Brooklyn Bridge Funeral - Agent Carter - Season 1, Episode 8

Agent Carter was probably never meant to be a multi-season show, but more of a one-shot mini-series that showed us how Peggy Carter dealt with Captain America's disappearance.  We know that she landed on her feet.  We know that she was one of SHIELD's founders.  But we've never gotten to see her do either, despite knowing she must have led an extraordinary life.  This series was meant to fill in those gaps.  The show succeeded, in a touching and bittersweet way, to show how both she and Howard Stark moved on after Captain America went down.

The show's only let down is not letting us see the beginning of SHIELD.  Not only is it great backstory, but as the epilogue of this finale shows, it's also the beginning of HYDRA hiding in SHIELD.  Instead, the show's selling point has been in watching Agent Carter stay one step ahead of Leviathan and her own co-workers. The series decided to answer this question instead: how does a woman save the free world when the world only wants her to fetch coffee and file reports?

This is not a bad premise for a fun show.  It's also been intriguing to watch Carter's arc compared to Dottie's, or whoever she really is.  The show's creators consider her an early Black Widow, which is a great segue into maybe seeing more Black Widow(s) in the future.  Black Widow was encouraged, even required on penalty of death, to be a superspy from childhood.  She's never faced any obstacles to her career path, and if she did, she'd just kick it in the head and shoot it anyway.   The bad guys always seem to make sure they're clear to proceed as they like.  It's the good guys, or one good woman, who has to deal with unnecessary barriers.

The series, as it is, never really explained if Leviathan is still out there, or if it died when Ivchenko, or Fennhoff, went to prison.  It seems like the show was more of a vehicle for expanding on popular characters from Captain America (Howard Stark, Peggy Carter) instead of trying to tell a wider story.
The series finale is heavy on Howard Stark, despite giving him very little character development throughout.  We are now supposed to believe that his weapons work during the war has plagued his conscience, especially when both Carter and Jarvis are convinced he doesn't have much of one in the first place.  We are now supposed to believe that Stark and Captain America were close friends, despite the fact that they didn't see much of each other during the War.  The series, at least, did a good job of bringing in the "Battle" of Fennow early, so we'd know what mystery Stark solves when he waltzes into the SSR offices, Jarvis in tow, to "surrender".

He's coming into an office thrown into confusion over what they now know Item 17 is- it's a gas that causes choking and violent psychosis.  Thompson, Sousa, and Carter arrive at the movie theater, which has lined the bodies up in the lobby.  Thompson and Carter examine a body, marveling at what the gas will make people do; Sousa demonstrates first-hand in the theater.

Aren't dead bodies at the movies supposed to be fake?

After spying an overturned baby carriage, bought by a certain Leviathan agent, he at first dashes up to it, worried there's an actual baby in there.  When he discovers only the cannister of Rage Gas, he mistakenly inhales some little bit of the gas left.  Thompson and Carter come to help him with his choking fit, but they're the ones in danger- the gas acts almost instantly on him, and Thompson is in a chokehold on the floor until Carter finally knocks Sousa out with a lamp stand.

Sousa comes to in restraints back at the office.  Carter has to jog his memory, but Sousa quickly fills in the blanks and the two agree that wanting to kill Thompson is normal and healthy anyway, so he's let go to wander back into the office full of fellow agents.  They know that Ivchenko has enough Rage Gas to infect a chunk of Manhattan.  Thompson thinks the motive is just plain old homicidal mania.  Carter points out that Ivchenko has acted with hidden motivations the whole time- this attack is for something specific.  Everyone is tense, with no idea where or when Ivchenko will strike,  So it's the perfect time for someone no one, not even Carter, trusts to mosey on into the main office.

No, Mr. Stark, they actually might shoot us

Jarvis is a little freaked out when twenty SSR agents pull out their guns, but Stark just wants to let them know that their security system stinks, and that he'd love to sell them a real one.  When Thompson tells him that he's officially under arrest, Stark brushes it off by announcing that he's brought them everything on Fennow, which Thompson doesn't care about until it turns out that Fennow pretty much explains everything.  

During the War, Stark was tasked with developing an anti-sleeping agent for soldiers stuck in battles that lasted for days.  Instead, he could only come up with a gas that mimicked the effects of sleeplessness, which include violent psychosis.  Stark calls is Midnight Oil, and General McGinniss, he of Chief Dooley's past investigations, seized the stuff from Stark despite the fact that it didn't work and had horrible effects.  McGinniss went further by actually using it on Russian troops to "aid" them in taking the town of Fennow.  Instead, hundreds of Russian soldiers tore each other apart.  One Russian soldier, a Dr. Fennhoff, assumed the identity of Ivchenko and wants to now get his revenge.  Revenge that will get a lot of other people killed.

The SSR officially hates Stark even more now, and Stark tells them that he tried taking it out on McGinniss, and walked away from working for the government after.  But, it hasn't helped his guilt.  He insists that Ivchenko wants revenge against him, as he's the guy who's left with the responsibility.  And since he admits his own culpability, he suggests that the SSR use him as bait to trap Ivchenko.  In fact, the more flashy the presentation, and the more incredible the praise the SSR can heap on him, the more likely Ivchenko is to appear.

It works, even though Dottie has engineered their getaway already.  They're having a lovely drive, and debating whether New York City is special.  Dottie thinks it's like any other city she's been.  She probably looks at things for their usefulness or threat; nothing's "pretty" to her, nothing's "meaningful".  She's a killer and procurer of baby carriages.  Ivchenko, on the other hand, likes to think about things.  And he's decided that New York is an expression of people's hopes and dreams and prestige and power.  And that makes striking it all the better.  When a police officer stops them for a routine traffic stop, it goes swimmingly, despite the cop realizing who they are at the last minute.  Dottie is ready with her gun and some ominous fate for the cop.

But, Ivchenko decides to change the plan as they're about to leave via plane.  They are literally about to fly away when Ivchenko hears via the car radio that Stark has been cleared of all charges and will give a very public, very open press conference announcing how awesome he really is to us all.   Ivchenko happily takes the bait, despite Dottie's pique at the last-minute change in plans.

Stark insists that he'll only wear his own personal bulletproof vest, which just happens to be in the same lab with all of his other badly-stored inventions.  He's busy reshelving everything so it won't blow up on them, and Carter wants to talk him out of putting himself in Ivchenko's crosshairs.  Stark stubbornly insists that it's the best way, so he can salvage some little redemption.  He then notices the globe of the All-Important-Steve-Rogers-Blood-Vial and quickly lifts it without Carter noticing.  Apparently, the lab is empty with no guards so Stark will be able to totally walk off with it.

Would someone here please attack Howard Stark already?

The presser goes as planned, with Thompson really hating every word Stark puts in his mouth, and maybe even hoping the gunfire that erupts takes Stark out.  Carter finds the source, and she and Thompson race to it, while Jarvis hurriedly shoves Stark into a police car parked in an alley, ready to whisk Stark away.  He sends the driver off before realizing that their are two cops laying in the alley with bloody holes in their chests.  And Carter and Thompson find only a rigged gun in an empty room.  The gun wasn't even aimed to hit anyone, so Carter realizes it was all a diversion to kidnap Stark.  And she and Thompson quickly put together that Ivchenko will try to ruin VE Day anniversary celebrations in Times Square.

I guess this means our day just turned to shit

The team quickly figures out that Ivchenko wants Stark alive, and Carter realizes Ivchenko doesn't want to kill him; he wants to frame Stark for what he's about to engineer.  Thompson bitches that the city won't cancel the celebration, as emptying Times Square isn't going to happen anytime soon.  And Jarvis has to squeamishly admit that the US Government never found all of Stark's planes.  There's yet another hangar.

The cop from Dottie's traffic stop is Stark's driver, but not for long; Dottie kills him and holds Stark at gunpoint while Ivchenko now drives to, presumably, Stark's previously unknown stash somewhere across one of the rivers.  Stark would like to be let go; Dottie would like Stark to remember her name from when they were "dating".  Neither gets what they want, and Dottie takes it badly that Stark doesn't even remember her old fake name.  He seemed happy enough to know her six months ago, and offer her a private plane ride from his secret stash of planes and cars in some anonymous hangar somewhere.  Now, in the present, Stark really wishes he was better with names.  It might stop the slapping.

