The writing and pacing in this show is phenomenal as even though they bring in a special guest actor (well, technically two, but more on that later), they can still have a story that is pertinent to the overall story, engaging to audiences and can still make great use of the special guest star.
Dominic Cooper's Howard Stark returns and has not changed a single bit. It's pretty clear where Tony gets his womanizing ways. Not only that he delivers a strong emotional scene with Atwell, who is great as usual, over one of the items that Howard has. It shows not only how much Carter loved Cap but also how much she has a love/hate relationship with Stark.
I really enjoyed the fact that the rest of the SSR were the ones to actually gain ground on the case. Chief Dooley goes to see a German general, where he learns about something that could be very important as Stark is involved. Not only that but it also shows that Dooley is very dangerous and scary as he gave a cyanide pill not only to the German general, albeit voluntarily, but also deceived a guard into taking one.
Sousa and Thompson were also great in this episode. Sousa gets a lead through a homeless man who saw something in the previous episode. His story about people clapping for him was particularly strong as it is still very pertinent to modern-day veterans. Thompson spoke the truth to Sousa about how some people didn't come back from the war looking for love, just a way back. I also like how he told Carter the hard truth about the world. While he was blatant about saying women will never be seen equal to men, you could see that he didn't agree with that. I very much liked this scene because it shows that while he might degrade her to secretarial tasks in the office, it is very possible that he knows her true potential.
One complaint I had with this episode was it's villain. He wasn't much of a threat and he didn't show any sort of personality. Sure, he might have been cold, but he seemed completely robotic in his delivery. The only good thing I can say about this episode's villain, whose name I can't even remember, is that it showed a much more interesting villain in Dottie, who puts up a ditzy, mid-Western girl facade, but is pretty lethal.
Did I mention Stan Lee? Cause he was there, and it was pretty great, because it's Stan Lee.
+ Guest stars + Carter/Stark scenes + Other SSR agents scenes, each had their own great moments - Villain was boring, even though he introduced us to a greater possible villain
Final Score 8.7/10