Agent Carter 2.01. and 2.02
Jan. 20th, 2016 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakShe’s back!
General thoughts: the change of location from New York to Los Angeles brings with it a slight adjustment of genre; now we’re paying homage to both noir and neo noir, Los Angeles, rich people up to no good, though the club of rich old villains behind the scenes is typically comics. (Or Joss Whedon. Was expecting them to be called Rossum’s, represented by Wolfram and Hart.) Also, considering they used the observatory from Rebel without a Cause as a key location in episode 2, I hope we get some more movie homages and am holding out for the Paramount entrance portal from Sunset Boulevard.
Characterisation thoughts, new characters: Ana Jarvis is great (and Lotte V. brings the charm she proved as Giulia Farnese to a very different character, giving her instantly a personality fanfiction never guessed), and I love the total lack of jealousy clichés re: her interaction with Peggy, and her immense practicality for spy outfits in the field (female Q, anyone?). (And that Jarvis practiced his newly learned judo with her.) Speaking of lack of jealousy clichés, Violet is very likeable so far, too (took me some looks to recognize Sarah Bolger as a blonde, though!), and considering I wrongly suspected both Ana and Angie of being moles last season, I will not do so with Violet. Whitney Frost was the only character I was the teensiest bit spoiled for (only in as much as that she was based on Hedy Lamarr, i.e. an actress who nobody guesses is also a scientific genius), and so far I’m intrigued. Since she’s not dead, I’m sure Dr. Wilkes isn’t, either (not that I expected him to be, since the show went to the trouble to establish him as a serious love interest possibility for Peggy), which begs the question: are the other people swallowed by the Zero Matter alive somewhere as well?
The Zero Matter reminds me of the MacGuffin from Thor: The Dark World, what was it called again – not just the stuff itself but also the dimensional cracks the kids in London discovered and then Jane and Darcy etc. On the one hand, it may be related or the same, given Marvel continuity, and it would make sense within the Marvelverse, otoh, it would tie the season’s mystery too closely to the movies, and I doubt the budget is enough for alien planets, so presumably Dr. Wilkes and possibly the earlier swallowed people ended up somewhere on Earth, not in one of the other Nine Worlds.
Established characters: Jack will be Jack, i.e. not evil, but still letting ambition getting the better of him (and the need to prove he’s as good as Peggy). Dottie I hadn’t expected to be back so soon, and I thought opening the season with her capture was a neat way to lead in from last season and connect it with this one. Not that I expected her to be captive for long, even if Jack hadn’t interfered. Her being made up a la Peggy for her heist was the logical next step after the lip stick. Daniel Sousa having moved on (though not completely) with Violet just when Peggy was starting to consider him as a possible boyfriend is so far (and I say this as someone not often fond of triangles) surprisingly not annoying but comes across as the kind of thing that can happen. Rose was a surprise, and I thought she had more dialogue in this first two episodes than she had in the entire last season. Hooray for middle aged women of non slender shape given screen time, interaction with several main characters and personality! Jarvis I thought at first was used a bit too much on the comic relief side of the character, but then it evened itself out, his banter with Peggy is still great, and now I hope we will see him fence before the season is over.
As for the main event: Peggy Carter, I have decided you are my favourite MCU (and MTU, or what do we call the television series additions to the ‘verse?) woman, though the competition is hard. (Love Natasha and Jessica and Trish, too, but, you know, PEGGY.) Haley Atwell continues to be great in the part, delivering one liners, punches, eye rolls and put downs with gusto, and never forgetting the emotion underneath. When she asked Jarvis for a ride home near the end of episode 2, voice just very barely kept from cracking, she broke my heart a bit.
All in all: a welcome start of the second season!
General thoughts: the change of location from New York to Los Angeles brings with it a slight adjustment of genre; now we’re paying homage to both noir and neo noir, Los Angeles, rich people up to no good, though the club of rich old villains behind the scenes is typically comics. (Or Joss Whedon. Was expecting them to be called Rossum’s, represented by Wolfram and Hart.) Also, considering they used the observatory from Rebel without a Cause as a key location in episode 2, I hope we get some more movie homages and am holding out for the Paramount entrance portal from Sunset Boulevard.
Characterisation thoughts, new characters: Ana Jarvis is great (and Lotte V. brings the charm she proved as Giulia Farnese to a very different character, giving her instantly a personality fanfiction never guessed), and I love the total lack of jealousy clichés re: her interaction with Peggy, and her immense practicality for spy outfits in the field (female Q, anyone?). (And that Jarvis practiced his newly learned judo with her.) Speaking of lack of jealousy clichés, Violet is very likeable so far, too (took me some looks to recognize Sarah Bolger as a blonde, though!), and considering I wrongly suspected both Ana and Angie of being moles last season, I will not do so with Violet. Whitney Frost was the only character I was the teensiest bit spoiled for (only in as much as that she was based on Hedy Lamarr, i.e. an actress who nobody guesses is also a scientific genius), and so far I’m intrigued. Since she’s not dead, I’m sure Dr. Wilkes isn’t, either (not that I expected him to be, since the show went to the trouble to establish him as a serious love interest possibility for Peggy), which begs the question: are the other people swallowed by the Zero Matter alive somewhere as well?
The Zero Matter reminds me of the MacGuffin from Thor: The Dark World, what was it called again – not just the stuff itself but also the dimensional cracks the kids in London discovered and then Jane and Darcy etc. On the one hand, it may be related or the same, given Marvel continuity, and it would make sense within the Marvelverse, otoh, it would tie the season’s mystery too closely to the movies, and I doubt the budget is enough for alien planets, so presumably Dr. Wilkes and possibly the earlier swallowed people ended up somewhere on Earth, not in one of the other Nine Worlds.
Established characters: Jack will be Jack, i.e. not evil, but still letting ambition getting the better of him (and the need to prove he’s as good as Peggy). Dottie I hadn’t expected to be back so soon, and I thought opening the season with her capture was a neat way to lead in from last season and connect it with this one. Not that I expected her to be captive for long, even if Jack hadn’t interfered. Her being made up a la Peggy for her heist was the logical next step after the lip stick. Daniel Sousa having moved on (though not completely) with Violet just when Peggy was starting to consider him as a possible boyfriend is so far (and I say this as someone not often fond of triangles) surprisingly not annoying but comes across as the kind of thing that can happen. Rose was a surprise, and I thought she had more dialogue in this first two episodes than she had in the entire last season. Hooray for middle aged women of non slender shape given screen time, interaction with several main characters and personality! Jarvis I thought at first was used a bit too much on the comic relief side of the character, but then it evened itself out, his banter with Peggy is still great, and now I hope we will see him fence before the season is over.
As for the main event: Peggy Carter, I have decided you are my favourite MCU (and MTU, or what do we call the television series additions to the ‘verse?) woman, though the competition is hard. (Love Natasha and Jessica and Trish, too, but, you know, PEGGY.) Haley Atwell continues to be great in the part, delivering one liners, punches, eye rolls and put downs with gusto, and never forgetting the emotion underneath. When she asked Jarvis for a ride home near the end of episode 2, voice just very barely kept from cracking, she broke my heart a bit.
All in all: a welcome start of the second season!
no subject
Date: 2016-01-20 11:53 pm (UTC)Ana and Violet are great. Last I'd seen Lotte Verbeek, she was playing an alledged witch on Outlander. I hope Violet gets more to do than be Souza's love interest. And I love seeing more of Rose. (She was talking surfing with Violet, I think?)
no subject
Date: 2016-01-21 10:12 am (UTC)re: Violet, thinking more about it, now I'm afraid she could end up as a murder victim. (It's always someone the heroes have an emotional relationship to. Last season it was Peggy's room mate at the start and Chief Dooley at the end.) I hope not, but I fear for it.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-21 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-21 05:11 pm (UTC)Also, BERNARD. Bernard the devil in pink. If it were any other show I'd think he was just a running gag, but I bet he has a role to play. Also loved Bernard's full-length hot pink cage cover. Bernard is living large.
ETA From what I can tell Jack's loss of power with the SSR (paralleling Peggy's demotion at the beginning of S1) is based on what happened with the OSS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Services -- which I first learned about from seeing a film as a kid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.S.S._(film) ). I thiiink it might've been more likely that the nascent CIA would have stepped in, though, not the FBI, although if SHIELD is super-CIA, I can see how they're going with the FBI, under Hoover at that point too. (Can Peggy punch Hoover? PLEASE, SHOW, PLEASE)
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 01:32 pm (UTC)Well, he's a Stark. :)
Peggy punching Hoover would be the best fanservice ever on this show.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 02:15 am (UTC)I am also highly amused that Howard owns the automobile equivalent of Tony's stripper pole plane from the first Iron Man film. Like father, like son ...
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 01:34 pm (UTC)