Kyle’s Thoughts

Agent Carter’s “The Lady in the Lake” did a nice job of hinting at Peggy’s disadvantage in the workplace (the first season slathered “this is a man’s world” like Orville Redenbacher’s layers on the butter in their triple the movie butter popcorn) and showcasing her as a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D..

It might not make sense up-front but I’m making a Star Wars reference; bear with me. I thought Star Wars miss-stepped with its prequels because it told us Darth Vader’s story, a story we already knew, while Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic went far enough back in time to make the series exciting. Agent Carter splits the difference between these two approaches. It doesn’t go back as far as Knights of the Old Republic, but we don’t know as much about Peggy’s past as we did Darth Vader’s. “The Lady in the Lake” gave a nice tip of the hat to the Marvel cinematic universe’s past, while giving us something fresh.

It didn’t take long for us to catch up with Dottie Underwood, the late 1940s version of the Black Widow. In fact, it took less time for me to pick up where Agent Carter left off last year than it did for me to figure out what was going on with the DC Comics shows this week and Agent Carter had a much longer hiatus than either Arrow or Flash. That speaks to better writing.

Agent Carter captures the fun (humor and action) of a Marvel movie and puts it on the smaller screen and yet it connects with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I won’t say how but Agent Carter could be a missing link a thread or two for Marvel’s other TV series or it could add to a growing tapestry of story threads. We’ll have to wait and see but I can definitely say Marvel TV shows tend to fall flat their first season only to find their footing in their second. Okay, it’s too soon to tell, but “The Lady in the Lake” is a good start to Agent Carter’s sophomore effort.