Agent Carter · Season 2 · Episode 1
The Lady in the Lake
Synopsis
Peggy Carter has Dottie Underwood red handed. The Soviet spy caught mid robbery at the Bowery Savings Bank. After an intense confrontation that ends with Carter smashing a bag of coin against the back of Dottie's head, the SSR learns that the prize Dottie wanted was a nameless lapel pin from a safety deposit box. In her attempt to find out the significance of the pin, she begins interrogating her stubborn former neighbor. She barely gets started before Jack Thompson yanks her off the interrogation and puts her on a plane to Los Angeles. Daniel Sousa, running the SSR's brand-new West Coast bureau, asked for backup on a case that has stumped him and, in classic Thompson fashion, Carter was chosen.
A woman lies dead in a Los Angeles lake, frozen solid on the hottest day of the year. She is Jane Scott, a physicist at Isodyne Energy, and her body glows. Peggy, Edwin Jarvis, and Isodyne's own Dr. Jason Wilkes trace the light to a strange substance born of the company's particle accelerator. The corpse was dressed up to look like the work of the old Lady of the Lake killer, a lie staged by Detective Andrew Henry, who dies of the same exposure that killed Jane. Behind the cover-up sit Isodyne's owner and Senate hopeful Calvin Chadwick and his wife, screen star Whitney Frost, already working to wipe their hands clean.
Reality Designation
This story takes place in the main continuity: 199999
Reality numbers are Marvel's official designations.
Where a universe has no official number we follow the Marvel Database and use its Temporary Reality Number (TRN-1092). Where there is neither — official or temporary — at the time we watch it, we assign a Snark Industries number of our own (SI-001).
Characters in the Episode
SSR agent pulled from New York to consult on the frozen-lake killing
Stark's man in Los Angeles; drives and abets Peggy, fronts as Stark Pictures' head of production
New chief of the SSR's West Coast bureau; put in the request for help
SSR New York chief; ships Peggy west, then loses Dottie to the FBI
Hollywood star and Chadwick's wife; steering the cleanup
Isodyne Energy's owner and Senate candidate; Jane Scott's lover
Isodyne containment physicist who offers the opportunity to be "Thunderstruck" and, of course, helps analyze the glowing substance
Soviet operative caught robbing the Bowery Savings Bank
FBI power broker and Thompson's patron; seizes custody of Dottie
Edwin's wife; outfits Peggy for the racetrack
Milestone: Killed by someone
LAPD homicide; staged the body, then dies of the exposure
Aggrieved SSR lab tech who tests the substance
Milestone: Killed by someone
Medical examiner on the frozen body; succumbs to the exposure
Milestone: Killed by someone
The frozen victim; Isodyne physicist and Chadwick's mistress
Seen greeting Sousa at the bureau
SSR receptionist fronting the West Coast bureau
In-Universe Dates
Daniel Sousa is promoted to Chief and moves to Los Angeles.
Sousa claims to have been in LA for 6 months. If this episode does, indeed, take place in July, that puts his move in February of the same year.
An Agent says watching Peggy work Dottie is like “a front row seat to Rocky Graziano versus Tony Zale”. This is a real fight that took place on July 16, 1947. Reasoning that this was a hot topic at the time of the episode, puts it right in the middle of July.
Comic Roots
Where the episode's people and places come from on the page.
On screen she is America's sweetheart with two major pictures and a Senate-candidate husband. On the page she is trouble in a gold mask. Whitney Frost debuts in Tales of Suspense #97 (1967, Stan Lee and Gene Colan) and returns as the crime lord Madame Masque in Iron Man #17 (1969, Archie Goodwin and George Tuska). Her bloodline runs straight to organized crime: she is born Giulietta Nefaria, daughter of the Maggia's Count Nefaria (Avengers #13, 1965, Lee and Don Heck).
Recommended Reading
Where to go next if the episode left you wanting more.
Whitney Frost's first appearance, before the mask, back when she was just the woman on Tony Stark's arm.
Frost becomes Madame Masque, gold face and all, and swears her grudge against the Armored Avenger.
For background on Count Nefaria and the Maggia, the crime dynasty Whitney is born into.
The original cabal of respectable men pulling national strings, the template for the money quietly running this case.
The Snark File
Easter eggs, callbacks and technical tidbits.
"The F Stands for Freedom" and "Tales of Suspense"
Jarvis reels off Whitney Frost's pictures at the racetrack, including "The F Stands for Freedom" and "Tales of Suspense". The second is the show naming her in-universe movie after the very comic she debuted in. "The F Stands for Freedom" is a cute little nod to the first season. It is seen in a number of background shots throughout the conclusion of season on movie posters and marquees. Whether it's the film playing on screen during the Midnight Oil incident is unknown, but it's a possibility.
Jarvis Vs California
"He's wrong about everything." - Remy
