Last week's TV roundup, so many heroes
Slightly delayed, but here's what I was watching last week, I'm kind of behind on this week.
Agent Carter 2x01
So it took the fast approaching date for Civil War to finally get me to start catching up on the TV side of the MCU. I basically felt about this one the way I did about season 1; it’s fine, it’s fun, I like it, but I don’t love it; it just doesn’t strike a chord with me the way I know it does for so many people. I’m hoping that semi-marathoning it will elevate this season, but we’ll see. Since I am marathoning it (to whatever extent) I’m not sure I’ll have a lot to say on individual episodes as I’m not going to need to speculate much and I won’t need to be too concerned about the direction of the show since I’ll be able to quickly move on to the next one and see what happens. And I know I don’t have much to say about this episode, it was a fairly quick and slightly awkward reintroduction to the world of the series, sets up some mysteries probable love triangles, and starts the process of moving from the SSR to SHIELD, which I’m a little surprised they’re doing this early but figured they’d have to do eventually so I’m not really that surprised. Again, it’s a fine episode, but between my muted feelings towards the series overall and the format I’m watching it in, my reactions are kind of limited.
Agent Carter 2x02
I actually did get a lot more out of that one than the premier, I thought it was better both in plot and character (yes it needed 2x01, but it got better afterward). I obviously don’t know where it’s going with much of this yet (somehow I’ve not really been spoiled for this), but now I’m much more in for the ride. Random observation that Peggy and Jarvis’ relationship seem much less shippable this season; last season it was mostly just intellectual knowing that he wouldn’t really cheat on his wife that kept me from shipping them but so far this time they just aren’t pinging that. I’m sure it’s partly the presence of Anna in the story (although I’m not completely sold on the character, I want to like her, I’m just not sold yet), and partly that things haven’t really gotten that intense with them yet which tends to set off my ship radar, and since Peggy’s love life is actually getting attention it makes me less inclined to ship her with a non-option; plus they may actually be pitching their performance differently this round, partly owing to all the above and some ‘just because.’ I’m also noticing this season seems much more connected to SHIELD than the first did, but we’ll see if that holds and if it’s a good thing either way. I also had some thoughts regarding Howard, but I haven’t worked out how to phrase them yet, so they’ll keep.
Agent Carter 2x03
So the season keeps getting better and I think marathoning it is going to help. I haven’t quite made up my mind about Whelks though, I feel like there’s something going on there we haven’t been let in on yet, he just seems a little too good; which come to think of it is Peggy’s type, and as with most Peggy ship options I remain unopposed to it but not completely sold. Adding Thompson back into the mix provides another angle on exploring the mystery, but there’s a part of me that just kind of wanted to see how Peggy and Daniel make it work on their own, her having a boss that just lets her do her thing and trusts her instinct but maybe occasionally does rein her so that she stays in the lines; Jack is more interesting in his own plot that’s tied to Peggy’s than when he’s interacting with Peggy directly. Although the bit where she basically outs his war story was cold, and a pretty good scene.
Agent Carter 2x04
I wouldn’t say that one was any more improved, and probably not as good as the last one, but it was alright. The flashbacks didn’t add that much, although more meaning may be revealed as we go. Michael was pretty clearly a dead man walking once we got to the engagement party scene, I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be in the flashbacks or if it was setup for him to show up in the current story down the line and still end up dead; and it could still also be the latter in a show like this I suppose. As far as the ‘present’ goes I wish I had more empathy for Whelks than I do, it’s well enough presented but I just don’t care. I guess I’m mainly feeling that the plot stuff was interesting enough but the character work was rather meh, so I’m not sure how I feel about it as a whole.
