"I have a fear of confined spaces" (dialog, Howard Stark, father of yet to be born Tony Stark, aka Iron Man)
This review written Feb 2015 as I watch sequentially in real time.
As of this date I have no idea if the series will survive more than one or two seasons. I don't think the producers know either.
What is obvious is how different it is from AGENTS OF SHIELD, with which it shares a time slot.
What is less obvious is that for the first time in the history of TV we are seeing TV envisioned by MBAs.
This is history in the making. Tell your friends. Write a thesis. Blog.
I have discussed this before, but for fear an innocent viewer might get whiplash when dialing from Carter to Shield, or vice versa, let me say it again.
The suits are now in charge. Their mission is to maximize every incremental penny of revenue from the Marvel library. By any means.
Iron Man and Captain A are film stars. You don't touch them. I bet you can't even use their names in a sentence without their agents getting 15% of that sentence.
On the other hand, Iron Mans dad, the Captain's main squeeze, and the non-Fury members of SHIELD are low-cost draft picks. You can mix and match as you like. Like with Barbie's outfits.
The question everyone on the corporate side is asking is, will this pay off? They are trying stuff. This is very experimental. You the viewer are the rat in the maze.
For SHIELD, they spent the big bucks, let Team Whedon loose, and ponied up for special effects.
For AGENT CARTER they are testing subtle, wry, cute, and comfortable. Which is why we get little digs like the one quoted above, and so much time is spent explaining why Carter's hotelier makes such a fuss about women and their urges.
Frankly, this reviewer likes both shows, Carter reminds me of the British sitcoms of the 1960s and -- an admitted Whedon junkie -- I love the characterizations in SHIELD.
But if you made me choose, then the choice would be me and Agent Mai in a flying car heading to Reno with a "black" Amex card.
Enough said.