Promises are tricky things. Sometimes they’re so tricky you need a flash back to last season just to give them weight and meaning. So flashing back to last season is where last night’s episode of Agent Carter begins.
It’s a nice compliment to see Ana’s point of view from one of the series’ earliest moments. Nice to see the Jarvises (Jarvisees?) interacting as a couple before the action-adventure of Peggy Carter stepped into their life. And with hindsight being 20/20, we all know that actually, yes there is certainly something to worry about when Edwin and Miss Carter will be interfering in your life. Ana, it seems, doesn’t need the benefit of finishing season one and most of two to know that her husband is going to join Peggy Carter in her quest to clear Howard’s name. Ana just knows. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, indeed.
Especially if that promise is to keep your cool if Mrs. Jarvis happens to get shot. I mean honestly, Edwin, what did that radio ever do to you? Seeing Jarvis falling apart is heartbreaking, and quite frankly this turn towards the dramatic with him is pretty refreshing, as not all of his comedic material this season has been, well… quite as clever as it could be. James D’Arcy’s dramatic talents are one of the highlights of this episode, especially during his second scene of the night.
There are a lot of ways to convey the distressed spouse or lover. We often see crying. Angry outbursts are another. Catatonic silence is popular when shows want to take a subtler route. But for my money, nothing beats Jarvis’s seemingly endless list of promises to Ana in exchange for her survival. There’s something so wonderfully sincere, and in some ways, much more realistic about this scene. Of course you would want to talk to a loved one who is fighting for their life—give them enough reasons to keep fighting, and maybe their own will power can help them pull through. Promise them whatever they could want and they’ll find a way to come back. But still, we must remember what Ana says, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
It’s a good lesson for everyone tonight as promises, oaths, and words of honor seem to be flung around just a little too loosely. Whitney promises to help Wilkes control his powers, if only he’ll stop fighting them and help her with her experiments. Some mysterious voice seems to be promising Whitney and Wilkes that everything will be alright. It’s like some kind of evil, non-corporeal Jiminy Cricket, which pretty much means they should just choose not to trust it on principle.