S01.E04: The Blitzkrieg Button

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Peggy may be in more trouble than usual when fugitive Howard Stark suddenly returns for mysterious reasons. And Chief Dooley chases a new clue all the way to Europe that threatens to destroy Peggy's future at the SSR.

 

Promo:

[AimingforYoko]

Heh, of all the girls Mink could've run into, it had to be ol' Dottie. Any ambiguity about her is gone now. What is she, though? Those movements were not normal.

[SnoGirl]

Oh Howard. Why did you lie to Peggy? I wish they had built up Jarvis' tell...it just appeared out of nowhere.

I cannot stand Thompson. I thought it was because of who is playing him, but tonight really cemented it. What a jerk.

Dottie's moves really reminded me of Black Widow from Ironman 2. Maybe she's a Russian spy putting red in her ledger?

I can't wait until next week! Commandos! Peggy being even more amazing.

Edited January 28, 2015 by SnoGirl

[SeanC]

Stan Lee!

 

It was pretty obvious that something was up with Dottie, given that she was played by Bridget Regan, but the reveal was well-done.

[Advance35]

Very good episode.   Peggy really tore Howard a new one, I hope we get to see them reconcile before the end of the Mini-Series.

 

And WHOA!!! Dottie.   My eyebrows hit my hairline when she catapulted off the wall and wrapped her legs around the guys neck before she snapped it AND moved the body under her bed (until she can dispose of it I presume).   I thought her move was VERY Natasha like.   And based on the preview of Peggy being sent to Russia, I'm wondering where this is going.

 

I really liked the character work on both Sousa and Thompson this episode.   Agent Thompson knows what Peggy goes through, flat out tells her that nobody in the office will see her as an equal, he spoke like he knows she's intelligent and could do more than she's allowed, he knows it's unfair and "sad" (as he said), he just doesn't care.   Very believable.  Not likable but believable.   He's also really good at reading the suspects and is willing to hit below the belt in ways Sousa didn't even conceive  of.    Getting to the suspect by appealing to his love of booze.

 

Sousa seems to be on track to being able to unmask Peggy, whether he'll be able to or not is a different story.   But liked seeing him connect the dots.    Interesting that in opposition to Thompson, Sousa chose empathy and relating to get the suspect to talk.   And failed.   I think that was a novel choice from a writing perspective.

 

And it looks like Peggy may be putting some distance between herself and Jarvis now that she's lost trust in both him and Stark.   And glad to see Jarvis is bothered by her (now) lack of trust.

 

Cant' wait till next week.

[Lantern7]

Dottie is a straight-up ninja girl. I want to see more of her. I can deal with a little less "Peggy gets short end of the stick" if it means more Dottie.

 

Good episode, and we can check off "Stan Lee cameo" off the list of Marvel tropes.

[Sakura12]

That's why the 8 episode thing works. They did not wait at all for the Dottie reveal. I loved that she was all chipper with her "I want" when she saw the guy with the gun. 

 

Howard does have an interesting relationship with Peggy. He sleeps with multiple women but he feels really bad that he lied to Peggy. It makes me wonder if Tony knows Peggy. 

 

Thomson is still an ass. I know they said we'd learn more about him but that won't change the fact that he's an ass. 

 

I think that Sousa is going to find out that Peggy's working for Stark, then decide to help her. I can't wait for next week for the Howling Commandos. I re-watched Captain America last week, just to see Peggy being awesome. 

[Shanna]

Heh, of all the girls Mink could've run into, it had to be ol' Dottie. Any ambiguity about her is gone now. What is she, though? Those movements were not normal.

I loves the way she stopped and admired the gun. I also loved how all the ladies are stealing and covering for each other.

When Thompson said that "no man will see you differently" or whatever bullshit to Peggy I shouted out loud "captain America did!" Can you imagine how Steve would react to that! I want him to be unfrozen early just to kick thompsons ass.

I want to hate Thompson and I do, but I actually felt something real from him when he gave that bum alcohol and told Sousa that not all men came back looking for a hug. It was ambiguous, but combine that with him drinking quietly by himself later and I could see a bit of potential for his character. He still needs to back off my girl Peggy though!

Edited January 28, 2015 by Shanna

[Malbec]

OK, the line "...Breathmint?" made me howl.  Dooley, you utter magnificent douchebag. 

