We’re backing up a little bit here, because when I started Marveling back in 2020, I didn’t have access to the One-Shots, and now I do! So we’re going to start with a review of the original Agent Carter show, a 10-minute one-shot found on the Iron Man 3 DVD, of all places.
Agent Peggy Carter (my FAVE) is working, stuck at a desk, asking to go out in the field. She gets a super misogynistic response (obvi), even though she’s hearing all the stuff about the mysterious Zodiac running around. Her boss touches her shoulder and calls her darlin’ and it’s horrible. But then she gets a call, and takes a mission on her own… and obviously KILLS IT.
3 Things I Loved
Peggy! Omg, she’s the best.
Peggy kicking everyone’s ass. This show is super feminist, despite all that Peggy is up against, and I also love that about her and about the creators of the show and honestly, the whole MCU. Is the feminism intersectional, though? Read below.
Her reassignment to the SHIELD. This is obviously epic. I don’t feel like it’s too much of a spoiler because she has a two season run of her own show after this, so it seems like it’s assumed. (Although there are some timeline confusions here since she’s at the SSR during her show.) The Howard Stark character is really just a bonus.
Dislikes/Problematic Content
I mean, the misogyny is super hard to watch, but I’m trying to remind myself that this is the mid-40s, just after World War II. And yeah, it’s a very feminist one-shot, sure, but the feminism is white white white. And that doesn’t really change in any of the shows and movies in this timeframe. It’s unfortunate! I’d love there to be more female characters for Peggy to interact with who aren’t white ladies.
Timeline Progress
This technically came before the Agent Carter show, and I think they say in the one-shot that it’s only a couple months after the war. (This will be the only one reviewed out of order, I promise!) So picture late-ish 1945!
Connections and Easter Eggs
Howard Stark! Mention of Captain America! There’s not a lot in this one, but we’re still early in the MCU.
Rating
Rating scale:
Red = DNF, I hated everything
Orange = Ugh, no thank you
Yellow = I mean, I’ve seen worse, but there were problems
Green = This was good!
Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this movie/show!
Purple = This is the unicorn of movies/shows and I will be rewatching it until Disney+ starts asking questions and EVERYONE should be watching it!
Oh, how I wish I had seen this before ever watching Agent Carter the show, just to get me excited to watch Agent Carter the show! Peggy is the best. I’m giving this one-shot a GREEN rating! The terrible misogyny was hard to stomach, and even though Peggy overcame it, those idiot dudes never really apologized, and I don’t fuck with that bullshit.
Also - I’m back! There is no timeline on these recaps - I’ll be moving slowly through everything, and I’m excited about it. I’m still new to Substack (although I love it here), so it might take me a while to organize everything in a way I like. But recaps are back, baby! In a big way!
Higher, further, faster, forever.