TV notes

[sholio]

I watched the new Agent Carter show (of course I did, hello, it's me *waves nerd flag*).

And I really liked it!

Way more than I was expecting, honestly. I was tentatively looking forward to it, but I guess the most I was hoping for is "not terrible and has a lot of Hayley Atwell" and it's actually great! Yay for low expectations! It's funny and exciting, the cast is great, and the ongoing plot is keeping me guessing. :D

Honestly, I think one of the things I liked most about the show (and one of the things that came as a surprise) is that it's not turning out to be "incompetent sexist agents bumble around while Peggy runs rings around them". The background agents are actually really a lot of fun, while also being true to their time period: entirely competent at their jobs, likable in some ways, absolute dicks in others. (The interrogation scene, oh my god. And yet I loved how matter-of-fact it was, and how even Sousa, who I guess is more or less the "sympathetic" one of the group, was just casually doing his job while it was going on, because that's How Things Are Done.)

And it's full of wonderful deadpan humor ("I know I like to strap a chair to my ass and go for a walk") and clever little things like radio!Captain America actually being this nerdy, totally non-hero-looking guy with a Captain America voice. Peggy and Jarvis have a great rapport, too; I am all over the bantering-and-saving-each-other's-lives thing, and I also like that he's married, so there's no sexual tension at all -- actually no romance of any kind so far, which is refreshingly nice. (Sousa may eventually turn out to be the guy she marries, but it's so low-key so far and not at all forced that I wouldn't mind at all if that turns out to be the case. I like him!)

It's really nice to have a new show I'll be looking forward to every week -- at least as long as it lasts since it's just a miniseries. But now I'm really hoping it'll be picked up as a full series; that'd be awesome!

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

Thanks! I hope to catch up on it soon. I have a commitment on Tuesday nights now.

[selenay]

*flails madly* IT WAS SO GOOD :-D

I think you just nailed a good chunk of the things I loved, too :-)

[gwyn]

I just loved it. Markus and McFeeley mentioned in an article that they didn't do enough with her in the first movie, and that was totally on them--and they hoped the series would help make up for that and show everyone what a great character she is and how much Hayley had to do with making her that way. I think they succeeded!

I too liked the fact that the guys were assholes but not completely stupid. And there's almost a hint that they could slowly start to turn around that way. And I am holding out hope that Sousa does turn out to be the guy she marries, and that that's slowly developed in the background--my fear is that he could turn out to be Leviathan.

That chair line was my favorite of the bon mots. I actually laughed out loud and I never do that. I'm just in love with Jarvis, especially after the scene where he's stitching her wound. How refreshing to have the man trying to get the woman to lower her defenses, and doing the comforting--especially a repressed guy like him.

Just all around wonderful, enough that even the parts that bothered me didn't bother me.

[sholio]

How refreshing to have the man trying to get the woman to lower her defenses, and doing the comforting--especially a repressed guy like him.

Yes! And I love that Peggy is an emotionally guarded asshole herself -- and she is an asshole, she's generally a jerk to the people around her, and she's repressing all over the place about Steve's death: all typically male character traits.

I've seen people speculating that either the waitress or Sousa are a Leviathan plant. I hate the idea of either of them being a traitor ... but I also really hope it's not the main sexist-jerk agent (the blond guy, can't remember his name) because so far the show has been pretty good about steering clear of "opposes the main character = evil" and I'd hate to see the one really outspoken sexist jerk actually be an enemy agent. I also agree that there are hints that the guys could turn their attitude around, and it'd be nice to see them warming to her as the show goes on.

I am also on the fence about Leviathan having a spy in the agency, because as much sense as it makes from a dramatic perspective, in a way it's a little too heavily reminiscent of the Hydra infiltration later, because if Peggy realizes that the SSR has been infiltrated by Leviathan, surely she'd be sharper about watching for the signs of SHIELD being infiltrated by some outside agency ...?

But yeah, the show is great; I went in just hoping that it wouldn't bore me, but instead it's marvelous. :D I desperately hope they get picked up for a full season, or another miniseries.

[sholio]

Awww! I hope you're able to watch it. I expect Hulu and other sources will probably have it streaming!

[sholio]

It's so much fun! :D I was just hoping for "doesn't suck" but it WAY exceeded my expectations; if it doesn't slump in the next few episodes, I think it's one of the best things to come out of the studio so far!

[helen_c]

I was wondering whether or not I was going to watch it but the reactions I've seen so far are so positive that I'm probably going to give it a try...

[sholio]

Your mileage may vary, of course. FWIW though, I really liked it!

[helen_c]

Well, at first, I didn't want to watch Agents of SHIELD because I was only really interested in RDJ Iron Man, but since I've started watching, it's been pretty much non-stop squeeing and loving characters, so...

[monanotlisa]

Great review --

I guess the most I was hoping for is "not terrible and has a lot of Hayley Atwell" and it's actually great!

Me too. ;)

[sholio]

Thanks! :D It's great fun so far; I hope it'll stay good.