Agent Carter – S2 E02
We ended the previous episode with the revelation that Sousa is in a somewhat serious relationship which seems to put to bed all of our hopes and wishes for an eventual joining between Peggy and Sousa. Really a pity as they would have made an excellent couple and while it seems that Sousa moved away from New York to get some distance – there was definitely an attraction between the two. Season Two of Agent Carter continues at the same breakneck pace we’ve come to expect and this episode delivers in spades. The episode never loses sight of the characters and spends a lot of time dealing with Peggy having trouble adjusting to life in L.A. as well as finding it difficult to accept that Sousa has found someone. Ultimately seeing how nice a person Violet is causes her to suck it up and be happy for Sousa rather than giving us a tired love triangle.
Continuing the trend of adding more women to the show, we’re also introduced to the very lovely Ana … Jarvis’ wife. Ana walks in on what other shows might consider a compromising position but she isn’t phased by it at all. This shows how much she trusts her husband as well as Peggy’s platonic connection with him. The scene was pretty amusing but got a little cartoonish at some points.
Speaking of that connection, I loved seeing Reggie Austin, who plays Dr Jason Wilkes, and Hayley Atwell in this episode. I, for one, enjoyed their relationship in this episode, more than I’ve enjoyed the will-they-won’t-they nature of Peggy and Daniel’s friendship. The whole person of colour angle too is one that suits this show and era and I think it’s treated quite well overall. One thing that works really well is how the episode tackles the issue of race in the 1940s. Jason’s loyalty to Isodyne makes sense on a character level as they allowed him to carry on with what he wanted to do without caring about the colour of his skin. The racial issues aren’t sensationalised in any way as the facts speak for themselves. I will say, though, that I liked seeing Sousa become upset after hearing Peggy was lost.
Whitney being the big bad though is probably the best part of this episode. In the first episode, her involvement is alluded to although it seems her husband is the driving force. However, we learn here that she’s got some significant brain power of her own & was the creator and inventor of many of Isodyne’s key projects. She’s someone that could possibly give Stark a run for his money as while he’s a paramount engineer, there are some questions about the ownership of his creations! In addition to her brain power though is the way she’s portrayed as an aging actress in a Hollywood focused purely on beauty. Sadly this is one of the things that hasn’t changed despite the time that has passed.