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REVIEW: Agent Carter "Better Angels"


You still here? Welcome back to the new season of Agent Carter, the show that has a few charms to it when it remembers Peggy Carter’s the main character. Anyway, there were a few loose ends from the opening with the introduction of the zero matter and the subsequent explosion which we already know killed no one. What happens to people regarding zero matter? Would Peggy and Wilkes actually be a thing? Are there really bad guys stupid enough to leave evidence lying around a table? All these questions are…referenced in this week’s episode.

Peggy and Sousa examine the case by searching Wilkes’s house, discovering a stash of loot and a plane ticket to Russia. Wilkes is framed as a communist spy, but apparently, that’s not important enough because we quickly move to a movie set directed by Howard Stark. I don’t know what’s more unbelievable, the fact that we’re supposed to believe that or the fact that movies based on comic books are a lousy idea even in the 40’s. I don’t want there to be an instant when I’m on Stark’s side before Peggy’s, so we’re going to ignore that moment right now.

Howard doesn’t really elaborate on the zero matter, but he does give some insight onto the Arena Club which is…just a rich white guys’ club? That’s not exactly the Masters of Evil, so Stark better provide some more useful material in this episode. Still, he’s not the worst guy in the show since Thompson continues to be the thorn in LITERALLY everyone’s side by coming down to Los Angeles and incriminating Wilkes as a communist spy. Since Whitney Frost clearly survived the explosion, it probably won’t be long until we can see this plot end. Unfortunately, Thompson remains.

Fortunately, Stark proves himself useful by working his way into the Arena Club and providing the sufficient distraction involving to let Peggy crash. I will say this, the episode’s not even half-over, but it’s easily the funniest. Not exactly sure if it’s the time and place for that mush humor when a man’s life and good name hangs in the balance, but it’s an accomplishment. Peggy sneaks into a back room and discovers the controversy to rig the senatorial election to Chadwick’s favor. Thompson shuts the search down, but then things get weird, at least as weird as this show gets.

The group discovers a change in the gravitational field around Peggy which creates a lower temperature around her and causes things to float around her. I’m once again going to ignore the fact that this is once again similar to something that happened in the first season of Agents of SHIELD and keep trying to keep the plot together. Stark creates a serum to attempt to provide some visibility to the problem and instead find a formerly invisible and currently intangible Wilkes. Although the serum doesn’t last, he remains long enough to inform the group that Frost was on the scene as well, though why he’s not all there and she’s just suffering from an oozing scar is still not explained. I know this is episode three, but these are all pretty weird when it comes Agent Carter. There’s still seven episodes left, so this can’t necessarily be a mark against this plot right now but it’s worth pointing out for my own benefit.

Peggy confronts Frost which doesn’t really go anywhere except to show how intense Peggy can look when facing the baddie. We knew that already, but it’s still at least twice as good as anything to do with Thompson at this point, especially with him completely ignoring the zero matter evidence. Still, Peggy’s escapades lead to the usual assassination attempt which is a lot more fun to watch when you ignore the fact that Peggy lives to be in her nineties. Of course, not even Peggy considers that a threat, so maybe that’s the point.

Stark plans to leave for Peru in order to find another expert to help with Wilkes’s case while Peggy and Wilkes continue to grow pretty close. With Peggy on the active side of things, I’m starting to warm up to the pairing of the two since it actually seems to be totally innocent. Unfortunately, until they refer to him as a soldier rescued on the lines by Captain America, this relationship can’t really go anywhere by The Winter Soldier standards. What’s next for the SSR for now? Discovering Isodyne’s deeper connections which includes a female scientist who started the whole system…Whitney Frost, who at the moment is starting to have some odd reactions to the zero matter that involve sucking up a director into her body. Oh, and Thompson’s rubbing elbows with the Arena Club now. Can I officially hate him now?

As I’ve said earlier, this is probably the funniest episode of the season so far, and the only one to actually mention the groundbreaking idea of making movies out of comic books. That doesn’t necessarily write off the flaws of the show, but there are some interesting developments that I would have never expected from this show. It’s definitely not the best, but with Peggy at the reins, Agent Carter could become the weirdest Marvel product to date.

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