Marvel Watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning...

[Mel O'Drama]

Well, I'm at a watershed. There are currently no new Disney+ original series and No Way Home isn't available yet.

Last night I watched Assembling A Universe and Expanding The Universe. Since I've watched all the films at home in a bit of a vacuum (other than this thread) it was especially eye-opening to see the excited screaming fans responding to the actors and announcements which brought home just how a huge phenomenon the MCU is.

I do have more Marvel material lined up to watch and I'll continue to share those in this thread, even though they may be a bit more random and a bit less linear than my viewing to date.

 

[Crimson]

I thought HAWKEYE was pitch perfect. I think the superhero genre works best when it straddles the line between serious and humorous; I don't think it works nearly as well when it topples too far in the directions of being self-serious or overtly comedic. Any show that can both make me a little verklempt (a few times!) and make me laugh out loud is doing something right.

I still chuckle at Clint's wearing resignation that, having fought Thanos, he was reduced to losing a fake battle against a cosplayer; and the ending made me misty-eyed in a IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE kind of way.

I haven’t watched any of the Netflix series, nor am I likely to anytime soon since they’re not on Disney+, so this was my introduction to this version of Wilson Fisk.

TBD if this is the same Wilson Fisk as in the Netflix series. His inclusion -- and one other lingering clue -- seem to validate the Netflix shows being MCU canon, but it's not yet definitively established. It wouldn't be the first time the same actor played the same character but in a different reality (J. Jonah Jameson) . Fisk is both similar but also slightly different than his appearances in the Netflix shows, so it could go either way.

While Eleanor’s true role in things wasn’t too surprising to me, I was genuinely invested in the relationships and so it wasn’t about the reveal itself, but about the characters’ reactions to it. I did enjoy the turnaround with Jack being a good guy after all (that I didn’t see coming).

I too assumed there was a pending twist with Eleanor; it seemed unlikely Vera Farmiga would be cast to play a generic worried mother. But I didn't see the particular twist coming, because it was an expertly crafted double-fakeout with both her and Jack not being what they seemed.

Actors working on different wavelengths can be jarring. In BLACK WIDOW, David Harbour felt like he wandered in from the wrong movie, so it's impressive that the performances of Tony Dalton (Jack) and Florence Pugh (Yelena) work so well here; they're both somewhat over-the-top, but keep it controlled enough to fit into the tone of the series. (A couple of the cosplayers strained against that line but never quite crossed it.)

The satisfying ending - Kate going to stay with the Barton family - felt more like a beginning, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing Kate playing a role in forthcoming Marvel projects. And hopefully Clint won’t be retiring altogether just yet.

Despite being his eponymous series, I have barely mentioned Hawkeye. From the beginning, I have been perplexed at his inclusion in the MCU. I never cared much for the character in comics (nor Green Arrow, for that matter), but at least in comic books he had a personality to compensate for his unimpressive skillset. In the MCU, it seemed that Hawkeye's pricklish, sarcastic persona was co-opted by Tony Stark; this left Clint not only with meager 'powers' but no personality to boot. When an earlier film (CIVIL WAR, I think?) implied that Hawkeye was the glue that held the Avengers together, it was writing telling us something we had never been shown.

As mentioned, I had expected this series to trash its hero to build up Kate. Instead, the series built a surprisingly strong case for Clint's value as a hero; a 'regular' guy fighting gods and aliens and holding his own. In fact, the series had so much hero worship from Kate, I then began to think the show was preemptively eulogizing Clint; I braced for the series to end with his death or retirement. And so I was surprised (so, so many surprises in this show! in the best possible ways!), when the show ended with Clint & Kate seemingly forming a partnership. Kate is so well established at this point, she could easily support her own movies/series, but I'll be thrilled to see her and Clint continue to work together.

HAWKEYE cracked into my Top 10 the first time I watched it, and slid up a little further on my second watch.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. Hawkeye
7. The Avengers
8. Avengers: Endgame
9. Iron Man
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. Spider-Man: Homecoming
12. WandaVision
13. Black Panther
14. Spider-Man: Far From Home
15. Doctor Strange
16. What If ... ?
17. Avengers: Age of Ultron
18. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
19. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
20. Thor
21. The Incredible Hulk
22. Ant-Man
23. Black Widow
24. Ant-Man and The Wasp
25. Loki
26. Captain Marvel
27. Iron Man 3
28. Iron Man 2
29. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
30. Thor: The Dark World
31. Eternals

Updated: MCU Ratings on Google Sheets

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Any show that can both make me a little verklempt (a few times!) and make me laugh out loud is doing something right.

Agreed, and it had the same effect on me.

Fisk is both similar but also slightly different than his appearances in the Netflix shows, so it could go either way.

