Originally published January 20, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
Amy Richau reviews the second episode of Agent Carter season 2…
In the Agent Carter’s second episode of Season 2 “A View in the Dark” we get to meet Sousa’s L.A. girlfriend Violet (Sarah Bolger) we only got a glimpse of in episode one, and get a better feel for many of the other new characters. The episode is great fun overall and does a fine job of setting up a larger conspiracy for Peggy and Jarvis to unravel throughout the remaining episodes.
Things appear to be serious with Captain Sousa’s new girlfriend, who immediately clicks with Peggy when they first meet. Who wouldn’t enjoy a chat with Peggy? But Sousa’s assistant Rose (Lesley Boone) is not fooled. Sousa still has feelings for Peggy, and he continues to act just as much the role of a concerned boyfriend as her supervisor throughout this episode.
But love is in the air for more than Sousa and his adorable nurse girlfriend he planned to propose to this episode. In her investigation into Isodyne, Carter gets to know scientist Wilkes a bit better. Wilkes is in charge of containing the mysterious black substance referred to as “zero matter”. He is working for the bad guys, but appears to want to help Carter.
It’s hard to say right now whether Wilkes can truly be trusted, but it was nice to see Carter give in to her emotions a bit in this episode. Reggie Austin is doing a fine job as a conflicted scientist who knows that the color of his skin is going to make it hard to get another job offer if he breaks ties with Isodyne.
A cabal of old white men (referred to as “the council”) also makes an appearance this episode. They tell politician wanna-be and Isodyne owner Chadwick that Isodyne is getting shut down due to the investigations. Chadwick’s desperation to save the “greatest discovery of all-time” seems to fall on deaf ears. When Carter and Sousa get a warrant to search Isodyne a fake “leak” indeed covers for a company trying to disappear.
In an interesting twist it is Chadwick’s wife, Whitney Frost, who cares much more deeply about the fate of zero matter than her husband. Frost at first appears to be a somewhat desperate ageing actress, but she clearly understands the power of zero matter much more than anyone other than perhaps Wilkes.
The episode runs along quite smoothly, moving the storyline forward while tying together some of the storylines. When Carter borrows Howard Stark’s leisure car, she finds a pin identical to the one Dottie tried to steal in the New York bank in episode one. Clearly we will get to see more of Dottie in future episodes – and everyone should be excited about that.
Agent Carter continues to entertain with small touches like a pop-up champagne station in Stark’s car and a practice wrestling match between Jarvis and Carter. You never know what you’re going to get with this show, which is one of its greatest charms.
The episode ends in a cliffhanger, where it appears more than one character may have not survived. I’m guessing they both do, but it will be fun to see how in future episodes.
Amy Richau is a freelance entertainment and sports writer. Follow her on Twitter.
https://youtu.be/vDx6g5ua25E?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
