Agent Carter
Peggy goes to Hollywood
UK Broadcast Fox UK, until 31 March
US Broadcast ABC, finished
Episodes Reviewed 2.01- 2.10
Here’s a familiar sentence for readers of SFX: at time of writing, the fate of this show is uncertain. In fact, there’s a good chance Agent Carter won’t be back after this second season; Hayley Atwell has been cast in a new pilot and while she’s said “ABC has assured me that it would be actually possible to do both,” the signs are not good. Much of this year also aired in double- episode chunks, as though the network was racing to get it over with. Abandon hope, all ye who watch this.
Still, at least we got two wonderful years. And if anything Agent Carter’s second season is even better than the first: with all that infuriating sexism out of the way now she’s proved herself to be a solid SSR Agent, Peggy has moved to Hollywood to fight evil using Howard Stark’s mansion as her base and his butler as her sidekick. Not only is the new location refreshing ( at least the show can be honest about being filmed in California and not New York now), the Carter/ Jarvis double act is one of the warmest, loveliest partnerships on TV.
Which brings us to another of Agent Carter’s delights: the casting. Last season Jarvis’s wife was an invisible presence rather like Arthur Daley’s “’ er indoors”, but now we get to meet – and fall in love – with her, in the form of Lotte Verbeek. Then there’s Jason Wilkes ( Reggie Austin), who from his very first scene radiates charm and becomes a believable source of attraction for Peggy – who naturally always puts her job first. Wynn Everett also shines as the Hollywood glamourpuss with a secret penchant for nuclear research. All the actors seem to be having the time of their lives, probably because they’re working with such energetic scripts – the dialogue, action and plotting are all as lively as the flamingo poor Jarvis keeps trying to catch in Howard’s gardens.
Agent Carter is, above all else, fun, and at its midst stands Atwell’s indomitable, formidable and ultimately adorable Peggy... who, as we know, will continue her work for generations to come. At least we were lucky enough to spy on some of it, eh?