For obvious reasons all of this went over my head, but that's interesting to know.

it's impressive that the performances of Tony Dalton (Jack) and Florence Pugh (Yelena) work so well here; they're both somewhat over-the-top, but keep it controlled enough to fit into the tone of the series.

Yes. Pretty much everything about this series felt well-balanced and I suspect it's not easy to get that to work this well.

(A couple of the cosplayers strained against that line but never quite crossed it.)

For the most part I was just relieved that their roles were kept fairly small. Despite her many differences from the Bombshell of the comics, Wendy Conrad was my favourite of the pseudo-Avengers.

In the MCU, it seemed that Hawkeye's pricklish, sarcastic persona was co-opted by Tony Stark; this left Clint not only with meager 'powers' but no personality to boot. When an earlier film (CIVIL WAR, I think?) implied that Hawkeye was the glue that held the Avengers together, it was writing telling us something we had never been shown.

I remember having a similar gripe with Age Of Ultron when Clint's family was introduced which felt completely off since I barely knew nor cared about Clint himself.

In later MCU films I got a bit of a Wolverine tortured soul vibe from Clint, with the Ronin business adding to this. I felt this at times in the series as well, but feel that angle was well-used here.

As mentioned, I had expected this series to trash its hero to build up Kate. Instead, the series built a surprisingly strong case for Clint's value as a hero; a 'regular' guy fighting gods and aliens and holding his own.

Yes. It celebrated all that works about the character and what makes him unique among Avengers. Because of the layers added I suspect I'll view his earlier films differently when I come to rewatch them.

I was surprised (so, so many surprises in this show! in the best possible ways!), when the show ended with Clint & Kate seemingly forming a partnership.

It hadn't crossed my mind that Clint might die at the end of the series, but given the fates of the vast majority of original MCU Avengers at this point it was certainly a very real possibility.

I think I might have read the final scene differently from you. Something that crossed my mind was that he was offering her the "Hawkeye" name (his line about the idea), and presumably his mentorship to get her up to Avengers-level skill. If that is the case, I'm hoping there's a long-ish journey as it's left me wanting to see more of Clint and especially of their double-act.

Kate is so well established at this point, she could easily support her own movies/series, but I'll be thrilled to see her and Clint continue to work together.

Yes indeed. My money would be on her becoming an Avenger and mostly showing up in team films or with other characters. But I'm usually wrong about this kind of stuff.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Thor: Ragnarok
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. Hawkeye
7. The Avengers
8. Avengers: Endgame
9. Iron Man
10. Captain America: The First Avenger

Despite our frequent different tastes in the films, it's nice that we share 60% of our top tens.

 

[Crimson]

Well, I'm at a watershed. There are currently no new Disney+ original series and No Way Home isn't available yet.

Given that it's still performing at the box office, you're likely to be 5 months or so away from NO WAY HOME being released. Upthread I mentioned it would be on Disney + before year's end, forgetting that Disney doesn't own the Spider-Man films. In the US, at least, the movie will be available on Starz.

MOON KNIGHT is up next; and there's no spoilers or connections to anything else, if you want to watch the trailer. I suggest avoiding the DOCTOR STRANGE 2 trailer, though; that one builds on events in NWH.

There's a lot of peripheral shows that are of dubious canon status, but outside of the Netflix shows I have no opinion or interest in them. When you get around to AGENT CARTER I might just join you, but I will abandon you for sure when it comes to AGENTS OF SHIELD.

I think I might have read the final scene differently from you. Something that crossed my mind was that he was offering her the "Hawkeye" name (his line about the idea),

Certainly it occurred to me that Kate would inherit the Hawkeye mantle; in fact, that's very much what I expected the series to be. The series was so unexpected and did so much to develop Kate as her own character, I'll be very disappointed if all they do is slap the moniker Hawkeye II on her.

Despite our frequent different tastes in the films, it's nice that we share 60% of our top tens.

Differences of opinions are what make discussions fun, although I would have given you some serious side-eye if you had liked ETERNALS.

 

[Crimson]

Now that @Mel O'Drama is up-to-date as possible, as suggested by @Ome -- my top tens, all-inclusive of heroes, villains and supporting characters.

