Any good cook knows not to waste the leftovers as they can be used in the next meal.
It is the same with a fashion designer who knows that every bit of cloth can be used for other projects so there is none to throw away. However, it takes a very clever, thrifty and creative mind to see that all components of a project can be developed into other things.
This is how Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely thought up Agent Carter, a TV series which was inspired by the Captain America films. If you watched Captain America: The First Avenger, then you would agree that as far as superhero stories go, it had an anti-climatic ending. Captain America (Chris Evans) dies, or so we think, but he is resurrected several decades later. The main problem with the story is that for the 124 minutes that The First Avenger film runs, you think Peggy Carter and Captain America will officially date but it never happens.
Agent Carter takes over from where The First Avenger ends. So if you wondered what happened to Peggy after the demise of Captain America, then you will be happy to watch this show. Hayley Atwell returns to portray Carter and that doesn’t help things because the moment you see her, you are reminded of the film.
Once you get over the hiccups of the film’s script, you will then have to focus on what becomes of Agent Carter. She still has her administrator’s job at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but she also gets to go on secret missions with Howard Stark. The show is set in the 1940s when the music and fashions where iconic and this explains why Carter looks immaculate at all times.
Thanks to Captain America’s absence, Carter has to live as a single woman again, working in a world dominated by lusty men.
Her boss, Stark (the father to Tony Stark/ Ironman) gets into trouble with the law after being framed for supplying dangerous weapons to anyone wishing to buy them. She has to use clever means and all the tools at her disposal to get him off the hook.
While this is a Marvel show, it is not necessarily about superheroes flying around and other kiddie stuff. It is about serious crime drama that can captivate non-comic book fans. It is exactly what Gotham is attempting to do with the pre-Batman stories. So even if you did not watch the Captain America films, Agent Carter will get you up to speed with what you need to know.
Thanks to the not-so-groundbreaking films, the series has a chance to outdo them and become a serious show all on its own.
• Agent Carter airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) every Friday at 7.30pm.