by Chelsea Dee, Editor-at-Large

Oh hello proof that there are plenty of men who would treat Peggy like an equal despite her gender. Welcome to the Agent Carter show, Howling Commandos. You’ve been missed. Could we possibly just have them full time? This show could just be Peggy and the Commandos taking over the world. I think the show did a good job of reminding people who the characters were without spelling out everything, but if you missed it, the Howling Commandos were the unit that Steve and Bucky (and Peggy!) were a part of during the war. They were saved by Steve when he went looking for Bucky and rescued all the POWs, and after the fight they were hand picked to be his team. While we saw their battles in a quick montage, the truth was they spent a lot of time together behind the lines and they were all very good friends. The show is also delving into the very important back story of another famous Marvel leading lady, so this was an exciting week. Let’s get started!

Peggy is still furious at Howard for taking Steve’s blood, and she’s angry with Jarvis too for hiding it from her. While he sincerely tries to get her to forgive him, she’s not in any mood to, so for now their bromance is in tatters. Despite the fact she is angry at Howard, she still believes that he’s innocent of selling his weapons, so that’s in the back of her mind when she intercepts a message through one of the Leviathan typewriters. Agent Jack Thompson, the worst person on this show, is to bring a team to Russia to investigate from the typewriter intel, but Peggy’s the one who has managed to translate it and figure out where they need to go in the first place. Although everyone is very unhappy with the idea of her going into danger, the head of the department acknowledges her information is too valuable and sends her along. Cue my teeth gritting as they all complain about maybe getting killed because they have a LADY with them. It’s strange to me that literally no one has seen her fight or shoot. Don’t they ever spar or go to a firing range? Jeez. Peggy secretly exchanges a message with Dum Dum Dugan, the current leader of the Howling Commandos, so he’ll meet them with his team. She believes it’s possible they can clear Howard’s name or learn more about Leviathan, and he follows her lead without question. The Commandos are all very aware of how competent Peggy is, so she gets immediate respect and affection from them. She is at her best here when surrounded by her people, I’m only sorry she will have that taken away from her as soon as she goes stateside again.

The group bond over war stories at night and we are supposed to feel bad for Thompson’s sob story, while I just seethe because tragic backstory does not excuse horrible behavior. Nope. I’ll get into this more in a second. They find a facility where young women are being trained and brainwashed into being spies. HELLO BLACK WIDOW PROGRAM AND THE RED ROOM. This becomes very relevant since we saw last week that “Dottie” next door is actually a spy. And now we have confirmation she is from the Black Widow program, as we all suspected. In the very first few minutes we see how she starts out innocent and alone with other female orphans and they increasingly turn violent until she murders her friend without hesitation. I find it particularly interesting that the Widows are trained to display damsel in distress attitudes, to play on the sympathy and/or misogyny of men in order to get intel or the drop on them. While in the facility, Dum Dum is stabbed by one of the young girls, and she kills another, fleeing. They do manage to find a pair of scientists who have been forced to help Leviathan break down Howard’s blueprints. It is possibly proof that he wasn’t directly involved, but likely not enough to get him off. There is a big fight as they nearly get pinned down by Leviathan troops, but they manage to survive. Thompson is paralyzed while experiencing what seems like PTSD, but Peggy manages to snap him out of it and save his life.

Afterward, Thompson tells her on the flight back that he earned a medal for killing a lot of Japanese soldiers after they killed his team. Part of the story was told in the campfire. But the truth was that they were there to surrender. He killed them all, having no idea about the surrender part, until he found the white flag. Instead of telling the truth, he hid the flag and let himself get the medal and all the hero worship that came with it. What a horrible person. I feel like we’re supposed to feel sympathy for him, but I only felt disgust. He says he hates himself, but this is like every trope involving a mean spirited bully. They hurt others because they’re hurt themselves. There’s a certain point where a person does not get to excuse their behavior because of their past. Actually, that’s always.  There are people who suffer from dark pasts, trauma, mental illness, grief, and don’t go out of their way to be cruel to others. If Thompson had told the truth about what happened, it would have been written up as an accident, but instead he chose to lie and reap the rewards of it. And considering he enjoys his privilege and his power every day, he can go right to hell. Plus he goes around intentionally trying to hurt Sousa and Peggy, the under dogs of his office, just because he can. Steve Rogers hated bullies, just saying, and this guy is a quality example of one.

Also, Dottie breaks into Peggy’s room and looks through her belongings. It’s very creepy. I was afraid she was going to find that blood. Instead she practices Peggy’s accent and I wonder if she’s going to try and frame her for something. In big news, Sousa has figured out the truth about Peggy. Earlier in the episode while she was getting changed, Thompson was being his usual jerk self and tricked Sousa into walking in on her. Embarrassed, he did note that she had two scars on her shoulder, which he recognized in the woman he’s been tracking all this time. So he’s put it together, and by the end of the episode, he hasn’t turned her in yet. That might not last. I’m surprised he didn’t immediately turn her in; as far as he knows, she’s a very dangerous traitor and double agent. But it looks like he might either do it next week or there’s a confrontation of some kind between them. It’s a shame that we’re forced to put up with Thompson’s nonsense and him being pals with Peggy (for this ep at least), while Sousa who has always been supportive of her is now against her. Sigh. Anyway, next week Peggy’s on the run! She’s been caught! There’s three more episodes to go. I am so excited they started the Black Widow background, and it’ll move in perfectly with them exploring more of Natasha’s background in Avengers 2.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Agent Carter Episode 5 5 out of 5 Bowler Hats

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