The Flash 2x19
So, a break from AC to watch a different hero show. And I feel a little mixed about this one, I liked a lot of it from moment to moment, but I’m not sure how much I liked it as a full story. For all my sort of mixed reactions to ‘Jay’ through the season, I really don’t like ‘Zoom,’ but Caitlyn’s story was fine. Also I have no idea where they’re going with the masked man on Earth-2, but I hope the reveal is worth all the build-up it’s gotten. I liked Wally’s scenes this time, but I wish it had carried more weight. If they’re going to push Barry/Iris into being a thing this was well enough handled in and of itself, but I still don’t like the handling of it overall. I’m a fan of the Wells family members, but I really thought Jesse would run farther than the other side of Central City when she left and I feel like their reconciliation happened rather quickly. Also I suppose I should have seen coming that they’d have another particle accelerator explosion as they’re certainly going to turn Wally into a speedster somehow, and maybe Jesse too, but seriously how is that a good idea for the characters to come up with? This episode did remember they’re part of a shared universe, mentioning both Felicity and Ray, though I really have to question how Felicity passed them some dwarf star alloy just like that; even if PT had some just lying around I think she’d have to justify on the books giving it to Star Labs, and they’re already covering up a not-insignificant amount of embezzlement going to vigilante activities. Plus of course being obvious that it’s going to be difficult to line these episodes up the in-universe chronology of events going on (I’m still confused about the later crossovers last season).
Arrow 4x19
I’m going to have to sit with that one for a bit to decide how I feel about it as a whole, because it was by turns really damn good and pretty darn poor. I kind of wish Quentin’s story had been given more focus because a lot of it was heartbreaking and felt very fitting, but it felt a little forced to fit into the format it was given. The flip side of that being that while I felt Oliver’s stuff was good, I felt it came at the expense of giving other characters enough focus. Even Diggle I felt needed more time than he got and Thea definitely did. I do think Felicity got about the right amount of time, I knew she’d find a way to have her own round of guilt because she wasn’t there so that felt right to me; I’ll even let them have her getting on the kill Darhk train even though they didn’t explore the fact that she would start pushing for that, because she does have plenty of reasons to get to that point. I would also observe that although she says she isn’t angry Oliver has a child and that it’s about the lying, her lines here sort of imply to me that maybe she is kind of angry about him having a kid at all. Nyssa’s inclusion, while necessary for Lance’s story and fitting in any case, didn’t have any room to do anything with it; also I kind of think Nyssa was a bit in love with Laurel, something she said to Lance really felt like ‘yeah I totally thought of her as a...friend.’ The plot of the week was a good choice for this episode, very much allowing the characters an outlet to express lots of feelings and angst, and moving the overall plot forward, but again I think there was just more material to work through than fit into this episode. I’m going to have to compare the scenes we’d seen before with them here, because the bit with Barry had dialog that felt paced way too fast and I don’t remember that being the case when we saw it in the premier; the scene with Felicity felt more maintained and that one had a lot more material to it.
But then we have to talk about the flashbacks. I’ve actually been slowly rewatching the show from the beginning and am in the middle of season 2, so the end of s1/beginning of s2 wasn’t that long ago on that, and this does not make sense. The first couple scenes were alright; Oliver unable to actually go to Tommy’s funeral and lurking on the edges, plus the show remembering how much Laurel loved Tommy, I buy that. I even buy him going to angst at Laurel after the fact but not able to go inside, feeling guilty and uncertain and him leaving from there feeling like he needs to bottle everything up. I’ll even buy that Laurel didn’t immediately get so broken and angry and guilty as she is at the beginning of s2 so far as needed for that those scenes continue to work. But the scene of them just hanging out reminiscing was certainly too functional for Oliver at that point and mostly for Laurel too. And them hooking up at that point I don’t buy at all, especially as it isn’t played as grief sex, it’s played as tender and meaningful when they should both be feeling too guilty about their pre-Undertaking hookup now that Tommy’s dead to even think about doing it again. They’re also apparently looking at a picture of the three of them when they were young which is exactly what I wanted Laurel to be holding on to last episode, and this explanation of how she got the picture of herself just makes it more true, since how she got it was by no means a simpler time in their relationship. I think I might have bought that scene a bit more if it had happened at the Queen mansion, made it clear that it was Laurel reaching out to Oliver and going to him rather than him coming to her after everything (although it is easier for Oliver to run away afterward when they’re not at his place); also if they, but especially Cassidy, had played it with more complexity, and like the end of something rather than a potential new beginning. Because by the beginning of s2 they both know they can’t go back, that to even continue to be in each other’s lives they need to have a very different sort of relationship. So the flashbacks just got progressively more annoying as the episode went on, and I’m not sure what they were trying to do with that bit of retconning.
