Originally published January 20, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
Amy Richau reviews the first episode of Agent Carter season 2…
The second season of Agent Carter begins with a robbery sequence that highlights one of the strengths of the show. As S.S.R. Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) foils Dottie Underwood’s (Bridget Regan) bank robbery attempt, the two women end up coming to blows in a bank vault. A strong female hero and a strong female villain in a fun fight sequence, where they easily manage to stay fully clothed, isn’t what you expect from a TV series based on comic book characters. But the best thing about Agent Carter isn’t just that it showcases female characters – it’s that the characters, both female and male, are consistently unique and engaging.
After a young woman is found frozen in a block of ice in a Los Angeles lake, the new western office of the S.S.R., headed up by returning character Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), becomes the new stomping ground for Peggy Carter. The case appears to lead to a known murderer, but the X-Files-ish twist of a frozen body in a warm lake that also happens to glow in the dark ensures that there is more to this case than initially meets the eye.
The move from New York to Los Angeles works well for the look and feel of the show. It always had an L.A. Confidential feel about it anyway. Sousa and Carter are of course not the only characters from Season 1 to make the move out west. Howard Stark (not shown in this episode) and his trusted assistant Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) also find themselves in sunny L.A., which gives viewers a chance to enjoy more of the delightful working relationship between Peggy and Jarvis. Even better, viewers get to meet Jarvis’ wife Ana Jarvis (Lotte Verbeek), who is far goofier than one might imagine.
Of course not every S.S.R. agent in the L.A. office sees Carter as a positive addition, but that is to be expected, especially considering the time period. Soon the murder trail leads Peggy to a mysterious company called Isodyne and Calvin Chadwick (Currie Graham), who is running for Senate, and his actress wife Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett).
“The Lady in the Lake” is entertaining and fast-paced, which works well for a show with multiple storylines and snappy dialogue. Many new characters are introduced in the premiere episode, such as Isodyne scientist Jason Wilkes (Reggie Austin) who has some flirtatious moments with Agent Carter. And several returning characters also appear such S.S.R. Agent Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray), who sends Carter away to L.A. so he can interrogate Dottie. Thompson’s character only started to become interesting near the end of Season 1. Hopefully his character arc in season 2 will be more engaging.
Overall the first episode of Agent Carter continued to charm just as much as the episodes in season 1. There appears to be a lot more characters to juggle this go-around, but perhaps the bigger ensemble will help rid the series of some of the slow spots from the first season.
Amy Richau is a freelance entertainment and sports writer. Follow her on Twitter.
https://youtu.be/vDx6g5ua25E?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
