With another two-parter finished, we now only have the season finale left. And on some levels, it’s probably best that these two were put together, as they were two very different episodes with varying impact.
“Edge of Mystery” was good from nearly start to finish, as the pieces seemed to be in place for something very dramatic, and it succeeded on numerous levels. From the fake-out with the bombs (and the amazing Italian dinner scene) to the double cross of Wilkes, to Thompson getting to the “right” side, Howard Stark coming in with the save to stop the Zero Matter rift, and of course the bomb explosion and rift itself! This was really good.
Of course, what sold much of the scenes were the character interactions. The stars for me were James D’Arcy and Chad Michael Murray, who got to play their characters with many different faces and emotions, and it was fun to watch. Jarvis going from grief stricken husband, to cold-blood revenge seeker was played out very nicely. As was the reveal of Anna’s condition. It would’ve been easy to have her be paralyzed, given the position of the gunshot, but for her to not be able to bear children made the situation just as tragic.
Then there’s Thompson, who felt he was doing the right thing by digging up something on Peggy, only for his gut to think that something was off about the file he received. Then for him to confront his father figure, and then get betrayed by him was great stuff.
The bomb scene was very compelling, as they did the rare job of having the bad guy/girl succeed in their plan of actually working…albeit with a twist. The Zero Matter rift “choosing” Wilkes over Frost was very compelling, as was the showing of how “different” Wilkes now was. It looked very familiar to be honest, I look forward to seeing what the truth behind the matter is…Zero Matter that is. lol
Sadly, “A Little Song And Dance” wasn’t as compelling. The musical number at the top was completely irrelevant. Fun I guess, I do love musical numbers, but it just felt so weird and wrong. Funnily enough, Peggy KNEW she was in some kind of dream sequence…yet still went along with it. If there was some clue about what was going on, or a key to her future within it, that would’ve been one thing. This, wasn’t.
Thankfully, once conscious, it took an uptick. The fight between Peggy and Jarvis was magnificent on numerous levels. Jarvis’ anger bleeding out on Peggy, only for her to snap back with the cold hard reality…only for him to counter with the truth about Anna, it was great. If anything, this fight let them become greater friends.
The rest of the episode felt like odder filler for the endgame. Thompson again played both sides against the middle, and the question of morality was again put in play. No real answer was given for Wilkes, and we all know that the end scene won’t result in Whitney’s death, so it felt a bit frivolous.
Also, that SSR scientist? Yeah, he has to die, no show should have a character that annoying….NO SHOW!
In the end, this two-parter did some amazing and fun things. But, other things held it back. I really hope the season finale nails the landing, cause this season is too good to fail at the end.
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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