 

Actually, I liked seeing that he, Thompson and Sousa each had a moment where they moved the case forward.  Not that it made me like them per se -- Thompson certainly earned the fat slice of comeuppance that is surely headed his way -- but it's good to flesh out Peggy's surroundings and see that she's surrounded by people who could credibly unmask her.  And who certainly will if Sousa, or that FUCKING TYPEWRITER (!!!!), are any indication.

 

Peggy and Howard's falling out was so sad.  I thought it was well-written, and really well played by Atwell and Cooper, that Steve's loss is still a big, raw, gaping wound for both of them.  They cover it in such different ways, but it's the same pain. 

 

 

Interesting that in opposition to Thompson, Sousa chose empathy and relating to get the suspect to talk.   And failed.   I think that was a novel choice from a writing perspective.

 

 

I liked that writing choice too.  And, I liked the detail that Sousa had to know Thompson was listening/watching to his spiel about being disabled, and didn't care (and maybe even, secondary to the interrogation, wanted him to hear some of that stuff). 

[Jediknight]

Heh, of all the girls Mink could've run into, it had to be ol' Dottie. Any ambiguity about her is gone now. What is she, though? Those movements were not normal.

She's an assassin that shares a name with a venomous spider.  Natasha isn't the only one, and she damn sure wasn't the first.

 

When Thompson said that "no man will see you differently" or whatever bullshit to Peggy I shouted out loud "captain America did!" Can you imagine how Steve would react to that! I want him to be unfrozen early just to kick thompsons ass.

Same with Colonel Phillips, Sousa, Howard, and all the Howling Commandos.

 

Speaking of Howard, he did deserve that verbal smackdown, but like I said he does respect Peggy.  While he did lie to her, he sees her 100% as his equal at the very least, and better than a whole lot of others.

[AimingforYoko]

OK, the line "...Breathmint?" made me howl.  Dooley, you utter magnificent douchebag.

That was good, but my favorite was from Mink's henchmen: "He had a woman with him.....and five guys."

[Advance35]

Actually, I liked seeing that he, Thompson and Sousa each had a moment where they moved the case forward.  Not that it made me like them per se -- Thompson certainly earned the fat slice of comeuppance that is surely headed his way -- but it's good to flesh out Peggy's surroundings and see that she's surrounded by people who could credibly unmask her.  And who certainly will if Sousa, or that FUCKING TYPEWRITER (!!!!), are any indication.

 

 

I didn't know what to expect when this show started but it wasn't this.   I continue to think these writers are doing excellent work on these characters.  Peggy is the crown jewel but the others are all becoming fully formed characters as well.   I actually like them or like something about just about each character on the canvas.   Thompson is a brute and a pig but he's a good agent and he's good at his job.   I'd like to see him eat some humble pie but I hope nothing  truly terrible happens to him.   Though him talking about how Peggy will never be seen as an equal no matter how unfair it is made me think he would be likely to underestimate "Dottie" if he ran into her and that could spell his doom.

 

Thompson's a good agent just not necessarily a good person.   He's loyal and wants to defend the american way and all that but he doesn't seem to empathize with others.   He can understand them, just doesn't feel for them.

 

And holy crap.  Howard said Peggy can do 107 one armed push-ups????????? You go girl.

 

I feel bad for saying this but I saw the promo for AoS being back in march and all I could think was "Nooooooooooo".   This show (considering it's set in the past) has know right to be as engaging, exciting, funny and touching as it is.

[Shanna]

Same with Colonel Phillips, Sousa, Howard, and all the Howling Commandos.

Speaking of Howard, he did deserve that verbal smackdown, but like I said he does respect Peggy. While he did lie to her, he sees her 100% as his equal at the very least, and better than a whole lot of others.

Oh absolutely. I really enjoyed their fight. And seeing him later with a shiner lol.

On Thompson, I read that he was empathizing with the witness by knowing what he really wanted was a drink. And found that interesting.

[Bruinsfan]

Though him talking about how Peggy will never be seen as an equal no matter how unfair it is made me think he would be likely to underestimate "Dottie" if he ran into her and that could spell his doom.

Frankly I think it could spell his doom whether he underestimates her or not. She took down a cold-blooded killer with an automatic weapon pointed at her in an instant - that's a level of fighting ability that none of the characters we've seen, including Peggy, can match. It would probably take someone like Steve to last long enough in a fight to realize how dangerous she is and act accordingly.

[stealinghome]

And based on the preview of Peggy being sent to Russia, I'm wondering where this is going.

