With a seemingly on again off again schedule, Agent Carter returned last night with its 4^th episode – 3^rd if you consider the dual episode premier – “The Blitzkrieg Button”. Considering last night gave us the hilarious return of Howard Stark, we’ll forgive the slow pacing of this Winter Hiatus show. Though with the laughs also came shocking realizations and the possible end of a partnership. So let’s open up this latest case file and get to the bottom of this episode.

Peggy Vs Howard: The End Of A Relationship Or The Start Of Something More:

It was great seeing Howard Stark again; and seeing him work his way through Peggy’s “Woman Only” house was hilarious. Though once Howard asked Peggy to steal back one of his inventions, things became a bit more complicated. The Blitzkrieg Button – as Stark called it – was supposedly a device designed for wartime Britain who needed a cloaking tactic for air raids. By cutting all the power circuits in the city, the aerial bombers couldn’t tell what was where. The problem was that he could never turn the power back on since it literally destroyed the circuits.

Of course this all sounded a little fishy – even more so by Stark’s patriotic ‘greatest city in the world’ speech – and when Peggy noticed Jarvis’s nervousness about answering questions about the device, she knew there was more to this story. The actual device in question was nothing more than a holding case for a vial of Steve Rogers/Captain America’s blood – Sample SR53 –, which Stark wanted to use to cure various diseases. A noble cause of course; but Peggy feels everything Stark does has a profit angle to it.

Peggy was of course furious with Stark and for all intents and purposes severed their partnership, suspecting that he could be the one behind the theft of his items. We of course know this isn’t true; but what this fight does serve as is a point where Stark remembers what’s really important and decides to fight for the greater good than for profit. Remember, Tony went through a similar path in Ironman and this will be the catalyst which will turn Howard Stark from the billionaire inventor who served his country in the war to the man who actively goes out there to protect the world and found S.H.I.E.L.D.

Back At The Office – Souza’s Injury, Sexism & Closing In On Carter:

While Peggy, Jarvis and Howard are the usual focal points of these episodes, it’s important to also pay attention to what’s happening at the SSR Office. With Chief Dooley gone, everyone is working around the clock to close in on Stark. While at the docks, Souza discovered a homeless veteran who saw a ‘dark haired woman and fancy man’ get on and off the Heartbreak boat before the cops came. This propels Souza to wonder if the woman at the ball wasn’t a blond at all.

Meanwhile, with Peggy’s on and off shifts getting lunch orders and nothing more, Thompson wonders why she’s even here. Peggy of course says she’s doing it to serve her country in any way she can; but Thompson merely proclaims that no matter what she does, they’ll never see her as an equal. This of course mirrors what Jarvis told Peggy last week about how calling in the stolen items would only make the SSR railroad Peggy rather than see her as a valued Agent.

The final point of notice at the office is Souza’s injury. Despite still being pretty kickass, the question was raised about HOW he got the injury on his leg. Souza’s quickly deflects it by saying the injury is his femur, not the whole leg; but what is the point here. Between his crush on Peggy, unfavorable comparison to Captain America and now talk about where his injury occurred, I feel like they’re setting up Souza to eventually be Peggy’s husband. The only thing we know about Peggy’s husband was that Captain America saved him in the war. Once we learn that info, we’ll know for sure. Though what if Souza is actually an enemy agent? That would be an interesting twist!

Who Is Dorothy Underwood (aka Dottie)?:

When we first met Dottie last episode in “Time and Tide”, we knew she was going to play a larger role. After all, why go out of your way to introduce Peggy to a character unless she had a larger purpose. Well our suspicions were right as we saw Dottie take down the villainous Mr. Mink who wanted to kill Peggy and Jarvis after they prevented an extortion deal. So she can fight and is an Agent of some sort; but for who and what is her aim?

 

Well we might not know anything about that; BUT we can take a good guess judging by her fighting style – YES, fighting style. Dottie’s take down was ferocious, acrobatic and is strikingly similar to the style of takedowns we’ve seen Black Widow use in Ironman 2, Avengers, etc. Now these two lived at very different times to be sure; but the similar fighting styles could mean that they were both trained under the same circumstances. Black Widow was originally a Russian operative before she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and with Russia being our chief enemy in the Post World War II Era, it’s pretty reasonable to assume that Dottie is indeed an undercover Soviet Spy.

Leviathan Rises – The Battle Of Finow:

The mysterious typewriter used by ‘Leviathan’ agents wasn’t the only thing that started talking this episode. In an attempt to learn more about how these Leviathan operatives are seemingly coming back from the dead, Chief Dooley headed to Nuremburg in order to interview Col. Ernst Mueller before he’s executed for his Nazi war crimes. It seems as though all of these ‘back from the dead’ agents were involved in the Battle of Finow (sp?); but what happened there.

According to Mueller, there was no battle between the Germans and Russians there. Instead when the Germans arrived, they only saw the results of a massacre. Hundred of Russian soldiers were ripped apart by God knows what. Where these two mysterious Leviathan soldiers the killers or did they simply assume the identity of the fallen. Whatever killed those soldiers wasn’t pretty; and this all seems to fit in nicely with the Leviathan of the comics who become more monster than soldier in the end. With the typewriter they confiscated suddenly talking again, we should be getting some answers fairly soon.

Easter Eggs:

• Mr Mink – the guy who wanted Peggy and Jarvis dead, and then dropped off flowers in order to find out Peggy’s Room Number – has no comic counterpart. HOWEVER, there is a villainous named Mink in the comics.
• Peggy said she had to finish the last few pages of the new Agatha Christie novel – a famous mystery writer of the time
• STAN LEE CAMEO!!!!!!!! Seriously, it’s about time that happened. If you missed it – and I hope you didn’t – he was the one sitting next to Howard and Jarvis at the shoe shine station.
• In the comics, Col Ernst Mueller was a member of Baron Strucker’s Blitzkrieg Squad – the Nazi faction developed to fight the Howling Commandos.

Hopefully from here on out Agent Carter will proceed at the usual episode per week rate. After all, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be returning soon and there are still 4 more parts of Agent Carter to go. Next week will give us the return of the Howling Commandos and Dum Dum Doogan. So stay tuned, Follow Me On Facebook and I hope you enjoyed this ‘Declassified’