Marvel’s Agent Carter airs its Season 2 finale on Tuesday night – and what fans hope is not the series finale, as the show’s future is, unfortunately, in question thanks to its struggle in the ratings.

Hayley Atwell in Marvel's Agent Carter.

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Marvel's Agent Carter: "Hollywood Ending" Photos 10 IMAGES

I spoke to Peggy Carter herself, Hayley Atwell, about what’s in store in the finale, as Peggy and Thompson (Chad Michael Murray confront each other over how to handle Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett), Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) returns, Peggy finds an unlikely ally in Manfredi (Ken Marino) and more.Atwell also discussed what she’s hearing about the potential future for Agent Carter, as she prepares to film a new pilot for ABC, Conviction.It’s quite a game of human chess, isn’t it? I’m not sure where it picks up, because I haven’t actually seen the episode! I don’t know, because I don't watch the show. I don’t watch television. [Laughs] I know that sounds really strange, but I don’t. I’m a real nerd and I read books instead. So I don’t know how they edited it, and when we were filming, we were kind of doubling up lots of different scenes at the same time. But it does reach an evolution, that’s for sure. Some sound -- a big bang -- goes off and some people get out of there okay. I can tell you the ending is a very satisfying round up of events that wrap up quite nicely for the audience, but also leave us on a bit of a cliffhanger. We think that there could be more to come.I think she’s so fed up with him. I am! [Laughs] I think Peggy’s got a lot of patience, more patience than I have, and she likes to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt, so she’s probably doing that, to an extent, with Thompson. But in this situation, as it presents herself, she’s not going to put Thompson in front of saving the world. I think she knows what her decision would be if it came to it. But at the same time, she has a history with Thompson and she knows the kind of guy she’s dealing with and underneath the bravado, there’s a scared little boy who wants recognition because he doesn't have the same self-esteem that Peggy has about herself. And I think that makes him kind of… She can kind of be endeared to him for that reason and that allows her to tolerate him, I suppose.Well, he’s wonderful. He’s like a fairy godmother. He turns up at these important points, like this last episode. When they’re together it’s the three musketeers. Howard and Peggy and Jarvis are essentially the core of that team; the good guys. Howard’s relationship with Peggy develops from one of experiencing betrayal from Season 1 to just understanding that he’s human and going to do things she doesn’t agree with – his womanizing being one of them and his spending being another. However, underneath that, she’s invaluable to him and he’s invaluable to her and that’s just nicely demonstrated in the finale.Yeah, well I think you get a sense when he presents us with that, he’s saying, “Oh my god, we’re dealing with someone completely insane" - that Whitney must be stopped at all costs. She’s a representation of power gone AWOL. She’s this successful movie star with this huge scientific brain; she’s effectively a genius. And yet she’s using it in a very destructive way and to bring about other people’s destruction. That can only end badly. It’s almost like she doesn’t even know the danger that she puts herself in with it. She's so power hungry that it doesn’t matter what she has to lose, sacrifice, murder, destroy to get it. She’s the ultimate force from that quote “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That’s what Whitney Frost represents to me.James and I loved doing that. We loved it. I think we loved it because we know that Peggy and Jarvis, by that point, have been set up where their relationship is very light and fun to watch and engaging and they’ve become dear friends. So to be able to have a scene like that in the middle of it all, that can really threaten their friendship, is great because the stakes are high. When you do know someone that well, you know what you can say that will psychologically destroy them. That’s the power that dear friendships and loved ones have over us. And also some of the most intimate relationships we have in our lives have at some point involved incredibly acidic arguments where you push each other’s boundaries and push each other’s buttons. That’s what happens between them. It also means, although they deliver some hard blows to each other, they come out and they rise above that and see each other in different ways.Peggy is corrected in her misjudgment of Jarvis and the fact that while he was taking matters into his own hands, she actually didn’t realize the pain that he was in; what was causing him to do those things. As a result, she ends up having more respect and she admires him. He has something that she wants, which is beautiful sense of intimacy with a partner. He has that with Ana. I think she’d love to know what that would be like, to have that for herself with someone. It’s not something that she’s ever been lucky enough to have much of. Every time she’s attempted it, she loses someone. I think they’re both great teachers for each other and it’s just really nice. It’s a great character arc because it’s a moment where the audience and characters themselves know that they think that relationship is and all of a sudden that scene happens and threatens it all and turns it on its head. That shows that it is good writing because the characters shift, and the storyline changes and it goes off into a different direction that we weren’t expecting. I think that makes for exciting drama.I am hearing at this point that we don’t know anything and we won’t know until the Upfronts in May. As is common knowledge, I am going to film another ABC pilot called Conviction. ABC has assured me that it would be actually possible, if both shows get picked up, for me to do both. So by saying yes to the pilot of Conviction does not automatically say that that’s it for Peggy and Jarvis at all. It just means that they had a show that they liked me to do and there is a possibility to do both at some point. We also know that because Peggy has been in other Marvel films and we know she lives a long life, this is something that can be revisited. This is something that I think has a cult following and I have every hope that we’ll see more of her in the future.I would hope so. I think there’s so much more to explore. The finale suggests a couple of cliffhangers that would make us go, “Oh, what does that mean?” The finale doesn’t suggest that that’s it and they live happily ever after; that’s the end. We know that’s not the case. They’ve done it in a very clever way which wraps up and that gives the audience a very satisfying conclusion but they’re not quite finishing it and leaving it there. But it’s one of the realities of the industry that I work in. This industry depends upon ratings and if the audiences aren’t there, the shows don’t get put on. Despite the fact that we have a whole creative team here who love our show so much, who love doing and we’d do it for the rest of our lives if we could and if people were interested enough. That’s not for us to say. That’s for the networks to decide based on what they feel their audience want. So I will deal with it graciously if and when it happens.

Marvel's Agent Carter's Season 2 finale, "Hollywood Ending," airs Tuesday, March 1st at 9:00pm ET/PT on ABC.Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman , IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman