Agent Carter returned with a bang in a 2 hour premiere that hit both coasts. Agent Carter and the SSR caught up with spy Dottie Underwood and her band of bank robbers. A quick fight between Peggy and Dottie showed these ladies came to play and as quickly as it started it was over. The big premise to this season was how Agent Carter was going to be working on the west coast and this episode established how she transferred out there.
West Coast Office
On the west coast the SSR is understaffed and tasked with solving the lady in the lake murders. Sousa heads the office out west and the lack of experience on staff has him requesting some help. Against her wishes, Peggy is sent out to help and upon arriving we meet an old friend in Edwin Jarvis. An awkward meeting between Chief Sousa and Agent Carter shows that there is a bit more to their relationship than we saw last season.
They are quick to move onto the investigation and many questions arise on how the middle of a lake in summer froze and how the victim was frozen solid. The most peculiar thing is how the victims body lights up like a radioactive night light. An autopsy leads them to a particle accelerator in Pasadena and some trickery and a distraction by Chief Sousa help Peggy to sneak into a cordoned off area where she runs into a doctor that gives them some clues on what happened to their victim. A quick visit with Mrs. Jarvis who we finally meet for the first time and Peggy and Jarvis back to teaming up. They head to the horse track to get some information out of a Mr. Chadwick who runs Isodyne. Peggy dropping the bomb that Jane Smith died gets Chadwick acting a bit suspicious but not much else is discovered. A trip back to the morgue and someone has struck as the mortician crumbles into pieces.
Back in New York Chief Thompson attempts to interrogate Dottie but she quickly and literally turns the tables on him. Chief Thompson after a change in character from the beginning to the end of last season doesn’t have much of a role to play yet but the few minutes he does have on screen tease a bigger role yet to come and perhaps him being at odds with Peggy and Chief Sousa.
Inspector Freeze
Dr. Wilkes shows up to help Peggy and Sousa investigate what happened to the body when we get a surprise twist and find out that the Los Angeles detective Henry may be behind the freezing escapades in hot L.A. He knocks out Jarvis and takes the Doctor with him in hopes he can cure him from whatever ailment that is causing him to freeze things.
The FBI shows up in New York and with no explanation they just take Dottie with them leaving a confused Chief Thompson behind and showing that the SSR is a long ways away from having the power and authority that S.H.I.E.L.D will have in the later years.
Hidden Motives
The search in L.A. leads Peggy, Jarvis and Sousa to an overpass where they find the car abandoned and the wheel frozen. Dr Wilkes manages to escape from Inspector Henry and runs into Agent Carter but that reprieve is short live when Chief Sousa runs into Detective Henry and we are back to square one or so it seems. A quick turn of fortunes and they finally have Detective Henry in a position to help them and just when it seems like they may get some answers a young L.A. cop shoots him and detective Henry burst into a hundred pieces. We see the young cop once again a few minutes later drive up to another car where we see Mr. Chadwick and Whitney Frost waiting for him. A quick exchange of money and a few of our questions get answered on who had reason to kill Sarah Jane.
A fun first episode that quickly establishes Agent Carter’s arse kicking abilities and show the viewers that this season is going to be different from the last. A bit more science fiction oriented should help change things help along with the change in venue. Seeing the cast adapt to the ever changing world will be interesting especially in a world where Women and minorities are still not seen on equal footing.