Agent Carter (episode 5: The Iron Ceiling)

[silverflight8]

*NOOOOO SOUSA FOUND OUTTTTTT
I guess that means a dramatic showdown regarding Peggy's loyalties is going to come up, isn't it? Oh dear. And at least loyalty hasn't been an issue for her to contend with--since she's already contending with issues of competence. I doubt they thought she was competent enough for espionage into their ever so clever organization. If I am reading Sousa's expressions right I think he's still not sure what to do about the information.

*Speaking of Sousa, is the fact he stays late all the time a suspicious thing? I hope not. I like Sousa. Beginning to put a lot more credence in the "Sousa is the big bad" theories I've seen though :(

*Talk about cracking codes at the speed of light! As a time-saving convention I can handwave it, but if it's meant to show Peggy's cleverness it backfires slightly for me because omg, how fast was that?

*Peggy speaks Russian! Cool.

*I'm glad my initial impression of the crying girl was right.

*Is Thompson the one who entered the interrogation room with the bottle of wine and burger and said not everyone who came back from the war wanted a hug?

*Am being pulled around to liking Thompson against my will. This is not happening. The storytelling bit at the end was good though.

*Er so I guess Dottie is an antagonist? Aw. With flawless English because of childhood training, I see. When she lifted out the box of Peggy's stuff I was like "Peggy noooo you didn't hide anything real there did--oh no". At least Dottie didn't find the thing in the wall (if it's still there?)

*Why does she handcuff herself to the bed? Can't sleep otherwise? Afraid she'll rampage in the night? You've gotta be pretty secure to do that; that's got to hamper your movements. Suppose you desperately need to pee in the middle of the night?

Also, how did Dottie dispose of the guy she killed?

*Speaking of the place Peggy, Angie and Dottie stay at, I still laugh every time I think of the scene where Peggy's stealing food and Angie says once so and so put a whole chicken down her shirt to take back. Also where they modify their clothes to smuggle things. omg.

*Regarding the chief's "you can call me at this number 24/7" I immediately wondered how this works without cellphones (easy now) or pagers (didn't those come in around the 80's?) Maybe he's got a rotating cast of secretaries/servants (Jarvis probably mans the phones too) and they...find him? IDK.

*Peggy's emphasis on "WE found intel". Part of why I like Peggy: not selfish. Also why she is a good leader.

Comments

[scribblemyname]

I keep thinking no way do they all handcuff themselves. Say an enemy hostile shows up? Yeah. Bad.

I do think it wasn't showing Peggy's cleverness, but rather experience. She didn't have to crack the code because she already knew it. She read it just like the other guy it was intended for.

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I mean, Dottie isn't as helpless as a civilian would be, but it does seem kind of stupid to put a handicap like fistcuffs on when she works as (I assume) an assassin/spy.

Hm, that's a good point. But isn't the code supposed to be a one time thing?

[scribblemyname]

It's probably Dottie's personal PTSD. I'd also bet they pop right open.

I don't think so. She said the code was one he'd tried and a basic one with a name they both knew. The difference being, she remembered to read it in Russian.

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

That makes sense.

Oh, I guess I missed that. I thought she meant it was like a one-time-use-only code, but yeah, he does say "I tried that [first? already?]"

[eustacia-vye28.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the handcuffs are her way of sinking back into Dottie-ness after she pretends to be other people or strays from her cover identity. As a way to reset the system. Because it makes no sense to cuff herself every night; Dottie wouldn't do that as an aspiring ballerina, and a spy would have to be mobile. But if it's something to anchor herself again, I could buy that. The girls are so very damaged, they prolly have all sorts of messed up ways to cope.

As for Thompson, this is still Mr. Carrot And Stick. So while his back story is compelling and makes me understand him, I still don't necessarily like him. He learned nothing since he killed the surrendering Japanese, and still gets his way with violence first, asking questions later. Yeah, that part bugs me. Not too much on critical thinking. Very much a contrast to our Peggy.

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's another possibility. The other thing is I guess maybe it's comforting. Or to remind herself of her purpose/mission.

To be fair to Thompson, six people walking into your camp when you just woke up (and you're the sentry) while you're camped out in the enemy's territory--I think your first instinct would be to get the camp awake and safe. Acting on instinct is understandable. Though it's too early to tell though: they've only just gotten back!

[eustacia-vye28.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the latest episode yet, so we'll see if they still have the camaraderie that they had at the end of the mission. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least.

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

Me neither but I just got minor spoilered (not about Thompson, about Dottie) and I'm a bit o.O at the moment. Yeah, I guess we'll just have to see how he acts.