Meet AGENT CARTER

Article originally written for Seat42F.

MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER is Alias in the 1940s, so with a large dose of how women were treated in the first season of Mad Men. Set two years after the events of the main plot of Captain America: The First Avenger, SSR Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) has been relegated to a desk job that wastes her talents. But when Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) is accused of selling weapons to the nation’s enemies, he calls upon her to secretly investigate who stole his tech.

AGENT CARTER is not about the start of S.H.I.E.L.D., set prior to that organization’s founding, nor does it feature connections to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., at least not yet. Instead, the miniseries is its own thing, a self-contained mission seemingly designed to highlight Atwell’s talents and prove her worthiness to Stark, who certainly needs no further evidence. It’s not ground-moving to the Marvel universe, but it is enjoyable.

For those wondering about continuity, well, it works fine with Captain American, but not with the Marvel One-Shot, Agent Carter. In the One-Shot, which takes place one year after Captain America, thus one year prior to AGENT CARTER, she is rescued from obscurity by Howard to begin the organization Nick Fury will one day run. This hasn’t happened yet, and she’s still locked in the desk job, albeit with a different boss and co-workers than in that short. Toss out the One-Shot, or assume it happens at a later date, and all is well. Though, it’s a tad disappointing we don’t get to see Peggy traipsing the globe with Dum Dum Dugan and the Howling Commandos, picking up artifacts as glimpses in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this fall.

Taking AGENT CARTER on its own merits, I like it. It’s a new take on the detective / cop / spy story, with Carter having to work behind her superior’s backs because they don’t trust or believe in her. She has a sort-of bumbling male sidekick, Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy, Those Who Kill), and when she’s not working, she has a gal pal to hang around with, waitress Angie (Lyndsy Fonseca, Nikita). There is character development when someone Peggy is close to pays the cost of Carter’s activities. Peggy’s adventures are exciting enough, and it’s fun watching her kick butt and brilliantly outsmart the villains, including Spider Raymond (Andre Royo, The Wire), Leet Brannis (James Frain, Grimm), and Miles Van Ert (James Urbaniak, The Venture Bros.).

AGENT CARTER is feminism in action without pounding you over the head with it. Sure, Peggy’s boss, Roger Dooley (Shea Whigham, Boardwalk Empire), has no confidence in her, nor do co-workers golden boy Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray, One Tree Hill) and bumbling Ray Krzeminski (Kyle Bornheimer, Perfect Couples). But Stark and Jarvis have plenty of faith in her, and her peer, Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj, Dollhouse), respects her, too. So how people regard Peggy is more about them as individuals than the time as a whole.

Where the show gets most preachy is when we hear the Captain American radio plays, which paint Peggy as a damsel in distress that the hero must rescue. Of course, at one point this is interspersed with her beating the heck out of a baddie, so it’s more laughable bit than social commentary.

AGENT CARTER feels fresh, and it feels new. I think making it a period piece sets it apart from other network fare, and while the structure of show isn’t wholly original, making it one big story instead of cases-of-the-week keeps it compelling. I do wish it had been set in the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D., thus adding to the franchise as a whole, but it’s still a fun piece without that, and I look forward to seeing where the plot is going over the next six weeks. And maybe season two will satisfy that other want?

AGENT CARTER airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

No "Dead Weight" in THE WALKING DEAD

Article first published as THE WALKING DEAD Review Season 4 Episode 7 Dead Weight on Seat42F.

“Dead Weight,” the lastest episode of AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, once more changes all the rules. As it begins, Brian, a.k.a. the man formerly known as The Governor (David Morrissey), is accepted into a new camp. He tries to make a go of things as a contributor who does not seek power or control. But when it becomes apparent that the leadership of this group is unstable and Brian’s new family is threatened, he allows himself to once more be a survivor.

At first, it appears there could be peace and balance in this group. Brian just wants to make sure Lilly (Audrey Marie Anderson) and Meghan (Meyrick Murphy) are safe, and he’s fine with falling in line behind Martinez (Jose Pablo Cantillo) if Martinez can do the job. It’s not an ideal life, with a leaky trailer, but for now, Lilly is happy and Brian can stand it.

But Martinez asks for more. First, he takes Brian with him out on raids. Then he makes him part of his circle of advisors. Then he tells Brian they should share power. This makes sense to Martinez, who abandons The Governor when he lost focus and became a bit crazy, but who respects what The Governor built in Woodbury. Assuming that Brian has the talents of The Governor, but has found a way to get right in the head again, of course Martinez wants to make use of that skill set.

This is something that cannot stand for Brian, who whacks Martinez in the head with a golf club and feeds him to a pit of Walkers. There can definitely be some debate about why Brian does this. Is he just avoiding the power that he found so addictive and corrupting, and knows Martinez, who places emphasis on contribution, won’t leave him be? Does he give in to a fit of rage when he considers Martinez’s offer and thinks about what that might lead to? Or does Brian consider Martinez stupid and unworthy of leadership because he trusts someone who did not do right by the last settlement?

Either way, Martinez is dead, and that leaves a power vacuum. There are two obvious contenders to replace Martinez, not counting Brian, who doesn’t admit to the killing or immediately step forward. Pete (Enver Gjokaj, Dollhouse) is levelheaded and compassionate, refusing to rob another camp of their supplies. His brother, Mitch (Kirk Acevedo, Fringe), it a hothead, who thinks they should take what they can, anyone else be damned. Neither is a great pick.

Brian’s first solution to resolving this mess is, surprisingly, to run. He packs up Meghan, Lilly, her sister Tara (Alanna Masterson), and Tara’s new girlfriend, Alisha (Juliana Harkavy, Dolphin Tale), into a truck and tries to run. The way out is blocked by a mud trap full of Walkers, and so they are forced to turn around and go back.

