It's 1946. World War II has come to an end. Despite her exemplary service record, Agent Peggy Carter is stuck working a desk job at SSR, the agency that would eventually grow into SHIELD. Millionaire industrialist Howard Stark has been accused of treason, selling weapons to the enemy. Stark reveals to Peggy that some of his inventions had been stolen; creations he couldn't help but making, but he deemed to dangerous to sell. He makes his way out of the states, asking for her help in clearing his name. Stark entrusted his butler, Edwin Jarvis, to assist Carter in whatever way he can. The two have a sort of Steed/Peel dynamic, and it's good that she has another character to interact with regularly, and the fact that it's the same man who voices Tony's own JARVIS is appreciated.
These episodes concern a chemical Stark thought up, which has been mass produced and weaponized into an implosive device. (Once it's done blowing up, it blows in.) Agent Carter has to stay one step ahead of her SSR colleagues in order to cover her own tracks as well as prove Stark's innocence, since her actions are not yet authorized by her superiors.
There's a lot to like here. Whereas Agents Of SHIELD has a clear ensemble cast and team dynamic, Agent Carter focuses on a single protagonist, and she's a very good one. The era-accurate stigma of women struggling to be taken seriously in their professions is front and center throughout. Carter deals with it every day. A fellow agent, Daniel Sousa, got his leg crippled in the war, and is able to relate to her on some level. It's nice that she has at least one co-worker who she can call a friend, but even she asks him not to defend her when he calls the other agents out on their chauvinism. She was appreciative, but she can handle it herself. Peggy also has some nice scenes with Angie Martinelli, an attractive young waitress and aspiring actress who becomes her friend and neighbor. Peggy's roommate in the first part was a lovely seemingly hypochondriac blonde, and I would have loved to see that dynamic develop more. Unfortunately, some thugs break into their apartment while Carter was disarming one of the afformentioned implosive grenades, and gets killed. This event gives Peggy reasons to keep Angie at arm's length, but she nonetheless takes up a room in the same apartment building.
There's a wonderful musical score throughout, full of jazzy brass sounds befitting the era. I can't think of much else to say about it other than I liked it. The costumes are great too. Hayley Atwell goes through several different wardrobe changes during these episodes alone, and looks amazing in all of them. Particularly of note is her blonde bombshell look when she's infiltrating the night club. When she has to, she can put on a near perfect American accent as well.
The old spy tech is a real treat too. I've seen a few articles on the gadgets that Cold War spies had at their disposal, and Agent Carter comes close to replicating that. Another nice aspect is the lingering presence of Captain America. Although Steve Rogers crashed into the arctic and is presumed dead, memories of him still linger in Peggy's thoughts. We're also regularly treated to excerpts from the Captain America radio show, which is intentionally and delightfully camp. There's a great scene where Carter's beating up a bad guy while the radio show has Cap taking on a Nazi, the two actions matching up blow for blow.
Although it's unlikely that Howard Stark is the traitor he's been branded as, he does seem to have something to hide, as a phone call between him and Jarvis would indicate. He needs her for some other purpose, but we don't know what it is yet. I certainly look forward to finding out.
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