 |
| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Sorry for the late review. Like I said on Tuesday, I was at a retreat Tuesday night and couldn't watch the episodes until last night.
Agent Carter
season 2 certainly started off with a bang.
Right off the bat in the first two episodes we meet several new
antagonists and all the new main cast members for the season. We also catch up on what the regulars from
season 1 have been doing. Oh, and that major tie-in to Doctor Strange? It’s established by the end of the second
episode. You can also add to that at
least a few obvious references to other (non-Marvel) movies. All in all, it’s a pretty good pair of
episodes which set a definite path for the rest of the season.
The season kicks off
with a definite send-up to the first season, as a dark-haired woman in a blue
dress and red hat (sound familiar?) is walking through a crowd of men in drab
business suits. She walks into a bank and
proceeds to attempt to rob the bank with the help of a number of men—at this
point the woman is revealed to be none other than Dottie Underwood. However, the robbery itself turns out to be a
setup, as Peggy confronts Dottie in the vault with a shotgun and everyone in
the bank who’s not a robber is revealed to be an S.S.R. agent! Dottie and Peggy have a brief fight (but I
think it was a better fight than the end of season 1—less monologuing!), but
Peggy knocks Dottie out and takes her into custody. Peggy begins the interrogation, but Thompson
takes over after sending Peggy to L.A.
Unfortunately, Thompson doesn’t manage to get anything out of Dottie
before the FBI arrives to take custody of Dottie on the instruction of
Thompson’s mentor, Vernon Masters.
Masters tells Thompson that he thinks the S.S.R. is on its way out as a
military organization in peacetime, but that he has powerful friends who took
notice of Thompson’s arrest of Dottie and will ensure him a place in the
future. Knowing what we now know after
the first two episodes, Thompson’s conversation with Masters is put into a
completely different perspective: could
they be setting Thompson up to become an antagonist later in the season?
Be that as it may, the
majority of the episodes takes place in Los Angeles, where Sousa was recently
assigned to head up the newly-formed West Coast office of the S.S.R. He is given an unusual case as a woman is
discovered frozen into a lake during the hottest part of the summer—apparently
the S.S.R. has jurisdiction over any case involving the “weird.” Sousa’s agents are all green (and he’s also
understaffed), so he calls Thompson to request an agent for support, and this
is when Thompson sends Peggy out to L.A.—I guess he wanted to make Sousa embarrassed
around Peggy (again). I am glad that
they gave a better explanation for Peggy getting reassigned to L.A. than “we
wanted to film ‘40s Hollywood,” though this is still a bit contrived (but we’ll
let it slide). Peggy flies from New York
to L.A. in a map montage that is clearly paying homage to the Indiana Jones
franchise.
Peggy’s arrival in
L.A. is one of the more fun sequences in these two episodes, first as she and
Jarvis catch up about Howard’s efforts to start his own movie studio, then as
Jarvis explains the flamingo in the backseat, and then as Peggy arrives at the
S.S.R. office (which covers as a “theatrical agency”). I had to laugh at Jarvis’ attempts to get
Peggy to invite him in on her latest investigation, which finally devolved into
“I’m bored.” I can imagine that being a
regular butler pales in comparison to “playing spy.”
 |
| Image Courtesy www.mcuexchange.com |
Peggy meeting Sousa
definitely set up a major subplot for the season: Peggy and Sousa’s non-relationship. At the end of season 1, Sousa asked her out
for a drink, but she refused. Evidently,
she still has some interest in him, but he had not returned any of her calls
since arriving in L.A. At the end of the
episode Peggy replays the season 1 finale in reverse as she asks him out for a
drink and he refuses. We quickly
discover part of the reason why as Sousa’s girlfriend Violet picks him up after
work (which Peggy sees from the office window).
