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Agent Carter episodes 2x01-2x02
Okay, finally a proper post about the new episodes ... well, no, not a proper post at all; a flaily post laden with belabored bullet points and fueled by two large glasses of merlot. There were going to be a bunch of screencaps as well, but I ran out of steam (and wine). I'll save the pretty for a future post.
The opening
The opening
- WAS THAT NOT GREAT.
- No, really, it was great. I loved how it echoed the opening of the previous season, then with the sudden identity reveal and the very different outcome. I thought it was just going to be an homage to the first season with Peggy walking into the SSR HQ and getting a better reception, but NO, it was so much better than that.
- I now want ALL the fic about the SSR trying to catch Dottie, and Dottie impersonating Peggy CONSTANTLY.
- I can't tell if Dottie is supposed to have an outright crush on Peggy, or is merely ("merely") obsessed with her in a wearing-her-clothes-and-replacing-her kind of way, but that was sure a lot of innuendo in the interrogation scene.
- SO HAPPY DOTTIE IS BACK! I knew in a vague kind of way that she'd be in this season, but I didn't realize we'd get her so early. Which means this season has two female villains, who are very different kinds of people, which is awesome.
- Is stlll a jerk.
- No, REALLY, he's such a jerk. I definitely didn't expect him and Peggy to be BFFs or even like each other post-season-one, but I think it actually went in the opposite direction to what I was expecting -- I thought it'd be her having trouble getting past what he did, but actually, no, he KNOWS she's better at the job than he is, and he can't handle it. It's interesting to speculate on how the past year might've gone down, because it really doesn't seem that Peggy is miserable, and she's getting field assignments, and their other co-workers clearly respect her -- but you also see Thompson trying to cut down the praise for her behind her back. DAMMIT THOMPSON THIS IS NOT WHERE I WANTED YOUR ARC TO GO but I can also 100% see it, if you know what I mean. It's definitely not OOC.
- THOMPSON AND SOUSA THOUGH. Okay, so we've only had one tiny scene with them so far, but AAUUUUGH excuse me while I go watch it again 1000x.
- I really do think Jack likes Daniel a lot. I got that from the last half of season one -- once he gets past the towering stack of prejudices that he has about Daniel, Jack really likes the guy. Daniel, er ... I am really not sure. As of the end of season one, I think about the best thing that you can say in actual canon (as opposed to, um, most of the fic I've written) is that he doesn't seem to dislike Jack as much as he used to. As of season two, the playfulness seems to go both ways, but Jack still seems to genuinely annoy him at least as much as mock-annoy him. On the other hand, Jack, as the chief of the East Coast division, must have played a pretty big role in Daniel getting the West Coast posting, which is another sign that Jack really does like and respect him. I think Daniel may enjoy verbally sparring with him, or at least doesn't really mind having to call him up on a more or less daily basis because of departmental cooperation etc. It keeps him on his toes.
- I am actually more excited/nervous about Thompson's arc than almost anything else this season ... no, okay, THAT'S A TOTAL LIE, I'm excited about EVERYTHING, but his is probably the season arc that has the most potential to either go exactly where I want it to go, or blow up horribly. If it does go down how I hope, it will be AMAZING. If it doesn't it will be tragic and disappointing (but probably well done). So ... yes. Excited. And nervous. *twitches*
- IS THE FUCKING CUTEST
- I think I forgot how adorable Enver Gjokaj is, really. And I hope they give him more funny bits, because his comic delivery is so great. ("Who's that clown?")
- And Daniel is so much happier this season than last season. Things are a bit up in the air regarding his love life right now, but ... he's just so confident here. It's amazing to look back on him in early season one as the guy who was the office joke, ignored and belittled and struggling with his own self-image. ("We're both people no one cares about.") And now he's confident and respected and things are going really well for him. I also loved seeing him dressed up to go out.
- DANIEL BEING THE FLIRT to distract the secretary so Peggy can sneak in, aaaaauuuugh. XD XD
- Does not quite manage to be the cutest thing in existence because basically everyone else on the show is also. But still, WHERE DO THEY FIND THESE PEOPLE, GAWD.
- His little face.
- But he can do serious too! I loved the scenes where he's telling Peggy about the prejudice he had to deal with, or having to face the bakery guy (and eating the eclair afterwards).
- He is totally not dead. nOPE. I am leaning about 80% towards "zapped into alternate dimension, may come back with superpowers" and about 20% "is still here but is in some sort of weird zero-energy state; see above re: superpowers".
