Week 30: SNAFU, Valediction

SNAFU

I'm glad we all seem to be on Team Carter now. And it's nice to see Stark catching some shit for his inventions being uncontrollable disasters. I feel like SNAFU is a clever downplaying of how most of his inventions turn out lately. Calling the disasters of his inventions a "SNAFU" is like the Black Knight calling his missing arms and legs a "flesh wound." Like his son after him, Howard Stark is reckless until he stumbles upon genius.

I appreciated the attempt at a redeeming send-off of the Chief, though it doesn't make up for the complete stubborn ass he had been up to that point.

What is Leviathan up to? The gas (likely another Stark invention gone wrong) clearly works by making people quicker to anger and more likely to be violent. Wasn't that the plot of a Batman movie? It seems incredibly familiar. For once, though, I can see why the bad guys would want the weapon, though I don't know for sure where they're taking this storyline. Clearly, having a weapon that could make your enemy turn on itself would be very beneficial. You could wipe out your enemy without having to fire a shot.

Again, I ask, if SSR is supposed to be the "premier intelligence agency" they claim to be in the intro voice-over you'd think that, even in the 1940's, they'd have more secure facilities than a casual office building. Use the building, but maybe fortify it a bit. I just can't get over the window casually being opened on more than one occasion.

SNAFU: Not bad, but not exactly thrilling either, since we were several steps ahead of the characters. Carter was weirdly missing from her own show this time, while the men of the SSR got all of the action, but at least she got to call them out for their sexism to their faces. I liked that after Dooley spent the series saying that Stark was dangerous and responsible for their predicament, he ultimately died at the hands of another doomed Stark invention. Erik, great points about the downsides of Stark technology, which the TV shows have time to explore in ways that the movies don't. I liked the direction of the chaos in the movie theater, such as the screaming woman being dragged into the shadows; nice touch. (5/10)

Valediction: As Carter poured Rogers's blood in the river, I thought, "Do you want Hydro-Man? Because this is how you get Hydro-Man." This was a mostly satisfying season finale, finally explaining Leviathan's plan and the Battle of Finow, and giving each character a moment to be a hero. I was leery of Carter being stuck at a radio console while the men did the heroism again, but it was the right choice, giving her closure on her relationship with Rogers. I don't buy for a second that she wasn't bothered by Thompson taking the credit for her work at the end, but I also appreciated that the show didn't try to pretend that the sexism was gone either; even the round of applause felt like more than Carter would have gotten from her male colleagues.

The Zola cameo at the end was a surprise and a nice bit of continuity between First Avenger and Winter Soldier, and implied that Ivchenko/Fennhoff's hypnosis contributed to the brainwashing of Bucky Barnes, but boy do I hope we've seen the last of Fennhoff on screen; if I have to hear him do the "focus" bit one more time, I'll be the one going psychotic. Jarvis giving "Cartinelli" indefinite use of the house was a nice touch that probably sparked countless more fanfic stories, but his moment of integrity in returning Rogers's blood was even better and maybe my favorite moment of the episode. I can't wait for season two. (7/10)

Erik, great points about the SSR's Burnsian office security. How did a senator and his entourage just walk in? And I agree about Stark's overconfidence. If he had secured the SSR office, it probably would have burned down by now or teleported itself into a hellscape dimension or something. Stark definitely didn't get anywhere near the comeuppance he deserved; he should be in prison but instead merely had to feel bad about himself for a few minutes.

My understanding is that Leviathan isn't a large organization like Hydra, more just Fennhoff and the handful of people working for him. The mute assassins did so because they wanted revenge for Finow, and I don't think that the show definitely explained why Underwood (shame we never got her real name) was loyal to Fennhoff, but I assume that he was in charge of the Red Room program and she was thus subservient and/or devoted to him.

As for Carter being smarter than her colleagues, I agree, but the men of the SSR got much further in their own investigation than I expected. Shows like this often portray the fellow investigators as wrong-headed fools who actively impede the hero's progress just to manufacture an obstacle, and there was a bit of that here, but the men of the SSR eventually caught up to Carter and figured out the right culprits, so they're not completely useless. But yeah, Carter's hyper-competent and I'd rather watch her any day.

season rating: 7/10 (It ruled.)
best of season: "Bridge and Tunnel"
worst of season: "A Sin to Err"