Peggy Carter is as brilliant as ever in the Agent Carter season 2 premiere — but more challenges lurk in the shadows than even Agent Carter knows.
“The Lady in the Lake” is the brighter of the first two episodes, even while Peggy flies to California to help Sousa solve the mystery of a dead — and frozen solid — young woman. The West Coast is drenched in sunshine, Peggy herself is as effervescent as ever, and of course, Jarvis is back in all of our lives. (Aaah.)
But on closer inspection, shadows swell around the edges of events in the Agent Carter season 2 premiere — and Peggy is working in the dark. As thrilling as it is to see her soundly thrash Dottie Underwood, her interrogation scene strongly suggests that Dottie knows something that Peggy does not. Jack Thompson sends Peggy to California as equal parts joke and lie (not that we’re surprised), in a move that casts harsh light one of the more shaded corners the first two episodes — Peggy’s relationship with Daniel Sousa.
It’s particularly interesting to see the relationship between Peggy and Sousa catapulted into the center of the frame in this atmosphere of secrecy and omission. What played largely as workplace crush in season 1 has clearly deepened into something more significant — and, it seems, more vulnerable. But the water is murky now between Peggy and the S.S.R. Captain. Whatever has happened between them has turned their shyly trusting bond into a hesitant one, with important truths (like “Hey Daniel, I’m into you,” and “I’m totally into you too Peggy, but I’m dating an adorable nurse,”) remaining awkwardly shrouded.
It’s a move that’s perfectly on-theme for episodes brimming with deceit and omission — and it makes us wonder if a bright future is ultimately possible for these two.
Thankfully, it’s not all darkness in the Agent Carter season 2 premiere. However messy their personal lives, Peggy and Sousa work together professionally with an effortless focus. If it weren’t for the secret motives of their LAPD counterpart, Peggy and Sousa could probably have solved the case with a laugh and time for a full-on Honesty Session. (Sponsored, most likely, by Rose.)
And of course, Peggy’s bond with Jarvis is as crystal clear as ever – she and Howard’s put-upon butler fall right back into their archly British repartee without skipping a beat. The newly-introduced Ana Jarvis, for her part, seems delightfully determined to keep no secrets whatsoever – which is perfectly fine with us.
But the shadows become more pronounced in the aptly titled “A View in the Dark,” as dark seeds planted in the first hour blossom into full-on L.A. noir. Appropriately, the bulk of the story takes place after night claims Los Angeles, when two shaded characters can offer up their angles for the audience’s inspection.
Both Jason Wilkes and Whitney Frost have secrets. Both are people Peggy misjudges or dismisses in “The Lady of the Lake.” And both are inextricably linked to what has already become the icon of dark destruction in Agent Carter season 2 — Zero Matter.
(Which is called “Darkforce” in standard Marvel parlance. Three cheers for themes!)
It’s hard to look for much by way of darkness in Jason Wilkes, who immediately falls head-over-heels for Peggy — feelings she soon comes to reciprocate. Wilkes’ frankness, intelligence, and willingness to undertake enormous risk for Peggy make him both admirable and a breath of non-spy fresh air. But all the same, Wilkes’ ties to Isodyne Energy put him at the center of the forces that begin to converge in the Agent Carter season 2 premiere. Against his will, he is literally drawn into the darkness.
While it’s too early to call Frost and Wilkes two sides of the same coin, there are some striking similarities. Like Wilkes, Frost inhabits a body in which she is mercilessly judged (though of course, hers is a vastly more privileged form). Like Wilkes, her intelligence and opinions are dismissed. But unlike the scientist, Whitney Frost approaches the darkness on her own, for purposes of power.
And in the process, she becomes the embodiment of darkness. In the aftermath of the explosion which allegedly kills Jason Wilkes, Frost is left with a fissure of infinite space creeping across her forehead.
It’s an incredibly potent image, even for those who don’t know Whitney Frost’s inevitable identity. And it reminds us, as Peggy mourns for Wilkes and the sun rises over California, that maybe we’ve all got a few shadows inside.
Agent Carter season 2 certainly does.