Lucky for Stark, it's not Ivchenko's plan to kill him.  Instead, Ivchenko explains to Stark that he'll suffer enough for getting Ivchenko's brother killed at Fennow.  And, we have a motive!  Stark, who is legitimately guilty for Fennow, tears up as he begs Ivchenko to take his revenge out on only Stark.  Ivchenko really needs Stark to focus.

Like prior hypnosis victims, Stark constructs a fantasy that can explain what's really happening while providing a barrier to it as well.  Stark imagines that he's just received word that Steve Rogers is emitting a signal that can lead him, Howard Stark, right to his friend.  Carter, now dressed for the cold and slowly brandishing Rogers' shield, as a way of telling Stark that this is what he's got to do.  For him.  For her.  For both of them.  Stark's got a single plane and lots of the Arctic Circle to fly over. He better get going right away.

Team SSR Everyone makes it to the hangar just as Stark is off the ground and out of range.  But they've got a chance to stop him.  Or, rather, two chances.  The first is to take the radio room, and reach Howard by radio to break Ivchenko's vision.  The second is to send Jarvis into the air with a civilian plane that just happens to be armed (does anywhere let civilian planes be armed?) so Jarvis can shoot Stark down if need be.

Carter finds the radio room easy enough, rifle at the ready.  And she finds Dottie and Ivchenko there, easy enough, too.  Dottie once again uses the fake surrender to draw her enemy close enough to strike.

I love your rifle! Can I have it?

This leads to the night's awesome fight scene. With Dottie and Carter using a knife, a scarf, a bat, and their bare hands to brawl it out in the radio room while Ivchenko decides, eventually, to get out while the getting is good.  Dottie's having the time of her life in this particular form of girl bonding, and gushes to Carter that she's always fantasized about being just like the Peggy Carters of the world. She wonders if she can replace Carter once she's dead, but Carter ends up shoving Dottie out the window to fall to the hangar floor below.  She lays there, looking dead, but Carter only has time for a brief glance.  I can't help grieving over the waste.  She was a truly gifted spy.  Now, she's a bloody mess on the floor.

That leaves Thompson and Sousa to nab Ivchenko.  Thompson, as expected, chokes and gets knocked out.  It's Sousa who happens on Ivchenko, gun in hand, and calling for him to get his hands up.  Ivchenko is happy to comply, but not without some calming rhetoric to help Sousa focus.  And, he proceeds to spout every issue Sousa's had to deal with all season:  the condescension of the other agents; his crush on Carter and her blissful ignorance of it; and his own desperate struggle to be seen as just as good as Thompson.  So, Ivchenko suggests, why not shoot Thompson, who's groggily picking himself up off the floor and desperately calling for Sousa to point the gun somewhere else.  Sousa is unsure of what to do, until he whips the gun into Ivchenko's face and knocks him out.  His next move is to remove the cotton from his ears.  He didn't hear a word of Ivchenko's spell.  Although, he didn't have to.

Now, it's up to Carter, free of Dottie and Ivchenko, to talk Stark out of killing half of Manhattan while Jarvis tries to catch up, and eventually keeps bugging Carter to let him shoot already.  Carter holds Jarvis off while trying to get through the vision Ivchenko's concocted.  Stark is dead sure he's going to find Rogers and bring him back and they'll be a happy trio again.  He's also convinced that it's a mission that's going to make up for all the weapons he developed to kill a lot of people in wars.  Rogers' super-hero origin is the only project of Stark's that he can innocently enjoy and take pride in.  He wants Rogers back so he can feel a little human again, and because he just wants the guy back.

 Carter has to work for a while to get through Stark's vision. It's a frustrating few minutes while Carter, on the radio just as she was with Rogers in his final moments, can't talk him out of the stupid thing he's about to do.  We see why, in the second episode, Carter is shown on the radio with Rogers, trying to find a solution that doesn't involve him dying.  It's there to remind us how hard it is for Carter to fail on the radio again.  Carter is openly crying as she tells Stark that she wants Rogers back too, just as much as he does.  But that they must both face the sad fact that Rogers is gone for good (or, at least, until 2007).   They must both move on as best as they can.  

This destroys Stark's vision, and he quickly comes to.  Once back at his own airport, Stark makes sure Jarvis knows, for future reference, that he really doesn't want Jarvis to ever shoot him out of the sky.  And Stark's head really is clearing up; he ends the night pleased with himself that he can suddenly remember Dottie's old fake name:  he chuckles to himself that he's been had by Ida.  Whatever her name is, she's also gotten through.  As Ivchenko is hauled out with a gag in his mouth, Carter finds only blood where Dottie had been lying.  If there's a Season 2, hopefully she'll be there, kicking butt. Black Widow is born, and I know I'm not the only one who wants a separate series for her.

Turns out, Carter's still fired from the SSR, despite Dooley's last words to her.  Fired, but still has her security clearance.  But it's so the entire office can give her a standing ovation when she pops in the next day for her last paycheck, so I won't quibble.  The respect Jarvis said they'd never give her?  Now they're freely pouring it on.  It's especially sweet from Thompson and Sousa.  Thompson offers her her job back; Carter says she'll mull it over.  Their reunion is spoiled by a politician, who's excited to give Thompson the credit for everything Carter and Sousa have done.

Senator Idiot can't thank Thompson enough, or praise all his nonexistent excellent qualities enough; and Thompson, at least, has the decency to be embarrassed.  And Sousa is livid, threatening to chase after the two when the leave to discuss how Thompson can further get all the credit.  Maybe another Navy Cross?   Carter manages to talk him down, telling him that she's not doing it for the politicians.  Saving the world is what she does; even if no one knows.   She knows she's awesome.  She doesn't care who else doesn't.  After all, the best spy is someone nobody knows about.  Except, that Sousa knows.  And he finally gets the courage to put the cane aside and offer to take Carter out for drinks.  Maybe sometime later than 9am, and not conflicting with whatever she's doing today.  Carter is happy to accept, and she seems to realize this isn't going to be the same as drinking with Thompson.  Is she really ready to move on from Rogers, like she told Stark to?

Speaking of the guy who started this whole mess, he's who knows where as he battles with the US Government to get his merch back.  In the meantime, he's happy to offer both Carter, who's no doubt been evicted, and Crying Angie, who aided him in her own small way, a ridiculous mansion to live in, rent-free.  It's ginormous, and Angie will personally call her mother from the phone in every room.  While she's on that, Jarvis and Carter have one last chat.  They've been through everything together, and now he's got to get back to organizing the kitchen spice rack, and she's got to found SHIELD.

Jarvis has one last surprise for her.  Stark is getting his merch back to destroy it, and Jarvis' only concern is that Stark will hold on to one item.  The one he's already stolen.  Jarvis holds up the Vial of Dangerous Science.  The Vial of How Can I Live Without Rogers.  And he offers it to her.  He's let Stark believe he lost it somewhere, probably while being kidnapped.  Because he thinks it's really for her.

Carter knows just what to do with it.  We think, at first, that Carter is just enjoying a sunset on the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian lane.  "The Way You Look Tonight" plays, reminding us that it's time for some nostalgia.  Instead, she's there for a funeral.  A very private one, where Rogers' last remains are poured into the East River, bound for New York Harbor, Long Island Sound, and then, the Atlantic Ocean.  Unlike when he was alive, when she would have died rather than call him anything but "Captain", she quietly says good-bye to her darling as his blood slowly oozes over the rail.       

There are so many things I enjoyed about Agent Carter.  I love the dialogue.  Fight scenes were quick and creative.  Black Widow finds a gleeful joy in her horror-filled job.  Sousa quietly shows up the other agents quick to dismiss him.  Carter's can master any situation, even in handcuffs.  Jarvis' transforms from fussy butler to bravest man on the show.  Dooley sacrifices himself rather than harm his agents. In the end, it's a great character study of the people who will, hopefully, be shown creating the future.

