AGENT CARTER (8 out of 10) Action-drama airing Tuesday evenings on ABC, based on characters from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe; Episode 1.5 written by Jose Molina, directed by Peter Leto; Starring Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, Enver Gjokaj, Lyndsy Fonseca, Bridget Regan, Shea Whigham, Dominic Cooper. Guest stars: Neal McDonough, Richard Short, Leonard Roberts, James Austin Kerr, Ralph Brown.
This week’s episode delivers in a major way. While it felt like the last few episodes since the pilot were a long valley, this punched it back up to the mountain top in a major way.
“The Iron Ceiling” has it all: great action sequences (including the re-introduction of the Howling Commandos), major character development, and it moved the larger story arc forward. Who could ask for anything more?
Let’s talk first about the action. Agent Carter gets to strap on a machine gun again, as she talks her way in to an SSR operation in Eastern Europe to rescue scientists in a Soviet prison camp. Along the way, we get further glimpses into the proto-Black Widow program the Russians are developing.
I’d complained previously that the other women in Peggy’s building weren’t getting any real character development– and boy was I wrong. We get it in spades here, specifically as we see some particularly nimble spycraft on the part of Peggy’s neighbor Dottie, or perhaps we should call her “Dottie,” since she also seems to be a product of this spy program.
As though that wasn’t enough, we also get the first interesting background on Chad Michael Murray’s Agent Jack Thompson.
This show also continues its reign as the most quotable and chatty program this side of Downton Abbey.
Notable Quotables
“Not bad. . .for a girl.”
“I hate you all.”
“What would Cap say if I left his best girl behind?”
“He’d say listen to Peggy!”
We’ll see you next week with “A Sin to Err.”