"Agent Carter" Recap: "The Atomic Job"

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

The more I think about it, the more I love the fact that Agent Carter continues to play out every single week like an hour long comic book. The show always gives us just enough to advance the plot while doing everything it can to make sure its vibrant characters remain the focus and this week was no exception.

In fact "The Atomic Job" not only stayed the course with the unique design for this show, it also managed to bring the laughs. This chapter in Peggy Carter's adventures was filled to the brim with lighthearted and hilarious moments while making sure to maintain the danger that is Whitney Frost and Zero Matter at the same time, so its probably best to discuss that first, since we learned much about this mysterious element and what it could be doing to Whitney.

It turns out that Zero Matter craves more Zero Matter, something we discovered quickly in the opening part of the episode when Doctor Wilkes absorbs the stuff and becomes tangible in our universe once again if only for a moment. It leads to one epic plotline/showdown between Peggy and Whitney as Ms. Frost decides the only way to get the exact amount of Zero Matter that her body seems to crave, after sucking up what was left from Jane Scott's body, is to replicate the explosion that brought it into our world in the first place and well...Whitney is just getting down right scary. We know that Zero Matter is changing her through and through but into what exactly has yet to be seen. We just know at this point, it seems to be corrupting her mind and twisting her and quite frankly...in the last ten minutes she was one terrifying villain with how she tried to absorb Peggy and her husband as well. 

But like I mentioned before, it wasn't all gloom and doom this go round because there was plenty of funny to be found as well courtesy of two wonderful moments. The first one that caught my eye was the assembly of Peggy's makeshift Avengers if you will as they prepare to infiltrate the Roxxon facility when they bring Rose and Dr. Samberly into the fold. That moment felt like a little shout out to Guardians of the Galaxy and it worked so well. But the hardest laughs of the night came from when Peggy visited Hugh Jones' office to steal a special key and in order to keep her cover she had to make use of a memory inhibitor...over and over again. That whole little bit was funny enough that I had to pause the show a couple of times to get the laughs out of my system before moving on, so bravo to the show for finding its comedic groove.

Either way, the show continues to suck me in. This whole Zero Matter piece is simply fascinating and Whitney Frost as a whole is becoming one of the most mysterious Marvel villains yet, because despite what we saw and assumed about her this week there are still questions left unanswered. Is she simply a misunderstood woman who is being manipulated by this strange element, or is she someone whose internal darkness is being brought to the surface and enhanced by the matter? Time will tell but last night the show only made the wait for answers worse in those final moments when Wilkes started to fade before our eyes once again. I would say I expect the show to reveal it all to us quickly, but that's really not Agent Carter's style so I'll happily buckle up and enjoy the ride, especially since it looks like the always demented Dottie is returning to the show next week. Until then.

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