It’s no secret that Marvel has wanted Emily Blunt to join the MCU for quite some time, having previously been offered two roles within it. The first was to play Black Widow back in Iron Man 2, but in one of the cruellest moments in human history, she was forced to turn it down due to being contractually obligated to make one further film with another studio, which turned out to be a train wreck that was 2010s Gulliver’s Travels. Then barely a year later, she was offered the role of Peggy Carter in Captain America; The First Avenger but had too decline due to scheduling conflicts. While Blunt would have done a stellar job as Peggy, we should all be glad that the part went to the equally talented and capable Haley Atwell. That’s because while Blunt would have made further film appearances in the MCU, it is almost a certainty that she would not have committed to making the Agent Carter series (she’s never committed to a TV show in her career), and that would have been a crying shame. Last year, Agent Carter came in like the cast off cousin of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., only to walk all over in a pair of stylish heels within a mere 8 episodes. Now, she’s back for more with an expanded 10 episode second season. Crikey o’ riley governors, it’s gonna be fun!
The Lady in the Lake – When a mysterious body turns up in a frozen lake in the middle of Californian summer, Peggy Carter is sent to the SSR’s new LA office to assist with the investigation. Things soon take a turn for strange as someone in Hollywood is making more than just movies.
Well, you can’t keep a good girl down and my God does Peggy come back with a bang! The opening bank sequence is outstanding. We’re immediately re-confronted with the delectable former Russian sleeper agent Dottie Underwood and we’ve barely had time to fist pump over her incognito return before she and her gang and confronted by the SSR, the familiar faces of Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray – One Tree Hill) and our own leading lady. Before the opening titles were even rolled, Peggy and Dottie are beating seven hells out of each other in a fight that the rest of the season will have a real job trying to better (including one hell of a money shot). It’s a clear statement of intent that the show and this season will not be compared to any of its MCU affiliates. That it will be quality in its own right.
The new LA setting is quickly established. The SSR has expanded to have a West coast office there headed by Agent Sousa (Enver Gjokaj – Dollhouse), who needs additional help when a big case turns up. Peggy’s dispatch makes a great reflection on the evolution of sexism within the SSR. Things have much improved but aren’t there yet. Jack, now the New York chief, respects and values Peggy but in some ways, prefers not to have her around so he picks her to go to LA. The dynamic duo of Peggy and the Stark butler extraordinaire, Edward Jarvis (James D'Arcy – Let’s Be Cops) is quickly reunited in hilarious fashion as Jarvis begs to tag along in salvation from the boredom of his day job. However, a sad feature of the changing location is that many faces from the first season seem to have missed their flight or will at best be reduced to minor/cameo appearances. We’ve lost the entire cast of Peggy’s boarding house residence, although Angie, as an aspiring actress, could be an easy transition to Hollywood. We’ve also left the likes of Anton Vanko, Roxxon Oil and other past institutions behind us which is a shame.
However, when you make a space on your shelf, you get to fill it with something new and already we have platter of new characters being paraded in front of us. The main antagonists appear to be the industrialist and owner of Isodyne Energy, Calvin Chadwick (Currie Graham) and his wife, the actress Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett – The Newsroom), AKA Madame Masque. Considering that Frost’s features are currently anything but scared and disfigured, we could well witness an origin accident for her mask-wearing villainess in a future episode. There are a few new gang members in LA SSR office but none overly stand out. A scientist, Dr Wilkes, looks like a potential love interest for Peggy. Although the king of the new arrivals goes to Kurtwood Smith (Robocop, That 70s Show) as an FBI chief and long-time friend of Jack’s (can he just say “dumbass” once... please!). He brings immediate effortless presence the moment he enters the room and also sets in motion potentially the most interesting plotline of the season. His implications that the SSR is on its way out following post-war restructuring could be clever ruse or could also mean that this season, we will see Peggy and company leave the SSR to form S.H.I.E.L.D.
The main murder mystery story of the episode plays out well as a mixture of LA Noire and science fiction. There’s some great intrigue as the more bizarre elements reveal themselves. We get to see Peggy running some infiltration and even becoming BFFs with Mrs Jarvis. There’s comedy mixed into many of the scenes such as cameo appearance of Bernard Stark and Jarvis’s assessment of LA, “They eat avocadoes.... with everything!”. The overall result feels familiar enough of the first season yet branching out in a new and fascinating direction as rather than a war-echoing foreign foe (the Russian organisation of Leviathan). This season’s trouble looks to be a case of homeland insecurity with all American villains. The stranger aspects appear to be science-driven at the moment, but the showrunners have confirmed that this season will tie in with this year’s forthcoming Doctor Strange movie, so could we see some mystical involvement. It may be in a new city but Agent Carter is still one great show.