"Valediction" is the eighth episode and

season finale A season finale (British English: series finale; Australian English: season final) is the final episode of a season of a television program. This is often the final episode to be produced for a few months or longer, and, as such, will attempt to ...

of the first season of the American television series '' Agent Carter'', inspired by the films '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' and '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', and the Marvel One-Shot short film also titled '' Agent Carter''. It features the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

character

Peggy Carter Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist ...

as she fights to stop the Russian antagonists, and is set in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

(MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The episode was written by Michelle Fazekas and Tara Butters and directed by

Christopher Misiano Christopher Misiano is an American television director and producer. He is best known for his work on '' ER'', ''The West Wing'', and '' Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip''. In 2017, he sold his historic home in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, for US$4.3 ...

Hayley Atwell Hayley Elizabeth Atwell (born 5 April 1982) is an English and American actress. After appearing in various West End productions, Atwell gained popularity for her roles in period dramas, appearing in the films ''Brideshead Revisited'' (2008), '' ...

reprises her role as Carter from the film series, and is joined by regular cast members

James D'Arcy James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and th ...

Chad Michael Murray Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor, writer, and former model. He played the lead role of Lucas Scott in The WB/ CW teen drama series '' One Tree Hill'' (2003–09, 2012), and recurring roles as Tristin DuGray on '' ...

Enver Gjokaj Enver Leif Gjokaj ( , born February 12, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Victor in the science fiction television series '' Dollhouse'', Daniel Sousa in '' Agent Carter'' and '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', and Clark Evans ...

, and

Shea Whigham Shea Whigham (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of '' Fargo'' a ...

. Recurring guest stars

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in '' Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in '' The Boat That Rocked'' aka ...

and

Bridget Regan Bridget Catherine Regan ( ; born February 3, 1982) is an American actress best known for her lead roles as Kahlan Amnell in the ABC adventure romance series ''Legend of the Seeker'' (2008–10) and Sasha Cooper in the last three seasons of the ...

portray the antagonists, Johann Fennhoff and

Dottie Underwood '' Agent Carter'' is an American television series created for ABC by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, inspired by the 2011 film '' Captain America: The First Avenger'', and the 2013 Marvel One-Shot short film of the same name. It is s ...

, while

Dominic Cooper Dominic Edward Cooper (born 2 June 1978) is an English actor known for his portrayal of comic book characters Jesse Custer on the AMC show ''Preacher'' (2016–2019) and young Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with appearances in ...

and

Toby Jones Toby Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 ...

reprise their respective roles from the film series as well. The latter appears in a scene that ties the series together with the film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' and the series ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, ...

''. "Valediction" originally aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on February 24, 2015, and according to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, was watched by 4.02 million viewers.

Plot

The

Strategic Scientific Reserve The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on superhero films and Superhero fiction, other series starring Superhero, various titular superheroes independently produced by Marvel Studios and b ...

(SSR) discovers the gas cylinder in the cinema and realize that Ivchenko possibly plans to turn all of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on itself.

Howard Stark Howard Stark is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a background character in stories featuring Iron Man and stories featuring Captain America. He is the founder of Stark ...

returns and explains that he had developed the gas, named Midnight Oil, to give American soldiers extra stamina during war, but it caused

psychosis In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or inco ...

and led to them killing each other. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the American military stole Midnight Oil and used it on the Soviets at Finow. Stark believes that Ivchenko – real name Johann Fennhoff – blames Stark for the ensuing massacre, and allows the SSR to use himself as bait to draw

Leviathan Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...

out. This plan goes awry when

distracts the agents while Fennhoff kidnaps Stark, and uses hypnosis to convince him to drop the gas on

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

. At Stark's secret plane hangar, Daniel Sousa apprehends Fennhoff while Carter defeats Underwood (who escapes) and convinces Stark not to drop the gas on the city. Carter later discards

Steve Rogers Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics ...

' blood in the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

, finally moving on with her life, while Fennhoff is imprisoned with the scheming

Arnim Zola Arnim Zola is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by Marvel Comics. He is a master of biochemistry and a recurring enemy of Captain America and the Avengers. The character first appeared in ''Captain America and the Falcon'' #208 (A ...

Production

Development

In February 2015, Marvel announced that the eighth episode would be titled "Valediction", to be written by executive producers Michelle Fazekas and Tara Butters, with

directing.

Casting

In February 2015, Marvel revealed that main cast members

, and

would star as

Edwin Jarvis Edwin Jarvis is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Jarvis is most often depicted as a supporting character in the titles ''Iron Man'' and '' The Avengers''. He is the loyal household butler of the S ...

, Jack Thompson, Daniel Sousa, and Roger Dooley, respectively. It was also revealed that the guest cast for the episode would include

Lyndsy Fonseca Lyndsy Marie Fonseca (born January 7, 1987) is an American actress. She began her career by appearing as Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', on which she starred between 2001 and 2005. Thereafter, she h ...

as Angie Martinelli,

as Dr. Ivchenko / Johann Fennhoff,

, Walker Roach as "Captain America" radio actor,

Erin Torpey Erin Catherine Torpey (born February 14, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Jessica Buchanan on ''One Life to Live''. Early life Erin Torpey was born on February 14, 1981, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Her ...

as "Betty Carver" radio actor,

Ralph Garman Ralph Garman (born November 17, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, musician and radio host best known as the host of ''The Joe Schmo Show'', for his voice work on the Fox animated series ''Family Guy'', former entertainment reporter and impress ...

as radio announcer, Dajuan Johnson as Officer Pike,

Glenn Taranto Glenn Taranto (born ) is an American actor and screenwriter, who played Gomez Addams in ''The New Addams Family''. He has appeared in six of Paul Haggis' projects. Taranto's first screenplay, ''Stolen (2009 drama film), Stolen'', starring Josh ...

as Detective Prendergast, Kevin Ashworth as Agent Fisher, Patrick Smith as Agent Butch Wallace, Matt Raimo as Reporter #1, Ward Roberts as Reporter #2,

John Prosky John Prosky (born 1962) is an American film, theatre, and television actor. Career Prosky's numerous TV credits include ''NYPD Blue'', '' ER'', ''Heroes'', ''Criminal Minds'', ''True Blood'', '' JAG'', ''My So-Called Life'', '' Star Trek: Deep S ...

as Senator Walt Cooper, Gerald Webb as Prison Guard Gary Trower, and Christopher Poehls as Ground Crewman. However, Roach, Torpey, Garman, Johnson, Ashworth, Smith, Raimo, Roberts, Webb, and Poehls did not receive guest star credit in the episode. Fonseca, Brown, Cooper, Regan, Roach, Torpey, and Garman reprise their roles from earlier in the series. Additionally,

reprises his role of

from the ''Captain America'' films.

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

The episode explores the origins of the Hydra-led Winter Soldier program and brainwashing from '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' and ''

'', as seen by the end tag when Zola approaches Faustus about mind control.

Release

Broadcast

"Valediction" was first aired in the United States on

on February 24, 2015.

Home media

The episode was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

along with the rest of the first season on September 18, 2015, as an

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

exclusive.

Reception

Ratings

In the United States the episode received a 1.3/4 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 1.3 percent of all households, and 4 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 4.02 million viewers.

References

External links

"Valediction"
at

* {{Agent Carter (TV series) 2015 American television episodes Agent Carter season 1 episodes Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover episodes Television episodes directed by Christopher Misiano Television episodes written by Michele Fazekas Television episodes written by Tara Butters Television episodes set in New York City Television episodes set in the 1940s