Agent Carter 2x05
Another episode where there was a lot to like. I’m glad they’re sort of expanding their team of misfits and it worked out well. The furthering of the villain plot was interesting too. I do feel the need to complain a bit about the love triangle mess, as I’m not all that convinced this episode would have alerted Violet to Daniel’s feelings for Peggy; it would certainly add to any suspicions she had if it seemed that she already had them or for them to come out later, but as is I don’t see it. I could have even taken her realizing that he had some feelings for Peggy from this, like maybe they had a past, but again not to the extent that she jumps ahead in just this episode. Especially since last season it seemed more like the beginnings of feelings, somewhat more than just a crush but not all the way to love; though yeah, things seem to have grown since then and I don’t have that much trouble believing it, but now things seem to be pushed along a little too fast. Overall it was a fine episode, with my usual mix of mostly good but some less good feelings for it, that just stood out as a problem.
Agent Carter 2x06
I liked that one too. It does highlight that the series probably needs Thompson on a slightly more regular basis, he’s the only one besides Howard (who’s barely been around this season) whose store can take us into the halls of power; yes we see it from the villains’ side but there’s no real story in that like there is with Jack (also Jack, Carter is Girl Guide as she is English). Also the team is all so chummy this season, which is mostly good, but could use something to cause real conflict among the good guys. My main problem with the show though is gradually getting better defined and by the end of the season I should have a good long think piece on it, so there’s that to look forward to. I can’t decide if the team bringing Dottie into things made any kind of sense for them to do, plus I’m confused why Dottie was being held in the LA area when she was in New York and could have made sense to move her to DC when the other guys stepped in, but not LA. I’ve also just never been that big a fan of Dottie, though I know other people are.
Agent Carter 2x07
So...basically your standard end of act 2 everything sucks setup. Not that it wasn’t a fine enough episode, that’s just my primary thought coming out of it. I’m also torn between liking that this season is doing the enemy-within stuff and thinking it’s moving too fast in the foundations of HYDRA within SHIELD. I guess this is more the shadowy secret alliance of shadowy secrets that may or may not be joined to HYDRA at this stage, but it probably is and I think it’s a touch soon for that. I still don’t really understand the point of bringing Dottie into it, in or out of story, but oh well I guess.
Agent Carter 2x08
This episode had its moments, but overall I’m not crazy about it. I would also like to point out that in story it’s been only a few days since the heist at Roxxon, so Peggy should really still be having more trouble getting around than she has been. Anyway, I guess there wasn’t a reason to be suspicious of Whelks early on, but for the long game there was. Also, I think Daniel’s right that if Whitney is beyond saving then Whelks isn’t far behind; a little bit behind as he hasn’t...gone quite as far with it as she has, and she was already okay with having people killed before getting taken over, but on the whole if she’s responsible for what she’s done while possessed then so is Whelks. There was some solid acting in this one, and it’s clearly setup for the endgame of the season, but I didn’t feel like it had much in the way of an identity this time around. Oh well, I can just go on with the story.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x13
This is another episode where I figure I’ll know how I feel about it better once the whole thing plays out; it might well turn out good within this final arc, but on its own there’s a lot I have issues with. For one, my hatred of Carter means I have little sympathy for the big twist (I have not hated a character that I’m supposed to like this much in a long time); yes I get it would hit Kendra hard and yes in this life we’re dealing with what’s happened to him is still a horrible fate but between my hatred for Carter and my hatred of the fact that no one thinks fourth dimensionally on this show I have little feeling for it. Have they ever really established if killing Savage also breaks the Hawks reincarnation cycle? Because if it doesn’t it doesn’t seem that bad to let Carter die in this life and let him have a better chance next time; and even if it does, this isn’t current-Kendra’s Carter, he’s had probably at least a couple more lives since the one she might have been part of but actually wasn’t. Also, it took Carter and Kendra 4000 years to figure out that maybe she should learn to fight? That seems like poor planning on their parts. I also have to admit that I couldn’t shake the thought this episode wondering...what’s the point of saving the world this late in the game? They’re done for already, and after so many millions or billions dead already, how many more will die taking out what remains of Savage’s power structure? Rip’s quest to save his family is just about all that’s at stake once the apocalypse has already happened; and while I sympathize, I’d like to see this quest accomplish more after all this. Plus I’ve never been able to shake the thought that *we* know where Savage is in 2016, Merlyn scooped up the ashes and took him back to the League of Assassins, so this may end up being resolved in the end by Sara going and having a chat with her ex, then calling Kendra and being like ‘hey, buddy, guess what I found.’ Also, I must have missed something, because I never figured out how Martin got hurt, I seriously thought there was a time glitch that happened and we’d find out that they’d jumped back a few days and things were even worse once they caught up with themselves; that was really poorly handled, or I just missed something obvious. I guess it was done so it made sense that Jax stayed back and was part of Ray’s fight, but I felt that fight kind of messed up the flow of the Savage fight, plus was pretty cheesy, and this from someone who’s kind of been waiting for Ray’s suit to be able to grow. Also...when did they take the loved ones and past-selves home after last week’s episode? There was so much they could have done with all that. On the whole I think I am feeling more negative than usual about this episode, which is too bad since I was actually really looking forward to it this week.