BEST

1. Captain America: while Tony Stark might be the heart of the MCU, Steve Rogers was its backbone. There seemed to be a belief in superhero films that 'noble' characters don't work: they need to be sidelined and mocked (Cyclops in the X-MEN films) or darkened (Superman in the Snyder films). So what a relief to see Cap played as such a stalwart hero and his Boy Scout image both embraced and only gently kidded. Plus Chris Evans is the best cast character in the MCU, joining Christopher Reeve and Lynda Carter as looking as if they just popped right off the pages of a comic book.
2. Kate Bishop: one of the most well rounded, well developed and all around likeable characters from the MCU.
3. Killmonger: the MCU's most well developed villain, whose nuanced motivations don't mask the full depth of his treachery.
4. Thor: a pretty dull character at first, but later entries added a cheery good humor and shaky confidence to his persona; making him both heroic and relatable.
5. Michelle Jones-Watson: the most surprising inclusion on the list. The superhero girlfriend is a thankless role, but Zendaya plays the part with intelligence and wit; no one else since Margot Kidder has done so well in this function.
6. Scarlet Witch: the biggest character arc in the MCU, Wanda started out as an ersatz Jean Grey and evolved into a well-developed, recognizable version of the Scarlet Witch. (I just hope subsequent costume designers understand that 'scarlet' is not a generic synonym for any shade of red.)
7. Okoye: fiercely heroic and amusing, I found her far more intriguing than the title character in BLACK PANTHER.
8. Wong: handling antiquated characters from earlier eras can be tricky, and often results in a heavy-handed over-compensation. It's been gratifying to see Wong develop as a powerful and witty peer of Dr. Strange.
9. Spider-Man: While I concede his exuberance can be grating, I think Tom Holland is one heck of a good Spidey; his youth and athleticism make him far more suitable to the role than his predecessors and all the pieces for the character fell into place in the most recent film.
10. Yelena: Florence Pugh pivots between broadly comedic and (literally) deadly serious, sometimes within the same scene; impressive feat of acting to pull that off.

WORST

1. The Eternals (minus Kingo): Ok, it's a cheat to include 9 characters in one slot but they're all so bland, they might as well be merged. I'll exclude Kingo, because Kumail Nanjiani played the role with some energy. All of the other actors just stood around looking portentous and somnambulant.
2. Suri: While I have nothing particularly against the character, I find the actress' performance to be insufferably smug; and this was well before her anti-vax controversies.
3. Whiplash: a poorly cast actor stuck with a terrible costume design and bad character concept.
4. Yellowjacket: MCU has been overly fond of these 'mirror image' villains (Abomination; Iron Monger; etc.), but this was one of the worst villains of the franchise.
5. Flash Thompson: I am generally forgiving of the gender/race swaps in the MCU, either for the sake of diversity (Ned) or to avoid controversy (the Ancient One), but the casting here is baffling. I can never tell if he's meant to be an arrogant bully or a foolish comic relief, but doesn't work either way.
6. Aldrich Killian: the fake Mandarin distracts from what a terrible villain this guy was in IRON MAN 3
7. Captain Marvel: 'Strong' isn't a personality trait. Even Thor, in his earlier iterations, had more personality than this flat, colorless character. The only reason she's not #1 on this list is because her animated counterpart somewhat redeemed her.
8. Sylvie: As hard as LOKI tried to make this character work, she fell flat.
9. Karli Morgenthau: see below
10. John Walker: it's telling that two of my least favorite characters came from the same series. THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER tried to work in shades of gray, but its writing wasn't sharp enough to support this. Rather than nuanced characters, they were simply drab.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Given that it's still performing at the box office, you're likely to be 5 months or so away from NO WAY HOME being released. Upthread I mentioned it would be on Disney + before year's end, forgetting that Disney doesn't own the Spider-Man films. In the US, at least, the movie will be available on Starz.

Yes, the rights thing is a bit of a pain, but I've done well so far, having The Incredible Hulk on DVD and with the first two Spidey films being available to stream on BBC iPlayer (even though the second one did put me under time pressure due to only remaining available to watch for a short time).

Who knows, there may be some good news on the rights front by the time it's ready for home media. If not, I may end up renting it on Prime.

MOON KNIGHT is up next; and there's no spoilers or connections to anything else, if you want to watch the trailer. I suggest avoiding the DOCTOR STRANGE 2 trailer, though; that one builds on events in NWH.

Thanks for this. I somehow ended up watching the Moon Knight trailer a couple of weeks ago, but I'll make sure I give the Doctor Strange one a wide berth.

There's a lot of peripheral shows that are of dubious canon status, but outside of the Netflix shows I have no opinion or interest in them.

Unfortunately I'm pretty certain I won't be watching the Netflix series since I don't have it and they don't appear to be anywhere else. The same goes for Cloak & Dagger.

When you get around to AGENT CARTER I might just join you, but I will abandon you for sure when it comes to AGENTS OF SHIELD.

I'm a little put off by the sheer volume of episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

My current plan is to watch the remaining One-Shots (which have all reappeared on D+), then Agent Carter (since there's also a One-Shot devoted to her) and Inhumans. After that, I'll probably give the two Hulu series a spin.

