MCU Binge PT3

MCU Binge Review: Agent Carter — Girl Boss or Just Bossy?

Agent Carter. Where do I even begin?

As I continue working my way through the MCU timeline Disney+ has provided, Agent Carter came up as a one-shot. I started watching it, and immediately realized that it was basically a recap of the end of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Part of me thought, Okay, this is actually pretty cool.

It established a direct connection to the movie and showed that this wasn’t some completely random side story. But at the same time, I couldn’t help thinking it was a little lazy. They used so much footage from the movie that it felt more like an extended deleted scene than something that stood on its own.

And then…

It ended.

That’s it.

Except then I discovered there was an entire Agent Carter television series.

And for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why the series wasn’t included in the MCU timeline I was following. If the one-shot was important enough to be included, why wasn’t the actual series?

So I made the conscious decision to watch it anyway.

Because if Marvel made it, and it’s connected to the character, I’m going to watch it.

And that’s where things got… interesting.

Peggy Carter vs. The Patriarchy

Now, let me make something very clear before I get completely attacked for this review.

I like strong female characters.

I’m a huge fan of Wonder Woman. I have absolutely no problem with women being the strongest character in the room. I don’t need every female character to be rescued by a man, and I certainly don’t think a woman needs to be written as weak just because she’s a woman.

But Agent Carter…

Oh, boy.

In my humble opinion, this show was rough.

For the first several episodes, Agent Carter could apparently do no wrong.

She had the answer for everything.

Didn’t matter whether she was the scientist, the boss, the strategist, or the person who had any actual experience with whatever problem was happening.

She was Agent Carter.

Therefore, she knew everything.

And everybody else was apparently an idiot.

The entire first few episodes felt like they were screaming at the audience:

“Look how awesome Peggy Carter is!”

“Nobody takes her seriously!”

“She’s a woman in a man’s world!”

“Look how everybody underestimates her!”

“Look how she proves them wrong!”

And then they would do it again.

And again.

And again.

By about the fourth episode, I was honestly getting aggravated.

I felt like my senses were being assaulted by the constant reminder that Peggy Carter was a badass.

And then something happened that completely changed the way I was watching the show.

The Moment That Saved It For Me

There was a conversation between Peggy and Jarvis, Howard Stark’s butler and, somehow, Peggy’s sidekick.

After Peggy made a statement, Jarvis looked at her and basically questioned whether what she was saying was confidence or arrogance.

Peggy looked right back at him and said:

“It might be a bit of both.”

And I actually stopped for a second.

Wait.

That was self-awareness.

That was Peggy Carter admitting that maybe she wasn’t always right.

And from that point forward, I felt like the storytelling started to change.

Peggy started making mistakes.

Things started going wrong.

People around her started getting hurt.

Plans didn’t always work.

And suddenly, she felt like an actual human being instead of a walking billboard for how awesome she was.

That one little moment made me start paying attention again.

Then I Started Enjoying It

By the time I got into the second season, I actually started enjoying Agent Carter.

A lot more.

The show started leaning into a crime-noir style that I really liked. There was a darker atmosphere, more mystery, and more of that old-school detective feeling.

And honestly, that worked for me.

There was always going to be a certain amount of campiness because of the time period.

We’re talking about the 1920s, 30s, and 40s aesthetic. The clothes, the dialogue, the presentation, the way characters behave—there’s an intentional feeling of watching something inspired by the movies, television shows, and radio programs of that era.

And I’m okay with that.

Actually, I kind of enjoyed it.

But then we got toward the end of the second season.

And the campiness went from:

“Okay, this is fun.”

to:

“Okay… we’re really doing this?”

The last couple of episodes became so over-the-top that I found myself enjoying the show less and less.

And then came the ending.

Wait… That’s It?

Agent Carter only lasted two seasons.

And it ended on a cliffhanger.

A cliffhanger that they never got to resolve.

That’s one of my biggest frustrations with television shows that get canceled.

If you’re going to give me a satisfying ending, fine.

If you’re going to leave me wanting more, also fine.

But if you’re going to leave me with a giant unresolved storyline and then disappear forever…

I’m going to be annoyed.

And that’s exactly what happened here.

After spending all that time with Peggy Carter, I wanted some sort of conclusion.

Instead, the show basically said:

“To be continued…”

Except it wasn’t.

So, Where Does Agent Carter Rank?

Here’s where I’m going to probably make some people mad.

Out of five stars, I’m giving Agent Carter…

1½ to 2 stars.

Maybe I’ll be generous and call it 2 stars.

There were things I genuinely liked.

I liked the period setting.

I liked the noir elements.

I liked Jarvis.

I liked seeing Howard Stark operate in the background.

And, eventually, I started liking Peggy Carter herself once the show allowed her to actually be flawed.

But those first several episodes were a struggle for me.

I don’t need a show to constantly tell me that its main character is amazing.

Show me.

Let her fail.

Let her make mistakes.

Let other characters be smarter than her sometimes.

Let her get something completely wrong.

That’s what makes a character interesting.

Ironically, Agent Carter became more enjoyable for me when Peggy finally started becoming human.

Unfortunately, by the time I really started getting into the show, it was almost over.

And then Marvel pulled the plug.

So my MCU binge continues.

And once again, I’m left wondering:

How many more of these shows are going to make me question my decision to watch the entire MCU in timeline order?

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