Agent Carter: Bridge and Tunnel Review
Airing back to back, Agent Carter’s sophomore episode transitions seamlessly from its premiere. Opening with the clever inclusion of a Captain America radio show in a world where he previously roamed. This adds the less obvious era-defining elements that I thought the premiere episode was missing. The inclusion of the radio show was an original idea while being beneficial to a few aspects of the episode. It gave Peggy nice moments in which she could reminisce about Steve while being upset about the lack of realism and poor portrayals of her beloved Captain. As well as an excellently directed scene involving strong transitions between their sound effects and Peggy’s brawl with Sheldon McFee. Where last episode lacked in original ways or portray the era, this one made up for in extremely clever fashion.
Another aspect of this episode that I preferred was Hayley Atwell’s undercover role (which seems to be a weekly sequence). Last Episode she didn’t seem to change her personality up all that much and Hayley didn’t alter her performance (voice notwithstanding) but here, she played a quick-witted American with different mannerisms than Peggy. I loved watching Hayley switch personalities and succeed in making it believable.
Overall, this episode was a great testament to Hayley acting capabilities, from the undercover sequence to the poignant scene between her and Jarvis near the end. She’s an integral part of this show and I couldn’t imagine anyone else portraying the character. (I may be a bit biased though, I’m slightly in love with her.)
I’m also very much enjoying how the series’ plot is moving along. With just the right amount of mystery, action accompanied by a solid pace. The writers are giving the leviathan mystery time to grow and I couldn’t say I’m not intrigued. However, the lack of a human head of the organization is hurting the show. Without any antagonist the episode relies on the telepathic (?) man from the premiere to play the bad-guy. Last episode, he was a mild problem but he actually irritated me here. The demonstration of his powers was extremely prolonged and futile since it was present last episode. After about 5 seconds, I got tired of watching a guy type write and it went on for another 20 along with another shot afterwards. It’s obviously a small complaint but it annoyed me either way.
Another issue I had with this episode was the supporting characters, Jarvis notwithstanding (he's amazing). All of Peggy’s co-workers are pretty dull at this point without depth or even strong presence. We’re just given a few sexist agents who don’t have much personality. The only flicker of interesting character was when Peggy’s boss was handed alcohol at 10h45 AM and questioned the hour at which he was offered a drink. His refusal to drink was intriguing so hopefully the writers will play on that and add some personality to the supporting players of the show.
On top of Peggy’s co-worker’s wanting personalities, I didn’t particularly love the presence of Angie in the episode either. At first, she seemed to be delivering her line too quick to sound real which threw me out of the episode. However, I thought she did improve by the end with a perfectly delivered joke that got a quiet laugh out of me. The humor made progress as well while still not being excellent.
Overall, Agent Carter’s sophomore episode was a strong showing from director Joe Russo and actress Hayley Atwell. Problems from the pilot remain but there was improvement to be shown as well. The developing friendship between Carter and Jarvis being the main attraction for the show, with an intriguing plot that has yet to develop into anything special but most likely will. The larger storyline is starting off at a deliberately slower pace which is hopefully building to a fantastic climax the way Agents of Shield did. I’m on board and I doubt I’ll want to exit any time soon, Marvel has another solid piece entertainment on their hands.