Agent Carter 2x09
I’m a little torn on this one, maybe a lot torn. I felt a lot of the stuff at the beginning went on too long and dream sequence was completely unnecessary. While I appreciated the emotion of the Peggy-Jarvis blow out I felt the circumstances didn’t quite work; and I don’t really buy that Peggy would have them walking right along the road when obviously that meant the bad guys could double back and find them real easy-like. Jack’s story was good but I can’t shake the feeling it could have been more interesting if I thought for a moment he might not be on the crew’s side; Jack is more narrow minded and comfortable with morally grey than the rest of the characters, but he’s still on the good side...and why do I feel like I know Jack more fundamentally than I know characters with way more screen time? Now you’ll have to allow me to work through a thought I was having about Peggy/Whelks and why I just don’t ship it. As she was rescuing him I realized I just felt nothing between them; it didn’t feel any different, and if anything was less charged, than her rescuing Dottie. Her caring for him feels like responsibility rather than affection. I think it’s fairly fitting then that I liked them best early on when their relationship could have gone another way. But that also gave me a thought about why I never really shipped Peggy/Steve, it feels more like he’s someone she has taken responsibility for than someone she actually wants to be with (we’re not really discussing Steve’s side here), though at least in that case by the end they’d had more time to build an idea of a relationship between them. I get way more than she’s interested in Daniel and has feelings that she’s fighting because of their circumstances; I don’t know that I know they work, but I think there’s more to work with there.
Agent Carter 2x10
So that resolved fairly well, although it was maybe a bit too zany considering the situation. The biggest surprise was that no one got sucked into the rift, I guess it was just setup for the action piece rather than telegraphing that someone was going be lost. But process of elimination I had worked out that Jack was the likely one to die (although I had Whelks as the second most likely and he got a happy ending just not the girl) so I can’t say I’m shocked he got shot in the end (as a TV show I may not completely say he’s dead until we have time to confirm it, so I won’t exactly be surprised either way). The love triangle plot really dragged on too long, although considering the compressed time frame and all that was going on I can’t say it’s unrealistic that it waited until the crisis was over to be resolved; however it’s only allowed if this was a decision and we don’t have to go through any more of this in the future.
As a season overview; it was pretty good. I’m glad I watched it like this instead of week to week as I don’t know that it would have held my interest for ten...well it was like seven right, weeks. I would have had more time to speculate and work through my thoughts on things sure, but I think I would have found a lot more of it to be meh than I did handling them all together. The plot was solid if a little bit padded. The characters were fine if a little shallow and in several cases underserved, and actors basically all gave good performances. The expanded role for a few minor characters like Rose and their new scientist friend was definitely appreciated though, they were a lot better than Angie last season as a B-cast. There was little really wrong with it; Anna getting shot felt maybe a bit like trying to explain why they evidently didn’t have kids at any point to have to deal with Tony growing up; and Dottie definitely felt tacked on most of the time. I’m still bothered by the compressed time meaning a lot of things get glossed over like Peggy’s injury that was so crippling in one episode and then gone the next and Daniel not taking basically any time between breaking up with Violet before wanting to get with Peggy. I thought the villains were an improvement on last season with more complexity and shading. I would have liked more Howard (but that may have been scheduling I allow) and more for Anna to do in the story (which doesn’t have an allowance really). And the shippy business was...rarely necessary, though as I like shippy business I won’t say it was entirely unwelcome all the time, and it was (apparently) resolved in the end in the way that made the most sense considering how it had been built up through the season.
Maybe later I’ll finally write that meta about my biggest issue with the superficiality of the series, but don’t hold your breath. I’m having a hard time putting words to it, though I have a better handle on what my attitude is. For now though I probably ought to get on to other things.
