Agent Carter 2.05 & 2.06.
Feb. 17th, 2016 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakTwo episodes on one night, and not the premiere, that's a bit odd. But of course great to watch.
Bridget Regan is pulling all the stops here and the next episode as Dottie enjoys herself being recruited by Peggy (sort of) and undercover. Never mind Angie, this is clearly the best f/f pairing for Peggy. I also love her party dress, all black with a red sash, a very Black Widow thing to wear. And Peggy anticipating her moves... up to a point. I'm torn on whether or not I believe Jack Thompson taking Dottie prisoner at the end of this episode: on the one hand, no, not in terms of physical combat, on the other, he had a gun on her, and he would go immediately for a kill shot, which she knows. She's not immune to bullets.
But the next episode brings us even better Dottie stuff: the long delayed explanation as to whether she and Fenhoff/Faustus were acting on their own or under Red Room orders last season, and what Dottie's current status is. Turns out Fenhoff was pursuing his vendetta against Howard on his own initiative, not licensed by the state, but tricked Dottie into believing he was, and this is why Dottie has been cut loose. That was the one point where Vernon, otherwise so out of his depth with her, managed to land a hit, when he brought this up. Otherwise, he was a failure with her, unsurprisingly. Unlike Whitney, who was the bigger shark even to a torture-hardened trained to kill from childhood being like Dottie, not least because Dottie had had a front row seat to what Whitney could do with the zero matter, and because she experienced a taste of it.
Jason Wilkes start the first episode in the ring world from Lord of the Rings zero matter zone, and for the first time, we see from his pov what happens when he becomes invisible. Sorry, but it really does resemble the effects Jackson used for Frodo's and Bilbo's pov when they're wearing the One Ring. Since Dr. Wilkes later tells Peggy he's frightened of more than his death, methinks he does refer to the show's equivalent of becoming a ring wraith, too, in whichever technobabble they're going to dress it up. The fear of ringwraithdom (in lack of a better term) also exposes a more ruthless side in Jason Wilkes as he tells Peggy not just to let the captured Dottie be but to actively kill her (via necklace). It's either a realistic touch (not everyone reacts to impending death-or-worse with nobility as opposed to "my survival above all" or foreshadowing possible villaindom, which would solve Peggy's romantic dilemma but would mean the first poc character with a role to play in the story ends up a villain, which, not good.
Whitney tries to recruit him in the end - and finds out she can't just reabsorb the zero matter in his own body from him since this ends in him taking some more from her - by playing on their status as discriminated against people in the current world, a woman and a black man respectively, promising it's her intention to change said world. Which would be a tad more convincing if she hadn't just made what Howard called the ultimate male and pale club into her minions, and if we'd heard her voice such ideas before needing to convince Wilkes. Yes, she was partly formed by the sexism surrounding her, but Magneto, she's not; the impression you get from Whitney is that she's in business for herself, not anyone else discriminated against. Note that in her interrogation scene with Dottie, she doesn't even try to play the female solidarity card ("we're not even in the same ocean"), because it's not necessary; she gets far faster and better results by using other means with Dottie.
Early in the first episode, I was a bit frustrated that Whitney, a manipulator herself, is so easily taken in and played by her husband Calvin Chadwick, because it was glaringly obvious he was setting her up with the Council. Otoh I suppose it was necessary for the inevitable scene where she turns said set up against him and everyone else and makes the surviving Council her minions. (Note that she didn't just kill at a whim; she let those members survive which had an immediate use for her.)
Peggy's two big friendship scenes with Jarvis, the one where he gets her to talk about her "qualified suitors" and the one where she holds his hand as they wait for the results of Ana's surgery, were wonderful again. BFFs forever. But I think we've gotten our explanation as to why Jarvis WON'T be working for Peggy by the end of the season but will continue to keep his job with Howard Stark. He's okay with putting his own life at risk for Peggy, even glad to, but he's just gotten a demonstration that Ana's life is at risk as well if she and he are in Peggy's vicinity all the time, and this will probably be the price he won't be prepared to pay. (Of course, I could be wrong, and Ana could die, after which Jarvis would certainly work for Peggy full time, but given he'll be in the Stark household long enough for Tony to model his AI after him, I severely doubt it.)
