If you’re a feminist, Marvel fan, or enjoy action, you’ll love Marvel’s Agent Carter. If you don’t fit under any of those categories… well, you’ll still like it. Agent Carter follows Agent Peggy Carter (who you might remember from Captain America, the First Avenger), a female agent at the Strategic Scientific Reserve of America (SSR). The show takes place in the mid 1940s, causing Peggy to have to fight tooth and nail (sometimes literally) to be taken seriously as a female agent.

     The first episode of season two aired on January 19, 2016, and honestly, I was hooked within the first few minutes. In this season, Peggy travels to Los Angeles to help solve a case about a dead body in a frozen lake during a heat wave. From there the show dives into a major web of mystery with rich aristocrats, an election, and new scientific discoveries revolving around an energy called “zero matter.” The new season also brings back old characters and introduces new ones.

     Part of the reason I love the show so much is because of the main character, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Peggy is from Britain, and became a SSR agent during WWII. She’s a strong woman who has to constantly fight both her enemies and sometimes the government system itself. She doesn’t let any of that stop her, and often goes off on her own to crack the case. Her wit and humor make her even more fun to watch. However, since she’s so used to having to do everything herself, she isn’t great at accepting help. That’s where Mr. Jarvis comes in.

     Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy) is Howard Stark’s (yes, as in Iron Man’s dad’s) butler. However, he also helps Peggy out a lot, reminding her that it’s okay to need other people. Some of Peggy’s character development and a lot of the show’s humor comes from Mr. Jarvis, although he is never actually trying to be funny. James D’Arcy plays the stereotypical British butler role so well that he manages to be both uptight and hilarious at the same time. Then again, anyone who calls a flamingo “the Devil in Pink” while looking completely serious can expect to get a laugh out of me.

     This season, we finally get to meet Mr. Jarvis’ wife, Ana Jarvis (Lotte Verbeek), who was referred to often in the first season. She’s a likable character and a good source of comic relief, contrasting Mr. Jarvis’s uptight manner with her free and nonchalant spirit.

     Although romance isn’t a huge part of the show, this season, we get a love triangle… kind of. Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), one of Peggy’s nicer coworkers, was described as a possible love interest in season one. They were kindred spirits in a way, both being looked at as weaker than the rest. Peggy was discriminated against for being a woman, and Agent Sousa lost a leg in the war. He comes back this season, and this time, he’s the chief of the Los Angeles branch of the SSR, and technically Peggy’s boss. This provides a whole new layer to the dynamic between the two. For once, Peggy has an authority figure that actually believes in her, and is on her side.

     We meet another character, the other person in the love triangle, Jason Wilkes (Reggie Austin), who can also relate to Peggy. Wilkes is African American, and had to work harder than most to be accepted as a scientist, similar to how Peggy has to work to be accepted as an agent. Peggy develops an instant respect for Wilkes, and repeatedly refers to him as a “good man.” For the fear of spoilers, I won’t say much more about him, but he is a great, new, and complex addition to the show. Another great addition is a new villain: Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett), a Hollywood actress who employs her acting skills full time, hiding much more beneath the surface than one would expect. The parallels between Whitney Frost and Peggy are intriguing, and I can’t wait to see how Whitney affects the storyline.

     So far the new season of Marvel’s Agent Carter has kept me on the edge of my seat. This show is definitely worth watching, and I look forward to seeing where they take it next.

Rating: 4/4 stars