Agent Carter, Season 2, Episode 4: Smoke & Mirrors
Agent Carter is consistently good every week. It still doesn't quite have the same 'wow' effect as the big revelations about the Zero Matter in the second episode, but it's still consistently quite good. This week is both fast-paced and slow-paced at the same time. Fast-paced because we get a lot of plot being moved forward, namely Peggy and Sousa deciding to assault the Arena Club... even if it got shut down rather quickly thanks to some administrative red tape thanks to our good buddy FBI-man Vernon. I think the weakest point is another sense of deja vu that Peggy Carter is once again doing an investigation where the authorities have shut her down, though at least this time around part of the SSR is on her side.
On the villain side, the hitman, Rufus Hunt, gets bullied around, interrogated with the fake malaria injection, before being eaten by Whitney Frost's new Zero Matter powers. Whitney Frost embracing her powers by experimenting with rats, her brief panicking about her looks, something that her shitty mother told her is the only thing she's worth for, and ultimately embracing it by consuming Rufus Hunt in front of poor, frightened Chadwick... yeah, plot progression is hard and fast this episode.
On the other hand, we get a lot of flashbacks for both Peggy and Whitney -- though for a moment I got confused and thought that they were all about Peggy. Oh well. Mea culpa. It's slow-pawhaced, really, but functions somewhat to build upon the characters that this season is telling us about. Necessary? Hardly. But are they entertaining, and do they build up the characters? Yeah. Poor Whitney Frost (well, Agnes Cully) had a shitty mother who didn't approve of all her interest in science, insists that her looks are the only thing that will get her ahead in life, blames her for her lover sleeping around with other women, and generally is a shitty mother all around.
Peggy's mom kinda disapproves of her wanting to be the dragonslayer instead of the princess in playtime, wanting her to be a good little girl, but nowhere to the extent of Whitney's shitty mother. We see more of Peggy being engaged to a 'Fred', while her brother, Michael, wants Peggy to choose a life of a spy, something that Michael knows is more suited to what Peggy wants to. And, well, Michael died. Man, that was sad. It was a nice development and a nice juxtaposition how they were both forced to be moulded into what women should be at that time period, and how Peggy ultimately rejected her 'perfect life', which she fooled herself of wanting, and instead chose her heart's calling. A bit odd that we've never heard about Michael Carter at all before this, but the scenes really worked well.
Again, feminism handled well. A lot better than how Agent Carter's first season was, and definitely miles and miles more well-written than Supergirl. I could be mean and start nitpicking that show, but let's not.
Incidentally, Rufus Hunt is played by the same actor that played Reactron from Supergirl.
Ahem. Back to Agent Carter... Jarvis was still funny with his antics with the tranquilizer gun, pretending to be an American toughie and everything. Sousa was fine, being a nice ally, and the revelation that Vernon gave the same communist speech to him was kind of hilarious in hindsight. Wilkes is still the weaker part of the protagonists, with the potential romance angle really not working out as well as it should, though with him seeing visions about dark holes and shit are definitely interesting. Does he have more powers? What are the extent of his powers beyond just being intangible? And, more importantly, what are Whitney Frost's limits?
Overall, a lot happened in the present day, but it moved so fast thanks to a good chunk of the screentime used for flashbacks. And while it could've been trimmed out a little the flashbacks did help to build Frost and Peggy's characters. The Zero Matter and Council of Nine (we have a name!) plotlines continue to move forward, and I'm definitely far more interested with this season than I was at this point last season.
I have to say I'm a tad disappointed with the reveals of this show. Peggy's back story just seems so...meh. Almost stereotypical. The pampered Brit who wants more out of life than society expects from her? Yawn.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I get the parallels between Carter and Whitney Frost. But the parallels seemed forced. They had to make Frost the foil so they had to set up parallels. But this is Peggy Carter, the chick that, in a couple of years (in the shows timeline) is helping run freakin Project Rebirth. I was just expecting more....special. I mean, they didn't even show she was a crack shot.
On a positive, Halley Atwell's acting was pretty good with her playing her younger self. She did a really good job. I was reminded of Kathleen Turner's performance in "Peggy Sue Got Married". No makeup tricks, just a great actress using youthful mannerisms.
I have to say I'm a tad disappointed with the reveals of this show. Peggy's back story just seems so...meh. Almost stereotypical. The pampered Brit who wants more out of life than society expects from her? Yawn.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I get the parallels between Carter and Whitney Frost. But the parallels seemed forced. They had to make Frost the foil so they had to set up parallels. But this is Peggy Carter, the chick that, in a couple of years (in the shows timeline) is helping run freakin Project Rebirth. I was just expecting more....special. I mean, they didn't even show she was a crack shot.
On a positive, Halley Atwell's acting was pretty good with her playing her younger self. She did a really good job. I was reminded of Kathleen Turner's performance in "Peggy Sue Got Married". No makeup tricks, just a great actress using youthful mannerisms.
As far as Peggy's backstory goes, at least they didn't dwell too long on it or harp on it over and over in the present-day. It's something that they showed us, and while I admit that it could've been more effective with Peggy just sitting down for three minutes and telling it to Sousa or Wilkes, it's still an interesting juxtaposition between her and Frost's backstory. Forced, maybe, but hey, the four seasons of Arrow flashbacks under my belt informs me that this is on the better end of the 'forced parallels' scale.
DeleteTo note is that this is the most feminist this show has gotten in season two, devoting significant screentime showing how both Peggy and Frost are moulded by their surroundings and the people around them, and it's still entertaining to watch, not like a certain other show who I really don't like to bash but, y'know, it's a comparison.