TV Show Review

TV Review: AGENT CARTER: Season 1, Episode 6: A Sin To Err [ABC]

Atwell Fonseca A Sin To Err

ABC’s Agent Carter A Sin To Err TV Show Review. Agent Carter: Season 1, Episode 6: A Sin To Err offered viewers another fast paced comic book style adventure that was bursting at the seams with all of the action, humor and adventure packed inside this 40-minute episode.

Of all the variations of Marvel’s cinematic universe properties, Agent Carter stands out as the one property that is not afraid to fully embrace its pulpy comic book roots. In Agent Carter’s latest episode, A Sin To Err, we got to enjoy a whole spectrum of “old-timey” comic book cliches such as dangerous Russian spies, a dust-up in a diner and evil hypnotist doctors.

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A Sin To Err kicked off with the Peggy (Hayley Atwell) and The Chief (Shea Whigham) debriefing the recently rescued Russian Dr. Ivchenko (Ralph Brown). After hearing the details from Dr. Ivchenko’s story, Peggy concludes that the individual that broke into Howard Stark’s vault was a female spy from the Russian training program. After Peggy convinces The Chief to let her go out into the field to track down lead, she reconnects with her former ally Jarvis (James D’Arcy), so that they can put together a comprehensive list of Howard’s past dalliances/suspects. While Peggy and Jarvis get closer to the vault thief, a Russian mole disrupts the SSR offices and Dottie (Bridget Regan) receives orders to eliminate Peggy.

It is quite disheartening to see the SSR focus their hunt on Peggy so soon after she entered their good graces. At the beginning of the episode, Peggy finally received some well earned trust and respect only to have it taken away, while at the same time her crimes confirmed the SSR agent’s beliefs that a woman in Peggy’s position was never trustworthy to begin with. This episode did an exceptional job of pulling at the audience’s heartstrings by briefly giving them the triumphant Peggy moment that they have been pining for just to savagely tear it away.

Between Peggy making so much progress on the Stark case by being overlooked by the SSR  and the Russian spy infiltrating Stark’s vault by applying her “womanly charms”,  A Sin To Err was definitely making a statement about how many of the problems faced by the SSR could have been avoided if it wasn’t for pig-headed men and their ridiculous biases. Considering the heavy-handed execution of the sexism that we have seen in the series so far, tying it up by not only having Peggy earning her place high up in the SSR hierarchy but having the shows chauvinist luddites acknowledge they are in fact the root for all of the anarchy seems like it would be too much to ask for.

With only two episodes left in the season, A Sin To Err did an exceptional job of spotlighting the shows entire cast of characters and giving them meaningful moments before Agent Carter’s epic conclusion. We saw the Chief give Peggy her break despite feeling weighed down by the turmoil with his wife, Agents Thompson (Chad Michael Murray) and Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) each intensely focused on bringing Peggy in after feeling betrayed by her as former ally (and recently confidant) as well as Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca) getting her moment to save the day. Angie is the one character on the show that offers Peggy unconditional friendship and the closest thing that she has to a slice of normalcy is also the one character that Peggy must keep at arm’s reach. Finally breaking the secrecy barrier and allowing Angie to know some of Peggy’s secrets will change the dynamics of their friendship (hopefully for the better) and offer the lonely secret agent a chance to finally let her guard down.

As much as I am a fan of movies and television shows based on comics, I am often disappointed with how the live-action translations are unwilling to embrace their comic book roots. Agent Carter has applied just the right mix of comic adaptation alchemy in order to retain some of the over the top action elements and cheesy clichés of its source material while still finding a way to draw in viewers with the series more grounded dramatic elements. A Sin To Err gave us yet another exciting episode filled with the same solid mix of jokes and excitement to have me eagerly anticipating next week’s episode.

Final Thoughts

Was there really a “prematurely evacuate” joke on Disney’s ABC network during prime-time? That has got to be right up there with Starlord’s Jackson Pollock quip in the how did this get past the sensors all timers list.

The other stand out line of the evening, “I could no sooner stop her than I could Laurence Olivier!

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of Agent Carter below in the comments section. For more Agent Carter news, images and video visit our Agent Carter Page, our Agent Carter Google+ Page and subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ or “like” us on Facebook for quick updates.

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Victor Stiff

Born and raised in Toronto, Victor has spent the past decade using his love and knowledge of the city to highlight and promote significant cultural events such as TIFF, The IIIFA awards, and the Anokhi Gala. He is an avid reader of Sci-fi and Horror and constantly sits through indie film marathons in rabid anticipation of the genre’s next great film auteurs. He also contributes sci-fi and fantasy movie reviews to www.zone-six.net
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