And, the epilogue.  Was that really a good idea to stash Ivchenko with a psychopath?  Zola makes it clear, that if you have to be in prison, you should be in prison in a country that gives you lots of opportunities for being evil.

Little Red Robbing Hood - Gotham - Season 1, Episode 17

Jim and Bullock have a pretty boring case this week.  It's partly that the case is mundane, with a mundane ending.  It's partly that the case involves a future villain that's never been one, consistent character.  It's partly because Jim doesn't have to fight anyone to do his job.  With those three combined, no wonder Fish Mooney's amazing finish takes the show tonight.

Mooney starts moments after we last saw her disappear into the light last week, her dungeon and family behind her.  The upper floors, while brighter, are just a macabre, with amputees in varying stages of amputation and "recovery".   Despite the clean rooms and sunlight, it's a study in misery, to awake with appendages missing and realize your fate is to slowly be sold off for parts.  Mooney almost despairs, but before she can, she's face to face with The Manager, who is all business.  He wants Mooney to sit down, as if he's a Principal and she's a Naughty Girl, but Mooney doesn't let other people play the game the way, even on their own turf.

Instead, Mooney demands to know if he's the owner of the "establishment".  When The Manager reveals that he is what his title says, and the owner is a man named Dulmacher, Mooney decides to pull rank on him; she talks to the owner or nobody.  This isn't the first mention of the owner.  Remember the second episode, and the rounding up of kids for someone the frightening nanny-type called "The Dollmaker?"  To up the creep factor, he's not just selling parts for profit; his establishment makes the money that supports his other "experiments".  Which, at some time, involved kids.

What with Dulmacher's experiments and now consulting in Gotham, The Manager will have to do for now.  But Mooney's still claiming that she owns the dungeon until Dulmacher sees her personally.  So, The Manager decides to stall, while also bribing Mooney; he sends her away to get a bath and fresh clothes, practically ordering her to.  When she arrives back, looking like she's just had a spa day, she's still demanding to talk to the owner.

Get a good look at that eye; we're about to lose it

Instead of making her more cooperative, she's now asking who Dulmacher's customers are- maybe to make her own deal with them?  No matter the reason, The Manager decides to move on to using fear, telling Mooney her eyes are so expressive he's sure he'll make some money taking them now.  He gives her two options; hand over the dungeon, or hand over your eyes.  Mooney tells The Manager that her third option is better, which is to elbow the guard holding her, grab a nearby spoon (was The Manager eating yogurt?), and gouge out one eye, her left one.  Once on the floor, The Manager looks in horror at the now-contaminated body part he can't sell. Mooney shows she means business when she stomps on it.

It's so quick, how she just digs out her eye.  It must have been unbelievably painful, because she outright rips it out.  She's probably still in pain when she looks back to The Manager, wondering if he still loves her eyes now.  Sure, she's down an eye.  But, she can still see, and if she's sent downstairs, her missing eye will give her quite a bit of cred.  And The Manager realizes that he's going to have to call Dulmacher.

Bruce gets a taste of more danger when a dark and stormy night brings Alfred's old Army buddy Reggie Payne to the door, wet and asking for a place to stay.  Reggie has a husky voice with a Scottish accent.  He also has a sad story:  his wife died, he coped by drinking and losing jobs, and his last home was under a bridge.  Alfred is telling Reggie that landing a butler gig has been good for him when Bruce comes down, and maybe desperate to know a friend of Alfred's, tells Reggie he's welcome to stay for a few days.

When the sun is back out the next day, Bruce, isn't dressed for school; he's dressed for his training with Alfred.  Since Reggie is already in sweats, it seems like a good idea for Reggie and Bruce to spar a bit, as Reggie wants to see if Bruce has any fight.  At first, Reggie sends Bruce to the floor, but maybe wanting to see what Bruce has, he decides to switch to simply letting Bruce hit him as hard as he can.  Bruce, at Reggie's urging, gets more and more out of control.  When Alfred, who's not dressed for training at all, but for being a proper butler, appears, Reggie has just grabbed an antique wooden cane, for who knows what.  So, it's kind of a relief that Alfred calls a halt to the whole thing, sends Bruce away, and tells Reggie that Army Alfred is locked down and put away.

Any more speeches from a certain Shonda Rhimes show you'd like to repeat?

Later that evening, Bruce will want to hear a bunch of Reggie's war stories, and Reggie will happily comply, entertaining Bruce and making him give us one of his rare smiles.  Reggie, turns out, was a covert reconnaissance scout, and he's very proud of almost never losing any of his men.  After sending Bruce to bed, Alfred has to defend his choice of occupation- what is someone with Alfred's skills, which he's not talking about, doing taking care of twelve-year-old?  Alfred tells Reggie the job's provided more than a steady paycheck; after a life of war, maybe nurturing a traumatized little boy is just what he needs.  And if he has to defend his job with his old friend, he decides his old friend should leave in the morning.  Reggie reluctantly agrees to go.

Penguin's club is failing for sure; his comic is totally bombing.  The audience can't boo but it can definitely leave, and everyone will be gone forever anyway.  The waiters confide in Penguin that they're completely out of alcohol.  The colored water in the bottles at the bar doesn't count.  It's First Mate that explains it to Penguin: Maroni supplies the booze to Gotham's bars and stores.  Play nice with him, which Penguin hasn't done, or be squeezed.  Penguin's going to have to come up with some booze, fast.

He decides on a heist.  Why grovel to a man who will say no anyway?  He's casing the warehouse at the docks, and deciding it will be easy when a pair of cops show up, to the complete disbelief of the guys at the warehouse, to cart this undeclared and untaxed booze off.  Penguin can't believe his bad luck until First Mate literally pops his head in Penguin's window, with a creepy smile on his face.  Turns out, First Mate has already been helpful by organizing the "raid", which will supply Penguin with his booze without Penguin having been involved.

The two toast their new partnership back at the club, now well-stocked with liquor and looking for a little manly confiding of things.  First Mate doesn't want the club to fail- he poured his own life into the place after he and Mooney took it from a cockfighting ring.  It's his baby as much as Mooney's, and Penguin admits that despite her homicidal tendencies, he misses her.  Would they be impressed with how she's taken over a dungeon, and disappointed her current captors?  Is she coming back to the club?  Or, will First Mate's loyalties permanently shift?  First Mate was willing to kill his childhood best friend for Mooney- I don't ever see him doing that for Penguin.  I don't even see him killing Mooney for Penguin.

But, hey, I'd kill anyone else for you.  That's something.

But in the meantime, he's willing to help Penguin keep his baby alive and kicking. And he's willing to admit that Mooney deserved Falcone's wrath.  After all, she used Falcone's memories of his mother against him.  Maybe now First Mate can devote some attention to the entertainment.  Because Mrs. K. just can't come back.

Barbara is having a downward spiral, still with Cat and Ivy floating around the place.  Cat seems a little disillusioned with their host, despite her generosity.  No wonder; Barb's drinking again, and seems totally depressed.  And to make it worse, she wants to give Cat a makeover.  Ivy marvels over the pretty dresses Barb offers them; Cat isn't interested, not even when Barbara drags her to a mirror and tells her that a woman's looks are a weapon.  That's not going to tempt someone who's as independent as Cat; she's already got claws to fight with.  Instead of going along with Barbara, she points out that Barb's beauty didn't save her relationship with Jim.  And it won't get rid of the booze.  Maybe Barb could give her booze to Penguin.

Make my own life or spend it manipulating men?

Jim and Bullock have the second-most boring arc (first, as always, is Barbara and the totally mis-used Cat) of the week.  The criminals are pretty typical bank robbers, except for two things; the wearer of the Red Hood is always the snappy spokesman and tosses the public some of the stolen cash as the robbers leave.  The first time, the Red Hood is more of a mistake than anything else, with it's young wearer Floyd insisting that he just wanted something special.

Bank-robbing as personal expression!

When an aging Rent-a-Cop fails to hit Floyd despite emptying his gun at him, Floyd is convinced the Red Hood is special.  When the cops come a little sooner than expected, Floyd in his Red Hood covers their exit by tossing cash at the onlookers on the street.  The chaos covers their getaway and makes them heroes n the press.

