Agent Carter
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I watched the premiere last night and was impressed. Not just by Peggy (though boy did she make me cheer when she would just casually knock a guy out), but also by the inclusion of the sexism women in the 40s and 50s faced (like the guy at the diner, or Peggy's roommate's comment about women being fired from the factories). And of course, the awesome Jarvis who just wanted to have a quiet evening with his wife.
What did you all think?
[slides into this thread like five days late]
I flat-out love this show. It's got a little of that Indiana Jones faux-pulp feel to it, but of course it's viewed through the lens of a female hero, which puts a nice twist on things. But while the sexism Peggy faces is a huge theme, it doesn't grind to a halt to drop anvils labelled "SEXISM IS WRONG" on you, instead letting you see it and process that it's wrong in the context of Peggy infiltrating nightclubs and punching bad guys to the soundtrack of the terrible Captain America radio show. It's a nice balance.
So I'm definitely hoping we get a second season instead of just the eight-episode miniseries; I'd love to continue following Peggy's adventures.
I loved the premiere. :) Hayley Carter is incredible. I'm not too sure about a second series, because I am worried about the overall arc, but if they pull of the whole S1 off then I will easily change my mind.
It was really enjoyable. I actually like it a lot better than Agents of Shield (though I will still watch Agents of Shield for Mulan - I mean, Agent May).
It's a nicely done piece that manages to reflect the time period it is set in well, while still maintaining the entire "secret agent" vibe. I enjoyed the subtext with Agent Carter feeling like she was misplaced after her work during the war effort and finding her footing again when the environment was very much male-dominated in the workplace, which is how a lot of women at the time were feeling after the war was over. As pointed out, you're not bludgeoned over the head with the message, but it was very nice to see that the ideas concerning women at the time was presented without it being overbearing.
Also, it was very cool to see Jarvis in person. In earlier Avenger comics, when Jarvis was physically a butler and not a program, he had a business card that said "Butler of the Gods" since he did literally service Thor and Hercules. While I think he won't be handing out business cards in the TV Show, I would love to see more of him.
However, I won't say this bit ruined the show for me, not in the least, but I seriously can't get over how Leviathan agent "green suit"...
... looks so much like Ray Gillette from Archer.
Actually, this made the show even more enjoyable for me.
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Oh my god. Never taking that guy seriously again.
Ok, I just watched episodes 1 and 2 last night and they were amazing. Peggy slays sexism were it stands. Agent Carter literally passes every single test a show needs to be fempositive and it does so effortlessly and with such finesse that I basically couldn't stop grinning the whole time. Also, I'm fairly certain her eyes are just gonna roll right outta her head by the end of the season because damn.
Poor Jarvis, though. Like...all the guy wants is a quiet night and to finish his laundry and instead he gets weird midnight phone calls from an angry British lady who also intimidated/attracted the hell outta Captain America. What is he supposed to do with that?! I gotta say though, his phone call to Stark at the end of E1 was super sketchy and made me seriously question how much of a good guy Howard is.....not that I didn't already question that given how Tony acts whenever he hears his dad's name (in the movie)
Agreed - it is wonderful to see Jarvis who is just completely amazing!
That's a good description of Peggy and Steve - she intimidated him and also he was also so attracted to her. The ending to their story always makes me so sad. :( But we'll get to see them in The Avengers 2.
I know, right? When Green Suit fell out of the window in the first episode, I immediately said "Well, I guess he's gonna be in a wheelchair the rest of the season since he's probably paralyzed now." My husband lost it and nearly fell off the couch laughing.
Maybe Green Suit is Ray's grand-daddy? I don't care if it is coincidence. I'm liking my crossover headcanon.
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I kind of feel like Tony's attitude towards his father was a holdover from the comics, where Howard Stark is a terrible, terrible person and abusive father, and they probably didn't think Howard was actually going to be a character in his own right at the time. But then of course they made the Cap movie and now he exists and is basically just Tony 1.0, so they may be using Agent Carter as a way to introduce a dark side to the character to explain the discrepancy. Or maybe not, who knows.
Headcanon accepted.
