Before we start, SPOILER ALERT!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
Last night saw the return of the beautiful Hayley Atwell as the Marvel Fan Favourite “Agent Carter” for her season 2, 2 hour spectacle. This obviously means new adventures, new crimes, and better yet, More Marvel Cinematic Universe Tie ins; such as “Doctor Strange.”
Agent Carter keeps going from strength to strength and this feature length episode proved that; continuing to draw people into the world of the SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve) and continuing with the development of not only just Peggy but of the world around her and the people who live in it.
One such character, played by the brilliant James D’Arcy, is a fan favourite and that is Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark’s loyal butler, but more importantly Peggy’s brother in arms when it comes to the espionage world. Jarvis has bloomed into a main player in the series instead of a supporting role.
“Marvel’s Agent Carter” spent its first season dealing with loss, sexism and the sly introduction to S.H.I.E.L.D against the backdrop of 1940s New York (with of course some MCU flair that also introduced villains from a shadowy organization called Leviathan, a vial of Captain America’s Super-Soldier blood and what can only be the black widow program). In season two, things have changed slightly and the ABC drama is relocating to Los Angeles, where the glitz, glamour and crime of Hollywood are front and center.
Now consisting of 10 episodes instead of 8 like in season 1, Peggy, is reassigned to help deal with the threats of the new atomic age by mysterious individuals in the aftermath of World War II, she is gaining new friends, a new home, and a potential new love interest.
Episode 1 starts off in 1947 New York, Chief Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray) and Agent Peggy Carter, of the SSR, capture Soviet spy Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan). Newly appointed Chief Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) of the Los Angeles SSR office meets with Detective Andrew Henry, who has discovered a woman’s body in a frozen lake. This doesn’t seem too abnormal until we realize it’s the hottest day of the year during a heat wave.
Sousa asks Thompson for backup so he sends in the best. On arrival in LA, Peggy is once again partnered with Edwin Jarvis, a dynamic duo if there ever was one, where he picks up his role of confidante, driver and all round back up for Peggy. He informs Agent Carter that Howard Stark is away scouting locations for his new “cinematic feature” while he buys exotic animals for his home. Jarvis then introduces Peggy to his wife Ana Jarvis (played amazingly by Lotte Verbeek, she’s spunky and resourceful just like carter, holster in a garter awesome and sexy) back at the city morgue, an autopsy or lack thereof because the women is still frozen solid, shows that the body glows in the dark, likely caused by Isodyne Energy’s particle accelerator.
Carter learns from Isodyne scientist Jason Wilkes (Reggie Austin) that the woman was a physicist there and had been having an affair with Isodyne owner and prospective senator Calvin Chadwick (Currie Graham) who has all the flair of a Bond villain. Meanwhile back in New York Dottie Underwood is taken into FBI custody, with Thompson’s mentor Vernon Masters (Kurtwood Smith) warning him that the SSR will soon be replaced by a new, peace-time organization (could this be the start of S.H.I.E.L.D that was hinted at in season 1).
While the case in LA continues Carter and Sousa discover it is in fact the good Detective who is our resident Iceman and is starting to freeze himself, Henry attempts to kill Wilkes, but is then killed himself in an astonishing display of “hasta la vista, baby” by a police officer. We discover Henry and the officer were hired to cover up the murder by Chadwick and his actress wife Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett), all this in the first episode, you read that right, the first episode.
Episode 2 sees Chadwick meeting with the secretive Council (This Council all meet under a symbol that looks like the assassins creed logo but they have a Specter/hydra feel to them, they’re kind of creepy actually), who shut down his Zero Matter program due to its seeming lack of results, not that having people who freeze stuff isn’t a result, I’m sure Charles Xavier would agree. Instead they want him to focus on his senatorial ambitions. Chadwick informs Frost, who is the true brains behind the program, while struggling with her acting due to sexism in Hollywood. Wilkes meets with Carter to help with her investigation, though he is hesitant to turn on Isodyne as it was the only company willing to hire him as a black man.
Season 2 touches on these delicate stereotypes which was the struggle back in the 40s and I find it really refreshing that Marvel has taken the dive.
Wilkes explains that Isodyne had attempted to replicate the success of the Manhattan Project and in doing so had discovered Zero Matter.
Now Zero Matter better known as Darkforce would be a part of this season, which ties to Doctor Strange and the character Marcus Daniels (who appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), luckily this won’t contradict anything in the Doctor Strange Script which will add a nice flow. The frozen woman must have come into physical contact with it (Zero Matter), though its effects are not limited to that.
Carter and Wilkes agree to steal the Zero Matter, and at Isodyne find agents of the Council destroying the program. Wilkes manages to get to the vault, but is confronted by Frost, who is there to steal it herself. The two are exposed in the ensuing scuffle, leaving Wilkes M.I.A and Frost apparently having absorbed some if not all of the strange substance.
You have to agree… Exciting stuff all round and as you can see, season 2 is already shaping up to be a nonstop rollercoaster ride into the Marvel TV universe and how it is all connecting and lining up with the Cinematic Universe. With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D still on its midseason break, Agent Carter fills that spot nicely not just as a light snack but as a full coarse dining experience that will leave you hungry for more.
Agent Carter Season 1 is available to buy now