Agent Carter 2x01
So it took the fast approaching date for Civil War to finally get me to start catching up on the TV side of the MCU. I basically felt about this one the way I did about season 1; it’s fine, it’s fun, I like it, but I don’t love it; it just doesn’t strike a chord with me the way I know it does for so many people. I’m hoping that semi-marathoning it will elevate this season, but we’ll see. Since I am marathoning it (to whatever extent) I’m not sure I’ll have a lot to say on individual episodes as I’m not going to need to speculate much and I won’t need to be too concerned about the direction of the show since I’ll be able to quickly move on to the next one and see what happens. And I know I don’t have much to say about this episode, it was a fairly quick and slightly awkward reintroduction to the world of the series, sets up some mysteries probable love triangles, and starts the process of moving from the SSR to SHIELD, which I’m a little surprised they’re doing this early but figured they’d have to do eventually so I’m not really that surprised. Again, it’s a fine episode, but between my muted feelings towards the series overall and the format I’m watching it in, my reactions are kind of limited.
Agent Carter 2x02
I actually did get a lot more out of that one than the premier, I thought it was better both in plot and character (yes it needed 2x01, but it got better afterward). I obviously don’t know where it’s going with much of this yet (somehow I’ve not really been spoiled for this), but now I’m much more in for the ride. Random observation that Peggy and Jarvis’ relationship seem much less shippable this season; last season it was mostly just intellectual knowing that he wouldn’t really cheat on his wife that kept me from shipping them but so far this time they just aren’t pinging that. I’m sure it’s partly the presence of Anna in the story (although I’m not completely sold on the character, I want to like her, I’m just not sold yet), and partly that things haven’t really gotten that intense with them yet which tends to set off my ship radar, and since Peggy’s love life is actually getting attention it makes me less inclined to ship her with a non-option; plus they may actually be pitching their performance differently this round, partly owing to all the above and some ‘just because.’ I’m also noticing this season seems much more connected to SHIELD than the first did, but we’ll see if that holds and if it’s a good thing either way. I also had some thoughts regarding Howard, but I haven’t worked out how to phrase them yet, so they’ll keep.
Agent Carter 2x03
So the season keeps getting better and I think marathoning it is going to help. I haven’t quite made up my mind about Whelks though, I feel like there’s something going on there we haven’t been let in on yet, he just seems a little too good; which come to think of it is Peggy’s type, and as with most Peggy ship options I remain unopposed to it but not completely sold. Adding Thompson back into the mix provides another angle on exploring the mystery, but there’s a part of me that just kind of wanted to see how Peggy and Daniel make it work on their own, her having a boss that just lets her do her thing and trusts her instinct but maybe occasionally does rein her so that she stays in the lines; Jack is more interesting in his own plot that’s tied to Peggy’s than when he’s interacting with Peggy directly. Although the bit where she basically outs his war story was cold, and a pretty good scene.
Agent Carter 2x04
I wouldn’t say that one was any more improved, and probably not as good as the last one, but it was alright. The flashbacks didn’t add that much, although more meaning may be revealed as we go. Michael was pretty clearly a dead man walking once we got to the engagement party scene, I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be in the flashbacks or if it was setup for him to show up in the current story down the line and still end up dead; and it could still also be the latter in a show like this I suppose. As far as the ‘present’ goes I wish I had more empathy for Whelks than I do, it’s well enough presented but I just don’t care. I guess I’m mainly feeling that the plot stuff was interesting enough but the character work was rather meh, so I’m not sure how I feel about it as a whole.
The Flash 2x19
So, a break from AC to watch a different hero show. And I feel a little mixed about this one, I liked a lot of it from moment to moment, but I’m not sure how much I liked it as a full story. For all my sort of mixed reactions to ‘Jay’ through the season, I really don’t like ‘Zoom,’ but Caitlyn’s story was fine. Also I have no idea where they’re going with the masked man on Earth-2, but I hope the reveal is worth all the build-up it’s gotten. I liked Wally’s scenes this time, but I wish it had carried more weight. If they’re going to push Barry/Iris into being a thing this was well enough handled in and of itself, but I still don’t like the handling of it overall. I’m a fan of the Wells family members, but I really thought Jesse would run farther than the other side of Central City when she left and I feel like their reconciliation happened rather quickly. Also I suppose I should have seen coming that they’d have another particle accelerator explosion as they’re certainly going to turn Wally into a speedster somehow, and maybe Jesse too, but seriously how is that a good idea for the characters to come up with? This episode did remember they’re part of a shared universe, mentioning both Felicity and Ray, though I really have to question how Felicity passed them some dwarf star alloy just like that; even if PT had some just lying around I think she’d have to justify on the books giving it to Star Labs, and they’re already covering up a not-insignificant amount of embezzlement going to vigilante activities. Plus of course being obvious that it’s going to be difficult to line these episodes up the in-universe chronology of events going on (I’m still confused about the later crossovers last season).
