100 Days of Marvel: Road to Infinity War - Day 3: Agent Carter Season 2 [Episodes 1 - 5]

In yesterday's post on Agent Carter, I forgot to talk about the SSR captain who went out like a bad ass, and that needs to be remedied. Though Dooley (Shea Whigham) was kind of dumb in the end for failing to see the villain coming, and for giving him free rein of the office for a time, his exit was bad-ass. It was the first thing that I thought about when starting the first episode in season 2.

Jumping right into the first half of the season - not as good as season 1. Don't get me wrong, I do like it. But I am so far less invested in the villain and the over all plot. As a follow up to an overall amazing season, however, it does as well as can be expected. The season repeats a lot of the narrative of season 1, which I do think hurts it. Most of all, I am sick of Carter having to go around the SSRs back to accomplish her goals. I was happy that in the end of season 1 things at SSR seemed to be on the up and up.

The villain in this season is a little dry to me. And whereas I didn't like the villain in season one, there was at least the tension of Carter being a double agent. The zero matter villain in this season is much more characterized than say, the trained women assassins, however I feel more connected to the assassins because it seemed as if there was much more at stake with them. They also tied into Carter's development a lot more than the zero / dark matter villain. That said, the dark matter villain is pretty cool, she just plays less into Carter's development. Nothing about them play off each other, and she merely serves an obstacle. In season 1, Carter had many more obstacles - such as proving her competence as a female agent and dealing with villains where their womanhood came into play. This is the case to some degree for Whitney Frost, however, it does not seem as effective to me this go round.

Her potential is there, though. And I like her descent into darkness. Seeing her as a kid already gave her more characterization than the assassins, and we have good motive for her actions. In comparison, we see how Carter loses her brother in a touching backstory. I could instantly feel the connection between the Carter siblings, and I felt his loss just heavy. Carter is cursed to lose the best men in her life. That being said, I am happy that Sousa is taking on more of heroic role in this season. Not that he wasn't a hero in season 1, but at least in this season he is on Carter's side.

It also seems like the sexual prejudices have all been erased completely due to Carter's successes in season one. She is now somehow better at interrogating, when in season one this was not a strength of hers. At least in this season she is not always the most competent person in the room, and has some good characters to play off of. Jarvis still has a long way to go, but I enjoy his wife. I also enjoy Wilkes. He ain't no Captain America, but he will do.

Contrary to how this post is sounding thus far, I am still really enjoying the show. Wilkes has been a cool introduction, and I like the narrative of him trying to find a way to solid. I do hope that the next 5 episodes escalate quickly and things get rolling.

Kurtwood Smith does a great job with his small role in the first 5 episodes, and he seems like a good B villain for the season. I think his role will be stronger in the second half, much like Frost and the assassin.

It has been a long day so I am going to keep this one short! Tomorrow, for day 4, check out my full review of Season 2.