Really? I have not read the comics so I honestly had no idea about that. I always got the feeling like Howard always held Tony up to this standard of being like Steve (which to me explained his attitude towards both of them) and that Tony never matched up, was never good enough, and I also always got this feeling like later on, since we kinda know from the movies that Howard was an alcoholic, he got meaner. I mean he lost everyone close to him and I sorta felt like, with the little bits we saw of Tony and Howard's relationship, that Howard took all of that out on Tony. But that's just me. Maybe I'm reading too much into it...maybe not enough....^_^;
Honestly speaking, I just pretend that Winter Soldier didn't happen because the whole movie pissed me off. Bucky deserved better than that. Steve deserved better than to be reduced to this party line toeing twit who can't think for himself, which is, I think, one of the biggest things that attracted Peggy to him. Peggy sure as hell deserved better than to be reduced to an Alzheimered bedridden one-liner to make Steve seem more noble. That whole movie made me wanna punch a wall and failing that, Joss Whedon in the face.
Oh man I loved The Winter Soldier as a film. I loved Steve's characterization and the plot of Hydra as SHIELD, but I do agree with you on what you said about Peggy. It's so just so awful. :(
Yeah, I think that's the route they're taking in the movies, that at least part of Tony's issues with his father are Tony's perception of what Howard wanted from him. Maybe?
Also I'd totally be on board with punching Joss Whedon in the face.
lol. I'm not actually sure how I feel about the Winter Soldier as a movie, I just don't really like Joss Whedon as a person, lol.
I don't really know enough about Joss Whedon as a person to form any opinions on his personal life (I admittedly don't look it up). I just enjoy most of what he puts out, and as far as I know he doesn't live off the blood of kittens to survive, so that's good enough for me.
ANYWAY, to stay on the topic of Agent Carter - I just watched the third episode. More backstory on Jarvis, which was really nice. The fact that he's so dedicated to his wife while still maintaining loyalty to Howard Stark really attests to what a devoted man he is. That's a difficult balancing act.
"A woman doesn't turn in an adamantium shield for an aluminum crutch" - Methinks the character Daniel Sousa (crutch guy...) will be her hubby in the future? It was hinted in the Winter Soldier that she did get married, didn't she?
I had to do some research into boarding houses because after that one girl got kicked out for letting a man in her room (through the window!), I asked myself "Were they really that harsh back then?" And the answer was "Yes, yes they really were that hardcore." It seems that was the mentality until the 70s. Go figure.
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I just hated that because they could've put it in the show(Agents of SHIELD) and it would've worked beautifully and they could've transitioned the destruction and the fallout to Age of Ultron with the Avengers trying to pick up the pieces and figure out where to go from there but, instead, they sidelined Bucky to make HYDRA the main plot and that's why I hated the movie. The only good thing to me was Sam. He's gold and needs to be in all the marvel movies from now on. It's a safe bet since from the tiny bit I know about his issues with Howard from the comics, they would have to do major character rewriting to make them correlate.
See I actually like Whedon as a person, but I'm becoming less thrilled with his Marvel movie writing. He should've stuck with what he was good at, namely Firefly.
I just wanna punch him for Winter Soldier because Bucky should've been the plot, not Hydra. I am one ep behind right now but my classes are slightly kicking my ass. =/ Sousa's such a cutey and a feminist that I seriously would not be upset if she married him.
So sorry for tagging you wrong. I don't know much about the series, but after reading your view I do understand that. I think as a film The Winter Soldier was good, but its repercussions for the series are difficult to deal with. And I also agree that I would've liked much more with Bucky, considering that he's the title character.
Meh. Not a problem. ^_^ What mainly pissed me off about Winter Soldier was that it wasn't about the Winter Soldier. It was about Hydra and I would've liked the movie so much better if hadn't been titled Winter Soldier, because Winter Soldier was a misleading title. That was my biggest problem. I mean really that Hydra being SHIELD would've been perfect for AOS because they could've made it the whole second half the season (I actually don't watch the show because the first two episodes to me were just unbearable and to be honest, Coulson's dead was sad in the movie but sometimes what's dead should stay dead.) Also, watch Firefly. Watch everything about it. Even watch the movie that follows it: Serenity. because everything about all of it is beautiful.