And if I'm not completely Marvelled out by that time I'll give Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. a go.

It's quite possible I'll get sidetracked with other stuff. D+ has series I've had on my bucket list - such as Scandal - as well as film series I haven't watched in full (Star Wars and X-Men to name a couple. Although the latter has First Class missing which might make it a confusing mess).

Differences of opinions are what make discussions fun,

Absolutely.

although I would have given you some serious side-eye if you had liked ETERNALS.

Ha ha. Thank goodness it didn't get that drastic.

 

[Crimson]

I'm a little put off by the sheer volume of episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Tidbit: HAWKEYE possibly validated the canon status of the Netflix shows, but it also possibly invalidated the canon status of AGENTS OF SHIELD!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Tidbit: HAWKEYE possibly validated the canon status of the Netflix shows, but it also possibly invalidated the canon status of AGENTS OF SHIELD!

Oh lord. Will I have to watch all 136 episodes for it to become clear?

 

[Crimson]

Will I have to watch all 136 episodes for it to become clear?

I understand the final episode ends with a title card: "SUCKER!"

From what I gather, the conflict between the two shows is fairly subtle. As a fan of both comic books and soap operas, I'm sure you're used to the mental gymnastics needed to make clunky continuity pieces fit together.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Marvel One-Shot (2011-2017)


The Consultant / A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer / Item 47

Last night I ripped through seven of the eight One-Shots (it seemed logical to keep Agent Carter to watch ahead the series).

I'd previously watched The Consultant back in December at its correct placement, but the series was taken down before I could continue. Since it's only three minutes, I decided to revisit it ahead of the others. Back then I said it was underwhelming, but I think I enjoyed it more this time round. It still fascinates me that this appears to be Sitwell's chronological debut since it takes place ahead of Thor. The title refers to Tony's briefing on the Avengers Initiative in Iron Man 2, when he was told they only wanted him as a consultant. It's also interesting that the original preference was for Abomination to be an Avenger. With Blonsky being viewed as a war hero, the plan was to blame Hulk for damage from The Duel Of Harlem. Anyway, a short piece consisting of two men speaking in a diner is an unexpected route for an MCU short, and even though it was forced because the budget was blown on the second piece, I like it.

A Funny Thing... was another showcase for Coulson, presumably done to make his death more meaningful. It's nice to see him as a capable man in his own right and his approach to dealing with a service station hold up is good fun.

In the aftermath of Coulson’s death, Item 47 sees Sitwell taking over his role, tracking down a couple of kids who’ve stolen a Chitauri gun following the Battle Of New York. The action in this one makes up for the two dull antagonists. And the scavenging, opportunistic weaponry looting element foreshadows Spider-Man: Homecoming which would utilise similar themes half a decade later, which adds retrospective layers to this one.


At episode's end, I had assumed Item 47 was setting up some of the team for Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it seems not. I'm a little relieved.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Marvel One-Shot

All Hail The King

​

If any One-Shot can be appreciated most from this very belated watch it’s All Hail The King. Despite coming seven years before Shang-Chi, this One-Shot actually sets up the later film, heavily referencing the Ten Rings and having Trevor Slattery kidnapped from prison by the Mandarin. Shang-Chi does appear to contradict (or retcon) a couple of things in this, but no matter, there’s a sense that this short is an essential part of the MCU (in fact I’m fairly sure some of it was used in Shang-Chi during a flashback).

It’s difficult to say how I’d have viewed All Hail The King in the wake of Iron Man 3. I hated the Mandarin actor twist, and felt Ben Kingsley was wasted. It was Shang-Chi that redeemed the character for me, but now I have to wonder if Shang-Chi allowed me to enjoy All Hail The King as much as I did, or if All Hail… could have provided my breakthrough with the character.

Slattery's winning combination of theatrical grandiosity paired with low intellect lead to memorable lines like “Au contraire, Dave” (spoken to a thug threatening him in prison).

His Britishisms make the character endearing while giving him some edge. I think he’s the first MCU character to say “bollocks”*, which sounds funny and charming when said with his Ringo Starr voice. His observations on prison life and acting are delightfully frank and a little risqué. For example:

There are things I miss. Ketamine, obviously. And the birds. But, y’know, you make do in that department, I mean we’ve all been to drama school have we not? [winks broadly at the interviewer]

Sean Connery made a pass at me once. Everyone on the set called him “Mr Connery”. He called me “Trev”. [imitating Connery’s accent] “You’re very talented, Trev.”

When an ac-tor tells you he’s done the research, it means he’s switched on his computer, Googled his own name an’ had a quick wank.