I think Brian’s decision to flee is actually a testament to just how much he wants to be a different man. He could easily wrest control of these people himself and put down the threat, but instead, he decides to go away. He desperately wants to protect these women and not repeat Woodbury if he can avoid it.

Now, yes, Brian could try to escape harder. He might have found an alternate route or another opportunity. He does give up before the end of “Dead Weight,” so doesn’t have full commitment to this course of action. But part of this could be that the girls don’t support escaping, believing things safe. And part of it could also be that once Meghan is attacked by a Walker in the camp, Brian decides he cannot wait any longer to take action, and so chooses the quickest resolution.

This is a return of The Governor. He’s cold again, and murderous. He stabs Pete and puts him in a lake where The Governor can visit him, a la the fish tanks from Woodbury. The Governor threatens Mitch and gets him in line, his new attack dog, like Martinez used to be. And he starts thinking of ways to bring the group together to ensure their survival, knowing that a few trailers and some barbed wire just will not do. After all, he’s got some recent examples to prove this, seeing two other settlements slaughtered earlier in the installment.

Again, The Governor thinks of a swift way to meet this goal. Woodbury is destroyed, and so he sets his sights (or sight, since he has only on eye?) on the prison where Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the others live. This allows him to simultaneously work towards two goals. One, if he succeeds, he’ll have a new environment that has proven a safe haven over quite a period of time from the Walkers and other marauding gangs. Two, he will finally get his revenge on those that wronged him, which he clearly still craves, unable to resist pointing his gun at a distant Michonne (Danai Gurira).

Can he succeed? He’s very good at persuasion, so I have no doubt that he can talk his new “friends” into following him. Mitch, Tara, Alisha, and others in the new group have military training. They also have a tank. These are important tools to lay siege to an entrenched enemy, and it gives them a chance. Should things roughly follow the comic book (which actually found Woodbury residents attacking the prison, not these other people), The Governor will fail and all of his followers will die in the process, taking many of Rick’s people with them. This could be a heck of an action-packed, exciting finale.

The one thing to consider, though, is that The Governor does have two people he cares about and wants to protect. Is he willing to go in guns blazing with Lilly and Meghan’s lives on the line? Will he try to leave them somewhere safe, and sacrifice someone who could be a good soldier to watch over them? Or will his rage and the necessity of being in command override those protectionist instincts, and he’ll think about them again only after he has the prison?

“Dead Weight” is a great, solid episode, and definitely negating many of the musings I put forth in last week’s review. Somehow, the writers keep finding unexpected ways to take the story in that feel authentic to the characters and tell one heck of a tale. Whatever they have planned for next week, I’m sure it’ll be amazing.

THE WALKING DEAD completes its fall run next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

Foreclosure on the Dollhouse

    Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) and Eliza Dushku's (Tru Calling) Dollhouse went off the air for good this past Friday night, proving once again what a jerk Fox can be, especially to Whedon.  After a rocky start to the first season, where the show was mostly serial, with a different mission each week, it found it's footing midway through the spring and delivered some brilliant twists.  The show had already been pegged as canceled, but a last minute miracle save earned them a second thirteen episode season this fall.  In the second round, Joss didn't attempt to tone down his plot, and went full blown into a conspiracy and technology war.  Friday night's finale was a fairly appropriate closer, that left fans somewhat satisfied.

     The final episode was called "Epitaph Two: Return", a follow up to the first season, unaired, lost episode called "Epitaph One".  Set ten years after the majority of the series, and starring Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog), it showed a post-apocalyptic world.  This was a logical step, considering that the plot of the two seasons was fairly well tied up in the penultimate episode, when the Dollhouse staff discovered the man behind the curtain was their friend Boyd (Harry Lennix, 24, Commander in Chief).  It was a fantastic episode, and Boyd's comeupance was wonderfully done.  However, fans who bought the first season DVD last summer would have felt a little cheated had they not followed up "Epitaph" and Day's character.

     Rewatching "Epitaph One", there were a couple of possible plot holes with the way season two played out, however, those could have been explained away had the show been given a third season.  Instead, there is much missing that viewers would have liked to see.  For instance, how did Alpha (Alan Tudyk, Serenity, V) end up a good guy, working with the resistance?  And why was Whiskey (Amy Acker, Angel, Alias) in the abandoned house in "One", but had disappeared by "Two"?  A television movie should be made to fill in the gap.  If a feature film is eventually commissioned, a la Serenity's begot from the canceled Firefly, it would likely go to the world after the end, but could reveal some of those things through flashbacks.  Honestly, there probably just wasn't time for Alpha's story in the one hour closer, and it was unlikely Acker was available, as she now stars in a new show.  "Two" combined the main cast with the characters we had met in "One", and did it's best to wrap it all up.  There was even a surprise cameo by Summer Glau, (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) whose character had previously been killed.

     The series was, overall, a work of genius, and a credit to each of the principal and recurring cast members, as well as the storytellers.  It was innovative and dealt with real issues of our day.  It was canceled well before it's time, and yet it presents almost a complete story, with a nifty ending.  Most characters had a cap.  Echo / Caroline (Dushku) got to (briefly) deal with pain of losing Paul (Tahmoh Penikett, Battlestar Galactica).  Victor / Tony (Enver Gjokaj) and Sierra / Priya (Dichen Lachman, Neighbours) were together with their son.  Adelle (Olivia Williams) was playing mother hen to a whole new flock.  And Topher (Fran Kranz) gave himself up in a self-sacrificial move, guilted by the knowledge he had caused the whole mess.