Floyd's boss, Destro, is a lot more old school, wanting to just stick to their plans and stop the showing off.  But Floyd is on a roll, and when he insists that whoever has the Red Hood should be the leader, Destro decides that Floyd is right.  He takes the hood for himself after shooting Floyd in the chest right then and there.  The Hood does him no good, and he has no real flair for the role, so when Destro is himself killed by another gang member, it's magic is long since done for the gang.

By the time they arrive at their last heist, they're down to three, and Jim and Bullock have managed to deduce the target, meeting them there before the Red Hood Gang can even go inside.  Two go down easy and quick; but the last man to wear the Red Hood actually rekindles the magic, avoiding getting hit by ten cops firing on him.  At first.  The second round is more productive, and the Red Hood gets officially retired when Jim yanks it from its dead wearer.  The two detectives exchange glances in the hope that class warfare is over.  Bullock's post-case Danish is more interesting.

It was red, must've been commies

Alfred wanders Wayne Manor at night, fully dressed, and finds Reggie in Bruce's study, facing the Wall of Murder, and rooting around at the desk.  Alfred can't believe his old friend is stealing from a kid.  Reggie isn't just unrepentant, he actually stabs Alfred before leaving.  It's Bruce who finds Alfred on the floor, blood spreading all around him.  Bruce reacts like a kid who's just watched his parents die and has to worry about his one remaining guardian.  He calls someone.  He calls Jim, who runs to the hospital straight from nabbing the Red Hood Gang.

Alfred is dwarfed by everything required to keep him alive in his hospital bed.  Bruce holds his own vigil, and when Jim arrives, he confesses he can't lose Alfred, which Jim knows is true.  He puts his own hand on Jim's shoulder, one guy to another, but Bruce isn't too old to need a hug.  He's been pretending to be a grown-up for so long.  But he's not.  Is he finally admitting this?

He may have to. Despite his grown-up threats to his board last week, the Wayne Enterprise Board now knows that Bruce has nothing by conjecture.  They know, thanks to Reggie Payne, who wasn't stealing from Bruce at that Wall of Murder.  He was carrying out yet another reconnaissance mission for Wayne Enterprises.  The Board is pleased to know (or think) Bruce's threats have nothing behind them.  When Reggie notes that Bruce is weak right now with Alfred in the hospital, it sounds like Wayne Enterprises has some ominous plan for Bruce's demise.  That they'll carry out sooner rather than later, no matter what weak protest Reggie raises against it.

Despite Jim and Bullock's work, the Red Hood isn't done.  Some teenager finds it lying, ignored in the street, and can't resist putting it on and taking the famous stance of the bank robber.  Besides the stupidity of pretending to shoot cops in public, this kid has a pretty overactive imagination.

Crazy Rick Is Back - Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 11

Oh, Rick.  You're like the grandma who, after living through the Depression, still hides her money under her mattress.  Whenever you've gotten out of a disaster, you always go through a paranoid period.  Like, when you tossed Ty and Sasha and the Allens out after getting out of Woodbury. Hershel was nodding his head, yes, Rick take these people in, but instead you freaked out and practically frothed at the mouth, chasing your future friends away.

So, it's not much of a surprise that Rick never really trusts Aaron, who spends the episode semi-patiently putting up with his bullshit and sometimes, violence.  Aaron wants to start by describing, in detail, a stack of photos he's brought.  They're grainy and black and white and Aaron really likes to go on, despite the fact that he's in a barn full of people who don't like outsiders.  So, perhaps it's not a surprise that Rick shuts him up by knocking him out.

It is, at least, a surprise to Michonne, who wants to give Rick a red flag.  Because it hasn't been clear enough that Michonne is taking Hershel's place. But Rick isn't done; he wants Aaron tied up to one of the barn posts before he comes to, so he's even more helpless than before.  From there, Rick decides that they have to be ready for Aaron's gang to attack.  Opinion in the barn is mixed; when Aaron comes to without vowing revenge, and claiming to have left them the water they found the day before, Rick brandishes the flare gun in Aaron's pack, demanding to know how many other people are in sight of it.

Hey, this was mine!  Why does Mom always give you my stuff?

Aaron ponders whether it even matters if he answers; he knows that Rick and at least half the group don't believe a word he says.  But, Rick wants an answer on record, even if it's a lie.  He can always kill Aaron later if it's not true.  So, Aaron admits there's only one other person with him.  At this point, some of the others are wondering whether Aaron could be a threat, even if he wanted to.  In order to illustrate how lucky Rick is, Aaron recites, a little to chirpily, how he would have killed Rick the night before if he had really wanted to do that.  The group has no supplies to steal, except water Aaron claimed he gave them anyway; so why would anyone attack, except out of pure delight in killing?  And, let's face it, Aaron is really good at not seeming like that kind of guy.

Aaron's probably never had this much difficulty in persuading people to trust him.  He's tried cooperating, he's tried photos, he's tried talking, So, at his wit's end, he tells Rick that he has vehicles for them all to travel, together, to his walled town.  To boot, they could get there by lunch.  I would have been hooked by the word "lunch".  Rick still insists it's all a trick, and only Michonne, Maggie and Glenn can convince him that it's even worth checking out. Rick sends them with Abraham and Rosita, telling them that the radios are out of juice, so he's giving them sixty minutes to check out the cars, and come back.  Rick then sends out everyone remaining to patrol the area, so if Aaron does have a gang of murderous thugs who want those three water bottles, those thugs will know how many people Rick has and catch them split up.

Welcome to our hazing ritual, newbie

Maybe that's why, when alone with Rick and Judith, Aaron gets a little confidence and informs Rick that he's keeping it together, because he's been through worse as an aid worker in Africa.  Armed militia members held him at gunpoint while he was bringing locals clean water.  He declares that Rick isn't going to kill him because Rick is a good person.  Rick says what kind of person he is isn't going to protect Aaron.  The only chance Aaron has is if the others come back in an hour with a good report.

On their field trip, the five are walking in a line, attentive to the road and the field beyond.  It's sunny and hot and all guns are drawn.  Only Michonne isn't pointing a weapon somewhere, with her katana strapped to her back.  Glenn issues a warning to shoot anyone they see, Michonne thinks Glenn should slow that roll;  they might see Aaron's one buddy, or someone looking for shelter like they are, or someone who just walked into the action and isn't involved.  Glenn says anyone approaching them while they're armed, is involved.  And not coming to say hello.  He may be right; around the bend, lurking behind a tractor, is some unidentified person.  We never see a face.

What if you see someone selling sunglasses?  Will you still shoot?

Back at the Barn of Paranoia, Judith is hungry and crying and Aaron reveals his one fear;  the dead.  He practically begs Rick to open his backpack and feed Judith the applesauce inside.  Rick the great single dad that he is, balances Judith in one arm while sticking a spoonful of the stuff in Aaron's face.  Aaron balks, trying to reassure Rick that he'd never hurt a baby.  Rick doesn't buy it.  And he's got the dirty beard, so Aaron has to squeamishly admit that he hates applesauce.  He only brings any with him to show people how well fed his town is.  His mother forced him to eat it as a child, something about teaching him to "man up".  Aaron refers to her as confused, but Rick's has no time to talk about Mommy issues.  Aaron loses to the spoon, after which Rick also takes a taste, and then tells Aaron to make the most of the next 43 minutes.

That, hopefully, isn't necessary, because Team Field Trip has found the vehicles.  They're surprised by a couple zombies, and Rosita and Abraham messily end them.  Together, they search the RV, finding nothing suspicious, and plenty of food.  Rosita's been largely blank and evasive with Abraham, not wanting much to do with him after she almost had to pull a gun on him weeks ago.   Abraham looks ready to get his nooky again, wanting to reminisce about the last time they had any Gorbelli's Spaghetti-O's.  If this is the same Gorbelli's of Tara's dad, something tells me she'll pass.

Abraham segues from the nostalgia moment into trying to find out if he and Rosita are still a thing.  But she's not afraid of him, despite his baggage from his past.  She just seems more or less done with him.  There are other groups and other leaders and Abraham's not in charge any more.  Maybe she feels she just needs him less.  She literally tells him it's not him.  I guess Eugene will have to watch Glenn and Maggie get it on, now.

