“A Little Song and Dance” is episode nine of season two of Marvel’s Agent Carter.
In the previous episode, “The Edge of Mystery”, Peggy and the others – including Thompson, who it seems finally didn’t choose Masters’ side – arrived as Whitney was detonating the nuke. Which created something disturbingly like a black hole. Dr Wilkes floated into it, much to the annoyance of Whitney, but the hole was closed when a device the plans of which Howard sent was fired, and Jason appeared again, although he looked different. Jarvis was not exactly in the right frame of mind and drove up and shot Whitney for shooting his wife. This did not work – Whitney did not stay dead – and he, along with Peggy who had followed Jarvis, were captured.
This episode opens with Peggy in the SSR. In black and white. Which she notices. The SSR is, mostly, empty – the only person there is Peggy’s dead brother Michael in Sousa’s office. Next Peggy ends up in colour, in a bar, with Angie, then Jason Wilkes, who apologises for holding a gun to her head and takes her for a dance. Then Sousa enters, singing and dancing. Then Peggy starts singing and dancing as well. It’s all a little weird. Then Jarvis tells Peggy to wake up and Rose punches her out. And Peggy comes around in the back of their van, tied up, with an unconscious Jarvis.
Dr Samberly is asking Thompson and Sousa if Peggy and Jarvis are coming back. Because they have their transport. And water. Thompson isn’t in favour of walking towards the area of a nuclear blast and the nearest town is a day’s walk away. In the desert. With no water. Then they spot a car, one belonging to the SSR. Sousa spots Blackwell in it and says the two agents are Masters’ guys. Because Sousa recognises Blackwell as one of the two masked men who beat him up in “Monsters” – because of his aftershave. Thompson has an idea.
In the van, Peggy rouses Jarvis and she is not happy with him. Nor will she let him explain why. Elsewhere, as Agents Vega and Blackwell arrive, Sousa and Samberly are holding guns on Thompson. The other agents were sent to kill all of them, including Thompson, but Thompson convinces them that this was all part of a cunning plan. He is quite convincing. Peggy and Jarvis break out of the van and jump off. Jarvis is not pleased; he doesn’t think being stuck in a wasteland is exactly safe. He launches a tirade at Peggy, who is walking off and doesn’t respond. So Jarvis simply follows.
Wilkes comes around in the back of Whitney and Manfredi’s car. His eyes are black and he says that something is wrong. When Whitney asks, Jason says he never saw anything but blackness through the rift. Then his eyes change back to normal. Whitney tells him he’s better already. Wilkes says that he isn’t and Manfredi agrees that he doesn’t look too good. Wilkes says he isn’t safe to be around people and wants the car stopping. Whitney agrees, but only to give Jason a lesson in doing what he’s told. Then discovers that Peggy and Jarvis have escaped. She tells Manfredi that the driver is his man; he should deal with him. Which is by shooting him.
Jarvis and Peggy are arguing and she tells him that he wanted to come on an adventure, and that such have consequences. That Jarvis can’t blame her for choices he made, and he knows nothing of loss. And Jarvis finally explains that Ana cannot have children, because of complications. At which point they run out of time for the van they jumped out of is now approaching. So Peggy pretends to have collapsed from the heat and they acquire new transportation. Peggy tells Jarvis that he needs to be with his wife.
At the SSR, Sousa and Samberly are in a cell and Thompson is sitting outside it when Masters enters. Masters wants to know why Vega didn’t leave them in a shallow grave in the desert and Vega explains that he was acting on Thompson’s orders. Thompson sells Masters on a new plan. The other two can repair the gamma cannon. Sure, Whitney Frost could probably repair it herself – but wouldn’t Vernon rather use it on her instead? Masters has not seemed to be too happy about taking orders from Whitney. Possibly in part because she’s a woman.
Whitney herself wants to get ‘her’ zero matter out of Wilkes. Wilkes is struggling to contain it and doesn’t think anyone should have it. Peggy wants to save Wilkes, even if he doesn’t want saving, and is instructed on the plan when she returns and confronts Masters. Masters will probably want to get rid of any loose ends when Whitney is dealt with but it looks like Thompson has his own plan separate to the ones that everyone else knows about. Not exactly a cliff-hanger ending leading into the finale, “Hollywood Ending”, but getting that way.