Agent Carter’s miniseries continues with “Time and Tide.”  Like in the first few episodes, they manage a nice blend of humor, action, and period appropriate references and scenery.  I like the research they did and the feeling that this is, indeed, very early in the Cinematic Marvel Universe.  There were fewer references to the other Marvel projects (I can only think of one, if you don’t count Howard Stark himself), but I think that worked quite nicely.

Picking up from where the last episode left off, Carter is trying to decipher the symbol that is her only lead.  Of course, in the time long before the internet, Google, or databases, this means she’s flipping through a research book.  There’s a brief comic relief interruption to her studies that had some fallout later, but it was handled nicely.

The men of the SSR remain very difficult to like, in my opinion.  They are creatures of their time, which makes me ease off on them a bit, but I still end up wanting to smack most of them almost every time they talk or act.  They are examining the items they captured last episode, including the broadcasting typewriter, which I thought was a great gadget and probably my favorite invention so far.

Peggy continues her own investigation, dodging criminals and her own team.  I understand to an extent why she does what she does, but it seems like a lot of time and energy are wasted in avoiding the folks that are supposed to be on her side.  The SSR is still devoting far too much time and attention to going after Howard Stark, which seems just foolish for a man who spent so much of the war helping Captain America.  They even pull Jarvis in for questioning, which leads to some more of his background.

The episode does have some surprises.  Maybe it’s just the general style of their story writing, maybe it’s that they are in a limited series so can take more risks, but let’s just say that not everyone gets through the episode.  There was also some drama between Peggy Carter and her friend Angie, but that didn’t take up too much of the episode’s time.  There was a development in Carter’s rooming house, which I suspect is going to lead to something down the road.

What I liked: Carter is a skilled and capable woman.  She may be trapped by the expectations of her time in some ways, but she is a great field agent, which I hope the SSR will realize by the end of the series, but I kind of doubt they will.  Jarvis and Sousa are decent characters.

What I didn’t: The SSR Chief, Dooley, seems to be obsessed with Stark.  When tragedy strikes, he really goes out of his way to find a way to blame it on Howard.  I wonder a bit about his motives.  Also, last episode Sousa found a clue that could make things really hard on Peggy in the near future, they even show it in the recap montage, but it’s not even mentioned this episode.  I wonder what happened there.

I’ll give this episode a 3.5 out of 5.

I’m enjoying the show a lot, and Peggy is a great addition to the Marvel Universe, and the SSR which will eventually become SHIELD.  I am looking forward to the next episode, and wonder what will happen when the first series is done.  I’m hoping for more later, maybe over the summer when SHIELD isn’t airing new episodes again.

They also showed a tease for the upcoming Daredevil series on Netflix.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe marches on!