The 10-episode second season of Agent Carter aired during the winter and spring of 2016. As most are likely aware, the show follows the character Peggy Carter (played by Hailey Atwell), first introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger as Steve Rodgers' love interest. It is set between the time Rodgers' plane crashed and the start of the MCU, the original Iron Man movie. Carter, still a member of the NY division of the S.S.R., which was the precursor to S.H.E.I.L.D., travels to Los Angeles to help the new Chief of the Los Angeles division of the SSR, Daniel Sousa (played by Enver Gjoka). Howard Stark (played by Dominic Cooper), along with Jarvis (James D'Arcy), has relocated to Los Angeles to get into the movie business.
The threat involved in the 10-episode season involved a substance called zero matter, which was accidentally unleashed during the test of a nuclear bomb. An actress/scientist (who was a character inspired by Hedy Lamar, who was an actress and also an inventor) becomes infected with the zero matter and attempts to become all-powerful. I will not spoil the storyline for those who have not seen it, but like the first season, it packed a lot into the small number of episodes. Most of the main season 1 characters make at least an appearance in season 2. Howard Stark appears at the beginning of the season and again at the end, similar to how he was used in season 1, which works well for the show. James D'Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, and Enver Gjokaj return from the first season to star as Edwin Jarvis, Jack Thompson, and Daniel Sousa, respectively. Bridget Regan (Dottie Underwood) and Lyndsy Fonseca (Angie Martinelli) also returned in more limited roles.
The show was again well written and acted. It tied some real science into a totally made-up scientific storyline, which was nice to see, and also touched on social issues like racism and sexism. The show was unfortunately canceled after it was aired, so it ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, which will not be resolved unless it miraculously gets picked up now that Atwell's new show Conviction was also canceled. While anyone who has seen Captain America Civil War and the prior season of Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. knows the fate of Carter herself, the cliffhanger set up what would have been a big story arc going into a third season.
The threat involved in the 10-episode season involved a substance called zero matter, which was accidentally unleashed during the test of a nuclear bomb. An actress/scientist (who was a character inspired by Hedy Lamar, who was an actress and also an inventor) becomes infected with the zero matter and attempts to become all-powerful. I will not spoil the storyline for those who have not seen it, but like the first season, it packed a lot into the small number of episodes. Most of the main season 1 characters make at least an appearance in season 2. Howard Stark appears at the beginning of the season and again at the end, similar to how he was used in season 1, which works well for the show. James D'Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, and Enver Gjokaj return from the first season to star as Edwin Jarvis, Jack Thompson, and Daniel Sousa, respectively. Bridget Regan (Dottie Underwood) and Lyndsy Fonseca (Angie Martinelli) also returned in more limited roles.
The show was again well written and acted. It tied some real science into a totally made-up scientific storyline, which was nice to see, and also touched on social issues like racism and sexism. The show was unfortunately canceled after it was aired, so it ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, which will not be resolved unless it miraculously gets picked up now that Atwell's new show Conviction was also canceled. While anyone who has seen Captain America Civil War and the prior season of Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. knows the fate of Carter herself, the cliffhanger set up what would have been a big story arc going into a third season.
There are several Blu-Ray sets for the series floating around. The one that I have is a two-disc set that splits the 10 episodes evenly between them. The only extra feature is a 3-minute blooper reel. There are no deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes features, or commentary tracks. So if you only get the discs for bonus material, then you would probably want to just stream it. If you do want to add it to a DVD/Blu-Ray collection, the A/V quality is okay but not spectacular, and definitely not as good as the A/V quality of the MCU movies. Ultimately, while the season is good, it ends up being unfulfilling since we will likely never get an actual conclusion to the series (unless it gets revived in Disney+, which is unlikely). Even so, it is entertaining and still worth watching.