Not just sent to Russia, but sent to Russia and findng young girls that are more than just young girls? That seem to be walking weapons? Peggy's going to find the proto-Red Room. Avengers 2 tie-in! Hell, I wonder if the kid they seem to be tracking next week might coincidentally be named Natasha....

 

This episode was way more engaging than last week's, but the series is still almost but not quite clicking for me. I think it's the SSR side of the story--it's just not that interesting. The guys at her workplace are jerks, yes, but they're also bland and boring--I don't even really know their names, they're so bland. I am far more interested in the Stark stuff (of course) and the boarding house stuff (which I was skeptical of at first, but which has increasingly become a highlight)--aside from D'Arcy, Atwell has far and away the most acting chemistry with Fonseca, and Fonseca and D'Arcy are on another planet in terms of what they're doing with the supporting character material.* So I really liked the glimpse we got into life at the boarding house tonight--I love when we see more into Peggy's "Clark Kent" world! Agree the reveal on Dottie--which we all saw coming--was nevertheless very well done.

 

*=With that said, of course I am going to LOVE the expression on her coworkers' faces when it all comes out.

 

LOVED Peggy and Howard going at each other and Peggy giving Howard a cold hard dose of reality. Atwell and Cooper play so, so well off of each other, and I feel like Peggy (and Jarvis to some extent) is the kind of person Tony could desperately have used earlier in life. Peggy is just so good at keeping things real and calling Howard out on his self-justifications. That was just a great, great scene. Atwell really sold Peggy's fury and her hurt. I like that she was always the compass for Steve, but now Steve has become her compass (and she'll become his again in Cap 2).

 

Add me to the list of people who wanted to roll their eyes at Agent Douchebag's comment about how no one will respect Peggy because she's a woman. Freaking CAPTAIN AMERICA respected her more than he respected anyone else he knew.

 

That's why the 8 episode thing works. They did not wait at all for the Dottie reveal. I loved that she was all chipper with her "I want" when she saw the guy with the gun.

It was so creepy because it was the exact same way she asked for the special purse pocket! Nice work by Bridget Regan there.

[Izeinwinter]

The admiration and avarice she displayed at the gun wasn't just honest, it was also tactical - It took mr Smuggling and Murder out of the moment, so that she could actually pull off the killing - Which was very neat all on it's own - Body-language fake right (and the gun tracked that.) bounce off left wall, and done. 

 

Which kind of raises the question. Who. The Heck. thinks Peggy warrants that kind of agent assigned to her 24/7? 

Edited January 28, 2015 by Izeinwinter

[Snarkette]

Please sir, can we have some more? God, I love this show and I'm so sad AoS will take its place in just a few weeks. They showed that coming soon commercial and I nearly teared up with the sadness. What a great ep, what great characters, what great tension, and plot, and heart, and... :(

 

Whoever called ballerina == SuperAgent, you won the forums.

[Julia]

The admiration and avarice she displayed at the gun wasn't just honest, it was also tactical - It took mr Smuggling and Murder out of the moment, so that she could actually pull off the killing - Which was very neat all on it's own - Body-language fake right (and the gun tracked that.) bounce off right wall, and done. 

 

Which kind of raises the question. Who. The Heck. thinks Peggy warrants that kind of agent assigned to her 24/7?

I'm going to guess Howard.

[benteen]

Good episode.  Howard's return was a lot of fun and he definitely deserved that verbal smackdown.  Good use of Sousa this week too and whoever called Dottie as the evil agent, good call!  Though I was pleasantly surprised when she dispatched that assassin the way she did.  I did love the bit Dooley slipping the Nazi a breath mint.

 

I do find myself annoyed with the neverending shitty treatment of Carter and Sousa.  I get the era they're in but they've definitely amplified it for the show.  I find it hard to believe that Sousa as a wounded veteran would be treated with such open disdain.

 

One thing I've noted is that they never use the term Soviet Union when referring to the Russians.

[thuganomics85]

So, today in unsurprising but very, very awesome news: Dottie totally isn't a mere ballerina from Iowa.  Unless training for that now includes you learning the ability to practically wall run, and just snap the neck of an armed killer, before he even knows what happened. Yep, Dottie is totally a dangerous, undercover badass.  Hell yeah!  Really can't wait to see Bridget Regan do her thing.  I loved how quickly she went from innocent Dottie, to "That gun looks cool!  I want it!" joy, and then, badass mode, where all the killing happens.

