It’s Back! Agent Carter

It was one of the best shows of last year, overshadowed perhaps by Marvel’s other shows… Man they had a good TV year… but season 2 is here! Agent Carter. I actually blogged reviews of every episode last year, which was easy enough as there were only 8. I don’t think I’m going to do the same thing this year – but I thought I would write up some initial thoughts.

Picking Up Where They Left Off

The threads that were left last season were really the characters more than anything – that and the shadowy opposition of rival spy organizations. Both are embodied by Dottie Underwood, the rival spy who seems to have gone through the same training program as Black Widow. A fitting opponent for Agent Peggy Carter – so much so that she seems to have started to fixate on her. And is impersonating her. I’m sure that’s not going to cause problems in the future…

For another thread, freakin’ Thompson. The Agent who rode Peggy’s coat-tails to advancement. Claiming her victories. In the opening, he scoops the captured Dottie away from her – sending her to LA for a case and taking over the interrogation. Things turn around on him quickly when the FBI show up to take Dottie! That’ll also turn out well. But we also find out that Thompson has even moreso not advanced on his own skills – he has an insider who has helped him along.

Peggy is sent to LA where Souza, her male foil of an Agent, has started up a small field office. Here too is Jarvis, who has again found himself taking care of Mr. Stark’s life without Mr. Stark around…

And Peggy and Jarvis’ relationship is still amazing. Their dialog – talking about Mr. Stark’s relationships, or about Jarvis’ new combat training regimen, or about the flamingo – it’s all still part of the show’s charm.

Souza, on the other hand… that’s gotten complicated. He was pining after Peggy all of season 1, but 6 months have passed, he’s moved, and he’s moved on – mostly. But in that time, now it’s Peggy thinking about him… ah, relationship drama. Maybe this is a good sign, as it should mean that she’s moving on from Steve’s memory…

A Taste of Something New

They did a nice job of bringing in things that made season 1 great – like fun moments with Peggy in costumes being a spy, and with an American accent… but we have a couple of new characters so far that have fit in nicely.

One is that we finally get to meet Mrs. Jarvis, whose story we heard in detail in the first season, but who never appeared on screen. She is at once an excellent wife and very feminine – and at the same time a great character. She makes a good counterpoint to Peggy, and a good friend to her.

The second is Dr. Wilkes, who – like Souza with disability and Peggy with being a woman – they use to explore prejudices of the post-war era. He also, more than Souza, shows Peggy that there’s life after Steve, which it will be nice to see her not pining after the (allegedly) dead man.

Also, we’ve lost a lot of the prejudice against Peggy – after last season, her colleagues know she’s good. In some ways, by moving things to LA, they open the opportunity for new characters and situations to bring that back in… but hopefully the show can also move past it in some ways and not need to focus heavily on the fact that Peggy is a woman.

I’m excited for the rest of the season – we have a crazy scientific something, the great characters are back, and the frustrating ones are around too! What I don’t know is whether I want it to tie in more to the rest of the MCU – or not. The first season really stood alone, and that was great. What do you think?