2x06 Life of the Party

8.5/10. I have to say, I liked but didn't love Dottie last season, but she was freaking amazing here. Dottie's "steel behind the smile" routine was great, and her tet-a-tet with Peggy was a perfect scene. I could watch the two of them trade mutually respectful barbs for an entire episode, and they have a superb combative chemistry together.

I also really enjoyed the caper a great deal, as it provided propulsion for basically every character in the show. Jarvis was at his best, from his bewilderment at getting his watch stolen, to his begrudging appreciation of Dottie. But what stood out to me was his conversation with Jack Thompson. It's not that we've never seen Jarvis get serious before, but issues of classism, a minor battle for Thompson's soul, and the dramatic irony of the stalling routine all made a lot of a little.

There was, of course, some solid thematic material as well with Whitney Frost trusting Chadwick, with her husband telling her that he trusted her and wanted to help her, only to turn on her at the first opportunity. True-to-form, it was done in a fairly melodramatic fashion with Frost's Venom routine, but the genuine hurt in her eyes when she went after Chadwick elevated the scene, and grounded it in legitimate emotion.

I could have done without the Sousa/Peggy romantic moment, but hey, that seems to be the direction they're going, so I should probably just suck it up and deal.

Otherwise, there were a lot of moving parts once the episode reached the fundraiser, and yet it managed to keep them all moving in sync, with a number of great comedic and dramatic beats along the way, and a stellar turn from Dottie as the Spike of Agent Carter.