The Lady in the Lake

The Lady in the Lake is the first episode of the second season of the television series Agent Carter.

Synopsis
Peggy moves to the City of Angels to help Chief Daniel Sousa at the West Coast Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) investigate a bizarre homicide involving an alleged killer and Isodyne Energy, and reunites with some familiar faces.

Plot
In 1945, the Lady of the Lake Killer murdered two women and dumped their bodies in Echo Park; though Los Angeles Police Detective Andrew Henry did an excessive manhunt, the Killer was never found.

Now it is 1947 and, after a year of no leads, Dottie Underwood has appeared on the radar of Strategic Scientific Reserve. When she attempts to rob the Bowery Savings Bank, she gets ambushed by Peggy Carter and Chief Jack Thompson; after a prolonged battle, Underwood is taken into custody. Carter wants to know why Underwood wants a lapel pin that was inside the safe, but before Underwood talks, Thompson orders her to Los Angeles to a case there.

Arriving in LA, Carter is reunited with Edwin Jarvis, who explains that Howard Stark has a defense contract meeting in the city and, since he liked the scene, has decided that he wanted to create his own movie studio. To this end, Jarvis is organizing his estate, including his houseguests, Carter and the flamingo Bernard Stark. At Stark's house, Carter finally meets Ana Jarvis, who is surprised that Carter looks beautiful because the stories Edwin told made Carter seem so masculine. The case that Carter investigates involves Jane Scott, a scientist employed by Isodyne Energy, found frozen solid in Echo Park; the SSR was asked to learn why the woman and lake are frozen on the hottest day of the year. Carter reports to West Coast Chief Daniel Sousa, but tensions are high; the two tried to pursue a relationship but when he got transferred to California, Sousa lost touch with Carter. Assisting the two is Henry, who is suffering from a summer cold. The three go to Isodyne Energy Headquarters where Carter sneaks past the Receptionist and meets Jason Wilkes, a scientist there. He agrees to help in the investigation since he has an interest in Carter. Wilkes tells Carter that Calvin Chadwick, his boss, was rumored to be the lover of Scott; however, when Carter talks to him, he refuses to cooperate, especially with his wife, the famed actress Whitney Frost, nearby. The agents, Wilkes, and Henry return to Medical Examiner Meltzer to see what progress he has had on the autopsy to find him frozen to death.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Agent Vernon Masters takes Underwood into FBI custody and tells Thompson, who unsuccessfully tried to interrogate Underwood, that as his and his father's friend, he wants Thompson to look elsewhere for work since the last days of the SSR are coming.

Sousa and Carter find the autopsy report of Meltzer which says that the woman was stabbed and her shoes switched after she was frozen. Henry though grows sicker and, when he freezes water from a fountain, abducts Wilkes to give him a cure. Sousa and Carter chase the rogue cop, who was hired to dispose of the frozen body of Scott and used the cold case of the Lady of the Lake Killer to cover his crime. Henry is killed by another officer though Sousa and Carter specifically said that no guns should be used.

Sousa orders the body to be transferred in the morning to the Auerbach Theatrical Agency for further investigation as to what was ailing Henry. Wilkes asks Carter for a date, but she declines. Returning to the Agency, Carter asks Sousa for a date, but he declines. Carter then watches as Sousa greets affectionately a nurse outside.

Later, the officer who killed Henry is paid by Chadwick and Frost.

Cast
Main Cast:
 * Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter
 * James D'Arcy as Edwin Jarvis
 * Chad Michael Murray as Chief Jack Thompson
 * Enver Gjokaj as Chief Daniel Sousa

Guest Stars:
 * Bridget Regan as Dottie Underwood
 * Wynn Everett as Whitney Frost
 * Reggie Austin as Jason Wilkes
 * Currie Graham as Calvin Chadwick
 * Lotte Verbeek as Ana Jarvis
 * Sarah Bolger as Violet
 * Sean O'Bryan as Det. Andrew Henry
 * Lesley Boone as Rose Roberts
 * Matt Braunger as Samberly
 * Kurtwood Smith as Vernon Masters
 * John Gilbert as Elderly Teller
 * Edward Deraney as SSR Agent #1
 * Kevin Ashworth as Agent Fisher
 * Angela Cristantello as Receptionist
 * Bruce Katzman as Medical Examiner Meltzer
 * Alex Alcheh as Rookie Cop
 * Jonathan Lavallee as Commanding Officer (uncredited)
 * Christopher Biel as Isodyne Supervisor (uncredited)
 * Nick Benseman as Henchman (uncredited)
 * Brian Castellanos as SSR Agent (uncredited)
 * Punnavith Koy as Lookie Loo (uncredited)
 * Afsheen Olyaie as Lookie Loo (uncredited)
 * Rainer Wickel as Underwood Henchman (uncredited)
 * Unknown Actress as Jane Scott

Locations

 * New York City
 * Bowery Savings Bank
 * New York Bell Company Office
 * Los Angeles, California
 * Echo Park
 * Auerbach Theatrical Agency
 * Los Angeles County Coroner Building
 * Howard Stark's Estate
 * Santa Anita Park
 * (mentioned)
 * Pasadena, California
 * Isodyne Energy Headquarters
 * Tennessee (mentioned)
 * Russia (mentioned)

Events

 * Kidnapping of Jason Wilkes

Items

 * Zero Matter
 * Particle Accelerator (mentioned)
 * The "F" Stands for Freedom (mentioned)
 * Tales of Suspense (mentioned)

Vehicles
To be added

Creatures

 * Bernard Stark
 * Bernard Stark

Organizations

 * Strategic Scientific Reserve
 * Los Angeles Police Department
 * Isodyne Energy
 * FBI
 * United States Senate (mentioned)
 * Leviathan (mentioned)

Mentioned

 * Manhattan Project
 * Lady of the Lake Killer
 * Howard Stark
 * Roger Dooley
 * Representative Anderson

Trivia

 * The title is a reference to 's 1943 detective novel .
 * Edwin Jarvis mentions that Whitney Frost acted in the movie "The "F" Stands for Freedom"; that movie was featured on a marquee in the episode Snafu.
 * Frost also appeared in the movie "Tales of Suspense". This is a reference to the, where the character first appeared.
 * The song that played when Sousa arrives at the crime scene at a lake is "" by Gene Autry.