Marvel‘s Agent Carter had a double dose of episodes tonight with back to back episode six and seven in a two hour punch.

In episode six, “Life of the Party,” when Peggy realizes she cannot save Wilkes on her own, she turns to her most unexpected adversary for help while Whitney makes a move to control the deadly Zero Matter.

In episode seven, “Monsters,” as Peggy plots a rescue mission, Whitney hunts for even more dark power; and Jarvis learns he should not make promises he cannot keep.

This second season has been very uneven, and these two episodes are examples of some of the issues the series is seeing. The episodes cover a lot of ground as Whitney moves to control Zero Matter and also get a nuclear weapon. I still can’t quite figure out what Frost’s plan is, it all seems all over the place. It just seems like she’s obsessed with Zero Matter.

The episode has some espionage, some action, some humor, some love interests. And I think that’s part of of the issue of the second season. The conspiracy is deep, and there’s an attempt to flesh things out and focus on other characters, the show has shifted a little from Carter herself. Each episode feels like it’s Agent Carter and her mystery gang getting together for the latest caper.

There’s also a loss of focus on Agent Carter being beyond her time and a kick-ass female character we can all look up to. That independence, that feminist strength, is diminished in this second season. This episode has some of that as Peggy is faced with two hunky guys who both like her! And she can’t believe two men would! It just feels like scenes like that misses part of what makes the character amazing.

I think what really bothers me about the second season is that the plot feels so over the top compared to the first. It’s all a bit goofy. And that focus on the over the top plot seems to be at the expense of what made the first season so special.

Episode 6: Overall Score: 7.25
Episode 7: Overall Score: 7.5