Captain America: The First Avenger RETRO-REVIEW

Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org

I have to admit, Captain America: The First Avenger is not my favorite pre-Avengers movie.  I like it less than Thor.  It is easily the worst of the Captain America trilogy, and probably the worst movie with Captain America in it.  Now, considering the competition there, that’s not a knock on this movie by any stretch of the imagination:  The Winter Soldier was an absolute masterpiece as a political thriller, and Civil War was amazing in its own right.  None of this should be taken as me necessarily “bashing” on this movie.

That being said, it has some definite flaws.

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 5, "The Iron Ceiling" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

Image Courtesy
www.facebook.com/AgentCarterTV

So I think that “The Iron Ceiling” (1x05) may be my absolute favorite episode of Agent Carter season 1.  And the reason for that is pretty straightforward.  Three words:  “The Howling Commandos.”  Dum Dum Dugan, Happy Sam, Pinky, and Junior make this episode a blast in terms of humor, action, and character development for the two main characters who get the most screen time (Peggy and Thompson).  Can we see these guys again in Agent Carter season 2?  Please?

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for everything to-date.

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 4, "The Blitzkrieg Button" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

Image Courtesy
www.facebook.com/AgentCarterTV

Peggy’s been having a terrible time lately.  She is ignored and taken advantage of at work, her roommate was killed, she’s been shot at least once in the series, and it seems like everyone she’s close to has been taken away.  However, up until this episode she’s been able to count on Howard Stark trusting her and giving her all the information she needed to complete his mission.  Or so she thought.  Turns out, Howard doesn’t trust her and is taking advantage of her almost as much as the S.S.R. does.  What’s a girl going to do?

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for everything to-date.

What was Steve and Peggy's Relationship?

Image Found on Pinterest

When I first read Hayley Atwell’s comment to the effect that she thinks Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter did have sex back during the war, I wasn’t entirely sure what to think.  Okay, my immediate knee-jerk reaction was to think, “of course they didn’t:  He’s Captain America!”

After mulling over the question for a while, however, I came to the conclusion that it isn’t quite so cut-and-dry.  So I’m going to quickly go through the arguments in favor of and against the proposition that Cap and Carter were sleeping together.  Why?  I’m not entirely sure.  But let’s do it anyways.

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 1, "Now is Not the End" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

Image Courtesy
www.facebook.com/AgentCarterTV

Conveniently, there are 9 weeks left before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns, and there are eight episodes of Agent Carter season 1.  So since I’m done reviewing Daredevil, I’m going to replace Daredevil (and other assorted Netflix-related articles) with Agent Carter reviews on Mondays!

Simply put, Agent Carter may be one of the most underappreciated installments in the MCU.  It is not an action series—I don’t expect there to be too many sequences on Agent Carter that rival the best of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  What it is instead is a very strong character-driven series.  The plot and character development are the most important elements of the series, and the pilot episode, “Now is Not the End,” does an excellent job of setting everything up for the season.  Most of the characters fall into somewhat stereotypical roles in this episode—Thompson and Krzeminski as the tough guys who underestimate/don’t appreciate women, Dooley as the boss who doesn’t appreciate Peggy’s talents and relegates her to a secretary, Sousa as the only man in the office who sees Peggy as more than just a woman in a man’s role.  However, these stereotypes do not carry through the entire season; the characters become much more defined over time as their relationships with Peggy become more defined.

Additionally, Agent Carter very much benefits from having the same budget as a full 22-episode season on network TV:  this allows them to put a lot of detail into the setting of the series as well as bringing in special guests like Dominic Cooper reprising his role as Howard Stark from Captain America: The First Avenger.  The scenery is very well done in my opinion, and I really like how they use the color palette to set Peggy apart in some scenes as the most colorful element in the shot.  Overall, the period elements of the series are very well done.

However, by far the best aspect of this season is how strong and cohesive the plot is.  There are a few twists and turns, but everything holds together very well.  You can really see the progression not only for Peggy but also for the other main characters as they all try to unravel the mystery of Howard Stark’s inventions which got into the wrong hands.

Reminder:  These Retro-Reviews will contain spoilers for all of Agent Carter season 1.