Marvel's Agent Carter

[Jesse412]

I was hoping this show would be more like Captain America The First Avenger than Agents of SHIELD and I wasn't disappointed with the quality.

Episode 1 "Now Is Not The End"

Spoiler

I liked that they used a few scenes from Captain America The First Avenger. Glad to see Dominic Cooper return as Howard Stark. I thought the casting was fantastic; James Frain, Shea Whigham from Boardwalk Empire, Andre Royo from The Wire, James Urbaniak from The Venture Bros and Kevin Heffernan from Broken Lizard even has a brief cameo. James D'Arcy wasn't too bad as Jarvis. Hayley Atwell looked quite good as a blonde in that dress. Nice reference to Roxxon.

Episode 2 "Bridge and Tunnel"

Spoiler

I like the addition of the Captain America radio show. I think Hayley Atwell does a pretty good job in the undercover roles without the English accent. She also does a great job with the action scenes. The fight scene on top of the moving milk truck loaded with explosives was kind of epic. Preview for next week looks good.

 

[J-Sun]

They hit the femlib (and lack thereof) with a freakin' nuclear-powered sledgehammer but, other than that, I loved this. I wasn't particularly excited about this but wasn't really dreading it either. Now I feel like I should have been excited. It was fun, interesting, committed, fantastically shot - cinematography, lighting, set stuff, I dunno - and had none of the hesitancy and slow-start of Agents of Shield. And Carter (Haley Atwell?), while very attractive, isn't exactly right for me but she's absolutely got some kind of "lead" power. Dunno what to say in detail except that I liked it and I'll be there next episode.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Can anyone living this side of the pond tell me if this is on UK TV yet and if not when it will be? Reading this thread is actually making me foam at the mouth with antci...


...pation.

 

[Lenny]

Can anyone living this side of the pond tell me if this is on UK TV yet and if not when it will be?

Apparently it's not yet been picked up by a UK channel (not even Channel 4, which is somewhat surprising - you'd have thunk they'd want to corner the market for Marvel TV in the UK), and there are rumours that it's going to go to Netflix for the UK.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

If it's on Netflix US already I could still watch it using hola on Google Chrome. I'll go have a look.
Thanks @Lenny

 

[The Bluestocking]

They hit the femlib (and lack thereof) with a freakin' nuclear-powered sledgehammer but, other than that, I loved this.

The sexism that Agent Carter faces (and how she pushes back against it) is exactly why I absolutely love this series so far. She works to keep the world safe - a world where she's still treated with casual contempt by patronising men. It's going to be an interesting ride watching her navigate both supervillains and her male colleagues.

It's about time a comic book adaptation tackled this issue anyway and it is refreshing given the amount of misogyny going on in certain quarters of the geek world (including among the comic book fandom).

 

[BAYLOR]

I think we have a winner . I enjoyed the premier. Hoping they do more with this beyond the 8 episodes.

 

[Idoru]

I've just checked on IMDB and seen that Hayley Atwell is indeed playing Agent Carter. I think HA is awesome so really hoping that this gets picked up by a UK channel.

 

[willwallace]

The first two episodes were quite good, I felt. I think Marvel is trying to keep everyone interested in their universe, from movies, to Shield, and now Carter. If it's a fill-in between Shield's breaks during the season, I would be happy with that.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

So would I, but I can't seem to get it!

Found it on ABC but it wouldn't let me play it even with Hola trying to persuade it I was browsing from the US, not from a little farm in rural County Down....

 

[Lenny]

Very enjoyable first couple of episodes!

Only one complaint - radios in 1946 are apparently able to pick up jazz music from 2010.

 

[J-Sun]

So would I, but I can't seem to get it!

On what Lenny said, there's a direct quote in the wikipedia article:

Channel 4, the station that airs Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the United Kingdom, has stated that they do not "have any current plans for Agent Carter."

Which seems colossally dumb to me but I know nothing of the UK market and they presumably do.

Only one complaint - radios in 1946 are apparently able to pick up jazz music from 2010.

There's alien tech in those radios! (They also have transcontinental typewriters - and how you make a mechanical typewriter do that, I dunno - so I wouldn't be too amazed at the time-traveling radios.)