Arrow 4x19
I’m going to have to sit with that one for a bit to decide how I feel about it as a whole, because it was by turns really damn good and pretty darn poor. I kind of wish Quentin’s story had been given more focus because a lot of it was heartbreaking and felt very fitting, but it felt a little forced to fit into the format it was given. The flip side of that being that while I felt Oliver’s stuff was good, I felt it came at the expense of giving other characters enough focus. Even Diggle I felt needed more time than he got and Thea definitely did. I do think Felicity got about the right amount of time, I knew she’d find a way to have her own round of guilt because she wasn’t there so that felt right to me; I’ll even let them have her getting on the kill Darhk train even though they didn’t explore the fact that she would start pushing for that, because she does have plenty of reasons to get to that point. I would also observe that although she says she isn’t angry Oliver has a child and that it’s about the lying, her lines here sort of imply to me that maybe she is kind of angry about him having a kid at all. Nyssa’s inclusion, while necessary for Lance’s story and fitting in any case, didn’t have any room to do anything with it; also I kind of think Nyssa was a bit in love with Laurel, something she said to Lance really felt like ‘yeah I totally thought of her as a...friend.’ The plot of the week was a good choice for this episode, very much allowing the characters an outlet to express lots of feelings and angst, and moving the overall plot forward, but again I think there was just more material to work through than fit into this episode. I’m going to have to compare the scenes we’d seen before with them here, because the bit with Barry had dialog that felt paced way too fast and I don’t remember that being the case when we saw it in the premier; the scene with Felicity felt more maintained and that one had a lot more material to it.
But then we have to talk about the flashbacks. I’ve actually been slowly rewatching the show from the beginning and am in the middle of season 2, so the end of s1/beginning of s2 wasn’t that long ago on that, and this does not make sense. The first couple scenes were alright; Oliver unable to actually go to Tommy’s funeral and lurking on the edges, plus the show remembering how much Laurel loved Tommy, I buy that. I even buy him going to angst at Laurel after the fact but not able to go inside, feeling guilty and uncertain and him leaving from there feeling like he needs to bottle everything up. I’ll even buy that Laurel didn’t immediately get so broken and angry and guilty as she is at the beginning of s2 so far as needed for that those scenes continue to work. But the scene of them just hanging out reminiscing was certainly too functional for Oliver at that point and mostly for Laurel too. And them hooking up at that point I don’t buy at all, especially as it isn’t played as grief sex, it’s played as tender and meaningful when they should both be feeling too guilty about their pre-Undertaking hookup now that Tommy’s dead to even think about doing it again. They’re also apparently looking at a picture of the three of them when they were young which is exactly what I wanted Laurel to be holding on to last episode, and this explanation of how she got the picture of herself just makes it more true, since how she got it was by no means a simpler time in their relationship. I think I might have bought that scene a bit more if it had happened at the Queen mansion, made it clear that it was Laurel reaching out to Oliver and going to him rather than him coming to her after everything (although it is easier for Oliver to run away afterward when they’re not at his place); also if they, but especially Cassidy, had played it with more complexity, and like the end of something rather than a potential new beginning. Because by the beginning of s2 they both know they can’t go back, that to even continue to be in each other’s lives they need to have a very different sort of relationship. So the flashbacks just got progressively more annoying as the episode went on, and I’m not sure what they were trying to do with that bit of retconning.
