Agent Carter: "Lady in the Lake" and "A View in the Dark" Reviews (Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2)

Agent Carter returned after a surprisingly great first season, and it's second season premiere set up another great season, though the two episodes that kicked it off had their fair share of ups and downs.

"Lady in the Lake" (Season 2, Episode 1)

"Lady in the Lake" opens with a bank heist being led by Dottie Underwood, who survived her tumble in last season's finale. I was pleasantly surprised to see Dottie make her comeback so early in the season. I was expecting her to pop up somewhere in the middle and be revealed as the mastermind of whatever evil plan Peggy was investigating. But, nope, she's in the very first scene and, after she and Peggy tussle and Peg knocks her out with a bag of coins (nice!), she's thrown in jail.

Peggy is suddenly sent to Los Angeles to help Agent Sousa, now the chief of the Los Angeles SSR, solve a mysterious case. A lake, in the middle of one of the warmest cities in the US, has nealry frozen over and the icy body of a woman has been found in it. Reuniting with Edwin Jarvis, Peggy and Sousa uncover the case's supernatural connections and that it may be part of a n even larger conspiracy.

The best thing, in my opinion, about Agent Carter, is its light-heartedness. Sure, the show had its heavier moments in its first season, but it never lets those moments take too much of the fun away. I mean, this is one of those shows where there's usually a gadget/mad invention of the week. How could shows like that ever be a dark show? And, honestly, there are too many dark shows in the same genre as Agent Carter. On the flip side, the light nature, for the most part, doesn't take the impact away from those more serious moments, so Agent Carter pretty much has its tone perfected.

Hayley Atwell and James D'arcy are both, once again, awesome and have great chemistry. I enjoyed every minute of their initial conversations in this episode ("It's the flamingo, isn't it?"). Enver Gjokaj is also still reliable as Agent Sousa, though I found him a bit unlikable in these premiere episodes, which is weird because he was one of the more likable characters last year. Huh. The new characters, Dr. Wilkes and Mrs. Jarvis, make for really fun additions to the cast. Especially Mrs. Jarvis, she's a hoot.

The mystery here turned out to be quite interesting and offered up some striking visuals, like when Dr. Meltzer (Get it?! Cause it has to do with ice! Ha!) shatters into hundreds of pieces. The twist that the detective Peggy and Sousa had been working with was the culprit behind the freezing was a well-executed one, and of course raises questions that are addressed in the next episode...

Other Thoughts:

• Thompson. You're an idiot.
• But seriously, are we going to ignore the fact that Chad Michael Murray (Thompson) looks and sounds exactly like Brett Dalton (Ward in Agents of SHIELD)? Was Thompson Ward's grandfather or something? 
• That joke with the SSR doctor who's complaining about not being invited to parties or whatever. Stupid joke. Stuck out like a sore thumb. Moving on.
• Sousa's got a new girlfriend. Draaamaaaa...
• Best Jarvis quote of the night: "I shall be a beacon of justice."

Rating: 8.3/10 glasses of wine

"A View in the Dark"

"A View in the Dark" slightly pulled back the curtain on what our villains' master plan is, and we got a really great episode because of it.

Wilkes gets information on Isodyne's secrets and arranges a rendezvous with Peggy so he can both take her out on a date and fill her in on what's going on. Darn it, the more I see of Wilkes and the way he and Peggy interact, the more I like him. It's also nice to see Peggy finally get a love interest, subtly showing she's moved on after Cap. 

Wilkes reveals that Isodyne is in possession of a liquid-y substance called "zero matter," which was left behind after a nuclear weapons test during World War II. When unleashed, the zero matter causes things around it to float, then it pulls everything into itself. Kinda like some sort of portal? Maybe? It hasn't been made clear yet. Anyways, Isodyne learns about Wilkes' snooping and sends agents after him and Peggy, which sends the two on a run through Los Angeles and a smooch in a phone booth (Now I understand why Clara was so hesitant to join the Doctor *winks awkwardly*).

Like last season, Agent Carter understands it has considerably less time than other TV shows to tell a compelling mystery, so it doesn't play the slow game with answering questions and unveiling new revelations, and that's clear in this episode. But I really liked how it was able to continue thickening the plot while still focusing on the budding romance between Peggy and Wilkes. 

Unfortunately, things are left unclear concerning the fate of poor Wilkes. The last we saw of him, he dropped the zero matter while fending off Whitney Frost, implying he was absorbed into it. But the episode ends with a very much alive, though very much traumatized Frost, so there's definitely hope for a Wilkes comeback. 

Speaking of Frost, it looks like they're setting her up to be a particularly nasty villainess. That scene where the director just constantly insults her created a lot of empathy in me for Frost, which could make things really interesting later in the season. And it kinda seems like she's got powers now? We'll have to wait and see...

Other Thoughts:

• That boxing scene with Peggy and Jarvis was a bit cheesy, but I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't find it funny.
• The way the woman from the previous episode was secured int that freezing chamber looked a lot like the way Bucky was "kept on ice" in those Winter Soldier flashbacks. Coincidence? Until I'm proven wrong, I think not!
• The mentioning of other dimensions seems to be setting up some Doctor Strange. Yum, yum.
• Okay, so the zero matter isn't, and shouldn't be, the Maveth portal stuff from SHIELD. It really reminded me of gravitionium, though. Remember that stuff?

Rating: 8.6/10 eclairs 

Until next week!

Noah