Critics love Agent Carter!

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The first two episodes of Agent Carter have been generally praised by the critics. Almost all of the reviewers noticed James' performance. It seems we are in for the real treat!

 

David Wiegand (SFGate):

Gosh, “Marvel’s Agent Carter” is a heck of a lot of fun, and if that statement feels a bit old-fashioned, well, it fits the sprightly period piece about a female secret agent fighting bad guys and sexism just after World War II. [...] Atwell is terrific in the title role, as capable in the efficient, unflappable skin of Peggy as she is when pretending to be a blond American floozy in a gin joint. James D’Arcy is a model of amusing dry wit as Jarvis, Stark’s butler and his official liaison with Peggy. Jarvis believes in order above all things: Dinner at 7, “Jack Benny” on the radio at 8, to bed with his wife at 9. Cooper oozes ’40s authenticity as Stark, to the point where you’ll almost believe you’re watching a black-and-white period film instead of a full-color TV show.

 

Jamie Lovett (comicbook.com):

The series also plays with gender expectations in the odd couple relationship between Carter and Jarvis. Carter plays the adventure hero, while Jarvis is the domesticated, and sometimes meddlesome, support character. The relationship serves, thus far, as a satisfying denunciation of the expected, and it’s this freshness that makes Agent Carter feel like more than a way to keep your TV on until Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.comes back.

 

Eric Goldman's interview with Hayley Atwell (UK.IGN.com)

IGN: One really fun aspect in the pilot episode is seeing the dynamic develop between her and Jarvis. Can you talk about the two of them working together? There’s a lot of exasperation there but what do they make of one another?

Atwell: I think it’s kind of… they’re forced together. He’s been told that he has to work with her and be available to her. But I think, from her point of view, she doesn’t need any help. But she needs someone who is in contact with Howard to help kind of run this mission. So they have this very witty banter back and forth where she’s constantly having to go, “Look, dude, I don’t need your help! I am fine.” But it’s a lovely dynamic between them because they’re both British. They both have that wit and that satire. Their language is a game of chess back and forth. It’s a great game that they play and I think they get tremendous enjoyment out of it. And their relationship grows over the season. They become very close. They also provide the comic relief of the season. You see the serious aspects of what they have to do but then you have these great moments of comedy between them. He becomes like her comic sidekick.

 

Eric Goldman (uk.ign.com):

But the premiere, appropriately, is pretty much all about Peggy – or Peggy and Jarvis, really.

Yes, Agent Carter introduces us to the MCU version of Edwin Jarvis himself, the butler to first Tony Stark and then all of the Avengers in the comics. Here, a younger Jarvis (James D’Arcy) than we’re used to is the butler to Howard Stark, who instructs him to assist Peggy in his absence. The dynamic between Peggy and Jarvis is incredibly enjoyable and will likely be a quick fan favorite aspect of this series. Atwell and D’Arcy are excellent playing off each other, as Jarvis’ droll demeanor bounces off of Peggy’s death-defying endeavors, as he drives her around town on her missions. In the premiere at least, the relationship is also refreshingly free of any “will they or won’t they?” vibes – not just because Jarvis is married, but because they simply are functioning at a different, yet easy to invest in, level as partners in crime-fighting.

BTW, Eric Goldman posted on Twitter: Watching second hour of #AgentCarter. Love the dynamic between Peggy and Jarvis! @HayleyAtwell and James D’Arcy are so much fun together.

 

Sadie Gennis interview with Hayley Atwell (TVGuide)

How would you characterize her relationship with Jarvis (James D'Arcy)?

Atwell: I would say that he's kind of employed as the middleman between her and Howard. And I think she resents the fact that Jarvis feels that he has to take care of her and it becomes very, very clear that she has to take care of him on many occasions. And that creates great banter between the two of them, who have a love-hate relationship toward each other but also a deep respect and affection. And he becomes her sidekick and also provides the comic relief in the series.

 

David Hinckley (NYDailyNews):

This is a woman who worked with Captain America, however. Fell in love with him, in fact, and now aches because he went missing a year earlier. So she’s not about to sit in the office and file papers or her nails, not when she has a stronger right cross than Manny Pacquiao. Her ticket back into the game is the brilliant inventor/hustler Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), a reworked Howard Hughes. Stark puts her in partnership with his butler, the quirky and fascinating Jarvis (James D’Arcy).

 

Rob Owen (CommunityVoices):

Howard Stark enlists Carter to help him but Mr. Cooper is not a series regular so the first order of business is to introduce an intermediary, Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy, “Those Who Kill”).

This type of pseudo-recasting can often be clunky, but it actually works well here, particularly because Jarvis is married, which seems likely to preclude the possibility of romance between him and Carter despite an obvious chemistry. While they’re both Brits, she’s the adventurer and he’s the buttoned-down butler who’d rather be in bed by 9 p.m. and make a soufflé for his wife than engage in Carter’s derring-do. Jarvis brings to mind Giles from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” albeit more fuddy-duddy.

The camaraderie between Carter and Jarvis is the best part of the “Agent Carter” pilot because it allows for some amusing banter while she gets to be the hero and he’s the sidekick, a refreshing gender role reversal for superhero stories.

 

Ashley Jude Collie (TheStar):

Additionally, Carter has to navigate life as a single woman after losing the love of her life, Steve Rogers/Captain America. But she’s ably helped in her covert life by James D’Arcy as Stark’s butler Jarvis, who wittily describes his character as a combination of “Q and Miss Moneypenny.” As for expectations for the series, D’Arcy teases it “will be like finding Easter eggs galore.” 

 

Michal Schick (hypable.com):

If you’re interested in Agent Carter, you probably have at least a minor infatuation with Hayley Atwell’s spectacular Peggy Carter – but the leading agent won’t be your only love when the premiere concludes.

Standouts in the cast are James D’Arcy as Howard Stark’s butler Edwin Jarvis, and Enver Gjokaj as S.S.R. agent Daniel Sousa. D’Arcy is hilariously stiff with a dash of sweetness, while Gjokaj’s hardworking everyman endears in mere seconds of screen time. Both characters find common ground with Peggy, and leave viewers hungry for further adventures.