Marvel's Agent Carter

By: Robert Murphy

If there was one good thing to come out of the first Captain America movie, it would undoubtedly be Peggy Carter. Not that Chris Evans wasn't a great pick for the movie or anything but the first movie wasn't as thrilling, except for the spunky and powerful Carter character. Marvel's Agent Carter picks up after the events of the first movie, it's 1946 and Peggy Carter is now Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) working for the S.S.R after her exploits during World War II effectively helped end the war. Despite this fact, her new male co-workers find it hard to believe that a woman could do anything other than what was considered woman's work back then, answering phones and getting lunches, that sort of thing. So, she is now stuck in a job where people like Agent Thompson (Chad Michael Murry) don't respect her as an equal, even her boss Chief Roger Dooley (Shea Whigham) doesn't think she is capable of real assignments either. This doesn't completely deter her attitude though and that's why when her old friend, Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), needs her help clearing his name she does her duty to get back what was stolen from him and clear his name. 

Much of the ground work for Agent Carter was already laid when the first Captain America movie came out, much like Agent's of Shield, you already had a few good cast members and ideas to work with. Peggy Carter and Howard Stark were already well played characters and their roles transfer over quite nicely. Peggy makes for an excellent lead character, her bold charisma in Captain America was already very enjoyable to begin with and now she gets to strut her stuff. What makes her so strong is probably the time period we're in right now, as I said, it is the 1940's and woman are going back to their homes now that men are coming back from the war. It's hard to see a strong female in any way with the mentality that men in this time period have but that makes Peggy proving all of them wrong all the better. I wouldn't go so far as to call her character a feminist, that word being thrown around a lot lately, but she does know what it takes to get things done and doesn't see why she can't be the one to do it. That being said, Agent Carter still knows how to use what she has to her advantage, I believe it's episode two where she dawns a blonde wig and sparkly white dress and uses her whiles to get to a protected mobster. Knocking him out with some spy style lipstick and cracking into his safe with a special spy watch, it's almost like a James Bond film from back in the day and I think it was meant to.

Perhaps the other great character to come out of the show is a new but oddly familiar persona and that man's name is Edwin Jarvis (James D'Arcy). He is introduced as Howard Stark's butler who handles much of his day to day affairs and while Howard is on the run and in hiding, he lends Jarvis's services to Peggy. He is a funny sort of character that I thought played well with Peggy's strong character because for the most part Mr. Jarvis is very mild mannered and isn't suited for the kind of work Peggy gets into. His character too is nothing like the rest of the male roles on the show, aside from Agent Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) the only nice agent to Peggy, Jarvis believes in Peggy's abilities and knows she is more than capable. Perhaps one of the most apparent moments that you see the difference between Peggy and Jarvis is when you see him picking up the phone in an apron and politely talking to his wife about dinner plans as Peggy talks about a looming threat. It's a perfect match if I've ever seen one and he almost beats out Peggy for my favorite character.

The time era you see is also fantastic, I have always been a big fan of games, shows and movies that revolve around the 1940's, men in nice suits, good music and the like. God, do I sound cliche. But, the whole thing is handled wonderfully with every where that Peggy or other character's are seen. Peggy spends some time in a small diner that a friend works at and it's something right out of an old black and white movie but with lots of color and flash to it. The night club scene I mention earlier also supplies some realistic feel to the era as well, Peggy's dress is just the sort of style you would expect to see but also roaring music comes from the band, everyone dancing along, it's perhaps one of my favorite episodes for the short series. Plenty of character also fit the build for the era, you can here old fashioned saying and slang pop up in every day conversation. It really immerses you into the world of Agent Carter and I absolutely loved it. 

The show doesn't get lost in the world of Marvel that we've seen lately either, the Tesseract and other big flashy ideas don't get thrown out too much. Howard Stark's stolen inventions supply enough danger and problems for Peggy to face and while mind control and some other out there problems come up, they feel very grounded. Howard's inventions in some ways make him seem like a mad scientist when you learn about some of the things he's developed and them being in the wrong hands provides all the driving force that you really need for the show.  

All in all, Marvel's Agent Carter was a great eight episode mini series. The premise for the show was simple and enjoyable with Howard's crazy inventions missing and needing to be found, Peggy was the only option. Hayley Atwell coming back as Agent Carter made things even better as her bold character takes charge and doesn't stop till the job gets done, kicking butt all over the screen. It makes the fact that Peggy Carter never was much of a Marvel story to begin with all the better, her portrayal of the character made a series in itself and it was certainly an impressive one. 

Good:

- Hayley Atwell still shines as Peggy Carter and I couldn't wait to watch each week

- Returning and new stars like Howard Stark and Edwin Jarvis were all great

- A fantastic premise, Howard Stark's crazy inventions and finding them before they do wrong

- Great setting, the 1940's comes alive for the story with a unique spy angle

Bad:

- Nothing, I loved the show

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10