Where the first hour of Agent Carter kicked off things by setting the primary plot in motion, "Bridge and Tunnel" works to fill out aspects of Peggy Carter's life away from the SSR and her ongoing mission to figure out who is framing Howard Stark. This is, thankfully, not a repeat of the rhythms of the first episode. Instead, the episode relies on a tried and true trope of the genre to drive it: Peggy is simply afraid of asking for help or getting anyone to stay close to her for fear that those associates will die.




It's a deft and subtle extension of what she went through with Steve Rogers at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger (a film that looks better and better after some time with both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and this series out there). From her perspective, she's just as volatile as the nitramene spheres that she's hunting throughout this episode. She's entirely too awkward to fully keep both Jarvis and Angie from being ingratiated in her life. Developing both of those relationships is vital to the sustainability of the series as a whole.


What's really enjoyable here is how Agent Carter is able to consistently stay one step ahead of the other agents in the SSR office. Though Sousa is the lone agent defending her from the other apes in the office, she has to be completely independent for her own sake. The guys are running their own investigation and Peggy is able to operate on her own due to the fact that the other agents in the office constantly underestimate her abilities. She is able to then use their blatant sexism against them and also to further her own objectives.




This actually makes the sexist aspect of the series more palatable. A great example of this is the scene where she has to retrieve the photos from the club (that end up not showing her face) then is tasked to investigate Roxxon employees who might have been exposed to the vita-rays. The agents are willing to chase the guilty party while Peggy calmly takes the stairs and catches the guy without much effort. It's not quite smug or arrogant, although it does teeter on the edge of both, but it all proves effective.



Throughout the episode, the male agents are always operating from behind while Peggy is right in the middle of the action. The killers who are without a voice box do make their best efforts to appear lethal, but that's not really the point of the endeavor. They are really there to spout off what amounts to Easter eggs that will only satisfy die hard Marvel fans. The last act of the episode is largely spent demonstrating the smooth and easy chemistry between Hayley Atwell and James D'Arcy, who plays Edwin Jarvis. This wasn't a big focus of "Now is Not The End" because the episode had to do other things, but it gets lots of development here. Besides having Peggy punch Jarvis in the face. 




Jarvis is much more than he seems at first glance, and it's more than just being the inspiration for Tony Stark's electronic butler in the future. He's not too comfortable with the dangerous aspects of Agent Carter's job, but he does function as a great comedic counterpoint to Peggy's action side. She clearly needs a support system if she is to survive all of her various missions. It definitely clashes with her stubborn, independent side, which is real fun to watch. If these first two episodes are any indication, then this series has real potential for greatness. That it doesn't strive or try too hard to be great and instead keeps piling on the fun does make it all the more endearing. The show knows what it is, and what it's trying to accomplish, so that keeps it from straying into problematic areas. What an addition to the Marvel world this is!