---

So the wikipedia article was confusing in one respect, mentioning I think three variants. Is the true plan that we are only guaranteed eight episodes in January and February until Shield's return but that we may get additional episodes in later seasons of Shield?

Maybe the first two episodes (one double episode, whatever) were a fluke, or maybe if it was a regular series it would dilute it, but if they could maintain the quality in a regular 22-episode season I feel at this point that I would like that regular 22-episode season.

 

[Lenny]

(They also have transcontinental typewriters - and how you make a mechanical typewriter do that, I dunno - so I wouldn't be too amazed at the time-traveling radios.)

I'm nothing close to an engineer, but I like to think it might be possible with a device that translates each key press to morse code and broadcasts it, and upon receiving morse code, uses some kind of relay to activate the keys. Of course, it would be the size of a small car, but it might work!

Either that, or the quantum entanglement typewriters from Fringe fell through a wormhole, and someone found them.

 

[BAYLOR]

I'm nothing close to an engineer, but I like to think it might be possible with a device that translates each key press to morse code and broadcasts it, and upon receiving morse code, uses some kind of relay to activate the keys. Of course, it would be the size of a small car, but it might work!

Either that, or the quantum entanglement typewriters from Fringe fell through a wormhole, and someone found them.

So they weren't Smith Corona Typewriters then?

 

[markpud]

I enjoyed the opening 2 episodes, Jarvis came across particularly well and provided a comic touch. He appears to be equally the butler at home as at work, I wonder what his wife does with her days in this time of rife gender inequality?!

I can empathise somewhat with the ladies' frustrations at being overlooked by the men returning from war and confining them back to the metaphoric (and often quite literal) kitchen. My grandma worked through the war in Metro Vickers (a prominent British electrical engineering factory here in Manchester) but after the war settled down as a housewife. I can imagine it was quite frustrating but to this day (age 96) she remains proud of her contribution.

The show seems to be handing the gender role issue head-on, and once Stark enrols Carter into the nascent SHIELD she will be very much at the fore of the command chain. Not sure how quickly this show will get to that point though?

Overall a strong opening and I have high hopes for the rest of the season, and hopefully beyond.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I think it's better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so far and Jarvis does come across particularly well, indeed

 

[markpud]

SHIELD definitely took it's time to settle into a compelling show, Carter has started strong!

 

[The Bluestocking]

The show seems to be handing the gender role issue head-on, and once Stark enrols Carter into the nascent SHIELD she will be very much at the fore of the command chain. Not sure how quickly this show will get to that point though?

Overall a strong opening and I have high hopes for the rest of the season, and hopefully beyond.

What's interesting (at least, to me) is that even though Stark is a Ladies' Man, he treats Carter like an equal, unlike her fellow SSR agents.

Jarvis does too and it was quite interesting to see him preparing dinner while on the phone to Carter and following Carter's orders. He does have a healthy respect for her, as evident in him talking to her about remembering that she needs support and a team to save the world because "no man or woman" can do it on their own (not even Captain America).

Thought that was spot-on.

I feel a bit sad for her because she is clearly still grieving for Steve and they were excellent partners-in-crime.

 

[Jesse412]

Episode 3 "Time and Tide" is much slower than the previous episodes.

Spoiler

Jarvis' American accent during the phone call scene was hilarious. The fight towards the end was decent and I like that Peggy actually used the Stark gadget she had recovered. The ending was kind of sad. RIP Ray Krzeminski.

 

[J-Sun]

Episode 3 "Time and Tide" is much slower than the previous episodes.

Agreed. I still liked it but it definitely felt like an ordinary TV series episode vs. a "can't waste a second in this feature-film-caliber miniseries" like the first couple.

Incidentally, I've figured out something I have a problem with which was present in the first two but got lost in all the greatness: Peggy's waitress friend (had to look up her name: Angie) seems like a time-traveler. Peggy is kicking butt and being a superspy but she seems authentically a 40s person. And the SSR guys are very much so. But, despite her attire and hairstyle, Angie just seems too modern - out of place - or out of time, rather.