 

Howard is back!  I love Peggy/Howard about as much as I love Peggy/Jarvis.  Love how Hayley Atwell and Dominic Cooper play off each other.  But, oh boy.  Howard just had to fib to Peggy, and now their relationship is so in trouble.  I don't blame Peggy at all for reading him the riot act and trusting him or Jarvis again.  At the same time, I do believe Howard that he does respect her, so I hope he (or, lets be honest, it will probably be Jarvis), fixes this little shit storm he caused.

 

A little better use of Peggy's co-workers so far.  Daniel is still the only one I fully like, but I did think they showed that his by the book, nice approach might not always get it done.  Meanwhile, Jack might be a dick, but he is a good detective.  Still a dick though!  I really hope they show avoids the cliche of him and Peggy having some kind of "The hate is secretly love/lust!" route.  Enjoyed watching Dooley handle the Nazi.

 

Jarvis and Angie didn't do much in this one, but I don't mind.  Jarvis is still awesome and I liked that he clearly was upset over lying to Peggy.  Angie and the rest of the women showing Peggy how to sneak food was fun.  Fight the system, ladies!

 

I really do love this show.  Being only eight episodes really helps move things forward, and not have to put up with a bunch of filler or useless story-lines/plot points.

Edited January 28, 2015 by thuganomics85

[Actionmage]

OK, the line "...Breathmint?" made me howl.  Dooley, you utter magnificent douchebag.

 

ICAM! He and the other agents at the SSR may be assholes, but they aren't just one-dimensional assholes. They have to be good at their jobs, or we have a children's show where of course the Good Guys can think better than the Bad Guys.

 

*Dooley is primarily a hard, but fair boss for the era.

*Thompson is a reasonably good agent when his era-appropriate prejudices blind him (seemingly) to the obvious.

*Souza is more empathetic, but he's also not especially rushing around to ensure Peggy gets good assignments, as a result of his respecting her first speech to him and how blowback on him is a pain to deal with as well.

*Krzemenski, while an adulterer, was also an agent that was low-rung, but still treated better and with more respect- especially in death- than Souza and Peggy.

 

Being fleshed-out characters doesn't make them being assholes any less a viable character choice.

 

Hell, look at Dottie! She is clearly a scary, murdering assassin who isn't afraid to murder first then take the cool toys with her. But yet, she politely asked about a nifty purse to be made for her ( now that I am typing it, I am now afraid for the purse-maker), and is as willing to keep the open secret about Howard/ Peggy's cousin as the other women. Only, for Dottie, it's just making her surveillance of Peggy easy for the time being.

 

Mrs. Fry cracked me the hell up tonight! Yeah, she's a self-righteous, nosy old biddie, but she feels an obligation to the girls who follow the house rules. I don't fully agree with her methods, even if I understand them.

 

IA with Stan the Man's cameo. I was wondering when it would pop up.

 

I was hoping that Jarvis would tear into Howard, but the shiner may have given Jarvis pause. Having both seem to be done with him would undermine what good Howard is actually trying to do. Still, the phrase that didn't pay tonight was "Shut up, Howard!", or it's cousin, "Shut the fuck up, Howard!" I do feel badly as I live next to a church. *sigh*

 

If we aren't promo monkey'd again, I am soooo excited for next week! The Howlin' Commandos with the Ol' Walrus hisself!

 

PS- I saw what looked like an Asian name under Howard's on that flight manifest. I think that is why the HC was teased? Because those of us who saw the first movie might have twigged to one or more of the names listed?

[Sandman]

Heh, of all the girls Mink could've run into, it had to be ol' Dottie. Any ambiguity about her is gone now. What is she, though? Those movements were not normal.

If not for her height, I'd be tempted wonder if "Dottie" is actually Natalya Romanova, when she was still working for the Russians. (In some versions, Natasha's lifespan and physical conditioning were enhanced by a Russian counterpart to the super soldier experiments on Steve, though not to the same level as Captain America.)

[Malbec]

I do find myself annoyed with the neverending shitty treatment of Carter and Sousa.  I get the era they're in but they've definitely amplified it for the show.  I find it hard to believe that Sousa as a wounded veteran would be treated with such open disdain.

I don't think they've amplified the sexism of the era. If anything, the relative lack of sexual harassment Peggy deals with makes SSR a dream compared to some 2015 workplaces...

