"Agent Carter" season one discussion and spoilers

[Dr. Funkenstein]

But, see, that's what I don't get: Stan went to great lengths to come up with a name that sounded cool for "Spider-Man", and not goofy.

It only sounds "cool" because of familiarity; it's engrained into your head and a natural part of your psyche now. There are plenty of "goofy" words that sound completely ordinary to us. "Movie" and "computer" being two prime examples.

Crows are arguably just as cool as bats. But "Batman" sounds cooler than "Crowman" simply because of the aforementioned reasons. Whereas in reality they're both pretty stupid.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think "computer" is a goofy word. Originally it meant just what it says: a person who performs computations, or a mechanical device (like the paper slide rule-ish thingies used for aviation or artillery calculations in the early 20th century) that computations can be performed on. Electronic computers were called that by analogy with those earlier things, and eventually the "electronic" part was dropped.

Although it seems to me that we don't use the word "computer" that frequently anymore, as everything becomes computerized and it's just a given. We talk about PCs and laptops and smartphones and tablets and "devices" instead.


Anyway, back to the show: Is anyone else convinced that Bridget Regan's new tenant at Peggy's building (Dottie, I think it was) is the same person as the mysterious assassin? They wouldn't have introduced Regan without having some purpose to it. And the skulking figure did seem to have a lean, feminine quality to me.

 

[Captain Craig]

I don't know if this has been brought up, but the typewriter communication used by the bad guys reminded me of Fringe.

I mentioned this to a friend I discuss the show with but he didn't watch Fringe so it was really just me commenting on the similar vibe. Glad to see it gave that FRINGE vibe to another.

Spider-man sounds cool cause as a character he "made it".
Same for any character that does.
Ant-Man may just take off as well...now, and be seen as much cooler a generation from now. Presentation and Perception is all any concept needs to go from lame to cool.

I need to hit YouTube now, find this DD teaser that's been mentioned. I missed the episode and will play catch up later on DVR.

 

[Marsden]

Anyway, back to the show: Is anyone else convinced that Bridget Regan's new tenant at Peggy's building (Dottie, I think it was) is the same person as the mysterious assassin? They wouldn't have introduced Regan without having some purpose to it. And the skulking figure did seem to have a lean, feminine quality to me.

Oh, good catch! I thought there was something about assassin, I think you're right.

 

[Velocity]

Seeing Peggy putting pin-curls in her hair really took me back. Reminded me of my mother doing the same thing.

 

[Turtletrekker]

ABC entertainment president Paul Lee on ratings for Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD...

Addressing the performance of its other Marvel drama, Agents of SHIELD, along with Carter, Lee said: “SHIELD is actually a great and powerful show for us, [it’s 18-49 demo rating with seven days of DVR playback playback] pops up to a 3.0, it brings in a male audience for us and it’s creatively really strong now. We left a great cliffhanger at the end of Christmas and now it’s going to come back with some fantastic storylines. And to have Agent Carter in the [SHIELD hiatus] gap doing sort of double what we were doing there last year is great for us.”

Last night Agent Carter had 5.1 million and a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49. For a new, lavishly produced drama series based on a known brand at 9 p.m., that’s considered a low next-day number. Last year ABC had episodes of The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife in the slot, which had a 1.4 rating. But on the other hand, it’s increasingly difficult to judge TV shows so early—Agent Carter‘s premiere has already grown to a 2.7 rating with DVR playback.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Oh Trophy Wife, you little scamp, why won't you just stay dead and forgotten?

One of the seminal points in the history of Edwin Jarvis was when the Masters of Evil occupied Avengers mansion for almost 6 issues. Creatively it was a fun idea for evil to stick it to where the good guys live, but you see, that's also where Jarvis lives and this is what happened to him.



Kyle MacLachlan tied him to a chair and beat Jarvis till he had to walk with a cane.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Really liked this episode. Is it just me or have the other SSR guys become a lot more competent since last week?

I thought, with the exception of the guy who just died, that everyone was competent last week too. They're dumb for not including Agent Carter, but they're still pretty decent at their jobs.

 

[Guy Gardener]

How long has she been working there?

Is Steve Lombard dumb for not noticing that that NERD Clark Kent is really Superman?

Is she new to this office/department/local bureau?

Is it her first week?

(I don't think so? The guy with the crutch, it was his first week.)

If they knew that she can beat a man twice her size to death, would they treat her like a mental defective?

These assholes are what passes for normal in 1946.

Peggy on the other hand is exceptional for 1946, and hides it.

Why should they treat her like an exceptional person if there is no evidence that she is exceptional?

Although...

After springing Jarvis last week, by pretending to be an idiot, the entire office must believe that she is an idiot, and more so deserves their pity than respect because she cannot tie her shoe laces without out humming that song about bunny ears.

 

[Gaith]

Enjoyed this episode a lot, but, there's some weird-ass geography going on. Stark's mansion is only a short distance to industrial-type docks, okay. But the SSR agents must have been moving at Barry Allen speed to get to the scene (in Brooklyn, was it?) in the minutes between the time Jarvis hung up, even if he paused for a smoke or something, and their arrival. And then... was the prisoner being brought to the Manhattan office? (The chief said he didn't want to blow up the island.) But what kind of train tracks lie between the Brooklyn shore and Manhattan?!

 

[DEWLine]

In 1946?

Wondering if forgotten-nyc.com or brooklynhistory.org might provide...?

 

[Tosk]

Hinky geography on TV? That's crazy.

 

[DEWLine]

New York's geography has to be among the most thoroughly documented among Earth's cities. If you can't nail down a grade-level crossing somewhere in 1946 Brooklyn...

 

[The Old Mixer]

The road that the car was driving on had what looked like trolley tracks alongside it, FWIW.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Cars were slower, but cops didn't give a poo about speeding, or even drunk speeding.

Does the SSR have tagged license plates or flags or sirens, so that all the regular cops let them speed?

 

[DEWLine]

License plates, probably.

And Brooklyn like much of the NYC area back then was covered with streetcar lines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streetcar_lines_in_Brooklyn

 

[Anwar]

I think Bridget Regan's character is the second Black Widow, Yelena. Leviathan is supposed to be the Eastern Bloc's answer to HYDRA so it makes sense they'd send a Russian assassin to keep and eye on their US Operations now.

 

[DEWLine]

Natasha's multiply-retconned backstory dates back to the Battle of Stalingrad at minimum.

But there's room for other Red Room graduates, especially if the version of Leviathan they're playing with is the Soviet edition.

Yelena Belova...they might save her for a latter modern-day project. But then, I didn't expect Roger Dooley from the She-Hulk graphic novel by John Byrne to be used as Peggy's boss.

 

[Anwar]

The MCU version of Natasha seems to just be a normal Spy/Assassin, not the long-lived Soviet Super-Soldier version. They outright said she was only 29/30 in the Winter Soldier, from someone who would've known who she really was (Computer Zola) if she was hiding anything.

If Regan IS Yelena, then that would make the Black Widow thing a Legacy name in the MCU.

 

[DEWLine]

Spies lie. They have lies told on their behalf. Just because Zola believed the birthdate he spouted in TWS doesn't make it true.