Rick, back at the Barn of Paranoia with all his friends back and now with a stash of new food, is still not happy with Aaron.  He insists that he's keeping the food, whether they go with Aaron or not, and Aaron seems resigned to just never gaining  Rick's trust.  But, he has gained the others'.  Carl outright demands to know why they can't go with Aaron. Michonne looks deeply into everyone's eyes as she insists that Aaron isn't lying and isn't a threat.  And Darryl's tired of the horse-shit-smelling barn.  Even Rick has to admit that they're going, and then gets into another fight with Aaron over whether they get to know where the town is, and who's driving.  Michonne, Aaron's only ally, insists that Aaron needs to play ball.

Rick won't take Aaron's limited directions, mostly because Aaron doesn't want to reveal the final location.  Rick wants to take a road Aaron openly tells them isn't safe, and nobody likes the idea of traveling at night.  But with Aaron starting to wonder if he's made the right choice, still bound to a post and the others eating his food, he's going to have to play it Rick's way.

Michonne follows Rick out to demand to know whether Rick really plans on taking Aaron's directions or using him for information.  Rick confides in Michonne that he's only going to see if he can actually hear something behind Aaron's home's walls.  Because, like farts, the silent towns are the deadly ones.  And there's no word on even attempting to find Aaron's companion and give him a lift back home.

Rick, Michonne, Glenn and Aaron take the sedan; everyone else is going to follow in the RV.  Route 23, which Aaron told Rick not to attempt, looks fine at first.  It's so quiet, with no blockages, that Rick even gets to invade Aaron's license plate stash, and we find out that Aaron has very touristy taste.  Michonne wants to see what he means when he says he has his own house, and Aaron refers her to his pictures. At first, Michonne browses through them, but something they should have seen, should have looked for before, comes to her and she needs to know why there are no people in Aaron's pictures.  He tells her that he took a very blurry photo of his townspeople, but Michonne suddenly realizes Rick didn't ask his questions three.  Why would he?  He didn't trust Aaron anyway, and Aaron didn't want to join Rick's group; he wants Rick to join his.  But, Michonne actually believes in the Power of the Three Questions, so we get a rehash of the three stupidest questions from Season 4.  Aaron's answers are pretty tame, and what I imagine would be typical of people in the time.

Just as things could get chummy, Rick, who was literally searching the car earlier in the day and missed it, suddenly discovers the parabolic mic that's enabled Aaron to listen in to their conversations, and Rick freaks out and realizes that Aaron's friends could literally know their Route 23 plan.  And in case the situation wasn't bad enough, we find out that Aaron was right; Route 23 isn't safe.  It's covered in zombies.  Meaty, juicy, zombies splatter the car repeatedly, making the windshield completely useless.  When they finally stop, they've lost sight of the RV, and decide to double back.  Only trouble is, the car isn't working.  And now, Aaron is starting to panic.  Once again, the dead are his only real fear.  Until, that is, the signal flare goes off.  Suddenly, Aaron has lost his patience with everyone.  Or, maybe he realizes some jig is up and wants out while he's still alive.  Rick doesn't know, and he has other problems.  So, Aaron manages, hands still tied behind his back, to open the car door, knock Michonne over with it, and dash off.

Rick decides to let him go.  There's a forest full of zombies coming, and Rick's got bullets to waste and noise to make.  Glenn manages to find Aaron, helpless against a zombie that won't leave, and not only saves him but cuts his ties.  Will he stick with Aaron?  The guy was right about Route 23.  And he can fire a gun, which saves Rick's ass when Rick uses Aaron's only signal flare to turn a zombie into a jack-o-lantern.   Even Rick has to admit he'd rather chase the other, prior signal flare than re-tie Aaron.  However, there's always time for threats, because Aaron hasn't heard, enough times, that he's going to die if anything's wrong.

Luckily, all turn out safe and sound.  It's Aaron's friend, Eric who's not so good.  It's not a big deal, he's quick to tell Aaron, it's what happens when you're careless playing volleyball.  It was Eric who sent up the flare, and the others in Team Rick who found him.  And Maggie who gave him the splint made of sticks and rope.    But Eric has another license plate for Aaron.  And a passionate kiss.  So, they're more than friends.  And, this is why Aaron's mother was so worried that he wasn't manly enough.  They're here, they're queer, get used to it. They laugh over the sedan that died that night, and even Rick gets the clue.  Eric is all bonhommie, even to Rick, who's been a dick to his partner all day.  It was easy for Eric, despite breaking his ankle; he hasn't had to deal with Rick's paranoia all day.

Saving Eric has convinced Aaron that they can know they're going to Alexandria.  Now, it's Aaron who's got the group's attention.  And loyalty.  When Rick wants to keep Aaron and Eric apart, Aaron stands up to him for the first time, telling Rick to try to keep him away from Eric.  Maybe Aaron knows his bluff will work because Rick is out of bullets.  Maybe he knows it will work because now everyone else trusts him.

The next day, their only enemy is the RV's dead battery.  Abraham and Rosita are cheered by the sight of their original destination; Washington, D.C.  and the Monument loom in the distance as they pass on the highway, cleared just as Aaron said it would be.  Noah and Aaron chat, with Aaron giving Noah hope for helping his leg.  Noah doesn't reveal too much emotion over it; but maybe he's spent since leaving Shirewilt.  He limps off, maybe thinking about walking again.  The gang is in a good mood. Rosita is smiling at Abraham.  And Abraham is sure they're going to keep driving 'til they arrive. Abraham's optimism doesn't persuade the RV's battery to keep going, though.  Good thing they have Glenn along.  Good thing Glenn learned something from Dale.

Michonne, waiting with Rick to get going again, tries to prepare Rick for the end of wandering on the road.  The survival instinct can keep you alive in extreme situations, but it can also eat you up, like zombies with fresh innards.  Rick admits that Bob tried to tell him the same thing.  Michonne says give peace a chance, but Rick has old habits.  And one extra gun, which he stores in an abandoned blender by an abandoned house.  It's not much of a stash, but it's a stash.

Their journey ends at the end of a secondary, residential road.  There's a metal wall, just as Aaron predicted.  Carol tells him he was a jackass about the whole thing, but his caution wasn't wrong. At first, we don't know why Rick looks so freaked out. After all, the sound of kids playing comes from the gate.  But it's just Rick, realizing that the town isn't silent.  There are real people who let their kids play.  Like Rick, who lets Judith play on the back seat while the car is moving down the highway.  Because, apparently, scavenging a car seat for the baby isn't possible.  And they never get into accidents.

Take me away from this guy, I'm not safe with him!

West Angola Is Finally Safe - Scandal - Season 4, Episode 13

I have a confession to make.  I've never watched the entire Scandal Series.  I joined in near the end of Season 2, while the Gladiators were tying down or hacking off the loose ends of the Presidential election rigging of Operation Defiance.  So the last few scenes last night made almost no sense to me, and I found myself just following along.  But, really, veteran viewers should have known.  Last week, Quinn was lounging in Harrison's old office, and explained to Jake that it also belonged to Harrison's predecessor, Stephen.  No one on this show name drops without a double purpose.

And, finally, someone mentions the havoc Fitz has wrecked on what is probably a small, African nation.  US military personnel and people of West Angola will have to live permanently (or not at all) with the consequences of Fitz's obsession with Olivia.  Olivia takes Fitz to a woodshed over it, and it validates how much I love Olivia.  No wonder Abby moved heaven and earth to get Stephen on the case.  We really can't do without Olivia.  

Even coffee sucks when Olivia isn't around

Which has been the point of the last few episodes.  Without Olivia, Fitz and Cy don't know how to keep Andrew from any more levers of power.  In fact, they seem to not care in their quest to save or "neutralize" Olivia.  Huck hangs on to the cliff of his human decency by digging his fingernails in.  Abby flails around, looking for sympathy until she realizes the phone is mightier than the drone.

Oh, and Olivia can speak Farsi.  Which totally comes in handy for foiling prisoner handovers.  If your kidnappers don't speak Farsi, then you can totally spark a stand off based on each other's fears about the other, resulting in your kidnappers bundling you back in the car and taking you back to some anonymous living room for another auction.