 

As for the treatment of Sousa, when the harsh comments come from other vets it actually makes a horrible kind of sense to me.  I always read it as a thing where other vets know how easily they could've ended up in Sousa's position or worse, and it freaks them out, and it gets expressed as hostility.  The "just world" theory basically. 

[MarquisDeCarabas]

If not for her height, I'd be tempted wonder if "Dottie" is actually Natalya Romanova, when she was still working for the Russians. (In some versions, Natasha's lifespan and physical conditioning were enhanced by a Russian counterpart to the super soldier experiments on Steve, though not to the same level as Captain America.)

 I don't think Dottie's Natasha I wouldn't be surprised if she's Yelena though.   

 

As for Natasha we may have seen her in the promo, in the Marvel comics universe Natasha's only about 15 years younger than Steve, be interesting to see if they go there for the MCU (I may be remembering wrong but people were saying Scarlet's too young to have been an active member of the KGB this would fix that)

[AzureOwl]

I think that the fact that Dottie turned out to be a trained agent came us a surprise to practically nobody.

But I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one that immediately screamed “Black Widow Fighting Moves!” at the screen when she did her thing. The fighting style is identical. It cannot be a coincidence.

 

She's an assassin that shares a name with a venomous spider.  Natasha isn't the only one, and she damn sure wasn't the first.

There's a venomus spider called a Dottie?

[SiobhanJW]

So is Thompson going with Carter to Russia? It looked like in the preview he was there during all the shooting.

[Rick Kitchen]

Is Howard's poor background new?  I thought his father was a wealthy industrialist?

[MartinKSmith]

There will never be a time when I don't have a huge smile on my face during a Stan Lee cameo. 

[Jeezaloo]

Is Howard's poor background new?  I thought his father was a wealthy industrialist?

I, too, thought Howard was a liar.

[kennyab]

I, too, thought Howard was a liar.

 

Howard Stark, Sr, was also a businessman in the comics, but I don't know that they've said anything about it in the MCU. It's not that big of a change, and it helps to better differentiate Howard from Tony.

 

I'm also thinking that Dottie is actually Yelena (I mean, I'm really doubting she's Claire Voyant). It would be pretty cool if they mirrored Natasha's WWII origins in the MCU, as I'm one of those people really bugged by the assertion that MCU Widow was actually in the KGB.

[Sandman]

... immediately screamed “Black Widow Fighting Moves!” at the screen

Heh. Exactly!

I hadn't thought of Yelena, actually.

[Shanna]

Howard Stark, Sr, was also a businessman in the comics, but I don't know that they've said anything about it in the MCU. It's not that big of a change, and it helps to better differentiate Howard from Tony..

The way Howard described his father, it was still as a businessman just a less financially successful one? So that kind of fits.

Interesting to hear about the potential for Natasha connections. I'm not familiar with her origins besides Russian. Next week looks awesome for many reasons.

I don't know how to take the treatment of Sousa. It seems like in the past people actually had decent manners and they wouldn't mention it but I obviously don't have a lot of experience with 40s policeish living in NYC...some of it may be considered friendly ribbing but not all.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Shanna

[kennyab]

The way Howard described his father, it was still as a businessman just a less financially successful one? So that kind of fits.

Interesting to hear about the potential for Natasha connections. I'm not familiar with her origins besides Russian. Next week looks awesome for many reasons.

 

Natasha was a young girl at the end of WWII (who, interestingly, was kidnapped from Russia by Nazis) placed into a Russian program named the Red Room, used to produce super spies. She was given their version of the Super Soldier Serum/Infinity Formula, which slowed down her aging. A fascinating little bit of that is that she was brainwashed into thinking she was a ballerina and made to forget her time at the Red Room.

 

Yelena is younger Black Widow from the same program. But the show could easily flip that around.

[Sakura12]

I don't know if they are going that way with Natasha, she called Steve a fossil. If she was close to the same age that wouldn't make much sense. Unless her memory was wiped and altered to make her think she's younger then she is. Which could be an interesting story to pursue if they ever around to giving her own movie. Nicole Perlman who co-wrote Guardians of the Galaxy was writing a script for a Black Widow movie (I met her at wedding). I guess they didn't pick it up. She would've done a good job with it.

[funkopop]

I can't remember if what I read was someone's theory or actual canon but "Black Widow" is more of a moniker given to a group of female assasins trained under some regime, meaning there are multiple Black Widows throughout history.  Is that correct?