- OH MY GOD, THE JARVISES
- I was not sure what Mrs. Jarvis would be like, but she's ADORBS
- She's also ... so European. It is probably very American of me to say this, but she is! I am really enjoying the contrast between her effusiveness and Peggy's somewhat affronted British reserve.
- SHE SEWED PEGGY A GARTER WITH A GUN IN IT. The cutest!
- AND JARVIS. Learning martial arts! Dealing with flamingos! Deadpan snarking at Peggy. ("What do you do for relaxation, assemble rifles?") AAAAHHHH they play off each other so well. I am so here for the Peggy and Jarvis Buddy Cop Hour.
- Okay, so here, my Marvel comics fangirl background comes into play: I was SO EXCITED that they'd be having Madame Masque this season, because for no reason I can quite put my finger on, she's always been one of my favorite Marvel baddies. And the reality does not disappoint! At all! I was expecting something terrible and weird to happen to her face, and this is definitely terrible and weird. Looking forward very much to seeing where this goes! I have rarely been disappointed with the way the MCU movies handle the transition from comics to screen, and this is no exception.
- STILL SO GREAT.
- New things I am loving about Peggy this season:
- SHE CAN BE SUCH A DORK. In particular, I am pretty sure that Peggy is the most obtuse thing when guys are into her. I think it's pretty clear she didn't have a clue about Daniel last season until after he asked her out and she turned him down ... then she seems to get that little "oh ... wait!" moment of realization. At the time I had attributed it mostly to Peggy getting over Steve, and that's certainly part of it, but after seeing her with Jason this season, I think that for all her self-possession, she is just kind of a giant clueless ball of dork where guys are concerned. She seems to COMPLETELY miss the giant sign Jason may as well be waving around saying "O HAI AM FLIRTING WITH YOU", and then once she does catch on, she turns into a bundle of fluster. Same thing with trying to pick out a dress for her (not) date. And that brings us to ...
- Peggy is ALSO a bit clueless, or perhaps I should say inexperienced, when it comes to being buddies with women. I think the actress mentioned once in an interview that Peggy is not used to having female friends; she's mainly been around guys. And I really feel like it comes across, first in her tentative friendship with Angie last season (SHE TOTALLY CALLS ANGIE EVERY NIGHT TO TELL HER ALL ABOUT L.A. BTW) and now in the slightly awkward way she relates to Ana. I loved/still love her friendship with Angie, but I also love seeing her and Ana do stereotypically "girly" things, like picking out pretty clothes, which Peggy is clearly not used to doing with someone else.
- Still loving the 1940s feeling of the show. I think this show does an amazing job with the "period feeling"; it never feels overly modern to me at all.
- SO PRETTY. Love the lusher, more saturated color palette this season, and the rich glowing light, very appropriate for California! The clothes are beautiful. Everything is beautiful.
- I totally recognized that viaduct or whatever it was where they found the agents' bodies at the beginning of the second episode. I am quite sure I've seen something else filmed there, although I'm not sure precisely what -- but that shot, with the bridge in the background and the concrete walls, was so familiar.
- ROSE! I love that she's getting a bigger role this season! I am crossing my fingers that she gets to have a badass moment before the end of the season. (I bet you a giant plate of Violet's cookies that Rose has a gun under her desk.)
- Violet! Violet is great. I loved the surfing conversation with Rose, and I think she and Daniel are very cute even though I still (apparently) ship Daniel and Peggy with a fervor that I rarely feel for a pairing. I don't know what is going to happen with Violet, but I hope the show treats her decently.
- I am kinda missing the cool 1940s spy gadgets from the previous season, and hope we get to see a few in future episodes. That said, Howard's sex car is HILARIOUS.
no subject
That spot under the road has been used in a lot of things--if you've ever seen the Terminator, they filmed there. It's one of the most filmed sites, I guess, in LA along with the Los Angeles River concrete channel. So you definitely have seen it somewhere!
I'm still just so, so chuffed about her and Ana being pals. I want Peggy to have all the lady pals because like you said, she's been around guys most of the time, and as someone who's spent her life surrounded by guy friends, you get a different type of relationship when you start hanging out with the gals.
no subject
But yes, I spent most of my younger years being mostly friends with guys, and while that's changed tremendously in the last 15 years or so, it's really fun for me to see Peggy starting to experience that.
... and yeah, I couldn't pin down anything specific I've seen in that location, but the answer is apparently EVERYTHING. I can see why you would want to film things like car chases and action shots there, since it's a giant urban-looking concrete skateboard-park kind of thing; what better place, really?
here from network
YES ALL OF THIS YES.
Re: here from network
Re: here from network