Jake and Quinn have to move around the screen and talk about Huck's inner monster.  Otherwise, they don't have much to do this week.  It's really Abby, Huck, and Cy who do this week's heavy lifting.  And we can now give the CIA Director a name, Ms. Lowry.  Tina Lifford plays the role as a no-nonsense, all-business professional.  It's not personal with Lowry.  It never is.  People aren't people, they're assets.  They're a collection of security clearances and classified information.  Assets are risks.  And risks must be controlled or eliminated at all costs.  It's an interesting attitude to have on the show, which is all about what characters are willing to risk, personally, for the power to make the world a better place.  Lowry plays no games, making an alliance with Cy and fuming when he calls everything off at the last minute, when she's basically thwarted by a Press Secretary.

Mellie shows that she's a winner, and Lizzy Bear just buckles when Mellie gives her a job to do.  Lizzy has no leverage over Andrew, and no spy.  The Queen of Machinations is reduced to a quivering beggar in Gladiator HQ, and then a caller of 911.  She's not really willing to do whatever it takes to win; I personally expect to be out of the game after this.

Mellie hands off the assignment of getting Andrew out of power somehow, any how, and Lizzy Bear refuses it from the start.  This woman started out the season so sure she could find people's weaknesses and exploit them.  Now, she just wants to go home.  Mellie sells it as the chance to get revenge on the guy who got her stranded up shit creek.  All Lizzy can think of is to go and beg Huck to do whatever it is he's just pledged to Jake and Quinn he won't do.  I don't know whether to gloat at such an awful character being so humbled or just be embarrassed that she turned out to not be a competent villain at all.

In the end, Huck decides that Lizzy Bear is right and some drastic measures involving shrink wrap and some sort of injection, are called for.  Or, at least, satisfying.  Andrew is naked, just like Huck likes his victims, tied up in shrink wrap, presumably because it won't leave marks (will file that away, just in case), and gives him an injection that no one will question later.  Lizzy Bear is instructed to call 911 for Huck, who insists that he's not killing Andrew.  But strokes that turn someone into a useless vegetable are perfectly okay.  And perfect for Andrew, who is perfectly able to comprehend Mellie's quiet insults at his hospital bed.

I love it when Mellie shows up for sympathy visits.  Her last one was to VP Sally after Cy cleaned up her murder, to remind her that the White House expected loyalty in exchange for Sally's unique immunity.  Now, Mellie is at Andrew's side to look pre-Presidential and remind Andrew that his slut-shaming is so 20th century.  She talked her daughter Karen through it earlier in the season, but it looks like she's stopped accepting it, one dirty deal at a time.

Jake, despite the episode not wanting him to do anything, can't help giving him a little lecture to Huck, who's just freaked out Quinn with his dead-Olivia spiel, and continues to sink into hopelessness.   Jake is fantastic at describing the emotion-less life necessary in his line of work, and he lays it out for Huck.  They have bad little boys inside of them.  These boys love the blood, the crisp sound of bones snapping apart, the tears of the victims.  But they can only come out when there's a naked body on plastic sheeting on the floor.  Otherwise, those boys stay locked in the broom closet.  Because these boys feel no loyalty to the good boys Olivia has found.  The bad boys will happily turn on the good boys, taking over their bodies and destroying the whole package.  So the bad boys stay locked up.  If violence must be done, it must be done without feeling, like Jake's abduction of Charlie earlier in the season.  Just a job to yield results.

Quinn will outright make Huck promise not to kill people willy-nilly if they can't get Olivia back.  Her take is that while Huck depends on Olivia to keep him sane, Quinn relies on Huck.  Which is probably a terrible choice, but there it is.  Quinn looks up to Huck.  She needs him to keep it together, or her memory of Huck licking her before yanking teeth out will take over.

Cy fumes in his mind at Fitz's insistence that his Vermont dream with Olivia is more important than keeping our allies from knowing how awful we've been to everybody, including our allies.  Lowry is just horrified at how un-Presidential Fitz really is.

So, America goes down in flames for your mistress?

Cy toys with the idea of quitting.  He fantasizes about it, really.  He fantasizes about how red his face will get, how much he'll wave his hands around and moan about how many years he's dedicated to making Fitz the most powerful man in the world all so Fitz can throw away his own legacy, and possibly America's too, for Olivia's future marriage to Fitz.  In the end, he blows some smoke up Fitz's ass while conspiring with Lowry, even making sure Abby won't be able to stop him from killing Olivia by tattling to Fitz.

All Fitz cares about is Olivia.  And all I care about is Fitz. So, you're SOL, Red

Jake briefly toys with the idea that Mama Pope can find a way to help Olivia.  All she can do is send Jake to Papa Pope, who's enjoying retirement in Canada.  And, boy is he enjoying the fishing.  Olivia's problems will have to solve themselves; those fish are devilishly clever, and Rowan is enjoying pitting his wits against them.  They're the only real competition he's ever had.  People are stupid and so predictable, Rowan doesn't even bother actually predicting their moves anymore.  He just anticipates automatically when he's dealing with people.  Fish, on the other hand. seem to bite or not with no rhyme or reason.  Rowan will never figure them out, which means he must just simply deal with them, and lay off analyzing them, which makes them easier to stand.  People are no longer worth his time.

Just when I think the show has mined his pathological, diabolical genius to the bottom, a new vein of Rowan Pope's particular brand of arrogant, self-righteous evil opens up.  What makes Rowan Pope one of TV's best characters of all time is that he's not, in the larger scheme of things, wrong.  People do suck. They are stupid.  Our leaders can't handle public exposure of their misdeeds.  Most "civilized" societies face the sun while standing on a pile of bones and gore.  But what's so fascinating about Rowan is how he's internalized these sad truths.  He's a monster so the leaders on camera can look like knights.  He's totally cool with it and wishes you would be, too.

And Abby gets treated like shit for most of the episode.  There is a moment, briefly, when Abby has information for the Gladiators, namely that Cy will kill Olivia before anyone else gets to use her against Fitz.  The Gladiators all let her sit at the table, commiserating and telling them that it's time to do whatever the show's writers can plausibly have them do to save Olivia after all.  In the end, the show's writers decide that Abby can get Rosen to find Olivia's old employee, Stephen Finch, through Interpol.

Stephen Finch left Olivia to marry his sweetheart, Georgia, and live a normal life.  So, when he shows up as the buyer, with his own gun-toting henchmen, and confirms that they're really his gun-toting henchmen, one wonders what, exactly, he considers a normal life.

Basically, any job that makes me the plot twist hero

They have a touching good-bye later,  a former Gladiator still grateful to Olivia, able to get away from Washington D.C., and it's circle of genuine evil and do so well he's sending Olivia away in his own helicopter.  Stephen is just glad he got to save Olivia, that she got to be the one rescued for a change.  As they say good-bye, Abby reveals to Cy how she made the impossible happen, despite Cy's asshole attempts to keep Abby from knowing anything in the first place.   

When Abby explains to Cy, it lacks the bitchy payback tone she used when she tipped Cy off about Michael.  Now, she just calmly explains that she knew how to find someone who could help Olivia.  Does Cy finally realize that Abby's more than some pretty red hair?  Probably not.  He only loves Fitz, as James found out three seasons ago.

Stephen isn't the only Gladiator glad to see Olivia.  Huck has already installed three new deadbolts.  Quinn cleaned up the apartment, but surrendered in defeat to the telltale red wine stain.  Jake quietly stands ready for whatever Olivia needs.  Which is quiet.  Olivia really hasn't been alone in days.  Surrounded by guys who only kept her alive as long as they thought they would get paid, Olivia just can't deal with people now.  Except Huck, when he hugs her.  His Jiminy Cricket, his savior, his lifeline, is back and safe.  And it was former Gladiators who made it happen.  It's a victory for the Olivia Pope family, and we've never been reminded how strong that family is than in the last few scenes.  Huck is like a little boy who has to hug his mom.  

It's okay, baby.  Mama's here.