It’s been said this short was made both as an apology to fans angry about Iron Man 3’s “twist” and to tease the character for a return visit, and it’s successful on both levels. Moreover, as well as filling in some gaps it’s hugely enjoyable in its own right. There’s comedy, character exploration, general weirdness and a bit of action. It certainly justifies the creation of this character. This One-Shot was a revelation for me. Not even Justin Hammer’s cameo could spoil my enjoyment.




* Along similar lines, I forgot to mention during What If…? how much I enjoyed Peggy Carter spitting out “bloody bollocks” during a tumble.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Marvel One-Shot


Team Thor - Parts 1 and 2 / Team Darryl

​

As far as I know, these three shorts weren’t intended to be One-Shots but have recently been rebranded. I’m not sure this is the best move since they’re of very questionable canon. I’d class these in What If…? territory. But with that mindset they kind of work as a way of showing what Thor could have been up to during his hiatus from the MCU. It could also be argued that they're a way of explaining (to a degree) his new, contemporary surfie persona.

The two Thor shorts are, basically a sitcom made in the style of a documentary. Thor moves in to share a flat with an ordinary Australian bloke who is horrified by his imperious, lazy ways, while Thor himself is unaware of how inappropriate he’s being with his entitlement and his tendency to give too much information while dropping in on classes of young kids. Tony Stark avoids his calls. Bruce Banner drops by as a guest-star. Hilarity ensues.

They’re pitched, naturally enough, firmly in the direction of fans of latter day MCU Thor, of which there are many. At risk of repeating myself I’m not a fan of this characterisation, and these eight minutes didn’t do anything to change that.

Team Darryl continues the story. Thor’s old roommate has relocated to Los Angeles and the only person to answer his Craigslist ad for a housemate is... the Grandmaster. You can probably imagine how I felt about watching this ahead of time.

Like All Hail The King, however, Team Darryl did the impossible by surprising me and allowing me to enjoy a character I’d previously had no time for. Away from the context of the MCU proper, Jeff Goldblum gets to do his Jeff Goldblum thing and it’s a delight rather than a distraction. There's a whole bunch of silliness with Darryl helping Grandmaster upload a YouTube video which half a day on only has one view (two after they refresh. But tht's because they've watched it twice). It feels very improvised which is all to the better. Grandmaster's logic in suggesting they should make another video to advertise the one getting no views was so daft it made me grin.

There’s a cracking scene where Grandmaster has ordered Darryl to get a band together, only for the guitarist to question the nonsense he’s spouting. The scene then cuts to the same location moments later where there is a pile of smoking clothing where the guitarist had stood.

And it gets better. This leads on to a twist on a traditional sitcom scene. At bedtime, Grandmaster decides he should telephone the guitarist’s mother to apologise for melting her son and asks Darryl to coach him, running through the dialogue with Darryl pretending to be the mother. Naturally, he’s immediately inappropriate, asking what she’s wearing, etc. Goldblum makes it truly hilarious, with all his appreciative sounds and writhing in response to hearing about Mrs Richardson’s blue nightgown. It’s completely OTT, ridiculous and unnecessary. But sixteen hours on I’m laughing just thinking about it.

Dare I say it: All Hail The King and Team Darryl are my two favourites of all the shorts I watched last night. They’re certainly the funniest.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Marvel One-Shot





Agent Carter

​

While I watched this One-Shot back-to-back with the first three episodes, it’s not part of the the same story. Indeed, although both are set in 1946, the two vehicles (One-Shot and series) seem to exist in two alternative timelines.

In the One-Shot timeline, Peggy is doing dull data analysis work at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but gets her big break when the menfolk leave to go drinking, leaving Peggy alone to tidy up the office where she gets a hotline call with the location of the Zodiac serum.

On a mission said to require three to five agents, Peggy goes in single-handed, takes out five men with ease and retrieves the formula. The next day, just as she’s being chastised by her sexist boss, Howard Stark phones him to recruit Peggy for S.H.I.E.L.D., forcing the mean old boss to eat his words.

I find it difficult to comment on this episode without seeming critical or harsh. Fact is I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it’s a contender for my absolute favourite One-Shot. It revisits a character who - by virtue of debuting in a film set seven decades earlier - is difficult to fit into the mainstream MCU. It takes the qualities shown there and builds on them. There’s an arc for her character that’s satisfying on a number of levels. She also gets some memorably sharp lines:

We’re gonna need a full analysis on all recent transmissions. By tomorrow evening at the latest.

[Peggy opens her drawer and hands him the completed analysis]

How about yesterday?

To the guard who’d told her there were four guards in total (after she’d taken down five):

Learn to count.

After Flynn offers to help Peggy take her belongings down to her car as she leaves to run S.H.I.E.L.D.:

Thank you, Agent Flynn. But as has always been the case, I don’t require your help.

