Friday, January 16, 2015

Agent Carter

   I'm running a bit behind, but I finally got a chance to catch up on my TV viewing - which means I just finished watching the first three episodes of Agent Carter.

   It's the TV equivalent of a mini-series, following the post-World War II adventures of (Secret) Agent Peggy Carter.

   During the war she worked and fell in love with Steve Rogers, both before and after he became Captain America.

   But with his apparent death near the end of the war in Europe, she was left to find her own way - so she goes to work for the predecessor of SHIELD, the SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve).

   The problem is, she's treated as an underling - but in fact she's working for inventor Howard Stark (Tony's father, natch), who has been falsely accused of selling weapons to foreign powers.

   In fact, someone has stolen some powerful weapons from Stark - and he asks his friend Carter to track them down.

   The show is mighty impressive - a period piece, loaded with great production values and sharp scripts - the dialogue is especially good.

   The acting is also terrific. Hayley Atwell as Carter is the perfect mix of tough, smart and sexy - a great role model for kids and a lot of fun to watch.

   Her supporting cast is outstanding, from her "assistant" - Stark's butler, Jarvis - to her "girl friends" (all funny and smart and capable) and her fellow agents - a tough, funny and heroic (if chauvinistic) bunch.

   The series also features quite a few Easter Eggs that tie into the other Marvel movies (note, for example, the name of the scientist Carter consults in the first episode), along with actual scenes lifted from the first (quite excellent) Captain America film.

   So it's a terrific start to this series. Of the growing crowd of superhero-based TV shows, this one - so far - is the best of the bunch.

Grade: A

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2 comments:

El Vox said...

I agree with you, and like you said part of that is casting, but good story and scripts too. Also I like the era that it takes place in.

Kyle said...

Agreed on all counts! (both El Vox and Chuck!) Although I would like to see this as a regular series, the 7 week "mini-series" idea is kind of interesting... I think I like it. Would be really cool to see Marvel continue to experiment with this format... Would love to see a full season of different mini-series featuring different characters and time periods from Marvel's history (if that makes any sense)...