It's right after her Gladiators give her the solitude she asked for that Fitz ruins it.  As he ruins just about everything.  It's awkward between them until Olivia has her shitfit over the wreck Fitz made of another country so he could have her one day.  Fitz is stunned.  He must have thought that his sacrifice of other people's lives would impress her, or that she would at least sympathize with the hard position he'd been in.  But there's no sympathy.  Olivia's angry that she did terrible and incredible things to put Fitz in a position to be the best President ever.  She believed he had the potential to be great.  That's why she rigged an election.  That's why she helped Hollis get away with it.  That's why she helped keep Rosen from exposing Defiance.  That's why she toiled for Fitz's re-election.  It's why she tried to leave Fitz, repeatedly.  Over and over again, Olivia has realized that Fitz can't be the President and her lover.  And now, he's shown that he'll make the worst possible decisions for her.  He'll bomb small, probably poor countries and get US service members killed so he can marry her one day.  

Why can't you just love how awful I am?

Olivia couldn't be with a man whose wife needed him to recover from a past sexual assault.  And she can't be with a man who abandoned his most important Presidential duties for future booty time.  She throws Vermont out the window.  She shows Fitz the door.  And she relocks every deadbolt.  Has she finally gotten that man out of her life?  Will Fitz ever just get over her and move on to the amazing life that he gets to lead, and stop whining because he doesn't get this one thing?  What am I saying?  The show is based on the dance these two do, circling each other to see how much damage they're willing to do to their lives and characters to be together.  Fitz proved that he's willing to throw other people's lives away.  Olivia's shown that she will, periodically hurt Jake's feelings.  Olivia, as usual, has halted their love over how bad they ultimately are for each other.  But Fitz's entire excuse for being is that he worked so hard to be President, and now it's not enough if he can't have Olivia.  Don't expect him to concentrate on his job any time soon.

'Atta Girl - Agent Carter - Season 1, Episode 7

Carter starts the episode in deep trouble,  She ends it totally vindicated.  However, there's no time for her to celebrate her colleagues' newfound respect.  Sure, now she's practically in charge.  But she's captaining a ship that just exploded at sea.

While still considered an enemy and traitor, Thompson, Sousa, and Dooley all try their best to get a confession out of her.  Sousa tries using guilt over their friendship.  Thompson tries offering her a deal that sounds like a lie.  Dooley just yells at her like he's her dad and she's busted a vase.  Carter resists them all.  She tells them to come back when they're ready to play chess instead of checkers.

It's a stalemate in the interrogation room, and the only big change is that a weirded out Thompson doesn't think Ivchenko should be watching the interrogation.  He also has the sad news that Agent Yauch's been found dead, an apparent truck accident after leaving the office and drinking.  Dooley doesn't consider it enough to warrant his undivided attention.  In fact, nothing tears him away from Carter until a bigger fish is on the hook.

After getting away, and with the chance to leave the country, Jarvis does the bravest thing I've seen him, or anyone in this series do.  The chap who only wanted to be contacted between 9am and 9pm literally walks into NY Bell Company, in full view of the operators, and asks Rose to open the elevator so he can see Chief Dooley.  Rose, at first, thinks she can put him off- but Jarvis has been here before, through the back door, and starts rattling off the place's true identity and names of Agents inside.

Don't mind me, I'm just here to make things interesting

Rose, who's been totally under utilized, turns out to have her own protection:  a handgun concealed under her table, and she's about to shoot Jarvis when he holds up his briefcase, and declares that it contains Howard Stark's confession.  This stops every operator, and Rose decides Dooley will want to see him after all.

Dottie, who has moved out of the Hotel Griffith, has gotten herself a snazzy dress suit for baby carriage shopping.  The sales lady is happy to believe her story, sell her a lovely carriage, with a pink baby blanket.  And Dottie is happy to play the part of expecting and well off.  What, exactly, is she bringing into this world?

Carter finds herself taken, still handcuffed, to a conference room where Jarvis lays out Stark's deal: he'll return to the States, at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey (where private planes land, don't you know), and sign the typed out confession Jarvis waves around.  But only if Dooley will free Carter and Jarvis.  The confession has Stark taking all the blame, including for Carter's actions, which are explained by insisting that he manipulated her little weak girl feelings.  Carter's more insulted than relieved.  Especially when Dooley will only free her when Stark arrives and signs the confession.  And he definitively fires Carter.  Which hurts her feelings more than it should.

Seriously, I'd rather hang

Why would Carter be so unhappy and dejected to leave a place so unwilling to even give her real work?  At every turn, almost every agent has belittled her, disrespected her, and discarded her.  So, why the sad?  Because Carter's termination isn't just Carter's termination.  She's the first, and now, the last female agent at the SSR.  Sexism means that it's not just you who's judged for your failures- your gender is, too.  It's also the end of Carter's dream.  She's been protecting the world from the epically evil for a good five years; what will she do now?

Her first step is to clean out her desk, and commiserate with Jarvis.  And Jarvis' nervous news makes their situation even worse.  He lied.  He lied he lied he lied.  Stark's not coming.  Jarvis' plan was a bluff.  Carter asks Jarvis if he knows what being hung feels like, but their fears for nightfall are forgotten.

Because Ivchenko, reveling in his new best bud Dooley, is having a victory lap in Dooley's office.  Dooley apparently took Ivchenko's advice on his marital problems, because he's telling his wife that they're going to work everything out and he's going to be a better husband, etc.  Ivchenko is proud of him, but gets right back to the Morse code on the window sill, with Dottie across the street, still using the dentist's office and her rifle scope to make out his messages.  Look, I know New Yorkers are famous for not looking up, but for this long?  When someone has a gun?  And how often do New Yorkers look out their windows during the day?  (Hint: like, every five minutes).  How is this still unnoticed?

No matter how, Ivchenko is still signalling Dottie, but he's made one mess up, or the show's producers have.  Ivchenko is now tapping on the interior window sill (he used the outside last week), which anyone in the office can now see.  Unfortunately, newly-fired Carter is the only one who does.  She quickly rustles up a pad and paper, and she works on recording the dots and dashes.  When Jarvis chimes in with his own translation, they rediscover how much they like working together.  It's not long before Carter has a message giving them a little less than 20 minutes before shit hits the 1940s fans all over.

Carter, desperate and now knowing Ivchenko is a mole, plays her last card: the truth.  She waltzes out into the main office, and when Dooley confronts her, she informs him of Jarvis' bluff and that she's going to make her own confession.  Dooley, who's been thrown a lot of curve balls today, is at his wit's end, but Carter lays it all out for him, Thompson, and Sousa, with Jarvis in attendance.  She ends with her description of giving Sousa the credit for finding Stark's merch, which must have made him squirm.  If Carter is, in fact, the woman's he's been looking for, he can't deny that she did hand him Stark's merch instead of keeping it or even getting the credit.

Carter's whole ordeal in SSR hands is the subject of her best lines, where she verbally smacks down Team SSR Guys.  She's not a stray kitten.  She's not Howard Stark's whore.  She wasn't Captain America's, either.  She's not a secretary.  She's not a damsel in distress.  She's not a nuisance.  She's not a burden.  She's been doing this work longer than they have, and they didn't even bother to know that about her.  She could conduct her whole, secret investigation with them only figuring out after the fact because they've ignored her from the start.  She was literally hiding in plain sight, and Team SSR Guys have the decency to be embarrassed at their own incompetence.  But, they still can't believe her story.  It could be true, but when Carter produces her own accusation against Ivchenko, Dooley digs in.

Carter insists that he's really a plant, and tells them exactly what to look for:  go across the street and find the window he's communicating with.  You'll find a Leviathan agent there, and it will turn out to be my pretty blond neighbor who you've just happened to have already seen.  Once again, she's done all the footwork and put the pieces together, and she hands them the arrest in shiny paper and a red bow.  They're about to doubt her entirely now when Carter decides she can convince them she knows what she's talking about.  And that she's been on their side.  She sends for the ball she was arrested with.  Team SSR Guys has been playing with it all day, hoping she'll explain why she had it, and now she offers to tell them.

