Agent Carter finale

[shapinglight]

Lots of you haven't seen Agent Carter, I know, so all I can say to you is, if you get the chance, do watch it. It's great.

Spoilers for the finale behind cut.



I...liked it.

The slight hesitation comes from...well, I don't really know where it comes from, but I suspect there may be some plot point that didn't work for me and I can't quite figure out what it is yet. Hmm.

Otherwise, I thought it was all good - and only about Agent Carter clearing Howard Stark's name up to a point. Really, it was about them both - especially Carter - laying the ghost of Captain America to rest, part of which involved her being able to talk Howard down from his suicide mission, the way she was unable for so many reasons (not least because it was the right thing to do) to talk Captain America out of his.

Also very important was that she finally won the respect of her colleagues at the SSR, including the irrepressible Thompson (though, unlike when he won his war medal, Thompson did deserve some of the credit this time, and duly took it all).

I also liked that Peggy turned down a date with Sousa (though I'm sure if he asked her again, she would go) to spend time with Angie. Peggy and Angie have a really fun friendship. I do like Sousa, though, and would be happy enough to see something develop between them.

I liked that Jarvis got his heroic moment too. And I liked the final scene of Peggy standing on the Brooklyn Bridge and pouring Steve's blood into the river, and the sudden fade to black, just like the movies of the time.

Actually, maybe that's what's bothering me. The fact that that wasn't the final scene, but instead the one of Dr Zola and Finhoff in the cell. I wish that had come first and then the scene on the bridge.

Anyway, with Dottie escaping and that Zola/Finhoff scene, they left plenty of material for a season 2, if there ever is one. If not, though, I'm happy with how it ended.

I loved this series. It looked great, the characters were engaging, the plot was well thought out. It was never boring.

Way, way better than AoS, which comes back next week. (Yawn!)

Finally, despite the grousing of some fanboys about all the male characters (except Sousa, I suppose) being awful sexist stereotypes there to make Carter look better, I don't think that was the case. Yes, they were sexist. That was pretty much par for the course in those days, surely? But I think the show also made pretty clear that the SSR men themselves were quite damaged by what they'd been through during the war (even Thompson). It wasn't unsympathetic to them, IMO, just showing things as they were.

Where it did fall down, though, was in the facile portrayal of race (well, not facile, more like cowardly). You would hardly believe watching it that large parts of the US were still 'officially' segregated at the time, and the parts that weren't were hardly oases of equality for non-white Americans. However, in this, the show is just following on from the way race was (not) dealt with in the Captain America movie, from which you would never know that the US armed forces were segregated too.

Oh well. Maybe a case of picking your battles?

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

...and all the fish in the Hudson River miraculously developed superstrength, and s2 gives us Agent Carter and her sidekick Angie vs Godzilla. :)

I really liked this, though I agree, the s2 hooks seemed a little annoying if we don't get a s2. The black traffic cop puzzled me too, but apparently there was at least one black police commissioner in NYC by 1941, so I don't know how historically incorrect that really is?

I love that they brought back the Captain America radio show as well, and then had it come full circle with Peggy on the radio, but actually getting to do something about it this time.

[shapinglight]

...and all the fish in the Hudson River miraculously developed superstrength, and s2 gives us Agent Carter and her sidekick Angie vs Godzilla. :)

I would completely watch that. :)

I know there were black police officers at the time so the traffic cop didn't faze me particularly. But overall, there was just a sense of brushing inconvenient things under the carpet.

Or not even doing that. I don't think it was conscious, or anything. Er...not explaining this very well.

[kikimay]

I liked the ending. To be honest I loved the show from the Russian episode, the "search for Stark's props" plotline was kinda boring for me.

I also really liked the final scene with Peggy on the bridge and her coming in full circle. I wish that the post credit scene was about Dottie. Who cares about the doctor guy?

[shapinglight]

Who cares about the doctor guy?

Well, I certainly don't. But I suppose they wanted to tie the show more closely to Captain America continuity, and that scene sort of acted as a bridge between the first CA movie and Winter Soldier.

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

The Peggy on the bridge scene was a little too Titanic for me. Seemed like a bad idea. I didn't like it when the old lady threw the necklace overboard either.
The other thing that bothered me was the psychiatrist having a magical ability to hypnotize people. Doesn't happen like that. No way.
But don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the series, I especially liked the look of it and the feel of the setting.

[shapinglight]

I quite liked that the scene could have come straight out of a 40s movie. Had forgotten (or possibly just repressed the memory) about the scene in Titanic. Awful film. Hated it.

The other thing that bothered me was the psychiatrist having a magical ability to hypnotize people. Doesn't happen like that. No way.

This is true, but then it wasn't the only fantastical element in the show. None of Stark's inventions made any sense either.

It looked great, though, didn't it, and I think the writing was pretty sharp.

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

Yup. I enjoyed it for sure.

[shapinglight]

:)