Agent Carter

* Adored the first "double" ep/season premiere in every way. So many wonderful little nods and easter eggs and mysteries and set-ups and fun new characters
and a good pace and just, yes; thumbsup. God I missed this show.

* Loved most of the rest of the season, albeit the whole back half I was like, "When's she gonna put the masque on, when's she gonna put the masque on, when's she gonna put the masque on, when's she gonna put the masque on, when's she gonna put the masque on, when's she gonna put the masque on . ." which was ultimately distracting and disappointing. This was coupled with a "When are they finally going to found SHIELD?" train of thought as well, which was similarly distracting and a slight let-down in the end.

* The spirit and color and costumes and sets of this show continued to be delightful.

* Sadly, the news that Atwell's been hired on as the lead of another show, combined with ABC inexplicably jamming 4 episodes out in two weeks in late Feb (why so many double eps? Really poor on ABC's part; felt like they were "dumping" the show and had totally written it off, similar to how Nickelodeon acted towards the back end of The Legend of Korra, for which I will never forgive them), gives the impression that it was a ratings/viewership failure in the eyes of corporate, and that it won't be coming back for a Season 3, and to have that all happen BEFORE the finale was extremely disappointing and deflating to say the least. Totally took any sort of weight out of the last chunk of the season. I want to say, actually, that they did 4 nights of double eps this season? That's outrageous treatment, and no way to build an audience or maximize ratings or viewers.

* Which, speaking of the last chunk of the season, also felt rushed and a bit scattered and oddly-written once it aired. There were still highlights and great lines and moments a-plenty, Jarvis and Peg and Howard and Rose and the SSR scientist guy continued to be hilarious, banter-wise, but boy howdy can you say deus ex machina for the finale? Really felt flat and uninspired, to me, and -as was pointed out by a reviewer afterwards (on the mary sue, if I remember correctly)- in the very end Peg was made a background player in the climax of her own series. Which was . . yeahhhh, weird choices; very, very weird choices.

* So as the finale petered out, I couldn't help but think of the finale of Season 1, which ended with that awesome little cliffhanger/tease for a Season 2 that we didn't realize might be coming, and OH how exciting that was to see! Direct contrast in the teaser/cliffhanger at the tail of this season, as the shadow of a likely cancellation hanging over the whole affair made it feel less exciting and more "Why should I care? We'll never get an answer to any of this; what happened to Dottie; who killed Jack; what's up with the redacted secret file on Peg/Peg's Brother that apparently was worth killing for; what does the pin/key thing open; why have they not founded SHIELD yet?" etc, etc, etc.

* Why so little of Daniel's new lady friend/almost-fiancee? She was such a good new character, and when she patched Peg up and realized Daniel was still in love with Peg halfway through the season, she totally disappeared from that point on. What a waste!! There were early theories that she was Sharon Carter's mom, that she'd end up getting on with Peg's brother or such after she dropped a nod early in the season potentially pointing in that direction, but clearly that was nixed by more than one event later in the season. But still, sad; I really, really liked her. And I liked Peg's brother, too. Too little screen time. And I loved the flashback to Whitney's childhood . . which was never revisited. It's like they had a ton of great ideas, and not nearly enough time to explore any of them. A case of what could've been? What might've been? If this were only a Netflix series, commercial-less, full hour for each ep, guarantee of a full season instead of playing the network ratings game (a game in which, invariably, everybody loses), 12 or 13 full, unabridged untampered with Netflix Agent Carter could've been phenomenal.

* And, I already said this but, if you're gonna have Madame Masque, who was riveting and fucking badass through the first 2/3rds of the season or so but became increasingly one-note towards the end, why not put her in the actual goddamn masque then by the end? Such a weird move. It was as deflating a twist/non-twist as the clusterfuck of an abomination that is Daredevil's final outfit was in the finale of DD season 1 last year. Endings are important; final acts are important. That's not when you want to fuck it up. I couldn't help but feel a similar letdown between the two experiences, and I really don't understand why they won't go the MCU route with it on the tv side, which clearly has different people running it; I realize the TV shows and the MCU are connected, and I loooooove that, LOVE it, but the movies have no comic shame, or at least very very little comic shame; everybody's outfits look more or less spot-on, from Steve to Vision to Thor to Nat to Tony to Scott Lang, and I really appreciate that enormously. It's part of what separates and elevates the MCU so far above the WB/DC movies and the Sony movies and the Fox movies (ESPECIALLY the Fox movies) for me. Bright colors; more-or-less accurate costumes; authenticity. So why Madame Masque without the masque? Why a Daredevil outfit that wouldn't even get an honorable mention at a comic con cosplay contest (which is looks like they're totally sticking with for Season 2, to my chagrin)? Why never see Jess in her Jewel outfit for like two seconds in JJ? Or see her fly? Or have Tennant actually turn purple for the finale, maybe? Why all the pictures from DD season 2 of Punisher, but no skull logo? It's so disappointing; it makes me seriously concerned for the Iron Fist series (I want the legit Iron Fist outfit in one form or another; the Aja version would be killer), and any possibility of seeing "Trish" turn Hellcat at some point in her proper outfit, which I want so very badly to happen. It's like the difference between The Flash (TV side of DC, which has very little comic shame, good on 'em, except for on Arrow, which is just the worst thing ever, but that's a discussion for another day) and the Snyder Superman; one does not jive with the other, and that makes me sad. I want the Marvel TV people, Quesada and Loeb or whomever, to realize that some of the success of the MCU films has to do with their willingness to not do heavy redesigns of most of the outfits, but rather to just give us more or less what we've seen on the page for all these decades. Just look at Daredevil's headpiece and tell me it doesn't look fucking atrocious. Seriously. Look at it. I was waiting for him to don the red outfit the whole series, and when he finally put it on I was like, "OH GOD, NO; PUT THE BLACK OUTFIT ON AGAIN PLEASETHANKYOU, THIS IS CRUSHING MY SOUL AND DREAMS." Whitney Frost really needed to put on a mask at some point, is all I'm sayin'.

* So, shit, here we are, unlikely to ever get more Agent Carter, and I don't know what to think. I loved the first season, I loved much of the second season, but I can't help but feel like it was brutally mishandled by ABC, and I'm really scratching my head over some of the writing/plot choices in Season 2, which is on the showrunners right? Has to be? The same two people who are underwhelming me on the new Carol book? So . . mixed bag? A very colorful, fun, funny, mixed bag, which will stick in my mind, made an impression, which leaves me wanting more, but also leaves a bit of a sour taste for sure. I mean, I was assuming last year that SHIELD would be founded by the end of Season 1. That didn't happen. Season 2 came and went; didn't happen. All these questions and loose ends . . I dunno. I wish it hadn't gone out on a whimper I guess. Damn shame.