If this really is the last ride for Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, I think we can all agree it's been a good ride. With reports that Atwell is starring in a new ABC pilot, the future of Agent Carter is up in the air, and sadly this episode didn't do anything to improve that status. 'Hollywood Ending' definitely succeeded in producing exactly what the title describes the episode as, but as a whole, this was a disappointing end to a pretty solid season.
I'm on record saying that season 1 is better overall, but the last few episodes of season 2 got this season on a roll that I thought could have surpassed its predecessor, but I spoke too soon. I think the problem with this season has been consistency. The quality of the show never wavered in season 1, but this season has had its fair share of ups and downs. Zero Matter proved to be a formidable foe for Peggy and the crew on multiple occasions with Wynn Everett shining as Whitney Frost. But, the conclusion to that story line, and particularly her character, felt so underwhelming and anticlimactic. There wasn't even a final fight.
As far as a Hollywood ending goes, we got to see numerous satisfying conclusions to big story arcs this season, some expected and some unexpected. I loved that Jack's character was able to be redeemed these last few episodes after being a pain in the butt for Peggy for a long time. Then to have someone come in and murder him in cold blood seemed like a great way to tease season 3 if we ever get one (fingers crossed). I was also glad to see that Peggy is accepting her love for Souza and vice versa. The problem is that all of this gets me excited for the next season rather than me excited for the craziness that should have gone down in this episode.
Overall, there was no real sense of urgency with this episode. It was fun seeing Howard back as his interaction with everyone is always fun to see, but there wasn't anything else I was raving about after the episode. We got a solid cliffhanger to talk about for a few months until we hear about the future of the show. Here's hoping!
+Howard
+Sets up the future
+Souza and Peggy
-Anticlimactic ending for Whitney
-No sense of urgency for the episode
7.0/10
