Meanwhile in LA, Director Sousa has his hands full with a serial killer, the aptly called Lady of the Lake Killer, who has come back after two years and left a new victim in ice. He calls back to L.A. in search for some help. In comes our girl; Peggy has become a favorite of the agents within the SSR since she stopped Dottie the last time and captured Fenkoff, something Director Thompson feels sour about and sends her off to L.A. at the request of Director Sousa.
After being picked up by Jarvis (who is also chauffeuring Howard Stark’s new pet flamingo, Bernard) and an awkward reunion with Director Sousa (blushing and stuttering like teenagers), Peggy jumps right in to see the body of the victim, which is frozen solid. After learning that the victim was near a particle accelerator before her death (making her dead body glow). Peggy, Sousa and his partner, Detective Henry, go to the only place in California that has a particle accelerator, Isodyne Energy.
There she meets a scientist Jason Wilkes, who gives her the name of the victim, Jane Scott, who worked at Isodyne Industries as a particle physicists. The zany scientist pulls Peggy in to show off his wine making skills. Peggy then finds out from him that the victim, Jane Scott was having an affair with Calvin Chadwick, her boss and who is also running for senator. Next stop: Interrogation.
We finally meet quirky Mrs. Jarvis when Peggy and Jarvis come the estate to get clothes for the racetrack. Ana Jarvis comes in handy when she gives Peggy outfits to wear to the racetrack, including a garter that doubles as a holster. Ana is definitely the Ying to Jarvis’ Yang. After getting into something more flashy, it’s off to the races.
While Jarvis keeps Chadwick’s wife, Whitney Frost (a.k.a. Madam Masque, actress, star, all around bad guy) busy by trying to coerce her into being in a movie by Howard Stark’s new movie production company, Peggy lures Chadwick into a false sense of security before hitting him with the whammy that she is a SSR agent and that his mistress is dead. After properly spooking, Peggy meets up with Sousa and Detective Henry to meet up with the medical examiner. However, they’re too late as the medical examiner is frozen and his whole body turns into shards of black ice. Creepy.
Meanwhile, back on home base, Agent Thompson is having no luck in getting anything out of Dottie. She even manages to turn the tables on him (literally) and pin him to the floor, while boasting how Peggy would’ve done a better job.
In L.A., Sousa brings in Jason Wilkes to question him about the anomaly and what could’ve caused it. After leaving the poor scientist along for a minute, they realize that the victim’s body was staged to look like it had been from the Lady of the Lake serial killer and that Detective Henry covered it up. Henry is long gone with Jason by the time they figure this out. Henry seems to also be having some effects by being near the victim’s body and is desperate to be fixed before he turns into the iceman as well.
Peggy and Sousa find Detective Henry before he hurts Jason. They don’t get much information out of Detective Henry, who is quickly freezing and gets shot by a cop before he could tell them who gave him his orders. This turns out to have been a plot by Chadwick and his wife, Whitney Frost who paid off the cop to get rid of Henry. It’s quickly understood that Whitney is the brains behind their evil operation. After a bittersweet goodbye to Jason, Peggy plucks up the courage to ask Sousa for a drink, which he politely turns down. It’s only then she discovers he is already seeing a nurse. Poor Peg.
Jack Thompson isn’t having much luck pulling together in his department either. Dottie Underwood is taken out of his custody and given to the FBI on the orders of Vernon Masters, apparently an old friend of Jack’s and war vet. He warns Jack that soon the SSR is going to become obsolete and he doesn’t want to go down the same path. Episode one leaves us on the edge of our seats when we see Jason Wilkes at Isodyne Energy watching a black glob isolated in a containment chamber. Very familiar.
The next episode starts off with Peggy seeing the shocking and amusing sights of Jarvis working out. Apparently in his spare time the beloved butler has taken up exercise and self-defense. It’s clear he is a quick study after managing to get the upper hand on Peggy. At the office, Peggy meets Sousa’s new girlfriend, Violet(Sarah Bolger), much to Sousa’s dismay. After Violet leaves, Sousa and Peggy send out their men to collect Jane Scott’s body. However, this is derailed when the agents are killed and the body is stolen, in what seems to be the next step in this cover up.
The audience learns that Calvin Chadwick and Whitney Frost aren’t the only people behind the cover up. Chadwick comes to a gentleman’s club to realize that his business partner’s (or the Council, as they call it) have decided the fate of Isodyne without him. After unsuccessfully pleading his case, Chadwick is resigned to the end of the project.
Following the discovery that their men were killed and the body was taken, Sousa and Peggy arrive at Isodyne Energy to find it is closed due to a containment link. Peggy manages to get a message from a frazzled Jason Wilkes to meet her that night for information concerning Isodyne. When Peggy gets the shock of a lifetime by finding an engagement ring in Sousa’s jacket pocket, she is quick to leave and meet Jason alone.
Peggy meets Jason at a club and although she is initially unwilling to open up, she finds herself talking about her childhood and family. After a little dancing, drinks and flirting, Jason takes Peggy to the laboratory to show her the project they are hiding. They watch a video that is initially supposed to be an Atomic Bomb testing, but instead shows the Zero Matter sucking in everything in its path before closing. Jason believes that the Zero Matter is alien, which he isn’t incorrect. This energy (originally called Dark Matter) has shown up in AGENTS OF SHIELD and Marvel comics, affecting many Marvel characters, and will be explored in the upcoming Marvel movie, DOCTOR STRANGE.
Before they can divulge into any more theories, they learned they are being followed and run from Chadwick’s men. Activating the tracking device in Howard Stark’s tricked out car (during which Jarvis is trying to catch his feathery adversary Bernard) Peggy hot wires one of the henchmen’s car to get her and Jason the heck out of dodge. While hiding from the henchmen in an alley, Peggy finds a pin that is an exact replica of what Dottie tried to steal when she first broke into the bank. Does Dottie somehow know something about the council? Or is she trying to buy her way in?
Peggy and Jason come across a payphone, but have to get change from an obviously racist diner owner, who Peggy is keen to show a few manners. It is fruitless, however, as the payphone is broken and they're quick to make their way to Isodyne Energy (after a smooch of course, because carpe diem).
An already aggravated Whitney Frost is upset at her husband when he shows up in her dressing room with nothing but bad news. She pushes him to defy the council, but he is unwilling. Naturally, she takes the decision into her own hands and goes to get the Zero Matter herself. While Peggy fends off the henchmen, Jason and Whitney fight over the Zero Matter, which drops and shatters, releasing the energy. Peggy is too late to save him and instead sees the aftermath of the destruction left by Zero Matter, which includes the disappearance of her new boyfriend.
Sousa and the police arrive shortly after the occurrence. It’s clear that Peggy is shaken by the disappearance of Jason and is taken home by Jarvis and comforted by Ana. The last scene of the episode shows a terror-stricken, Whitney Frost hiding from her husband in her room and shown to have a small cut of the Zero Matter on her head.
The two hour premiere leaves audiences with more than a few questions. Is Peggy’s new beau, Jason, really dead or did he get sucked in by the zero matter? Is Dottie connected to the Council? Will Doctor Strange somehow tie into this season of AGENT CARTER? Is Jarvis ever going to catch Bernard? Stay Tuned.
Written by Carly B., AGENT CARTER Beat Writer
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