Speaking of future working opportunities: Dottie in the episode "Monsters" telling Peggy to take a look at the men she's working for, that Peggy's idealism blinds her and that Peggy has no idea of how deep the rot in the SSR goes, is double foreshadowing: not just because Peggy's days in the SSR are numbered (even if Thompson doesn't "destroy" her as ordered, I suspect she'll quit, and I suspect Sousa will now, too), but because SHIELD, which Peggy will found, will start with the same rot inside, and Peggy will be blind to it.
Bridget Regan is pulling all the stops here and the next episode as Dottie enjoys herself being recruited by Peggy (sort of) and undercover. Never mind Angie, this is clearly the best f/f pairing for Peggy. I also love her party dress, all black with a red sash, a very Black Widow thing to wear. And Peggy anticipating her moves... up to a point. I'm torn on whether or not I believe Jack Thompson taking Dottie prisoner at the end of this episode: on the one hand, no, not in terms of physical combat, on the other, he had a gun on her, and he would go immediately for a kill shot, which she knows. She's not immune to bullets.
But the next episode brings us even better Dottie stuff: the long delayed explanation as to whether she and Fenhoff/Faustus were acting on their own or under Red Room orders last season, and what Dottie's current status is. Turns out Fenhoff was pursuing his vendetta against Howard on his own initiative, not licensed by the state, but tricked Dottie into believing he was, and this is why Dottie has been cut loose. That was the one point where Vernon, otherwise so out of his depth with her, managed to land a hit, when he brought this up. Otherwise, he was a failure with her, unsurprisingly. Unlike Whitney, who was the bigger shark even to a torture-hardened trained to kill from childhood being like Dottie, not least because Dottie had had a front row seat to what Whitney could do with the zero matter, and because she experienced a taste of it.
Jason Wilkes start the first episode in the
Whitney tries to recruit him in the end - and finds out she can't just reabsorb the zero matter in his own body from him since this ends in him taking some more from her - by playing on their status as discriminated against people in the current world, a woman and a black man respectively, promising it's her intention to change said world. Which would be a tad more convincing if she hadn't just made what Howard called the ultimate male and pale club into her minions, and if we'd heard her voice such ideas before needing to convince Wilkes. Yes, she was partly formed by the sexism surrounding her, but Magneto, she's not; the impression you get from Whitney is that she's in business for herself, not anyone else discriminated against. Note that in her interrogation scene with Dottie, she doesn't even try to play the female solidarity card ("we're not even in the same ocean"), because it's not necessary; she gets far faster and better results by using other means with Dottie.
Early in the first episode, I was a bit frustrated that Whitney, a manipulator herself, is so easily taken in and played by her husband Calvin Chadwick, because it was glaringly obvious he was setting her up with the Council. Otoh I suppose it was necessary for the inevitable scene where she turns said set up against him and everyone else and makes the surviving Council her minions. (Note that she didn't just kill at a whim; she let those members survive which had an immediate use for her.)
Peggy's two big friendship scenes with Jarvis, the one where he gets her to talk about her "qualified suitors" and the one where she holds his hand as they wait for the results of Ana's surgery, were wonderful again. BFFs forever. But I think we've gotten our explanation as to why Jarvis WON'T be working for Peggy by the end of the season but will continue to keep his job with Howard Stark. He's okay with putting his own life at risk for Peggy, even glad to, but he's just gotten a demonstration that Ana's life is at risk as well if she and he are in Peggy's vicinity all the time, and this will probably be the price he won't be prepared to pay. (Of course, I could be wrong, and Ana could die, after which Jarvis would certainly work for Peggy full time, but given he'll be in the Stark household long enough for Tony to model his AI after him, I severely doubt it.)
Speaking of future working opportunities: Dottie in the episode "Monsters" telling Peggy to take a look at the men she's working for, that Peggy's idealism blinds her and that Peggy has no idea of how deep the rot in the SSR goes, is double foreshadowing: not just because Peggy's days in the SSR are numbered (even if Thompson doesn't "destroy" her as ordered, I suspect she'll quit, and I suspect Sousa will now, too), but because SHIELD, which Peggy will found, will start with the same rot inside, and Peggy will be blind to it.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-17 06:22 pm (UTC)/Turns out Fenhoff was pursuing his vendetta against Howard on his own initiative, not licensed by the state, but tricked Dottie into believing he was, and this is why Dottie has been cut loose./ - Well, even if it was an officially sanctioned mission I doubt they would have asked for Dottie back. I can imagine them seeing their operatives as expendable.