Fun as she is to watch, though, there’s no denying that the competent Peggy from The First Avenger is taken to the Nth degree here. She rarely puts a foot wrong and makes it look so easy. Everything moves so quickly and she barely breaks a sweat. The speed and completeness with which she deals with the sexism from her colleagues may be cathartic and satisfying, but a ten minute piece is never going to do more than skim the surface and risk trivialising something it suggests is important.

However, these are nitpicks that didn’t spoil my enjoyment. Taken on its own merits, Agent Carter is great fun. The period setting looks gorgeous and the entire short looks cinematic and sumptuous. And a little more Peggy is no bad thing.

It’s so enjoyable that it’s unsurprising that the series came along a couple of years later. But that’s another story. Quite literally.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Agent Carter



Season One

Now Is Not The End / Bridge And Tunnel / Time And Tide​

In many ways, the series is a victim of the earlier One-Shot’s success. The earlier fifteen minute short had condensed a lot of story into a short time, covering a lot of ground and tying up all loose ends.

Trouble is, there was so much evolution and resolution in the One-Shot that it makes any continuation that much more difficult. If she can take down a gang, resolve a long-running investigation, put her sexist boss firmly in his place and gain a promotion in the space of ten minutes, that leaves two questions: Firstly, what’s she going to do with all that time in a series where each episode is four to five times longer than this? Secondly, where is the journey for her character now that she’s overcome so many obstacles and has achieved what she wanted?

The series sidesteps these questions by more or less starting from scratch with a retcon. I've had to assume that the One-Shot is indeed a different reality from this one. By necessity the story is told in a different way here.

In this 1946, S.H.I.E.L.D. is years away and Peggy is still with the Strategic Scientific Reserve, dealing with institutionalised sexism day in, day out:

Carter… If you don’t mind, these surveillance reports need to be filed and you’re really so much better at that kind of thing.

What kind of thing’s that, Agent Thompson? The alphabet? I can teach you. Let’s start with words beginning with ‘A’.

She takes this further by ticking off a male colleague who had challenged some sexist comments. It's not the most subtle approach and one feels this is filtered through a very Twenty First Century prism. However, having made such short and effortless work of fixing sexism in the One-Shot it's pleasing that in this reality things aren't quite so easy.


Despite being broken up with a couple of action scenes per episode it has to be said that the pace of these first three episodes feels positively glacial. I’m not sure how much of this is comparing it with more recent MCU series like Hawkeye, and how much is from following directly on from the Agent Carter One-Shot, but the episodes feel every minute of their running time.

The character development feels very slow, which I hope will eventually make it more meaningful. At the moment there are many names and faces to get to know and most of the characters as the SSR aren’t particularly likeable or endearing they seem pretty homogenous. The only one I can really single out is creaky-voiced smug Lucas from One Tree Hill who is now creaky-voiced smug Jack Thompson. All the others blur together except, now and then, the nice one with the crush on Peggy.

It’s been similar with the villains, who are of the craggy-faced variety. And Peggy’s circle of female friends who all seem to have light brown to dark blonde hair. There’s the nice one who got murdered for being Peggy’s flatmate, leaving Peggy with guilt and reluctance to bond with the nice waitress. There’s also “nice” cheerful new arrival Dottie who is a bit blonder, and who I think isn’t as nice and cheerful as first appeared, given the slightly blonder hair of an assassin.

Jarvis is proving enjoyable, as I’d hoped he would, and I’m hoping for more goodness in that regard.

The “progressive woman in a less progressive period" vibe reminds me of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. With that comes a sense of fun that allows me to turn a blind eye to some more anachronistic attitudes and responses. Donning the blonde wig to investigate undercover in a nightclub was a very Phryne Fisher thing to do. Dealing with everyday sexism from male colleagues and a grumpy boss puts me in mind of Maggie Forbes in The Gentle Touch. Oh, and the tone of the recap/intro for Time And Tide - with narration telling the story so far - reminded me very much of the opening credits to Charlie’s Angels. Since I like all series in different ways, none of these are a bad thing.

 

[Crimson]

Agent Carter

Well you twisted my arm into following you, although likely several days behind.

Unfortunately I'm pretty certain I won't be watching the Netflix series since I don't have it and they don't appear to be anywhere else. The same goes for Cloak & Dagger.

Just a rumor at this point, but they might just end up on Disney + after all.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1492229230859591685

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Well you twisted my arm into following you, although likely several days behind.

Great news!! That will help things feel a bit more current for me.

Just a rumor at this point, but they might just end up on Disney + after all.

