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Feb. 12th, 2015 10:45 amHm... reaction to the new Agent Carter?
I thought the episode was badly paced in that kind of typical way when you're an episode or two before the finale and you need to manipulate a lot of the pieces into their proper place for the finale. Both Russian subplots were awkwardly developed... I didn't comprehend at all the placement of Dottie's kiss in the storyline. I guess it reinforced the theme of men underestimating women, with the crowning irony that if they had heeded Peggy's warning about the Red Room, they might have caught her. But the emotional swing from Peggy's free to Peggy's about to be killed to Peggy's in SSR custody was strange and did disservice to the Red Room plot. Likewise, the Ivchenko storyline had several false starts that nicely built suspense... it would have been nice if it had also had an ending. It's not a subplot I care enough about to be anxious about through to next week.
I loved Angie's moment in the sun. I loved the fight in the Automat, and how brutal and terrible Peggy's escape from Sousa and Thompson was.
About Angie's moment in the sun: Peggy acts because she trusts Howard Stark is not a traitor. Repeatedly, she insists that Howard Stark is not a traitor, and repeatedly the SSR disbelieves her. When she meets Thompson and Sousa in the alley, she likewise asks them to trust her, to continue the chain of trust forged of working together, fighting together, spending time judging each other and proving each other out. It's a great echo of the premiere. They refuse to trust her, though Sousa at least wavers. But Angie is asked to trust Peggy over the government authorities and she does it without thinking, because that's what friends do. (Because that's what Steve would do?) I love that moment. I really do think that the Angie crying scene is one of Agent Carter's best, most earned emotional moments- built from awkward lunches and brooding silences and shared confidences at the boarding house table, until it seems inevitable.
And this is back from last week, but I still think it's startling that Dottie did not find Steve's blood last week, and I don't understand why they would tell the story that way. From a Watsonian perspective, how could Dottie go over the room as thoroughly as she did, thoroughly enough to find the poison lipstick, and not check behind all the paintings? And from a Doylist perspective, why would you write this scene where the Russian spy searches a room where we just saw our hero carefully hide an emotionally important object, and not even hint at the spy finding that object? It's just a strange oversight, a narrative pulled punch.
I was also a little disappointed by Miriam's appearance in this episode. She's been set up throughout as more an obstacle than a character. "No men above the first floor" is almost her only character trait, and that's been fine up to this point. Certainly it was all that was needed in the Howard Stark infiltrates the second floor episode, and it was a fine addition of unexpected stress when Peggy was looking for a new apartment. But with the government agents knocking on the door of the Griffith, it was a missed opportunity not to give a moment to humanize her- to let her stand up and say "I may not have always trusted Peggy Carter, but I believe she's a good girl, and I will not allow you to violate the rules of this establishment without showing me some proof to the contrary." And to have it stick. To let Miriam Fry be the hero of her own story. Her only character trait is that she is an obstacle to men trying to get on the second floor, so it was frustrating to see the SSR men brush past that obstacle as if it didn't matter, when being that obstacle could have constituted the sort of quiet female heroism Agent Carter is ostensibly about, the sort of quiet female heroism that Angie is allowed to exhibit minutes later.
That being said, Agent Carter is fantastic overall. It is, after Parks and Rec, the show I am most excited about watching each week. And I'm going to miss it when it's over.
I thought the episode was badly paced in that kind of typical way when you're an episode or two before the finale and you need to manipulate a lot of the pieces into their proper place for the finale. Both Russian subplots were awkwardly developed... I didn't comprehend at all the placement of Dottie's kiss in the storyline. I guess it reinforced the theme of men underestimating women, with the crowning irony that if they had heeded Peggy's warning about the Red Room, they might have caught her. But the emotional swing from Peggy's free to Peggy's about to be killed to Peggy's in SSR custody was strange and did disservice to the Red Room plot. Likewise, the Ivchenko storyline had several false starts that nicely built suspense... it would have been nice if it had also had an ending. It's not a subplot I care enough about to be anxious about through to next week.
I loved Angie's moment in the sun. I loved the fight in the Automat, and how brutal and terrible Peggy's escape from Sousa and Thompson was.
About Angie's moment in the sun: Peggy acts because she trusts Howard Stark is not a traitor. Repeatedly, she insists that Howard Stark is not a traitor, and repeatedly the SSR disbelieves her. When she meets Thompson and Sousa in the alley, she likewise asks them to trust her, to continue the chain of trust forged of working together, fighting together, spending time judging each other and proving each other out. It's a great echo of the premiere. They refuse to trust her, though Sousa at least wavers. But Angie is asked to trust Peggy over the government authorities and she does it without thinking, because that's what friends do. (Because that's what Steve would do?) I love that moment. I really do think that the Angie crying scene is one of Agent Carter's best, most earned emotional moments- built from awkward lunches and brooding silences and shared confidences at the boarding house table, until it seems inevitable.
And this is back from last week, but I still think it's startling that Dottie did not find Steve's blood last week, and I don't understand why they would tell the story that way. From a Watsonian perspective, how could Dottie go over the room as thoroughly as she did, thoroughly enough to find the poison lipstick, and not check behind all the paintings? And from a Doylist perspective, why would you write this scene where the Russian spy searches a room where we just saw our hero carefully hide an emotionally important object, and not even hint at the spy finding that object? It's just a strange oversight, a narrative pulled punch.
I was also a little disappointed by Miriam's appearance in this episode. She's been set up throughout as more an obstacle than a character. "No men above the first floor" is almost her only character trait, and that's been fine up to this point. Certainly it was all that was needed in the Howard Stark infiltrates the second floor episode, and it was a fine addition of unexpected stress when Peggy was looking for a new apartment. But with the government agents knocking on the door of the Griffith, it was a missed opportunity not to give a moment to humanize her- to let her stand up and say "I may not have always trusted Peggy Carter, but I believe she's a good girl, and I will not allow you to violate the rules of this establishment without showing me some proof to the contrary." And to have it stick. To let Miriam Fry be the hero of her own story. Her only character trait is that she is an obstacle to men trying to get on the second floor, so it was frustrating to see the SSR men brush past that obstacle as if it didn't matter, when being that obstacle could have constituted the sort of quiet female heroism Agent Carter is ostensibly about, the sort of quiet female heroism that Angie is allowed to exhibit minutes later.
That being said, Agent Carter is fantastic overall. It is, after Parks and Rec, the show I am most excited about watching each week. And I'm going to miss it when it's over.