A Sin to Err has Peggy reconcile with Jarvis an come under fire from her coworkers at the S.S.R.
AGENT CARTER 1.6 “A SIN TO ERR”
Director: Stephen Williams
Writer: Lindsey Allen
Original Air Date: Tuesday, February 10th, 2015
Network: ABC
Starring: Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy, Enver Gjokaj
Previously on Agent Carter 1.5 “The Iron Ceiling”: The Howling Commandos showed up and taught the men of the S.S.R. a lesson in respect, but not before the Black Widow program made an appearance.
IT ALL COMES TO A HEAD
A Sin to Err begin tugging a lot of strings together than have been running through Agent Carter since its pilot episode. Stephen Williams directs a pretty solid episode as Peggy Carter (played by the ever dashing and very talented Hayley Atwell), finds her house of cards crumbling around her.
On the plus side, writer Lindsey Allen gives viewers a sweet reunion scene between Peggy and Jarvis; and it’s nice to see James D’Arcy stepping back into prominence on screen. They reestablish their bonds of friendship and trust in the same diner where they first came to an agreement about their working relationship. This happy moment is quickly quelled by a fight scene, but a little backpedaling through A Sin to Err first.
At the end of the previous episode – The Iron Ceiling – Agent Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), discovered that Peggy had been engaged in duplicitous – that is to say, treasonous – activities on behalf of Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper in the brief cameos he makes throughout the series). When Peggy gets a little too enthusiastic in questioning the S.S.R.’s newest Russian informant this opens the door for Sousa to bring his suspicions and the limited proof that accompanies them to Chief Dooley (Shea Whigham), who in turn sics the dogs of war on the best agent he has. While this narrative twist serves to bring high drama to A Sin to Err it is also a nice reminder that government agencies – fictional and real – can often get so lost along the way that they destroy themselves from the inside. Whether this parallel is intentional or otherwise it brings high sakes to the screen.
Allen doesn’t stop there, however, A Sin to Err also pits Peggy against the resident Black Widow Dottie (Bridget Regan who executes both personalities with aplomb), forcing Agent Carter into the interesting position of having to fight both enemies of her adopted country and the representatives of the United States all in the span of a few minutes. Although I will admit that the most satisfying piece of combat is when Peggy knocks Agent Thompson (Chad Michael Murray who the show could really do without), out almost effortlessly in an attempt to escape the law.
Viewers also get a little bit of payoff in Peggy’s prolonged relationship with Angie (Lyndsy Forseca), in A Sin to Err. While initially fan theories were rampant that Angie was going to be either the Black Widow or HYDRA agent it seems to be panning out that she’s really just a cool girl who wants to make it as an actress. When the Griffith is flooded with S.S.R. agents Angie not only goes out of her way to protect Peggy (albeit by putting her in more immediate physical danger), lies to law enforcement officers (by proving that she does have talent after all), and never once judges Peggy for not actually working at the telephone company like she has always claimed.
While the plot device and deductive reasoning behind Sousa’s discovery of Peggy’s extracurricular activities seem a little weak when you examine them closely, everything has built nicely to a damatic head in A Sin to Err. This episode is all development for the final two episodes in the series, but it is very entertaining and very satisfying and well executed almost all around.
THE BOTTOM LINE: MORE GREAT STUFF
If A Sin to Err is heralding the dramatic build in the coming episodes of Agent Carter then that is good news. This was a strong episode that began tying things up and recalled a lot of important information in regards to the MCU – plus badass lady fights!
[taq_review][signoff predefined=”PayPal Donation” icon=”icon-cog”][/signoff]