When Captain America is in hibernation it’s his girlfriend, not a trusty sidekick, who’s saving the day...
She may be Captain America’s girlfriend but that doesn’t stop Peggy Carter from being an agent extraordinaire as well! Carter works for America’s premier spy agency, Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR); despite being treated the same as her male colleagues (the show is set in the 1940s), she gets the job done. In the eight-episode first season, Peggy Carter not only saved the Captain’s friends but also the country from destruction. Her exploits made people forget Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, the show Agent Carter was supposed to replace but it actually managed to topple!
The background
The year is 1946 and Agent Peggy Carter is restricted to a desk job. The powers think that serving coffee to her male colleagues is the job description that suits the girlfriend of the Missing-In-Action Captain America. What they don’t know is that Agent Carter is engrossed in secret spy work after hours – work that only someone close to Captain America could do. Along with Edwin Jarvis, she not only goes on a quest to clear his friend Howard Stark’s name but also manages to bring down HYDRA – the enemy organization bent on destroying America.
The extraordinary
Agent Carter
After the Second World War, America did make a comeback but women didn’t get their due until much later. That is why Peggy and her adventures in the 1940s were extraordinary for a woman of that era. She could take out five men at a time, use her brains as well as beauty to bring down the enemy and was an expert at hand-to-hand combat and firing guns, something that was considered ‘manly’ 70 years ago. In fact, most of the time when she beat up a man and exited the scene, the poor chap had nothing more to say to the police than “You won’t believe me if I told you!” After bringing down the enemy and saving the country from total destruction, who got the credit? Not Peggy, but her boss who was a man in a man’s world!
The highs and lows
For a period adventure show set in the 1940s, the show creators had its look down pat. From the fashion and accessories to the automobiles, and even the language, everything is as authentic as it can be. The chemistry between Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) is also the highlight of the series. From the moment the two meet in the first episode, it’s ‘boom boom bombastic’ all the way. No matter what they are doing – searching for Howard Stark’s missing inventions, blowing up a factory or even interrupting when either of them is in the interrogation room – the result is magic. Both actors do justice to their characters and it helps that their dialogues and interaction are well-scripted.
As for the downside, too much of anything is bad and the over-mention of ‘Steve’s blood’ (as in Captain America) makes it seem like a joke rather than something sinister. Yes, we all love Captain America but if the TV series takes place when he is in hibernation, so be it. By the end of the series, even the irritating radio broadcasts didn’t make us smile like they did in the beginning.
Marvel cameos, marvellous feeling
Did you know that the inspiration behind J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System), the Artificial Intelligence computer in the Iron Man and Avengers movies, was actually someone named Jarvis? And that Jarvis was the butler of Howard Stark (played by Dominic Cooper) who makes multiple appearances in the TV series after being part of the Marvel Universe in films. When the multi-billionaire jumps off to a motorboat to evade arrest, he leaves Peggy Carter with his butler Edwin Jarvis, who saves the day with the Special Agent. Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough) also appears in the show after being part of Captain America: The First Avenger. A surprise awaits the fans of Marvel Comics in the final moments of the season finale; you’ll have to watch it to know it – I am not spilling the beans!
Season Two – To be or not to be!
There is a chance that Agent Carter will make a return to TV screens; then there is a chance that it will not. Whatever the case may be, one hopes that it does because it left many questions unanswered for fans of Captain America and his girlfriend. With Howard Stark back at the helm of Stark Industries, Peggy Carter earning respect as a competent Agent and HYDRA on the back foot, what else can be expected in the second season? A lot, if you ask me. The vamp Dottie has escaped despite a fatal fall in the season finale; Dr. Ivchenko is imprisoned with another super villain who we know will have a huge part to play in the future, and HYDRA will not rest until it gets back at Peggy Carter and her friends. One hopes that the next season has more firepower and an even better storyline to go with the ever popular and ever growing Marvel Universe.
Omair Alavi can be contacted at omair78@gmail.com