Edited January 28, 2015 by funkopop

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It made me sad to see the rift between Peggy and Howard, but I have to side with Peggy on this one. Here she is running around risking life and limb for Howard and he's lying to her.

 

Totally love that the more we see inside the boarding house, the more we see that the girls only appear to be following the rules. They are all sneaking in men, stealing food, and breaking all of Miriam's rules. While Miriam has good intentions in wanting to protect the girls and their reputations, I rolled my eyes when she said they aren't capable of controlling themselves. You know, because men are much better at that and have to be protected from these impulsive girls!

 

 

 

So, today in unsurprising but very, very awesome news: Dottie totally isn't a mere ballerina from Iowa.  Unless training for that now includes you learning the ability to practically wall run, and just snap the neck of an armed killer, before he even knows what happened.

She's a parkour ninja ballerina!

 

she was brainwashed into thinking she was a ballerina and made to forget her time at the Red Room.

Now if only someone could brainwash Ana Steele and make her forget her time in the Red Room so she could escape the emotionally abusive relationship she interprets as love. Or hey, if I could be brainwashed into forgetting I ever read that piece of crap book!

Edited January 28, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Sakura12]

Obviously Dottie's watching her for some nefarious purpose but she has been keeping Peggy's identity a secret and taking out people sent to kill her. Peggy's kind of got a guardian ninja ballerina and she doesn't even know it. 

[Primetimer]

Howard Stark makes another appearance to further complicate Peggy's life. It's a lot easier to cause trouble when you're in someone's bedroom. Doing it remotely lacks the personal touch.

Read the story

[funkopop]

Obviously Dottie's watching her for some nefarious purpose but she has been keeping Peggy's identity a secret and taking out people sent to kill her. Peggy's kind of got a guardian ninja ballerina and she doesn't even know it. 

 

Yeah, I wonder what Peggy is going to make of the dead guy under her bed. 

 

I don't know if its the first time its happened but Thompson calling Peggy 'Marge' was just so him. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So how long before Mink's body really starts to stink? Or will Dottie let his corpse rot at the bottom of the laundry chute as Peggy promised she would do to Howard?

[funkopop]

So how long before Mink's body really starts to stink? Or will Dottie let his corpse rot at the bottom of the laundry chute as Peggy promised she would do to Howard?

 

Oh was that where he was. I thought for sure it was under Peggy's bed.  With the way Ms. Frye runs her place it won't be to long.

[foreverevolving]

A fascinating little bit of that is that she was brainwashed into thinking she was a ballerina and made to forget her time at the Red Room.

Mmm i wonder if they'll go that route with dinner girl (yep 4 episodes in still can't remember her name), and Dottie was send to actually keep an eye on her or to reinstate her and serve as her operator. Did coffee girl ever shared any information about her family or early life?

[Shanna]

I don't know if its the first time its happened but Thompson calling Peggy 'Marge' was just so him.

That totally confused me! I was wondering if he didn't know her name and then he called her Peggy so... Was that some sort of pet name?

how drunk was he?

Edited January 28, 2015 by Shanna

[funkopop]

That totally confused me! I was wondering if he didn't know her name and then he called her Peggy so... Was that some sort of pet name?

how drunk was he?

 

Well, Peggy's full name is Margaret so I just figured she prefers to go by Peggy and he was calling her Marge to be a dick. 

[kennyab]

Mmm i wonder if they'll go that route with dinner girl (yep 4 episodes in still can't remember her name), and Dottie was send to actually keep an eye on her or to reinstate her and serve as her operator. Did coffee girl ever shared any information about her family or early life?

 

She is trying to make it in show biz, so... But they've already got one Black Widow, I don't think they need two. And I think it's important for Peggy to have someone in her life who isn't in the spy game. But if they end up wanting some sort of twist, then I suggest she end up marrying Gabe Jones and being Trip's grandma.

[Tangerine]

It's nice that Thompson and Peggy had a bit of an honest and adult conversation, but just because he was honest about his prejudice doesn't make him any less of an a-hole. At this point, I'm really hoping that Dr. Doobin ends up being Peggy's husband. He really is the best option so far.

[Shanna]

Well, Peggy's full name is Margaret so I just figured she prefers to go by Peggy and he was calling her Marge to be a dick.

Ah that makes more sense. I did not know that.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Took a look at a screen grab of that Finow airfield sign in sheet -- why was it in English and not in German ? Or Russian ? Or whatever the language was of whoever was running the airfield when Howard Stark landed his plane there ?

