Marvel’s Agent Carter stepped out of the pages of Captain America and filled a spot on ABC left empty by the hiatus of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Carter filled the spot so well, I don’t want it to ever be over.
I’m enjoying Peggy Carter so much I’ve decided there can never be enough of her. I haven’t heard there’s going to be a second season, but I’m ready for one to be announced. Here are my five top reasons to love Marvel’s Agent Carter.
1. Hayley Atwell is Perfect
Hayley Atwell is perfection as the under-appreciated feminist in a sea of 1940s patriarchy. Her get it done attitude, her body language, her English accent, and her disregard for authority combine to create a character to reckon with.
This is one of those roles. A role that sticks with you. It will stick with Hayley Atwell the way Jennifer Beals will always be the striving young dancer in the off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, or Sigourney Weaver will always be Ridley, or Audrey Hepburn will always be peering into the window of Tiffany’s. It’s THAT iconic.
2. Agent Carter is Tougher than all the Jerks Around Her
Those guys think they’re tough, but it’s macho posing. The only really smart one in the bunch has a bum leg and doesn’t do much field work. He’s Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), and is both a danger and an ally to Peggy Carter.
Agent Carter even leads a team into combat in one episode, while her blowhard fellow agent Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray) cowers in a corner. Jabs at the sexism of the era do mean the majority of the men on the show are portrayed as ignoramuses, but I have faith that Peggy Carter will educate them soon.
3. Agent Carter is the Smartest Person in the Room
She knows more, asks better questions, finds answers faster, and understands what is going on in the world better than anyone else, including her clueless boss (Shea Whigham).
4. She Rocks in Her Costumes
The 1940s weren’t exactly the fashion decade of the century, but Agent Carter can rock an outfit and what she does to a red hat is downright amazing. It’s all attitude, not outfits, and Peggy Carter has attitude.
5. Peggy Carter has Good Friends in Her Corner
Peggy Carter’s friend and neighbor is Angie Martinelli, (Lyndsy Fonseca) who is cool enough to open her window to Peggy and let her in off a ledge 100 feet in the air without so much as asking a question.
I don’t want to forget her charming and hilarious relationship with Howard Stark’s man Friday Jarvis (James D’Arcy). Jarvis is the one man on the show who gets to be awesome. Jarvis and Peggy make a dynamite team. Neither would ever admit that to anyone, so keep it quiet.
Obviously
The real reason I love Marvel’s Agent Carter is so obvious, you probably know what it is without me saying it. This is a female centric TV show with a story that revolves around a character named Peggy. Thank you MARVEL, thank you ABC. Give us more like this.
And the Inevitable Questions
How does knockout lipstick work on the kissed person but not on the kisser wearing it?
Were there no people of color in 1946?