It's Dooley who opens it, looking worried he'll blow himself up first.  But it opens and reveals a vial, still perfectly preserved.  Carter looks wistfully at the last piece of Stephen Rogers, that was safe and sound in her wall earlier.  Now, she's placing a lot of faith in the SSR to protect it.  Team SSR Guys think that she's got to earn her trust, but as she makes it clear just how valuable this vial is, it's clear that she's making the leap of faith in trusting them.  Will the SSR use the last of it in a fruitless attempt to copy it?  Or will the SSR just get sloppy, and let it fall into the wrong hands?

Or will they drink the blood?

Maybe Team SSR Guys is worth trusting after all, because they immediately decide to at least test Carter's advice.  Dooley keeps her confined in the conference room, but he decides that it's time for Ivchenko to close the window.  It's a few seconds too late though, because Agents are plainly coming for Dottie from the street, and Ivchenko decides it's time to play his end game with Dooley.

Dooley's really got a lovely family for such and old-looking sourpuss. And they really need him to get to the turkey carving on Thanksgiving already.  It's a vision concocted by Ivchenko's plain gold band that is surely a fake wedding ring.  And it's the same trick he used at the episode's opening flashback on an amputation patient, luring him from reality into a fantasy world.  He's not doing this so Dooley can feel no pain, though.  He's been found out, and knows he needs Dooley to act now.  First on Ivchenko's list is neutralizing Carter, which Dooley does by locking her and Jarvis into the interrogation room at gunpoint.

You should take this as a compliment

Next is a trip to the SSR lab, where about four scientists are confused by Dooley's insistence that they all leave, right now.  But Dooley, totally under Ivchenko's control, points the magic finger of authority at them and they report to a briefing room to supposedly figure out how Carter got Roger's blood from them.  Ivchenko, alone with Dooley again, barely has to play with his ring again to get Dooley to peacefully hand over Item #17, which isn't shown.  What is shown is a fancy brown vest that Ivchenko seems to think is just the thing for Dooley.

They part at the elevator, but not before Dooley teases us all with the possibility that he was playing Ivchenko all along to get the guy to incriminate himself.  Instead, Dooley hands over Item #17, and Ivchenko instructs Dooley to put the vest on.

Thanks, sucker!

Thompson and Sousa and some unnamed (read: soon to be dead) agent search the building across the street.  Thompson and Sousa admit to each other that they do believe Carter, and Thompson warns Sousa that these agents are deadly as kids; the full grown version should just be shot on site. Sousa tries to follow his advice, sort of.  Dottie is still using the boorish, dead, dentist's office, and as Sousa approaches, he can see her silhouette in the textured glass windows of the time, and he realizes that Carter was right about that blonde.  He's clever, but he too is betrayed by his own shadow, and Dottie's surrender is fake.  She lays him on the floor, and beats him to the stairwell, where Sousa can only watch in stunned awe as she catapults herself down the stairwell by the railings.  Dottie kills the unnamed agent on her way out.  But Sousa's not done with the dentist's office.

He turns up the fly-covered dead body, as well as the written-down messages that Dottie left behind to document her next move.  Which, really, was not smart of her.  A convenient laxing of Dottie's standards so Sousa could know that Carter's been a pain in Leviathan's ass the whole time.

Thompson, meanwhile, decides to race back to SSR HQ, where he discovers that even chained to a table, Jarvis and Carter can cause some trouble.  Handcuffed to a rectangular table, they have to turn it 90 degrees, and Carter has to inform Jarvis that they'll spread glass all over the next room, and perhaps get sprayed in bullets.  Jarvis just can't help stopping the battering ram exercise until these points are spelled out.  To his credit, he keeps going and he and Carter are pleasantly surprised when it turns out no one has to die today.  But, they realize together they're still chained to that table.  So, it's a good thing that Thompson has decided to investigate the noise.  Carter immediately sicks him on Dooley.

Pretend it's Howard's face!

Dooley's been having a great dream.  His son is building a bird house on the kitchen table, despite Mom's possible wrath, and Dooley can't believe he's home in daylight hours.  Neither can Mrs. Dooley, but they quickly decide it's great that Dooley came home early, and Dooley confesses that he thinks he's done something terrible at work.  He's not sure what, and he doesn't know what to think of it, but Mrs. Dooley is reassuring, and little Dooley Jr. is finishing his birdhouse, tapping nails into the roof.

Oh, that tapping is actually Thompson and Carter pounding on his office door, demanding he wake up.  The Brown Vest of Trouble is already glowing red, and Dooley is disheveled and disoriented, but the whole office quickly puts the pieces together.  Jarvis fearfully explains that the jacket was designed to warm cold soldiers, but it could never work and always ended up overheating until it exploded.  And, once again, I can't believe the stuff Howard Stark just keeps lying around.

The SSR scientists, now summoned out of wherever they were holed up, have no solution.  Jarvis says there really isn't any.  But Dooley comes up with one, which Carter tries half-heartedly to talk him out of.  Dooley, once again, and for the last time, isn't listening to her.  Instead, he insists that Carter has been on top of this from the beginning, which means that it's her who has to promise to get the bad guys.  The price of competence is that everyone depends on you, I guess.  'Atta girl, Carter.  Dooley treats her almost like a daughter before he dashes out the nearest window, the suit starting to shine and smolder, and launches himself out the window and into a Manhattan canyon as he explodes.

The blast tears a hole in the SSR HQ, and Sousa returns to a shell-shocked office.  The dead agent count is up to six.  Leviathan has what they wanted, and a happy Ivchenko is still chipper and confident despite losing his cover.  Carter, as the Agent who brought Ivchenko in, is devastated.  Leviathan pulled one over her, by concealing a real trap in an obvious one.  She knew Stark wouldn't be in Belarus, so when she "discovered" something that looked like the real goods, she bought it.  She doesn't have time for moping, though- there's a vial of blood that has to be checked on.  When it's found safe and sound, there's a scrambling until Item 17 is known to be missing.  Trouble is, not even Jarvis knows what Item 17 is.  And the guy who does has no plans to be in the country anytime soon.

Dottie knows what Item 17 is.  It's something small, that can be concealed under a fluffy pink blanket in a baby carriage.  It's a gas, that Dottie happily releases into the air as she exits the crowded movie theater, only arousing the suspicions of one other audience member, as she barricades the door.  It doesn't take long for the audience to launch into violent acrobatics, enthusiastically ripping each other apart.  Which an usher discovers, to her horror.  Leviathan's test is a total success.  On to their real intended horror.  Also, when in doubt, show up to the movie seriously late.  Mrs. Pay-for-parking should take her husband out for dinner.

Interlude:  this show constantly beats the woman-defeating-sexism drum, in every episode.  At a lower volume, but just as important, has been Agent Sousa and Enver Gjokaj's portrayal of him.  The other agents wouldn't dare openly mock a war veteran's injuries, but they do constantly underestimate him when they shouldn't.  From finding the homeless man who saw Jarvis call the SSR, to actually discovering Carter's secret investigation, he's been showing up Thompson at almost every turn with his honest devotion to solid detective work.  Thompson's been set up as the awful example of every 1940s social problem, and I cringe at how the guy would treat a Black Agent (the show has featured Asian and Hispanic Agents in the Belarus episode, and Thompson kept his stuff together, but I'm still curious).   Dooley's been the boss who has to referee everybody's hang ups.

Keep in mind, disabled people were kept invisible before the 1970s.  FDR rarely allowed a photograph to depict his wheelchair.  People didn't talk about sickness or disabilities, considering it a private matter to suffer in silence.  So, Sousa's open cane walking, alongside his fellow agents, would have freaked out everyone.  Sousa is tolerated because he's a man who got his disability defending his country, but Thompson treats him with pity half the time.  Sousa brushes off the pity, and gets back to work.  The one time he tries to use his disability to get some solidarity with a witness, he's brushed off, but he can't be blamed for wanting a connection with someone going through the same thing.

And now, with Carter practically in charge of a catastrophe, we move into the finale.  Has Stark come home at last?  Will the SSR start making the progression into SHIELD?  Will Dottie and Carter have a good fight to cap things off?  Most importantly:  WILL WE EVER SEE MRS. JARVIS???????