I found out this afternoon that Agent Carter got cancelled. I absolutely adored that show and am both saddened that it won’t be gracing my television screen for a third season, and irritated that frankly inferior shows will be renewed and receive the love that Agent Carter deserves.
There are so many things to love about Agent Carter. The pulpy dieselpunk feel of it, the humor (better in the first season, I agree, but still!), the nuanced villains, the fun nods to the Marvel Movie- and Comicverse, the fantastic acting, the engaging stories – I could go on. But I’m trying to write blogs as an exercise in short form, so I won’t.
At the end of the day, I loved the show because Peggy Carter made me feel empowered. Other shows are perhaps more addictive, but whenever I watched Agent Carter I felt great. I felt like I could do anything. I felt like I could be strong and honest and stand up for the whole world and kick ass. Because of Agent Carter I started working out more and trying to get stronger. I started thinking, What would Peggy do? when I found myself in an awkward or difficult situation. All the different facets of Peggy Carter came together to make a flawed but infinitely admirable main character.
The in denial part of me wants to know why. Why would you cancel such a gem of a show? Why is no one watching it? I mean, I’ve talked to a lot of people (all in Denmark) who watched it. All of them were men, by the way, and all of them loved it – so take that, random internet guy who said the show wasn’t for guys.
But I’m glad that we got two seasons when I only expected one, and I’m glad that the showrunners faced reality and gave us a conclusion we could live with. Even though certain storylines will be a mystery. (Unless Netflix picks up the show. NETFLIX, I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER. Also, don’t make it all Daredevil/Jessica Jones dark. Keep that pulpy awesomeness).
Ah well. At least we have fanfiction, right?
Also, if you don’t want to read fanfiction, I found a couple of lists for what to read if you need more Carter in a post-Carter world.
This one has more fiction, particularly YA
Both of those lists include Code Name Verity, which completely devastated me. Elizabeth Wein is a genius.