Ringwraithdom, LOL!
/Note that in her interrogation scene with Dottie, she doesn't even try to play the female solidarity card ("we're not even in the same ocean")/ - Oh, that's right! I hadn't thought of that scene in comparison to the one with Wilkes. *nods* LOL, you're right, definitely not Magneto...
/she turns said set up against him and everyone else and makes the surviving Council her minions/ - Can't lie, that was kind of awesome... :D
/But I think we've gotten our explanation as to why Jarvis WON'T be working for Peggy by the end of the season but will continue to keep his job with Howard Stark./ - Oh, yes yes, that would be a great explanation.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-17 06:27 pm (UTC)True, though Bridge of Spies has reminded me that the Soviet Union did trade (some) spies. Though not yet in the late 40s in real life.
Hm, if they're broadcasting that many episodes so quickly, I suppose the show won't be renewed - this smells of the network wanting to get rid of it as quickly as possible. :(
no subject
Date: 2016-02-17 06:34 pm (UTC)/Hm, if they're broadcasting that many episodes so quickly, I suppose the show won't be renewed - this smells of the network wanting to get rid of it as quickly as possible. :(/ - Sigh. You're probably right. So absurd. Agents of SHIELD isn't even comparable to Agent Carter, as far as my enjoyment goes... :(
no subject
Date: 2016-02-17 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-18 01:22 am (UTC)That said, the ratings are unfortunately abysmal, so the chances for another season seem rather bleak. I don't know if Netflix could buy it? Of course, tonally Agent Carter is a rather odd fit with their Marvel shows, but there's a similar problem with AoS.
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Date: 2016-02-18 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-18 07:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-18 07:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-18 07:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-02-22 09:30 pm (UTC)After finally having seen the episode, I so agree with the Frodo similarities. Does that make Peggy Aragorn, I wonder?
About Jason's more ruthless side, on the one hand the original character is a villain, so they could be setting him on the same path. On the other, zero matter seems to have some effect on both him and Whitney that isn't entirely positive, and I'm wondering if it simply makes people more aggressive/prone to irrational behaviour? It seems to want something - another parallel to the ring, of course! - and it might affect people to get it.
Poor Ana; I enjoyed everyone else in their spy gaming - much more fun then the love quadrangle nonsense - but she was so lovely with Jason, and then so brave, and then she gets shot to hold back Peggy. I'm thinking this is going to fire back on Whitney, not just because Peggy now really has a personal reason in addition to a professional one to bring her down, but also because it puts Jarvis, and with him, Howard, against her.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-23 04:11 am (UTC)Movieverse Aragorn, definitely. :) (Wanting to protect Frodo, resisting the temptation of the
ringzero matter, brooding a bit about the past but not so much it gets in the way of current day action, and destined to bekingqueenhead of a big powerful organization in the future.)If Jason is Frodo, then, of course, while the
ringzero matter will near the end overwhelm him, he'll stay basically good and be himself again once it's gone. Otoh it has occured to me he could be Boromir, in which case tragic death of atonment after falling into temptation would be on the horizon. (Can so see him giving Peggy the "I would have followed you..." speech.)I'm thinking this is going to fire back on Whitney, not just because Peggy now really has a personal reason in addition to a professional one to bring her down, but also because it puts Jarvis, and with him, Howard, against her.
Oh absolutely. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Jarvis who does something instrumental to defeat Whitney; I mean, obviously Peggy is the heroine of the show and Whitney is her villain of the season, but Jarvis is just the type of person your traditional megalomaniac genius supervillain overlooks because he's "only" support, only useful - like Ana - to slow down the heroes. (If this was a Netflix instead of an ABC show, I think it would let Peggy defeat Whitney but Jarvis do something to ensure that instead of getting captured, she dies during that defeat, which he would be able to do due to having picked up enough engineering know-how from Howard. Peggy would know what he's done but would understand why; otoh this would also be another reason why Jarvis then steps away from the spy life. But I'm 70% sure they won't go this dark on a network show.)