At the beginning of the second episode, Peggy and Violet meet in the
theatrical agency office before Sousa arrives, and Violet invites Peggy to join
them at dinner that night (Sousa’s not too happy). Why isn’t Sousa happy? Because he’s planning to propose that night,
of course, but he is unable to do so thanks to an S.O.S. call from Jarvis. Throughout the episode it is very clear that
Sousa cares for Peggy, but I don’t think it’s quite clear in what way he cares
for her. They may be setting this up as
a love triangle—we’ll just have to wait and see. Regardless, it seems pretty clear that Sousa
is going to be on “Team Carter” for this season, along with Jarvis.
When Jarvis brings
Peggy to the house, we get our first introduction to Lotte Verbeek as Ana
Jarvis, who is about as opposite of Jarvis as you can possibly get. I really like her portrayal, as well as the
relationship between her and Jarvis. My
wife’s initial reaction to her “welcome home” kiss for Jarvis was that Ana was
a “territorial display.” While I can see
that argument, I’m thinking from the rest of the episodes that Ana’s character
is just more “free” than Peggy or Jarvis.
She tosses around some definite innuendos when Jarvis is showing Peggy his
boxing and judo training. Ana is also
Peggy’s fashion consultant throughout the episode, helping Peggy pick out
appropriate outfits for her mission. At
the end of the episode, she also seems to have taken Angie’s place as Peggy’s
confidante. While I’m disappointed that
Angie’s not back for the season (outside of a single announced sequence later
in the season), I do like the addition of Ana.
 |
| Image Courtesy www.mcuexchange.com |
The case itself is
relatively straightforward—or at least as straightforward as a body frozen in a
lake in the middle of the summer that glows from within can get! An examination of the body leads them to the
particle accelerator at Isodyne Energy, where Peggy meets one of the
scientists, Jason Wilkes, who identifies the dead woman as Jane Scott, a
physicist who was having an affair with Calvin Chadwick, the company’s
owner. Peggy and Jarvis interview
Chadwick and his wife, actress Whitney Frost, at the horse track, but don’t
learn too much. Back at the lab, they
discover the coroner’s body frozen solid, to the point that it shatters. Evidently the same thing that did that to the
coroner is also doing it to Detective Henry (the LAPD officer assigned to the
case). He takes Dr. Wilkes hostage and
runs off hoping that Wilkes can save him, but they are pursued by Peggy, Sousa,
and Jarvis. Peggy and Sousa catch up to
Wilkes, but he is killed by another officer before he can reveal who hired him
to “clean up their mess.” We quickly
learn that Chadwick hired the officer to take care of Henry (meaning that
before the end of the first episode we know that Chadwick and Frost are the
villains of the season). This is what I was
expecting before the season began, and I’m glad they did it because it lets us
meet the villains more slowly over the course of the entire season.
However, the two of
them are not the only villains; Chadwick is part of the mysterious
“Council of Nine” (Agent Carter’s version of the “Secret Empire”),
a group of industrialists which includes Thompson’s mentor Vernon Masters,
Roxxon Oil CEO Hugh Jones, and a man named Tom who evidently orchestrated the
Great Depression (WHAT???). This
group knows about Isodyne’s experiments with so-called “Zero Matter”
(Darkforce), and has decided to quash them because of the increased scrutiny
they are bringing to Isodyne. Chadwick
does not want to give up on the many possibilities that Zero Matter promises
(among others, making atomic energy obsolete), but the rest of the Council has
already made their decision: the lab
will be scrubbed that night.
This does not sit well
with Whitney Frost, whom we discover to be under tremendous pressure from her
current director, who insults her twice in the space of a single take for being
old and fat. Frost, who is clearly the
brains of the operation, determines that she will steal the Zero Matter that
night before the Council can get rid of it.
