Things have been winding up in Marvel’s Agent Carter. The Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) still considers Howard Stark to be a suspect, but Dooley recognizes what’s happening is bigger than one man. We see the seriousness of Leviathan and how much danger the SSR is truly in. Intense is the first word that comes to mind for “A Sin to Err,” but it also had slapstick and funny scenes that worked quite well.

Dottie continued to display her formidable skills. After handling a dentist (by the way, loved the transition from Dottie turning the drill on the dentist to the jackhammer in the streets), Dottie set up a sniper rifle and pointed it right at Dooley’s office. The chief is talking with Dr. Ivchenko, and though I believed Ivchenko was on the side of the SSR, I started getting suspicious once he started hanging out the window. It would have been a contrived assassination, but instead of killing Ivchenko, Dottie communicated with him.

What. Even with the build-up, their partnership wasn’t expected. Ivchenko is part of her mission, which goes to show you how intelligent Leviathan is. Is someone in the SSR one of them? How did Dottie know Ivchenko was there? If the “rescue” of Ivchenko from Russia is part of a plan, it’s elaborate. Leviathan seems smart enough to orchestrate that, yet not smart enough to remember messages. Dottie really didn’t need to write down Ivchenko’s instructions – it wasn’t like she was decoding as he signaled, it was purely for our benefit and wasn’t necessary.

Ivchenko’s hypnotic skills would likely have been past the realm of believability anywhere else. But in a world where we’ve just met highly trained little girl killers, it slides through. Less smooth was the sudden arrival of Agent Yauch. He practically painted himself as a target by commenting on Dooley spending so much time with Ivchenko.

Back to the concept of the Red Room, Peggy was given permission by Dooley to chase her hunch. Their conversation was well written and both Hayley Atwell and Shea Whigham made it better with their timing and delivery. Dooley’s desperation was apparent, but Peggy gives him a long list of reasons to explain her theory – it was nicely put together.

And bonus: Peggy’s theory takes her back to Jarvis. Their dynamic hasn’t suffered much from Jarvis and Howard’s betrayal, and since Peggy is more upset with Howard, I don’t mind that her and Jarvis skip a big emotional talk. They’re too busy anyway since they have to hunt down Howard’s recent hook-ups, and the search led to the episode’s lighter touches.

First of all, the “Stark Special” at the jewelry store was a brilliant concept. Of course Howard has a specific design he sends to every woman he kicks to the curb. Peggy’s reaction to the long list of women adds to the comedy. Then, poor Jarvis becomes the target of the women’s ire and gets slapped and kicked. Atwell and James D’Arcy were utterly charming in these scenes, and it continued even as Peggy ended up in a dangerous position.

The fight scene in the diner was tightly choreographed and a joy to watch. The peppy music in the background made a big difference in how it played out, and I liked the casual tunes paired with the very serious trouble Peggy was getting herself into. For my money, the best moment of the fight is when Jarvis took out the agent with a tray. The proud expression on his face is delightful. All that said, I was as surprised as Dooley about learning Peggy could take down so many men. She’s capable, but the numbers were really against her – even if the men weren’t on their guard because Peggy’s a woman.

In the beginning of the series we saw Sousa sympathize with Peggy, but now he sees another side of her and you can tell it hurts him. The face-off between them in the street was sad and likely means he’ll go hard on her during interrogation. I wish Peggy would have come up with a plan to go to The Griffith later or to have Jarvis drive her there rather than running, but I do understand why she had to get Steve’s blood.

Even if things are far from humorous at this point, the gravity of the SSR scouring The Griffith was broken up by Miriam’s constant commentary (what does she think women at the telephone company do?) and Angie turning on the waterworks and crying on Jack. The latter was especially priceless. And I admire Angie covering for her friend without blinking twice.

Watching Atwell and Lyndsy Fonseca together makes me hope we’ll get a couple more scenes with them before it’s all over. It’s been comforting to see Peggy’s non-work relationships. Except when that relationship is with Dottie. She fooled Peggy to the last, and I can’t imagine how Peggy will get herself out of the SSR’s crosshairs but I know if anyone can do it, Peggy can.

As per tradition, here’s my pick for the best gif from last week’s episode, “The Iron Ceiling.”

Gif via Sara Blue

Did you enjoy “A Sin to Err?” Tell me your thoughts in the comments!