Marvel's Agent Carter2015

The second year kick-off is such an assuredly paced, magnificently teasing run of television that it’s easy to stop lamenting the three-month loss of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s present day agents.

Agent Carter is a clean 8/10 for me — a show that had way more potential than the two seasons it got, but still manages to be one of the most charming and confident things Marvel ever put on TV.Spoilers (all seasons):What makes it work is simple: Peggy Carter carries the whole series on her back. She’s sharp, stubborn, classy, and ten steps ahead of every guy who keeps underestimating her. Watching her operate in this post–Captain America world, where nobody takes her seriously but she still outsmarts everyone, is honestly the best part of the show.Season 1 has that classic Cold War detective vibe. The whole Howard Stark storyline, the stolen tech, the Leviathan plot — it gives Peggy room to show off her skills without needing constant superhero nonsense. Her dynamic with Jarvis is perfect too. He’s awkward, loyal, and somehow always stressed; they’re one of the best duos Marvel’s ever done.Season 2 shifting to LA is fun in a different way — brighter colors, bigger science-gone-wrong plots, and more character drama. Whitney Frost is a great villain: elegant, unhinged, and way more interesting than half the MCU movie villains. Peggy dealing with Zero Matter, the tangled mess of Jack, Sousa, and shady SSR politics… it all works, even when the pacing goes **** the cancellation hurts because the show was clearly building toward something bigger. Jack’s cliffhanger, Peggy finally letting herself move forward emotionally, the growing conspiracy threads — you can tell there was supposed to be more.Still, for two seasons, Agent Carter delivers a stylish mix of noir, spy thriller, and early-MCU charm. It’s tight, clever, and genuinely fun — and Peggy is simply too good of a character to ever feel wasted.

The show deftly balances atomic-age intrigue with unfailingly bright banter between the witty, resourceful Carter and her platonic partner in crime, Edwin Jarvis. [22 Jan 2016, p.65]