Hayley Atwell

Marvel’s Agent Carter at last got her “Valediction” with last night’s first season finale, finally letting go of Captain America, but surprisingly setting up The Winter Soldier along the way. ABC has yet to formally commit to Season 2, but what do Carter writers and executive producers have to say on its potential plot, and further Captain America crossover?

The terrorist incident that begins tonight’s finale of Agent Carter will inevitably draw comparisons to the very similar chemical weapon deployed in Kingsman: The Secret Service. But where Matthew Vaughn’s film revels almost gleefully in the energetic violence, Agent Carter looks on the aftermath of that violence with grave horror. It’s a significant distinction—even with the vintage look and tone of Agent Carter, which still has its fair share of cheeky fun, the show still gives these threats and harrowing moments their proper gravity.

We don’t yet know if Marvel’s Agent Carter TV experiment will result in a second season for Cap’s best gal, but next Tuesday will bring “Valediction” as Howard Stark returns to the public eye, and Peggy takes on the proto-Black Widow for our first season (hopefully not series) finale. What secrets are hiding in the 30+ photos of Peggy’s final outing? We might have a clue!

As far as penultimate episodes go, Agent Carter does a fairly fine job of setting up the more climactic action of next week's finale, while also managing to land a couple of blows. Peggy has to sit most of the action out this week as Ivchenko's plans begin to take shape, and although he's not the greatest villain, the unnerving qualities of the Russian doctor's ploy are inarguable.

Marvel’s Agent Carter has only two episodes remaining in its first (and hopefully not last) season, and things don’t seem to be going so well for Peggy anymore, now that the SSR caught on to her helping Howard Stark. The first photos and clips of next week’s penultimate installment, “Snafu,” have arrived, and neither Peggy nor Jarvis seem to be handling their escape well.

It was only a matter of time before the SSR became somewhat aware of what Peggy’s been up to, and it’s fitting that the guy who figures it out is Sousa—like Peggy, Sousa is also often undervalued at work. As Dr. Ivchenko points out, it’s easy for women to be utilized in the field because men underestimate them, just as it’s easy for Sousa to catch on to Carter because he’s often sidelined and viewed as a softy. Ah, stereotypes. They’re so charming.

Sure, Peggy earned some begrudging respect from her fellow SSR operatives in this past week’s mission alongside the Howling Commandos, but the Stark really hits the fan (forgive me) in next week’s “A Sin to Err,” as Peggy herself becomes a wanted fugitive for her covert acts. Worse than that, secret super-spy Dottie Underwood literally sets her sights on Peggy, and Cap isn’t around to throw his mighty shield.

You may or may not have noticed, but there’s an invasion afoot in Hollywood, and many of this past year’s most talked-about stars during awards season have been—gasp!—British. To celebrate the amazing performances delivered by these fine actors, Vanity Fair has delivered a three-part vintage-style short film, in which Keira Knightley, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch and basically every other beloved Brit actor invade Hollywood to recreate some of our most classic moments in film.

Early on in “The Iron Ceiling,” Jarvis tells Peggy that she’ll never get her male co-workers to respect her, to which she replies that she’ll just have to make them do it. And that’s just what Peggy does in tonight’s new episode of ‘Agent Carter,’ for it’s only her Russian expertise and code-cracking abilities that can help the SSR on their mission to pursue Leviathan and Tony Stark, and it’s only Peggy who’s pals with the 107th, aka the Howling Commandos (they hate that name).

Howard Stark returns on tonight’s ‘Agent Carter,’ introducing the concept of the titular “Blitzkrieg Button,” although it proves to be little more than a distraction piled on top of a distraction for Peggy, who’s already working so diligently to lead what is essentially a triple-life. While the men at the SSR talk about what it means to be an agent, which is the most important part of who they are, it’s only Peggy who truly knows both the cost and the value of dedicating your life to the job.