Agent Carter Agent Carter S02E10 "Hollywood Ending"

[Flint Marko]

Real disappointing episode to a pretty disappointing season. It still has numerous redeeming qualities and enough cheeky fun to make it very enjoyable at times, but overall I'm let down. The first season stands shoulder to shoulder with JJ in my book but this second one might be the worst entry into the MCU thus far. Whoever said it was right, Peggy deserved better.
On that note, I find it odd they left this season with such a dramatic cliff hanger given that it might not go to a third season.
EDIT: just read they finished filming before the first episode aired. Makes a lot of sense. Yeesh.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

That ending is awful considering there is very little chance of a third season. But I will just keep hoping we get one final season to tie everything up. A boy can hope.

 

[Flint Marko]

If by some miracle we get a third season I hope they course correct and go back to what made the show great to begin with. This screwball comedy stuff doesn't work near as well.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Yeah, count me in with the 'this season sucked' crowd. I really liked the first season too.

 

[Flint Marko]

The tension was borderline non-existent. There were so many moments that should have been life or death, edge of your seat nail biters that were either brushed aside with no consequence (Whitney Frost lets Agent Carter slip through her fingers numerous occasions, just for one example) or completely deflated with a cheesy one-liner.

 

[Snow Queen]

They probably should have just cut that last scene at this point.

A shame this season was a massive step backwards from the first, which I consider one of my favourite entries in the MCU. It's not terrible, it's enjoyable enough, but it felt so often like it was just treading water, the tone went a bit too light, little tension, now the unresolved plot threads. The biggest thing for me though is the lack of a character arc at the center of it. The first season had a pretty clear and defined story for Carter, this one...she likes Sousa, she can't be with him because he's engaged...then she just gets what she wants? I guess?

 

[TheVileOne]

I won't go far as saying this sucked, but it definitely seemed like a limp to the finish.

I agree there was a big lack of tension. Whitney Frost just wasn't a threat at all. All that power and she does nothing with it.

Also, everyone is just sitting around and standing around and joking. It never felt like there was a grave threat this season like there was last season. Just way too many jokes and too much comedy.

Like the world is in danger and everyone is just sitting around at the table eating breakfast or lunch and chatting and joking. How is everyone so calm? Why is everyone being so casual?

IMHO the worst thing is the waste of Whitney Frost as a character. I really wish we could've actually gotten not only Madame Masque but had her in something like Iron Man 3 instead of Fake Mandarin. Until some sort of soft reboot, this is basically the only time we could've gotten Madame Masque and it was a bit of a rotten carrot.

if the show does not return for a third season, I won't be too broken up. I feel like this season was the show's big hail Mary pass and they did very little.

The Council subplot didn't really go anywhere. Not to mention that the Council, some HYDRA offshoot or not, just was no threat at all.

Frost never came off like a worthy adversary to Peggy Carter. Not to mention the fact that Carter was generally the source of all the conflict this season. Pretty much all the catastrophes were her own doing.

 

[Guard82]

The finale was a lot of fun, and the cast did a great job working together. I enjoyed Peggy leading her little team of friends in the climax, and seeing Jarvis reunited with Ana.

I liked the season as a whole. While a bit slapsticky at times, and a little lighter than the first season, it was a lot of fun and had a very strong cast of characters. If the show gets a third season, I hope they tie up some of the loose ends left over from this season and start to show the founding of SHIELD.

 

[Guard82]

Like the world is in danger and everyone is just sitting around at the table eating breakfast or lunch and chatting and joking. How is everyone so calm? Why is everyone being so casual?

When you're in the business of saving the world, you've gotta keep your spirits high, or you'll go nuts soon.

 

[Mike Murdock]

The tension was borderline non-existent. There were so many moments that should have been life or death, edge of your seat nail biters that were either brushed aside with no consequence (Whitney Frost lets Agent Carter slip through her fingers numerous occasions, just for one example) or completely deflated with a cheesy one-liner.

I think the one exception is when Mrs. Jarvis got shot. To me, that showed the writers could still pull off the potential, although that was a rare exception.

IMHO the worst thing is the waste of Whitney Frost as a character. I really wish we could've actually gotten not only Madame Masque but had her in something like Iron Man 3 instead of Fake Mandarin. Until some sort of soft reboot, this is basically the only time we could've gotten Madame Masque and it was a bit of a rotten carrot.