That sounds promising, and it would be great to have everything in one place. Well, almost everything.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Agent Carter

The Blitzkrieg Button / The Iron Ceiling / A Sin To Err​

Having persevered through the slow burn of the opening episodes I’m being rewarded with an absorbing watch. The threads of the series are creating a skein that feels substantial and fascinating.

Even when the series feels simple on the face of it, there are changing truths that add complexity. Things are frequently not what they seem. This is a world of greys rather than black and white simplicity and these episodes have included multiple revelations regarding characters.

The least surprising of these was Dottie turning out to be an assassin, but it was so much fun and such an enjoyable reveal that it’s difficult to complain. Visually and in terms of her characterisation I’m frequently reminded of A Place To Call Home’s Regina, which is a very good thing.

The most surprising reveal for me was Dr Johann Fennhoff, whose new start in America at the end of a particularly devastating mission gave me a warm glow and a feeling of hope. When Dottie aimed the rifle at him, I felt sure that was it, so the twist and the reveal of his true nature gave me an exciting little rush. I enjoyed that the series had manipulated me.

Somewhere in the middle of these have been a couple of twists with the character of Jack Thompson. One was his campfire story of killing Japanese soldiers who’d sneaked into their camp, which earned him a Navy Cross. I found myself feeling a little irritated with the scene because it felt like a very obvious attempt at humanising the up-to-this-point rather antagonistic Thompson and doing the whole breakthrough-via-bonding thing. In fact the entire setup felt like a riff on Robert Shaw’s legendary Indianapolis Speech in Jaws. And Chad Michael Murray is no Robert Shaw (I am admittedly biased. Overexposure to Murray’s overly-mannered acting style as One Tree Hill progressed forever turned me off him as an actor. I find him tolerable in this series, but still don’t care for him to be giving lengthy monologues).

My cynical feelings towards this scene were rewarded when there was a further twist in which Thompson admitted to Carter that the Japanese soldiers had been carrying white flags, something he hadn’t realised until after he started firing. And this scene followed one in which Thompson had frozen under fire. With the revelation about the fraudulently-earned Navy Cross, the writing around Thompson’s character is of a quality that mitigates any other problems I may have with his characterisation.

This series is certainly proving an interesting challenge to watch with my aversion to intrusive throat-clearing sounds. In fact it’s a positive cacophony. Chad Michael Murray does the alpha male grunting throat clear to mark his territory, but since his are almost a constant I find them less bothersome than Hayley Atwell’s occasional short and violent “ahem”s whose unpredictability fills me with suspense and dread. I’ll be reviewing the situation at the end of Season One, but I may need to decompress with another show before moving on to Season Two.

It was great to see the remaining Howling Commandos make an appearance for some action-packed location scenes which enhanced the series’ cinematic quality. And the stakes in this series do feel particularly high.

Several characters have died violent deaths. Some are brought on to die, of course. Like the unfortunate dentist, drilled to death by Dottie (there’s a perfect, alliterative soft porn film title somewhere in that sentence). But all have been effective. Junior Juniper may have only appeared in one episode, but we spent time with him before his sudden death in battle, which made it feel meaningful. Perhaps the biggest loss for me is the loss of Agent Yauch who was forced to commit suicide in the most recent episode. I thought Alexander Carroll’s features looked most perfectly suited to the period setting. Something about him just looks vintage. He also happened to be almost a double for Inspector Jack Frost from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mystery. So I enjoyed him, even if it was mostly in a functional, wallpaper kind of way. It seems a waste for him to go at this point, but it does go to show that there are very few sacred cows in this series.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Agent Carter

SNAFU / Valediction​

After watching a few episodes of Season One, my hope was that the slow pace and struggling to get to know the characters would result in some delayed gratification. Having reached season’s end, I’m delighted to say that’s exactly what I got.

As a rule of thumb, this season has got better and better with each passing episode, and I’d say SNAFU - the penultimate episode - is where I had my epiphany.

Simply put, everything worked about the episode. It was gripping, exciting, and highly enjoyable. It built on what had come before and kept moving forward. There was an urgent tension driving the story forwards and which meant I didn’t want to switch off. All the little frustrations I had with the series faded away and it was simply a treat.

The tone of the series has been perfect. The consequences and losses have continued to be real and the violence has been significant enough to be effective, but stopping short of being nauseous. The fight between Peggy and Dottie was very exciting and felt as though it didn’t hold back.

While the series has very much forged its own identity and stands very much on its own, the nods to its roots have been welcome. Howard believing he’s searching for Steve; Peggy appearing with Cap’s shield as part of his hallucination; the two of them discussing Steve in the aftermath all showed reverence for the film from which these characters have spun off. I even noticed a billboard for Tales Of Suspense as a film being shown in the cinema which takes Peggy right back to her source. The same goes for Viktor Ivchenko reading Doctor Faustus. And then there’s Arnim Zola’s little cameo.

