To think that 2011‘s Captain America: The First Avenger would’ve spawned a TV series would’ve been strange just four years ago and that it should spotlight everyone but its titular patriot would be stranger still. All these odds against it, Marvel’s Agent Carter has delighted in beating them time and again with pride. True to its name, Valediction sees its mission through to its enthralling end full of all the smarts and spirit this short series has given us.
Spoilers May Follow
After so many questions and clues, this week was all about filling in the gaps and kept admirable pace in its constant race against the clock. This week finally given a name to go with the weapon now under Leviathan’s control – Midnight Oil. Together, Dottie and Dr. Dovchenko are looking to gas Manhattan to put U.S. on edge with a kidnapped Howard Stark along for the ride.
With eight episodes of espionage and intrigue behind it, it was a pleasant surprise to see Agent Carter take place on a “saving the world” scale, even if it’s “save the city” here. As fans have no doubt been waiting for all season, Dottie and Peggy finally get their overdue fight in this episode, fast, furious, if not unceremonious. Between a trained assassin and a soldier, it all ends rather quickly and joyously for its own good. I couldn’t help but agree with Dottie that Peggy could’ve done better, much more that gravity be a deadly weapon for once in a show.
Needless to say, Valediction’s a personal episode for everyone involved, this time for Howard Stark. The latest putty in Ivchenko’s hands, we finally get a look into what make up Howard’s fears. For Dooley, it was his family; for Yauch, it was love. Somehow, it doesn’t feel that a character as disingenuous as Howard Stark would feel more tormented by Captain America’s death than his long line of romances. It does, however, see him in the precarious position of flying his own weapon over Manhattan under Ivchenko’s hypnotic gaze in a twist of fate. That Cap’s shield should pop up as an actual visual cue in his mind’s a bit much, frankly, and one callback I’d rather not be pointed to with neon signs.
As the climactic episode of we’re to believe is the series’ last, it’s not hard to think of Valediction as something of a forlorn love letter to itself. It should follow that this week should bring everything full circle in the only way finales seem to know how. Since its pilot, Agent Carter’s powerfully played up Captain America as the literal lifeblood of the show and it’s no more inevitable here in our conclusive episode. That a desperate radio exchange with a doomed plane is what ultimately brings Peggy to terms with her past could seem like all too easy of a callback to make, but that it should be so ironic – or be sold so well by Haley Atwell – makes it all seem right as she watches the sun set over the Brooklyn Bridge.
The more personal that Agent Carter’s grown to be, the more right it seems that Agent Carter end with same honesty that driven it this far. It’s still very much a man’s world and Peggy’s still living in, even if she just happened to help save it. It’s no surprise – and no less infuriating – to see Thompson jump at the chance to Kanye Peggy’s spotlight, especially after the two’s moment in Russia. Peggy knows her value and like she tells us, “anyone else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.” Thompson’s too.
It’s a rather large consolation that Peggy’s heroism pay in more tangible rewards than manly backslaps. Peggy and Angie’s newest residence at the Stark estate just screams sequel in the best ways and Peggy’s final moments with Jarvis feel well-earned. It’s only right that Stark should find some absolution himself dismantling his inventions in the show’s own nice little nod to his son’s own redemption in Iron Man 3. It’s only a little bothersome that we still may never know what lucky man ended up in Peggy’s life, but I’m liable to suspect that one of the women here ended up as Tony Stark’s illegitimate mother decades later, living in Howard’s glorified Playboy mansion, after all.
It was impossible not to wonder how the show was going to incorporate about Hydra’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.D. before Captain America: Winter Solder. It’s disappointing that Valediction not leave us any more clues than the few we’ve been given, even while a Dr. Ivchenko’s ambiguous fate, courtesy of Sousa’s quick thinking, leaves a “land of opportunities” to ponder. Lucky for us that Agent Carter should, in typical Marvel fashion, leave us with a tantalizing post-credits scene with a great cameo that hardcore Marvel fans could’ve guessed.
Valediction, in almost every way it can, seems like the fitting finale Agent Carter could have earned. A mostly triumphant hour of well done wrap-ups and long goodbyes, it’s feels delightfully bittersweet for a series that asked us about feeling happy. It’s almost enough to loathe the return of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. next week, because after two months of Peggy Carter, it might seem a step down. Should Agent Carter doubtfully see life again, I’d be liable to find myself saying no. Agent Carter is too good for it, because I’d fear that too much of a good thing is just too much.
Agent Carter: Valediction
Pros
- A Very Personal-feeling Finale
- Some Well-Earned Goodbyes
- A Very Nice Post-Credits Cameo
Cons
- Peggy and Dottie's Final Battle Felt Cut Short
- A Silly Captain America Cue
