Agent Carter Season Review

Agent Carter follows the titular Peggy Carter after the seeming death of Captain America and the end of World War II. During the war Carter was a highly respected and high ranking member of the Strategic Scientific Reserve which was responsible for fighting HYRDA and developing the Super Soldier Serum which would transform the frail Steve Rogers into Captain America. But upon returning to the states Carter was relegated to the second-class citizen status the majority of women found themselves in during this period in time. Carter is forced to secretly undertake a mission for Howard Stark, an old friend from the war, to clear his name after several weapons he developed suddenly disappear and is framed for selling them to the enemy.

Let's get this out of the way now, Agent Carter is a fantastic show that I hope sees renewal simply because of how dishearteningly risky it is. I say disheartening because it shouldn't be a risk to have a female lead, or to have a period setting, or for a show to so willingly ignore a myriad of other conventions. Agent Carter is fresh, fun and a fantastic addition to the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the things I love about the series is Peggy Carter herself, she isn't just the idealistic model of a 'strong female character' she is a real female character. Carter is strong yes, but she is also flawed and complex and that's what makes a good character, that and a great performance from Haley Atwell who continues to knock it out of the park in her continued appearance as this character.

One of things I love about the ever expanding MCU is that every character has the potential to be fleshed out. Peggy Carter began as the love interest in the first Captain America film, coincidentally the only romance in a Marvel film that actually works. But everyone was so enamored with her character that we all wanted to know more about her, so we got a short film continuing her story after the war as well as a small and highly emotional scene in the second Captain America film. We slowly learned more about her and her history but it wasn't enough, so a starring vehicle of her own was the next step. This first season was a great development of her character, both the struggle she has adjusting to post war life as well as dealing with the still recent loss of Captain Rogers. The entire season is a perfectly paces and self contained 8 episodes so if our time with Peggy during this period in her life is to end after this one season at least it ends neatly tied up.

But this isn't the last we'll see of Agent Carter even if this is the only season of this show, Peggy is set to appear in this years Avengers 2: Age of Ultron as well as Ant-Man. It's the power of the MCU that a popular character can continue to grow on screen across film and television. The first season of Agent Carter is great, the production is fantastic feeling more like the late 1940's than Mad Men ever has any of its eras. The characters while only having 8 episodes to develop manage to be fully fleshed out characters, and no one is a one note villain or hero. Even the men who continuously belittle Agent Carter are sympathetic as the season continues. The death of principal character surprisingly manages to elicit real emotion after only 7 episodes, that's the advantage of strong nuanced characters and great performances. But the real stars of the series are Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis, together both actors give steller performances and revel in their chemistry for some of the most memorable moments across the entire season.

I could go on for several more paragraphs about how much of a relief it is to see a broadcast network series without a romantic relationship in sight, or how well it ties into the existing MCU, or how amazing the effects are, or how the cameos are more than fan-service. But suffice to say  I really enjoyed the show and it stands as a stark and refreshing contrast to everything else in the MCU right now. At the same time Agent Carter does take a few missteps; some things are resolved too conveniently, a consequence of the short episode order I'm sure, but it feels cliche regardless. And finally most of the moments played for laughs fall flat. But apart from those minor quibbles Agent Carter is a fine series with two phenomenal leads in  Hayley Atwell and James D'Arcy that deserves to be further explored in future seasons. I for one will be praying to the television network gods for a renewal.

Overall Season Score 

(4 out of 5)