Agent Carter 2x05
Another episode where there was a lot to like. I’m glad they’re sort of expanding their team of misfits and it worked out well. The furthering of the villain plot was interesting too. I do feel the need to complain a bit about the love triangle mess, as I’m not all that convinced this episode would have alerted Violet to Daniel’s feelings for Peggy; it would certainly add to any suspicions she had if it seemed that she already had them or for them to come out later, but as is I don’t see it. I could have even taken her realizing that he had some feelings for Peggy from this, like maybe they had a past, but again not to the extent that she jumps ahead in just this episode. Especially since last season it seemed more like the beginnings of feelings, somewhat more than just a crush but not all the way to love; though yeah, things seem to have grown since then and I don’t have that much trouble believing it, but now things seem to be pushed along a little too fast. Overall it was a fine episode, with my usual mix of mostly good but some less good feelings for it, that just stood out as a problem.
Agent Carter 2x06
I liked that one too. It does highlight that the series probably needs Thompson on a slightly more regular basis, he’s the only one besides Howard (who’s barely been around this season) whose store can take us into the halls of power; yes we see it from the villains’ side but there’s no real story in that like there is with Jack (also Jack, Carter is Girl Guide as she is English). Also the team is all so chummy this season, which is mostly good, but could use something to cause real conflict among the good guys. My main problem with the show though is gradually getting better defined and by the end of the season I should have a good long think piece on it, so there’s that to look forward to. I can’t decide if the team bringing Dottie into things made any kind of sense for them to do, plus I’m confused why Dottie was being held in the LA area when she was in New York and could have made sense to move her to DC when the other guys stepped in, but not LA. I’ve also just never been that big a fan of Dottie, though I know other people are.
Agent Carter 2x07
So...basically your standard end of act 2 everything sucks setup. Not that it wasn’t a fine enough episode, that’s just my primary thought coming out of it. I’m also torn between liking that this season is doing the enemy-within stuff and thinking it’s moving too fast in the foundations of HYDRA within SHIELD. I guess this is more the shadowy secret alliance of shadowy secrets that may or may not be joined to HYDRA at this stage, but it probably is and I think it’s a touch soon for that. I still don’t really understand the point of bringing Dottie into it, in or out of story, but oh well I guess.
Agent Carter 2x08
This episode had its moments, but overall I’m not crazy about it. I would also like to point out that in story it’s been only a few days since the heist at Roxxon, so Peggy should really still be having more trouble getting around than she has been. Anyway, I guess there wasn’t a reason to be suspicious of Whelks early on, but for the long game there was. Also, I think Daniel’s right that if Whitney is beyond saving then Whelks isn’t far behind; a little bit behind as he hasn’t...gone quite as far with it as she has, and she was already okay with having people killed before getting taken over, but on the whole if she’s responsible for what she’s done while possessed then so is Whelks. There was some solid acting in this one, and it’s clearly setup for the endgame of the season, but I didn’t feel like it had much in the way of an identity this time around. Oh well, I can just go on with the story.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x13
This is another episode where I figure I’ll know how I feel about it better once the whole thing plays out; it might well turn out good within this final arc, but on its own there’s a lot I have issues with. For one, my hatred of Carter means I have little sympathy for the big twist (I have not hated a character that I’m supposed to like this much in a long time); yes I get it would hit Kendra hard and yes in this life we’re dealing with what’s happened to him is still a horrible fate but between my hatred for Carter and my hatred of the fact that no one thinks fourth dimensionally on this show I have little feeling for it. Have they ever really established if killing Savage also breaks the Hawks reincarnation cycle? Because if it doesn’t it doesn’t seem that bad to let Carter die in this life and let him have a better chance next time; and even if it does, this isn’t current-Kendra’s Carter, he’s had probably at least a couple more lives since the one she might have been part of but actually wasn’t. Also, it took Carter and Kendra 4000 years to figure out that maybe she should learn to fight? That seems like poor planning on their parts. I also have to admit that I couldn’t shake the thought this episode wondering...what’s the point of saving the world this late in the game? They’re done for already, and after so many millions or billions dead already, how many more will die taking out what remains of Savage’s power structure? Rip’s quest to save his family is just about all that’s at stake once the apocalypse has already happened; and while I sympathize, I’d like to see this quest accomplish more after all this. Plus I’ve never been able to shake the thought that *we* know where Savage is in 2016, Merlyn scooped up the ashes and took him back to the League of Assassins, so this may end up being resolved in the end by Sara going and having a chat with her ex, then calling Kendra and being like ‘hey, buddy, guess what I found.’ Also, I must have missed something, because I never figured out how Martin got hurt, I seriously thought there was a time glitch that happened and we’d find out that they’d jumped back a few days and things were even worse once they caught up with themselves; that was really poorly handled, or I just missed something obvious. I guess it was done so it made sense that Jax stayed back and was part of Ray’s fight, but I felt that fight kind of messed up the flow of the Savage fight, plus was pretty cheesy, and this from someone who’s kind of been waiting for Ray’s suit to be able to grow. Also...when did they take the loved ones and past-selves home after last week’s episode? There was so much they could have done with all that. On the whole I think I am feeling more negative than usual about this episode, which is too bad since I was actually really looking forward to it this week.
