NOTE: Full spoilers for this episode of Agent Carter are present in this review.
With Sousa getting ahold of evidence regarding Peggy’s affiliation with Howard Stark, things are about to look bad for Peggy, particularly as Dottie and Leviathan also close in from the other end.
Before that however, Peggy once again teams up with Jarvis in her investigation, attempting to interview the many, many women that Howard Stark has, “Entertained”, as Peggy puts it, after she suspects that it was one of them who framed Howard. The many funny reactions by the women help to make this episode pretty amusing, particularly as Jarvis ends up taking continual slaps in the face on Howard’s behalf. A standout laugh-out-loud moment also came when Peggy attempted to shield Jarvis’ face, only to have that woman kick him in the shin. Well, it’s the thought that counts.
After the initial montage with Jarvis however, where Peggy starts solidifying her lead that a woman was behind Howard being framed for weapons espionage, Sousa comes forward with his evidence against Peggy, and the SSR begins to hunt down their agent. Peggy and Jarvis have to try and escape the SSR agents, eventually making it to Peggy’s building, which Peggy insists on returning to so that she can retrieve Captain America’s last blood sample.
Peggy being hunted by her own organization was something that was bound to happen at some point, granted, considering that she is technically aiding and abetting Public Enemy Number One. Still, the tense hunt for Peggy was very well-executed, building off of the many emotional moments that Thompson, Dooley and Sousa have had over the past couple of episodes, once again showing how ruthless and skilled they are on the job, or at least Thompson and Sousa, who participated directly in the manhunt for Peggy. It’s all the more entertaining to see how Peggy must do her best to avoid capture, particularly without being able to turn to anyone, except a brief bail-out by Angie.
Amidst all of the seriousness, Dooley stayed back at the office to try and continue getting intel from the defecting Russian psychologist, who attempts to try and hypnotize Dooley, and another SSR agent, using his ring. Dooley is just barely saved from his fate, though the other man is not so lucky. The doctor convinces him to provide the doctor an exit, retrieve something valuable for him, and then step in front of a speeding truck. Yikes.
The reveal that the doctor turned out to be a double agent for Leviathan was cool, and helps to perpetuate the feeling that Leviathan is always watching, and seems to have accounted for even Peggy’s increased intervention by this point. That said, the ring hypnosis was a tad goofy, and pretty poorly-explained by-and-large, even for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Similarly frustrating is that, despite so much successful effort when it comes to outwitting the SSR agents, Peggy is ultimately caught anyway, after Dottie gives her a surprise kiss, using Peggy’s knockout lipstick. This is a gambit that leaves Peggy aware of Dottie being a Russian spy, though also leads to her being successfully captured by the SSR. The episode then simply ends with Peggy’s interrogation about to begin. It’s a bit of an annoying cliffhanger, but it should make next week’s episode pretty exciting!
For the most part however, much of “A Sin to Err” was the same handful of sequences, namely Peggy being a fugitive from the SSR. Still, the episode was very exciting to watch, and starts to begin laying the groundwork for a big climax for Agent Carter. Some bits were a bit silly, and contributed to some of the tonal confusion that Agent Carter experiences every now and again, but that’s pretty minor. The miniseries may not have fully replicated the record high of last week with this episode, but it’s still riding plenty high as it starts to enter its final events!