This mini-series begins with some of the final scenes from Captain America: The First Avenger. With Steve Rogers piloting the large ship into the ocean and Peggy Carter on the radio.
The year is 1946, and Peggy Carter is still heartbroken over the loss. She lives in a small single room apartment which she shares with another girl. The apartment only has one bed, which they apparently share. Not in a scandalous kind of way, but rather in a way that depicts real life living in New York. She works for the telephone company, but when she arrives is led into a secret area which is the base of operations for the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is a strong willed, independent woman in a (presumably) man’s job, where the men don’t really want her around. She is frequently asked to fetch coffee, file reports, answer the phones, and otherwise be a glorified secretary who happens to carry a gun.
Dominic Cooper reprises his role as the young Howard Stark. It seems a number of his more dangerous inventions have suddenly turned up on the black market and are being sold to enemies of the United States. He is subject to congressional hearings on the matter and no doubt is being investigated by the real FBI, but SSR makes finding him and his inventions a top priority. Stark seeks the help of Agent Carter to clear his name and find his inventions. Agent Carter must do this behind her superiors’ backs, because Stark is assumed guilty until proven innocent, and she is too much of a dame for important work. Stark lends her the assistance of his butler and confidant Edwin Jarvis.
Agent Carter is picking up right where Captain America ended (if you don’t watch the final scene where he is in modern day New York). Captain America the person is still a part of 1940s pop-culture. He has a radio program, to which poor Peggy (and the watching audience) must hear everywhere she goes. He’s still being mentioned in the newspaper, and no doubt his famous trading cards are in circulation.
I’m not exactly sure what the SSR’s mission is now that the war is over. Where as before they were a function of the military, with Colonel Chester Phillips acting as the leader, now it appears to just be some g-men bureaucrats. Furthermore, I’m not sure what jurisdiction the SSR has. Apparently they can interrogate people and do company wide inspections personnel.
The Marvel Movie Wiki has this to say:
The S.S.R. continued for a short time after the war, taking on cases such as the Zodiac, but was disbanded in 1946 and its former membership absorbed into a new agency, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Given that Agent Carter takes place in 1946, and a short run mini-series with 8 episodes, I’m guessing this series will end with the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D. Last night was a 2 hour premiere, with two 1 hour episodes back to back, which I guess means there will only be 6 more airings.
I enjoyed it. I’m wondering if we’ll see the early days of SHIELD as well – hopefully with Carter taking her rightful place in it – or if it’s planned to be a static mini-series with no additional seasons. I guess time will tell.
I really enjoyed those first two episodes. It’s very Alias, which was a show I loved. I wish the rest of the miniseries was out sooner!
One minor quibble: “is led into a secret area”, the “led” should be a “let” (I suspect it’s a typo)
And as to the ending of the series… it depends. They may think about making it a full series, depending on whether it flies. But we do know one thing, and that’s when Peggy will stop working for the SSR… [SPOILERS] from the Agent Carter One-Shot, which ends with her boss getting a call from Stark about he wanting her for second-in-command (IIRC) for the newly-created S.H.I.E.L.D.
Of course, if and when Agent Carter becomes a non limited-run show, that may be still before the One-Shot, or it may take place right after. Both would be equally thrilling in my book. 😀