 

And it seems like a made up form anyway -- why would they need to record the age (in years and months), sex, marital status and occupation of people that landed at that airfield ?

 

And it's not really a "sign-in sheet" per se if someone went to the trouble of typing it up.  Plus, how would they even get this sign-in sheet so quickly -- the same way Thompson was able to fly to Nuremberg and back in about a day.  And if this log was from one day after the Battle of Finow that airfield was probably still in German hands after all the Russians were killed.

 

Even the other entries seem completely bogus:

• Alex Hale -- 25-year-old single male student
• Jesse Adams -- 36-year-old single male merchant
• Peter Tothpal -- 38-year-old married male engineer
• Howard Stark -- 51-year-old married male shipbuilder (really, shipbuilder ?)
• Brandon Itagaki -- 39-year-old married female (no occupation)
• Lisa Zugschwerdt -- 45-year-old single male valet (seriously, there's an 'M' next to someone named Lisa -- were there a lot of men named Lisa back in the 40s ?)
• Elizabeth Grey -- 42-year-old single female (occupation covered over by ABC logo)
• Melissa Feinberg -- 33-year-old single male (what appears to be another typo, or were there a lot of men named Melissa back in the 40s ?)
• Mary Kane -- (details off frame)

 

Those seem like an awful lot of English sounding names to be transiting through an airfield probably still in German control during a time of war, with the Russian Army basically knocking on the door.  And wouldn't someone like Howard Stark be flying in covertly at least under an assumed name ?

 

And to make matters even more curious, wouldn't this airfield be in Russian control post-Word War 2 ?  I just don't see the Russians: a) being this meticulous about record-keeping, or b) being very cooperative with a US spy agency.

[gazebo]

Last night's episode had me so pissed off!  I hate all the men on the show last night, except for Sousa and Stan Lee.  I hated Stark for lying to Peggy and making Jarvis apologise for him.  I hated Thomson for telling Peggy to her face that he thinks that she's a capable person but shouldn't be working in the agency.  It breaks my heart that Tony would treat Peggy like she was just a mere acquaintance instead of a colleague that worked with him during the war years and he felt the need to lie to her.  I think he disrespected her because she's a female or maybe he just couldn't stand her calling him out on his shit if he told her what the "weapon" actually is.  And so, she still calls him out on his shit when she finds out and gets a good fist to his face which made me feel really satisfied.  I hated all these guys so much!

 

On the other hand I was very impressed by how Thomson got the homeless guy to tell the truth because he knew how to appeal to the guy's greed for alcohol.  Poor Sousa!  He still has alot to learn about interrogation techniques. 

 

My jaw dropped when Dottie came upon the assassin in the women's hotel and demanded the gun from him.  That was a awesome move she made jumping up and killing the guy with her legs!  I think Dottie dragged the body into her room and put it under her bed.  Dottie really, really likes her new gun!  I wonder who Dottie is working for?

 

I also want to throw a little hate at the owner/manager of the women's hotel that Peggy is staying at.  I can't believe she thinks that it's her duty to make sure all the women living under her roof, control themselves around men!  How little you think of your own sex, lady!  Was this the way how people really felt during those days?

 

Aside from the hate, I did like the episode very much.  I like how Dooley tricked the Nazi dude into talking.  I knew he didn't have any cyanide pills.  When he gave the pill to the guard and said, "Breath mint....?"  I laugh so hard.

 

I am going to miss this show when it goes off the air.  I hope they will consider a second season.

[Traveller519]

I've been somewhat disappointed with the route the show has chosen to go with its story-line. Both Captain America movies portrayed both Peggy and Howard as heralded founders of the SSR, in real time during the war in The First Avenger, and enough to be memorialized on the wall in the Operation Paperclip bunker in the Winter Soldier. 

 

Obviously this show could be telling some interim period in both their careers that lead to them ultimately getting their deserved reputation, but it's tough to make sympathetic characters (to the SSR establishment) who are evading that organization and working outside its machinations.

 

Thompson's exposition in this regarding Peggy's glass ceiling, or the general attitude towards her as an agent, would hit harder and stand up to the thematic points of plights of women in the post war years being relegated back to housewife status, if the plot of the show didn't require Peggy to be actively bad at being an SSR agent. Next week's episode looks to be more of an SSR-sanctioned Peggy and the Howling Commandoes ass-kicking mission. Which, I'll find much more enjoyable.