4 out of 5

Created by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

On the heels of Guardians of the Galaxy, Agent Carter proves the flexible appeal of the Marvel Universe.  Whereas the big budget GotG showed that interest in the MCU could be leveraged to support a flick without an instantly recognizable hero name, Agent Carter takes that one step further by rooting us firmly in reality – that of 40s New York.  True, ‘firmly’ means we still have Howard Stark and Captain America, but these are really just backdrops to a pretty dedicated spy setup.  In other words, creators Markus and McFeely, a handful of talented writers and directors, a whole bunch of wonderful production people, and very especially lead Hayley Atwell, have extended the Marvel formula to work when there’s no big screen budget and no heroes and no sci-fi wonders a la Agents of SHIELD.  And that it does still feel like an extension of Marvel, with Carter working for the pre-SHIELD Strategic Scientific Reserve and some HYDRA origins tossed around, while maintaining its own identity – something Agents struggled with the first half of its first season – makes watching the show grin-worthy, like the details are a reward instead of a dribble of fanboy winks to keep us following.  Our 8 episode season follows a smartly contained plot about Carter going undercover for Howard Stark, trying to clear his name from treason charges – for which Carter’s SSR bosses are pursuing him – due to some missing super-powered weapons.  The rampant sexism of the era is presented to us face first and appropriately woven into the series as both a roadblock for Carter and something she uses when needing to fly under the radar, but never dismissing the behaviors as ‘cute’ or just of-the-era.  It’s a very aware show, while not betraying the need to keep us moving on the plot, nor hampering its lead with unnecessary romantic or dramatic subplots, and believably evolves its other characters in terms of their acceptance of our titular agent.  And while we might have big screen explosions, the show doesn’t spare on environment or action, fully committing to the 40s setting and tossing impressive fight sequences and gadgets our way at a steady pace.

While the tone tip-toes at times in order to maintain levity and to not jump into the latter episodes’ darkness too quickly, overall, Agent Carter is another incredibly exciting addition to the MCU.  If our production team remembers to keep quality high on these projects – delivering on story, on character – while undoubtedly expanding the roster, we will definitely continue to tune in, especially when projects like this would never have found a home even five years ago.