You can still have Count Nefaria, though.

 

[Zarex]

IMHO the worst thing is the waste of Whitney Frost as a character. I really wish we could've actually gotten not only Madame Masque but had her in something like Iron Man 3 instead of Fake Mandarin. Until some sort of soft reboot, this is basically the only time we could've gotten Madame Masque and it was a bit of a rotten carrot.

The AC Whitney Frost was a complete reinvention 70 years in the past, so a modern day Madame Masque is still available for film, ABC, Netflix, birthday parties, etc.

 

[Vartha]

Now that was an Interesting ending. I like the series over all, I just wish they got to the SSR/S.H.I.E.L.D. switch

 

[Heretic]

The AC Whitney Frost was a complete reinvention 70 years in the past, so a modern day Madame Masque is still available for film, ABC, Netflix, birthday parties, etc.

Kind of like how Netflix has A Night Nurse, while Dr Strange will have THE Night Nurse. No one likes this idea, because it belittles the tv shows and is a clear sign that the movies don't take anything they do very seriously.

 

[TheVileOne]

Except in Netflix, she's not night nurse. She's just Claire Temple, who is an actual nurse at Metro-General in New York City.

 

[aNarcHy2day]

I thought Episode 8 and 9 weren't all that bad actually and did a decent job of setting up a grand finale.

But it definitely didn't work out that way, did it? The finale was a damp squib with all the tension they could generate towards the end of last week's episode just fizzling out within seconds of the finale's start! From there on it was almost a chore watching it.

 

[Darkraid]

If we get a third season, I don't want Daniel to be chief anymore.

The show has a knack for killing chiefs.

 

[Heretic]

Except in Netflix, she's not night nurse. She's just Claire Temple, who is an actual nurse at Metro-General in New York City.

Right...she's a nurse who works at night...and from everything I heard, she was intended to be Night Nurse, until the movies informed them that she wasn't.

 

[BullMcGiveny]

IMHO the worst thing is the waste of Whitney Frost as a character. I really wish we could've actually gotten not only Madame Masque but had her in something like Iron Man 3 instead of Fake Mandarin. Until some sort of soft reboot, this is basically the only time we could've gotten Madame Masque and it was a bit of a rotten carrot.

Not at all. You can have a full on Madam Masque in the movies, and the only difference is that that she will go by Giulietta Nefaria instead of Whitney Frost.

EDIT: Or, she could even use Whitney Frost as an alias she picked up from a '40s movie star.

 

[fixxxer]

Not to pile on but... that was extremely underwhelming.

You deserved better, Director Carter.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Right...she's a nurse who works at night...and from everything I heard, she was intended to be Night Nurse, until the movies informed them that she wasn't.

Keep in mind they deliberately didn't use Linda Carter. They used a character who has a connection, particularly to Luke Cage, and is a nurse, but was never Night Nurse.

 

[BestGirl]

The finale was reminiscent of the worst Marvel movies in its lack of tension and insistence on shoehorning comedy in at the worst moments. Peggy should've decked Howard for joking while Sousa was being lifted into the rift.

Anyone else think the ending with Wilkes was kinda weird? He just said he was going to Peru and there was no mention of his romance with Peggy at all. I couldn't stand the love triangle so I didn't really mind but narratively it was strange.

Manfredi being revealed as a friend of Howard's felt a bit like a retcon. I did like the part where his mom called him a poet, though. One of the jokes that landed well.

The ending was incredible but it was irresponsible of the writers to do that seeing as how they had no way of knowing they'd get a third season. Maybe they were trying to blackmail the studio into extending the series.

After the past couple of episodes I'm convinced Peggy ought to end up with Thompson. The two have a chemistry together that she lacks with anyone else.

 

[BoredGuy]

I agree with all that except your first sentence^^
Even the worst MCU movies were streets ahead of this season

 

[Yowza]

Just watched the last 5 episodes today on hulu...

I was surprised to read the rumor of a 3rd season yesterday so gave it a go. After watching it though and thinking over it, I think this rumor is something meant to pop-up before the answer becomes a no. Last year, I remember reading the 2nd season was going to be ordered, then it wasn't, then it was unsure, and finally it was announced. I am thinking this same pattern is happening just with less likelihood this time around...