Agent Carter 2x09
I’m a little torn on this one, maybe a lot torn. I felt a lot of the stuff at the beginning went on too long and dream sequence was completely unnecessary. While I appreciated the emotion of the Peggy-Jarvis blow out I felt the circumstances didn’t quite work; and I don’t really buy that Peggy would have them walking right along the road when obviously that meant the bad guys could double back and find them real easy-like. Jack’s story was good but I can’t shake the feeling it could have been more interesting if I thought for a moment he might not be on the crew’s side; Jack is more narrow minded and comfortable with morally grey than the rest of the characters, but he’s still on the good side...and why do I feel like I know Jack more fundamentally than I know characters with way more screen time? Now you’ll have to allow me to work through a thought I was having about Peggy/Whelks and why I just don’t ship it. As she was rescuing him I realized I just felt nothing between them; it didn’t feel any different, and if anything was less charged, than her rescuing Dottie. Her caring for him feels like responsibility rather than affection. I think it’s fairly fitting then that I liked them best early on when their relationship could have gone another way. But that also gave me a thought about why I never really shipped Peggy/Steve, it feels more like he’s someone she has taken responsibility for than someone she actually wants to be with (we’re not really discussing Steve’s side here), though at least in that case by the end they’d had more time to build an idea of a relationship between them. I get way more than she’s interested in Daniel and has feelings that she’s fighting because of their circumstances; I don’t know that I know they work, but I think there’s more to work with there.
Agent Carter 2x10
So that resolved fairly well, although it was maybe a bit too zany considering the situation. The biggest surprise was that no one got sucked into the rift, I guess it was just setup for the action piece rather than telegraphing that someone was going be lost. But process of elimination I had worked out that Jack was the likely one to die (although I had Whelks as the second most likely and he got a happy ending just not the girl) so I can’t say I’m shocked he got shot in the end (as a TV show I may not completely say he’s dead until we have time to confirm it, so I won’t exactly be surprised either way). The love triangle plot really dragged on too long, although considering the compressed time frame and all that was going on I can’t say it’s unrealistic that it waited until the crisis was over to be resolved; however it’s only allowed if this was a decision and we don’t have to go through any more of this in the future.
As a season overview; it was pretty good. I’m glad I watched it like this instead of week to week as I don’t know that it would have held my interest for ten...well it was like seven right, weeks. I would have had more time to speculate and work through my thoughts on things sure, but I think I would have found a lot more of it to be meh than I did handling them all together. The plot was solid if a little bit padded. The characters were fine if a little shallow and in several cases underserved, and actors basically all gave good performances. The expanded role for a few minor characters like Rose and their new scientist friend was definitely appreciated though, they were a lot better than Angie last season as a B-cast. There was little really wrong with it; Anna getting shot felt maybe a bit like trying to explain why they evidently didn’t have kids at any point to have to deal with Tony growing up; and Dottie definitely felt tacked on most of the time. I’m still bothered by the compressed time meaning a lot of things get glossed over like Peggy’s injury that was so crippling in one episode and then gone the next and Daniel not taking basically any time between breaking up with Violet before wanting to get with Peggy. I thought the villains were an improvement on last season with more complexity and shading. I would have liked more Howard (but that may have been scheduling I allow) and more for Anna to do in the story (which doesn’t have an allowance really). And the shippy business was...rarely necessary, though as I like shippy business I won’t say it was entirely unwelcome all the time, and it was (apparently) resolved in the end in the way that made the most sense considering how it had been built up through the season.
Maybe later I’ll finally write that meta about my biggest issue with the superficiality of the series, but don’t hold your breath. I’m having a hard time putting words to it, though I have a better handle on what my attitude is. For now though I probably ought to get on to other things.