BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

'Marvel's Agent Carter' Deserves A Second Season

Following
This article is more than 9 years old.

Spoilers through Season One of 'Marvel's Agent Carter' follow.

The season finale of Marvel's Agent Carter ends with plenty of cliff-hangers. While plenty of threads have been resolved---Howard Stark is no longer an enemy of the state; Peggy's colleagues respect and admire her now; the badguys have been stopped---plenty remains up in the air.

Dottie escapes despite what appeared to be a fatal fall. This isn't long after she bragged to a seemingly defeated Peggy that she could be anything she wanted to be. "Maybe I'll be an SSR agent!" she gloats. The implication here is fairly clear: Dottie will be back.

Dr. Ivchenko is not only imprisoned, but has his mouth wired shut so that he can't use his crazy mind-control powers to escape. But even here he'll be able to shape the course of future events. As luck would have it, his cell mate is Hyrda scientist Dr. Zola (who we encounter in both Captain America movies.)

And perhaps most irritating, we see a US Senator show up at SSR headquarters to heap praise on new chief Jack Thompson who gladly takes all the credit. I thought for sure he'd at least throw Peggy a bone, but we're reminded that this is still very much a man's world. Would the senator have even believed Thompson had he given Carter her due? Are we surprised that Thompson, who's admitted to stealing glory in the past, would do it again now?

I enjoyed the finale of this little spin-off super hero show. Agent Carter is a terrific protagonist. Jarvis is a wonderful sidekick. Howard Stark adds some much appreciated humor to the mix. The SSR is full of cliches but manages to be a great little pre-modern badguy fighting outfit nonetheless. The whole production, with its great period design, is a joy to watch. It's one of the best super hero shows on TV right now.

And it's quite likely we won't see a second season, which is a huge shame. The season finale's ratings tied for worst yet. Viewers have given up on this show, it would seem.

I'm not sure why, to be honest, but I have some speculation.

Most importantly, the opening of the season was stronger than the close. As exciting as the last two episodes were, they lacked the charm of the earlier segments. When Carter was more the sleuth, and she and Jarvis were out trying to unravel the mystery of Howard Stark's lost inventions, the show was far and away at its strongest point.

A few things changed as the show went on. Carter and Jarvis stopped working together, sapping the show of its best dialogue and character interaction.

Then we started to see an increased focus on Captain America---and not just in the really fantastic radio broadcasts. Steve Rogers' blood became a focal point for a bit. Then, in the last episode, it became all about the super hero. Ivchenko uses his mind control powers to convince Howard Stark that he can save Rogers, using him to instead dump the poisonous "midnight oil" on Times Square. (That's the stuff that caused everyone in last week's theatre massacre to kill one another.)

In a sense, it's too much Captain America and not enough Peggy Carter. And maybe that's been a problem the show's faced for a few episodes.

Even when the SSR thought Peggy was working against them, it felt less like a personal struggle for Carter than what she faced in the earlier episodes. Carter as the odd-woman-out was more interesting than Carter-on-the-lamb (who will invariably clear her name by season's end.)

I wonder if Marvel was playing a longer game with Carter's character, if they could have stretched out her struggle in the SSR longer. If they'd been able to wrap up this season without ever revealing her side work for Stark and collaboration with Jarvis, could they have continued having Peggy play as a sort of rogue agent for much longer? In a sense, this was her "mask." By day, she was the unappreciated female agent, filing paperwork and bringing the boys coffee. By night, she was the True Agent Carter, tracking down leads and fighting nefarious evildoers!

Now she's in a sort of purgatory as a character, and I don't think that's as interesting to audiences.

Still, the show can and should be salvaged. There are tons of great characters here and lots of opportunities to keep tying this into the modern-day Marvel Cinematic Universe. The post-war setting is fantastic. The acting is marvelous, and everyone from Hayley Atwell to James D'Arcy deserves all the praise they can get. All I can do is hope we get to see them continue to play these lovely characters in a second season. Whether ABC will oblige me remains to be seen.

Follow me on TwitterCheck out my website