If it happens, I think the writer's just need to be reigned in a bit. They used the same formula as last season in the show but just tipped things differently which they can do as this show wasn't uber serious to begin with. However, the vehicle it is just didn't feel like a comfortable ride to me. The humor as many of you have said I think was too misplaced to make the dramatic elements at all dramatic. I think the writing was still clever and good but the plot wasn't involving like it should have been. The comedy tipped the type of drama seen in the first season off kilter this time more so. It didn't feel fun like it should've nor dramatic or made me feel invested seeing how the characters just seemed to be going through their required paces before the inevitable ending.

Since I invested a good portion of my day to it however, here are my thoughts on the looseends:
1) Jack Thompson Shooter
It's possible Vernon Master's is alive but judging by the type of show this is, he's put in the schemer category not to be presented as a formidable antagonist. Therefore, the most obvious guess would be a henchman (from the FBI or someone affiliated with the Arena Club) ordered by Vernon Masters to kill Jack Thompson if he wasn't back by a certain time. The Arena Club I'm guessing is unlikely after the shakeup caused by Madame Masque to key players (and Master's not seeming very willing to go behind her back until he confoundingly decides to get tricked by Thompson in episode 9 nor having time to engineer much before his demise). The FBI or usage of an SSR or government agent is of course too obvious for a show like this. Therefore, it would be someone he or Whitney told to take out Thompson should they go down so that leaves someone affiliated with the gangster guy. Regardless of the nonsensical part where the gangster boss (the guy from "Party Down" who seemed to play more of a pastiche if anything else) decides to suddenly work on the same side with the good guys (something others in this thread have already mentioned their thoughts on that I agree with), there is a point where Ms. Frost away from her work to torture one of his cohorts. The revelation of course the guy reveals common sense would say was out of fear, but being a TV show it must mean something (perhaps the writer's original idea for inserting this here?). Therefore, the gangster boss probably ordered the hit as opposed to Whitney or Vernon using one of his guys as an assurance just in case. If there is no season 3 it seems safe to assume this answer.

However, after reading post-season interviews, assuming there will be another season, this first likely possibility seems like it will be trumped by trying to take things in a different direction hence Michael Carter's resurrection.

2) The pin
The Arena Club; a gathering of power players in LA just part of something greater. A foreign influence looking to corrupt America; the shadow keeps extending to reveal more villains (the conversation between Dottie and Peggy in prison made me think this is a direction they're going). Just a trope to say the Arena club is part of something bigger. London seems to be the setting they're aiming for in Season 3. Peggy will have to return home, put light on these shadows of corruptive influence being cast down by the American establishment, and come to terms with her past and cement her place as just radiating the american spirit. The plot for season 3. I'm guessing the pin is for the Arena club and they turn it into a key when visiting other meeting areas; a cue to the audience of a villain behind a villain sort of thing.

3) The Romance
This will maintain unless Sousa is killed but I'm guessing not so much. I hope they leave this whole question on the side burner next season as this dramatic element just didn't seem to deliver this season but who knows.

4) Dottie
She was after the pin in episode 1 of season 2. The reason will be revealed the next season to tie her in.

They seemed to allude to her being influenced by Dr. Faustus in Season 1 (a retcon perhaps?). She's ruthless on her own volition but the atrocities seem to be perhaps being shifted on her upbringing and Dr. Faustus outside influence to put her in the category of unlikeable/likeable villain without a home; a means to let her pop-up randomly throughout the remaining seasons perhaps doing something for Peggy at some point or another.

5) Easter Eggs I didn't get
Was Dr. Wilke's being sent to Peru supposed to correlate to something?

Also, did those people sucked up by zero matter in fact enter another dimension? As the season wrapped up the plot without going anymore into zero matter, supposedly Dr. Strange will but I highly doubt the TV shows are interconnected with the movies enough for the movie to deliver answers the show didn't so perhaps something I missed regarding this. Oh well.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Finally finished the season, and yeah, it was not a patch on the first, but still enjoyable in its own certain ways. They did go over the top with the comedy this season and unfortunately the villain just wasn't a threat. Which ironically are a lot of criticisms of some of he movies.

But yeah, this season just didn't seem to have the emotion or heart of the first except in small instances. I did t think the season was awful or anything, but it's a disappointment compared to the first.