Viktor Ivchenko/Johann Fennhoff has been a fascinating character. I’ve enjoyed his evolution and the subtleties of his manipulative qualities. The subjective way his victims’ hallucinations have been shown onscreen has also been incredibly effective. One can really feel a surreal sense of disorientation.

Dominic Cooper’s portrayal of Howard has grown on me as the series has progressed. And in no small way. I look forward to his scene-stealing visits. I enjoyed that the series came full circle with Thompson being an arrogant idiot.

And that Brooklyn Bridge scene was beautifully shot.

Yes - I was left wanting more.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Agent Carter


Season Two

The Lady In The Lake / A View In The Dark​

Since I was on a roll with this series, I broke my own “sleep on a season finale” rule and dived straight in to Season Two.

Even if I had waited, I’m sure I’d still have been just as struck with the change in tone. Locating from New York to L.A. (cue Patsy Gallant) has literally put things in a new light. Gone are the moody shadows and atmospheric locations. In comes blazing sunshine. Not that California is without its beauty. The mountains in the background of the horse track scenes were breathtaking.

Pleasingly, the characters themselves provide commentary on the new setting and it’s clear that the change has been particularly jarring for Jarvis who has very strong views on the heat and the palm trees. This helps the viewer adjust. Though Jarvis taking on physical exercise like a native seems most out of character, and I’m not thrilled about meeting Mrs Jarvis. I mean, she’s great, but Season One established her as a classic “unseen” character which made Jarvis a little more enigmatic and interesting. It’s a definite case of less is more for me.

Also bridging the gap between locations is the fact that we’ve still dropped in on the East Coast branch of the SSR to see familiar faces (at least, the couple that are still alive) doing their thing.

It was a little surprising to have Dottie not only immediately back on the scene but also taken down immediately. I’m curious to know where this is going now that Dottie has been taken into FBI custody (or has she).

The love triangle with Peggy, Sousa and Violet is watchable enough. Jason Wilkes seems very charismatic and I’m interested to see where that goes. Attitudes towards him as a potential love interest seem anachronistically accepting. Only the the token xenophobe in the doughnut place has batted an eye so far, but hey ho.

The glowing body from the lake is a bit too X-Files for my taste, and the same with the zero-matter. The swirling black matter just made me think of Spider-Man’s symbiote costume, and people exploding into lumps of frozen coal is pretty out there. For me it feels a less engaging mystery than the what we got in Season One, but it’s early days so I’m reserving judgement.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Agent Carter

Better Angels /Smoke & Mirrors / The Atomic Job​

I’m finding lots to enjoy with Season Two. If I were ranking the episodes, Smoke & Mirrors would be a top three episode of the series so far (along with the final two episodes of Season One). The flashbacks to Peggy’s past - from childhood to engagement to recruitment - and her relationship with her big brother were really well done and I appreciated that the same episode simultaneously fleshed out Whitney Frost by flashing back to her past as well.

The missions and battles have been thoroughly enjoyable. The formation of a ragtag team with Peggy, Jarvis, Daniel Sousa, Rose Roberts and Aloysius Samberly was fun, and the latter two in particular brought some welcome levity, adding to the balance.

While I’ve neglected to mention him so far, it’s been great to see Ray Wise’s occasional appearances as Hugh Jones, and it was good to see more of him in The Atomic Job with some enjoyably funny faces as Peggy repeatedly used the Memory Inhibitor on him.

While it’s been enjoyable to see mid-century California (a street of little bungalows where Jason Wilkes lived looked particularly good) I do still miss the New York atmosphere. I also miss some of the Season One supporting cast. Not just people like Angie Martinelli who are still there, but also the ones who were killed off in Season One.

In particular, the SSR material lacks gravitas now that we don’t see characters like Yauch and Roger Dooley. There seems to be less emphasis on character roles at the SSR in Season Two, with us mostly just seeing main characters interact and very few other roles to add flavour. Jack Thompson is a most unconvincing Chief of SSR, with Chad Michael Murray - for all his attempts at intense staring - looking out of his depth in the role. I’m not sure if this is intentional on the part of the writers, since Thompson is meant to be green. Either way, I feel less invested in the SSR stuff this year. A benefit of the series being based mostly in California now is that I’ve just enjoyed a couple of episodes with a complete absence of Chad's overacting.

Incidentally, does Chad Michael Murray’s bumfluff count as an anachronism? I’m fairly sure designer stubble wasn’t really a thing in the Forties. In other potential anachronisms, Sousa greeted his girlfriend with “Hey” while Rose told Aloysius “You got this” (as a way of saying “everything’s under control”). Both sounded very contemporary to my ears.