasn't changed a bit. It was a little weird to see him sitting in a director's chair plugging away at making motion pictures, and Peggy's little jab about making a silver screen version of a comic book movie was a cute one to say the least. But once Howard was all in on the Zero Matter mystery it was vintage Stark as the mystery flat out consumed him and the twist of having Dr. Wilkes be trapped on a different plane was a nice touch. Simply because it brought back that romantic tension between he and Peggy and well...because it's clear he's one of the good guys and losing him permanently would have been quite the waste.

I was also a huge fan of the ongoing mystery with Whitney Frost. It was downright awesome to learn about her war record, the fact she put together technology that more or less helped the Allies win the war...and it's wild that she's masquerading as a Hollywood star now that the war is over. Clearly she's no longer the same person/hero she was a few years ago, this is a darker and more twisted person we are witness to, and I'm dying to know what her interest is in Zero Energy and why she and this little side effect of atomic testing have become one. She truly is the greatest mystery of all on the show and I'm digging the subtle setup the series is putting together for her. For what exactly, well we don't quite know just yet, but I have a funny feeling she's our super villain this season.

In the end though, I really appreciate the fact that everyone behind the scenes made an epic setup episode fun and engaging, since often times they end up either dragging on or feeling like a filler episode. Plus it even had a couple of Iron Man easter eggs with Jarvis' quip about hoping to never serve as a disembodied voice and I'm pretty sure I saw some stained glass that may eventually inspire the Arc Reactor. Either way, I'm glad that after a day or two of mentally digesting so many plot points that this episode still leaves me smiling. It really did accomplish something special, and everything that was laid out before us this week has me anxious to see what next week will have in store for us. Until then.

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