Much of the praise for Agent Carter should to go the titular heroine herself, played once again by Hayley Atwell. Atwell has always been one of the shining beacons in Marvel’s lineup. When The First Avenger jumped ahead to the present day, I worried that Peggy would get lost in the fast forward. Luckily, that hasn’t been the case, and Atwell has quickly established herself as a major recurring character in the Marvel films and TV series. Apart from this new show, she’s been in both Captain America films, has appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., was the focus of her own “One Shot” short film (that acts as a bit of a backdoor pilot for this series, despite the fact that it takes place a few years later), and will show up in both of Marvel’s 2015 films, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man.Â
Atwell handles the expanded responsibility well, and easily carries the new series on her shoulders. From the outset, the show manages to display her as a strong protagonist, and reminds us time and time again that she can handle herself without the help of men. This reinforcement feels natural, and builds off of the things we’ve learned about Peggy thus far in the MCU. As such, seeing her in the spotlight feels entirely organic.
Despite Peggy’s notable wartime accomplishments, she (and much of the female population) finds herself marginalized in the post-WWII workplace. Now that the men have come back from war, women are expected to return to the way things were before they ever left. Peggy struggles with this immensely; she still works at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s precursor organization, the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but isn’t taken seriously by her peers and is treated as nothing more than a secretary. This of course forces her to take matters into her own hands, and she begins going on top secret missions behind her bosses backs.
The “Peggy Carter as a spy” idea left me skeptical at first, but the series manages to make it both fun and believable, while setting us up for a nice season-long arc to look forward to. As luck would have it, Howard Stark (played once again by The First Avenger actor Dominic Cooper) is the victim of a robbery that places plans for top-secret and incredibly dangerous technology into enemy hands. Stark is quickly blamed for selling the technology and becomes an enemy of the state. While on the run, he comes to Peggy for help, and brings hist butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) into the fold as well.
Peggy and Jarvis soon uncover a larger conspiracy, and begin working in secret to take down the organization that stole the plans. The SSR is on the case as well, and Peggy finds herself in a precarious situation. If caught, she’ll likely be labeled a conspirator along with Stark. As such, she must remain one step ahead of her fellow SSR agents. It’s a fun dynamic that leads to some tense and sometimes humorous situations, and it should create quite an engaging storyline throughout the season.