What exactly she knows about Zero Matter or why she is so intent on
getting her hands on it is unclear at this point, however.
 |
| Image Courtesy www.mcuexchange.com |
Peggy and Sousa go to
Isodyne with a search warrant that morning to investigate Jane Scott’s murder,
but they are barred when the lab is placed under isolation. However, Wilkes arranges to meet with Peggy
at a hotel that evening, and agrees to pass on information about Isodyne’s
discovery of Zero Matter. Peggy drives
one of Howard’s cars (which is tricked out like a James Bond
pimp-mobile!). They first meet for
drinks before going to an observatory where Wilkes shows her an Isodyne film. It turns out that during an experimental
atomic detonation in the Mojave Desert a seam was ripped open where the bomb
went off. When they sent people to
investigate it, the men and vehicles were sucked into the seam, leaving behind
nothing but a puddle of Zero Matter.
Though Wilkes does not understand exactly what it is, he suspects that
the phenomenon in the desert could have been a tear between dimensions, making
the Zero Matter an extra-dimensional substance.
Peggy decides that the two of them need to steal the Zero Matter from
Isodyne before it can disappear.
However, this is when everything goes wrong as a group of men working
for the Council of Nine follow Peggy and Wilkes to the observatory and attack
them. They escape, but are unable to
contact the S.S.R. (though Peggy uses the car to send Jarvis an S.O.S., to
which he and Sousa respond).
Sousa and Jarvis first
go to the observatory, where they are unable to find Peggy or Wilkes. When they return to the S.S.R., Sousa is so
upset and afraid for Peggy that he takes his cane and pulls a Kylo Ren on his
office! Finally once he’s calmed down,
Jarvis and Sousa go over to Isodyne to see what’s so special there. I really like what they are doing with Sousa
and Peggy to develop their relationship/friendship after the first season. I actually think it would be nice if they
kept the two of them apart going forward instead of pushing them together—but I
really want them to made a decision and stick with it instead of drawing this
out the way Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has done with Fitz and Simmons
(contriving various reasons to keep them apart).
Meanwhile, Peggy and
Wilkes make their way to Isodyne, where Wilkes transfers the Zero Matter to a
portable containment tube while Peggy takes care of the Council thugs. However, Whitney Frost confronts Wilkes in
the Zero Matter room and demands that he hand the tube over to her. He refuses despite her threats to shoot him,
and the two of them struggle over the tube briefly before he drops it over the
railing where it hits the floor, bursts, and releases the Dark Matter. The Dark Matter explodes, leaving a hole in
the floor. Peggy is unable to find any
sign of Wilkes or Frost—the first responders doubt anyone could have
survived. Peggy’s reaction to everything
is very good and believable, especially when she is talking to Ana, which helps
to clarify her feelings for Wilkes.
 |
| Image Courtesy www.kafeinsiz.com |
The episode ends with
Whitney Frost cowering in her room behind a changing screen with a scratch on
her forehead. The implication seems to
be that she has absorbed the Zero Matter.
I am very curious to see what this will mean for her character going
forward, as the last character to come into contact with Zero Matter gained the
ability to freeze everything she comes into contact with. As of now we don’t know what happened to
Wilkes after the explosion.
At this point we still
need to talk about the relationship between Peggy and Wilkes. I thought that it was quite well done in this
episode, but at the same time I think they progressed it much too quickly for
Peggy’s character. I did not think she
would be the kind to kiss on a first date after what we’ve seen so far—but
considering that this Peggy has presumably learned from her mistake of waiting
too long with Steve, perhaps she doesn’t want to make that mistake again.
As a whole I think
this is a good season premiere which introduces all the important characters
and sets the stage for the rest of the season.
I like meeting the villains so early in the season this time around, and
I am very curious to see where the subplot with Thompson is going to go in the
rest of the season. I am also really
excited to see what they are going to do with Zero Matter/Darkforce on Agent
Carter and how/if it will relate to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in
addition to Doctor Strange.
What did you think of
these two episodes? What do you think of
Whitney Frost as a villain? Let me know
in the comments!
If you want to get an
email whenever I publish a new article, go to the top of the page and enter
your email address in the box labeled “Subscribe to Mostly MCU Reviews” and
click “Submit.”
No comments:
Post a Comment