“Monsters” is episode seven of season two of Marvel’s Agent Carter.
In the previous episode, “Life of the Party”, Chadwick hadn’t been as happy about Whitney’s abilities as he claimed. The council meeting wasn’t so Whitney could convince the members of her power to her own benefit, but so that they could see what a threat she was. This backfired very badly. Whitney was ceased by two men wielding nooses on poles; Chadwick had told the council not to let his wife touch them. Only it seems touch is no longer necessary. The goons were absorbed, followed by half the council and finally Chadwick. The other council members were left because Whitney thought they could be useful. Meanwhile, Thompson had captured Dottie Underwood and Masters gave her to the council – or, by then, Whitney. Masters also wants Thompson to take care of Peggy. Not kill; just ruin.
Whitney, dressed in widow’s black, is giving a press conference outside her studio, claiming that her husband and several of his colleagues perished at sea when their boat sank. Peggy and Sousa are watching and, when Whitney sees Peggy, seemingly directs the last part of her statement at Peggy. Both Peggy and Sousa know that Whitney killed the dead men but Peggy doesn’t think Dottie’s dead. She won’t until she sees a body. Sousa might not believe Dottie to be dead even then. Peggy knows that Dottie is worth more to Whitney alive then dead and Jarvis is attempting to fix the receiver for the transponder in Dottie’s necklace. Sousa wants to discuss something with Peggy later. Namely that they nearly kissed.
Dottie is tied to a chair and Masters is laying out some tools. He tells her not to be frightened. Dottie is not frightened. Masters tells her a story about how he broke the wife of a Nazi concentration camp commander who liked to kill the prisoners in less than 24 hours. Dottie has done lots of painful stuff to herself. She thinks Masters is wasting her time. Masters wants to know what Peggy was looking for. Dottie thinks he is trying to act ruthless when he’s actually scared of the pretty blonde monster. She is not impressed by truth serum either.
At Stark’s, Ana and Dr Wilkes are building the apparatus he designed. Well, she’s building it whilst he directs. Wilkes starts fading as they are doing this, but comes back. The episodes are getting more frequent. Peggy arrives at this point and Ana tells her they are running out of time. Peggy, even though she asked, doesn’t really want an honest answer about how Jason is at the moment.
Jarvis, despite a burst of sparks, has succeeded in fixing the pickup for the tracking device. There is currently no signal. It could be deactivated, destroyer or out of range. Peggy suggests a higher location. Wilkes loses it a bit at this point, asking why they should mount a rescue for someone who would gladly kill Peggy. Dottie is Peggy’s responsibility and she doesn’t abandon people. Wilkes suggests activating the kill switch instead. He says he is facing a fate worse than death, than calms down and apologises. Things are getting to him.
Masters is still not getting anywhere with Dottie when Whitney’s friend Manfredi enters and says that Masters’ presence is requested. Masters tells Whitney that he was on the verge of getting Dottie to talk. Whitney doubts that. As to why Manfredi is around; his men are providing security for the new council. She trusts Manfredi, unlike Masters’ men, and Manfredi’s men follow his orders. Anyway, she has another task for masters – to recover the uranium rods that Peggy stole in “The Atomic Job”. And now, having Isodyne make new rods is not an option.
Whitney goes to speak to Dottie herself. After Whitney says something Dottie starts making out about how much alike they are. Whitney has disabled the transponder in Dottie’s necklace. And she doesn’t consider them to be in the same boat at all. Whitney grasps Dottie and starts, painfully, transforming her before stopping. Which accomplished what Masters failed to do – Dottie talks. Explaining that she was after a sample of Whitney’s blood to help Dr Wilkes. Who is a ghost. Whitney finds this fascinating.
The apparatus is ready to test and Wilkes is inside it. It’s fired up and the zero matter is brought near and Wilkes solidifies. Immediately taking the opportunity to kiss Peggy. Wilkes apologises, and says he is starving, so Ana promises to make him a true Hungarian feast. Wilkes tells Jarvis he has never had Hungarian food before and asks if it’s any good. Jarvis carefully checks his wife has left before answering.
At this point they get a signal from Dottie’s transponder, from the Chadwick ranch. Peggy rings Sousa, who is answering a bit oddly. Peggy realises that Masters is there. Sousa tells Peggy, circumspectly, that he is a little busy. Jarvis thinks that the inexplicable reappearance of the transponder signal is a little convenient. Peggy tells him it isn’t inexplicable – it’s a trap. Jarvis decides to take one of Stark’s inventions with them. A non-lethal concussive device. As they may be outnumbered – count on it – Jarvis thought this would help. And demonstrates, blasting away some garden furniture. Ana is concerned about Jarvis, but she knows he needs to do this. She will just worry on occasion.
On the way to the ranch, Jarvis starts circling around a subject. Not just to fill the silence, as he initially claims. He overheard that Sousa’s engagement is off and Peggy has gone from a famine to a feast of quality suitors, with both Sousa and Wilkes. Peggy never intended that to happen; it simply did. She doesn’t know what to do.
Masters is visiting Sousa wanting him to find the uranium stolen from Roxxon. Sousa says that seeing as Roxxon waited 48 hours before telling anyone, the trail will get cold. Masters starts with a line of flattery – similar to one he used on Thompson – about how Sousa is a hero and has a great story. The folks in Washington love that. Sure, Sousa may lose a few friends along the way, but he could add to his story. Sousa is less susceptible to this brand of flattery than Thompson.
Despite early achievements, things start to go wrong. It looks like Masters has tried to encourage Sousa to do the ‘right’ thing. Masters is a problem. Whitney is also dangerously interested in what happened to Dr Wilkes.