Welcome to the first Intel Report & Debrief of Marvel’s Agent Carter here on the Freakin’ Awesome Network. For the next seven weeks or so, I’ll fill you in on the adventures of SSR Agent Margaret “Peggy” Carter, as she leaps into action to clear the name of Howard Stark and save the world at the same time.
The Story So Far
When Howard Stark is accused of betraying the nation by letting his weapons fall into the wrong hands, SSR Agent Peggy Carter is tasked to take action to find out the true culprits behind this crime in secret, while avoiding her superiors and fellow agents from snuffing her out. Her search for the truth has led to something called “Leviathan”, which may hold the answers to everything she is looking for.
Recap (WARNING: Spoilers abound!)
The eight-episode saga continues along as some answers are revealed, and death once again hits close to home, but on a different front.
This week’s chapter is a bit more low-key in terms of action, but delivers a bit more in terms of emotional resonance on all sides of the front. For instance, we’re given a bit more motivation as to why Jarvis was dishonorably discharged from his army post, which unravels more layers of our beloved butler for the audience to unpack. Said revelation involves the rescue of his wife from Nazi clutches (the wife in question is also the one we haven’t seen, but have most certainly heard a couple of times). While there are many reasons to already latch on to Jarvis as a “likeable character” for the audience to root for (as seen in last week’s two-hour premiere), these latest revelations adds even more depth to not only his noble nature, but his unwavering loyalty to one Howard Stark.
There’s also some metaphorical unraveling on the part of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, who we’re accustomed to being seen as “those sexist jerks Peggy works with”. Death hits close to home for them when an agent is killed in cold blood by a mystery assassin. The agent in question, a fellow by the name of Ray Krzeminski, has been consistently shown to be the most chauvinistic out of the named SSR operatives towards our beloved Agent Carter. So, naturally, the audience’s initial reaction to Krzeminski’s death is “good riddance”, but, credit to the show for showing Peggy having a lot more emotion over the death of someone who (in Carter’s words) was a “brute” and a “cheat”, but someone who was good at his job.
For the other SSR agents, their somber reaction towards the death of one of their own really helps add further depth to these characters. In particular, Chief Dooley notes when addressing the death of one of his agents that he’s “not gonna lose any more men,” which paints him in a slightly more flattering light, showing him as a father figure who cares for the well-being of his agents.
The episode’s lone action sequence is a fun, short affair with Carter taking on a musclebound brute, getting some assistance from Jarvis before ultimately incapacitating the brute with Chekhov’s (or in this case, Stark’s) Constrictor.
Above all, while this episode didn’t move forward the overall arc a great deal, it is an important chapter that helps flesh out the world that Stephen McFeely, Chris Markus, Tara Butters, and Michele Fazekas have created. They have given the characters they’ve created a far greater deal of depth, something that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled with until the latter half of its rookie season. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain this level of quality as the Agent Carter story moves towards its finish.
Additional Intel
- Last week, we were treated to Agent Carter seamlessly faking an American accent. This week, we have Jarvis attempting his own take on an American accent, and it’s as hilarious as you imagine it to be.
- Speaking of which, the more we move forward with the story, the more I find myself getting attached with the human Jarvis, to the point that I might even prefer him better to the A.I. version we’re accustomed to from the films. A lot of that most certainly has to do with the excellent performance by James D’Arcy in the role as the beloved butler.
- The location mentioned in Jarvis’ story of rescuing his wife from Nazi clutches? Budapest, a name that should be quite familiar to MCU fans.
- I’m well aware that the ratings for the show could be a lot better, and well, we wanted this show. We asked for the show to exist, and the least we could do is prove why we deserve such a great program in the first place by supporting it and watching it every week. Tweeting about it is certainly not enough.
- While some might say the sexism on display is a bit heavy-handed and hits with the subtlety of a wrecking ball, it’s important to note that this was the reality for women back in those days (admittedly, not as over-the-top as Carter opts to go with), and that I believe that the show presenting said sexism in this manner may encourage curious viewers to want to know more about the actual reality women faced in the 1940s.
- On that note, some reading for you, a handbook from the 1940s that discusses how men should “supervise” women workers, which is rather fitting given the above-mentioned themes present on this show:
- A hilarious bit at the beginning where Carter stops a would-be intruder from shimmying into her house unexpectedly turned into a “harsher in hindsight” moment not even a few minutes later when said man inadvertently caused a neighbor at the Griffiths’ to be kicked out due to a violation of “no males on the second floor.”
- Speaking of the hotel that makes up Carter’s current place of residence, we’re introduced to a new roommate, a woman named Dottie, who’s apparently a ballerina in her spare time. Given the espionage based nature of the narrative, one would immediately assume that something’s not on the level with this new neighbor, but we’ll have to wait and see on that front.
- Programming note: No new episode this coming Tuesday due to President Obama’s State of the Union, but the very episode I’m recapping in this article is being rerun at 8/7CT prior to the President’s address.