Agent Carter Bridge and Tunnel

Season 1 Episode 2

There’s a playfulness to `Bridge and Tunnel` even if it’s punctuated by occasional acts of violence. The focus is on chasing up leads from the events of the first episode and as such an opportunity to broaden out some of the characters a little using a touch of humour, much of it fairly dry as far as the other agents are concerned. When it comes to Peggy and Jarvis however the dynamic is wittier and reminiscent of the old 1960s Avengers wordy camaraderie. No matter that the positions here are reversed and it’s Peggy who takes the lead the result is that the series ups a notch when these two are together. 

Peggy goes undercover again

 There is also a refreshing take on the old damsel in distress trope which sees Peggy get herself into some awkwardly dangerous situations which for the most part she gets herself out of rather than waiting to be rescued. While it’s difficult to get over excited about why the agents are doing what they’re doing, the minutiae of them doing it leads to some neatly packaged action scenes.
I’m not sure in what reality its ok for government agents to beat suspects with a stick? This scene is a slightly disconcerting one that sits uneasily with the rest of the proceedings as it seems to be acceptable practice. Captain America would not approve that’s for sure. Peggy’s co-workers remain hard to like even if you ignore this moment and need some more focus to bring out their characters.
This episode’s unlikely highlight takes place on a milk van that just happens to be packed with those implodng bombs that we glimpsed last week. It still looks incongruous to see Peggy atop this moving vehicle fighting an assailant while Jarvis tries to drive as bullets pierce the roof. It’s a well- staged sequence with enough randomness to make it thrilling and cleverly intercut with a Captain America radio play that shadows the episode for no other reason than to give it a post modern edge. So we see a punch on the van then it cuts to someone in the radio studio punching a piece of meat to give the same sound effect!. Equally though, the series manages to give Peggy hiding underneath a desk or the opening of an envelope some tension too,
The series seems to have settled into this sort of breezy, pacy tone and no doubt later episodes will be darker but at the moment it is a promising start and seems to fit the period in which it is set particularly well