Note: There will be spoilers in our summary.
Recap
Peggy is still thinking about her last conversation with Steve Rogers before he sacrificed himself. It's 1946 and Howard Stark is in the papers about weapons sales to the enemy. He's being accused of being a traitor. Peggy works undercover for the "phone company." Howard Stark has been called to Congress hearings about his weapons turning up in other countries. His failure to show up at the latest hearing has put a target on him.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
During the meeting, Peggy is still not taken seriously. Seen just as Captain America's liaison, the men refuse to acknowledge what she knows about working with Howard. When one agent makes an insulting comment, another tries to stand up for her. She later tells him she wishes he didn't do that. She is capable of dealing with their immature behavior and comments.
At a diner, Peggy gets a mysterious invitation to meet out in the alley. On guard, it appears someone is looking to abduct her. She puts up a fight and shoots at a car racing towards her. It turns out to have been Jarvis and Stark (in hiding). Stark needs Peggy's help to clear his name. As he tries to convince her, he points out that whoever is framing him is also using his tech for evil purposes. Howard makes his exit and leaves Peggy to work with his butler, Jarvis.
At the office, Peggy manages to use her skills to find out some information to get a start on clearing Stark's name at a ritzy club. Going undercover, she manages to get close to a guy that has one of Stark's formulas. Breaking into his safe with some fancy gadgets, she discovers the formula has already been weaponized.
Returning home with the weapon, she finds her roommate was sent home with a fever. She was followed from the club and her roommate was killed. As the killer tries to go after Peggy, she puts up a glorious fight to take him out.
Going through the old files for Project Rebirth, Peggy spends some time thinking about Steve again. Her real purpose was to get a device Dr. Erskine (a Vita-ray detector). At the same time, it appears Peggy's identity has been discovered by the opposition and she is to be terminated. As Peggy tries to get to the bottom of things, she finds out there is a bigger group of players involved and is told "Leviathan is coming."
Peggy manages to make it out of the Roxxon factory as it explodes. She fills in Jarvis the next day. Jarvis is later talking to Stark and mentions that, yes, she is perfect for what they have in mind and she'll never suspect what they have in mind.
Thoughts
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
It makes sense that there'd be so many flashbacks to Peggy's time in Captain America: The First Avenger. Even though it was during the first couple minutes, it started feeling like we were getting too many flashbacks.
Peggy secretly working for the government under the pretense of the phone company is a neat idea. This way, Peggy can still have a civilian life, even if she's still hung up on Captain America. Although, what's her excuse to her roommate if she has to go out of town often?
Dominic Cooper is great as Howard Stark. It felt like we didn't get enough of a chance to really see him in the role in his cinematic appearances. Although, it did feel like he was reverse-channelling Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark from the beginning of Iron Man 2.
The settings, clothes, music, and overall vibe were great. Marvel Studios has captured the feel of the time period. We got a glimpse of some 'old time' secret gadgets and what Peggy uses fits perfectly with the time. We also get to see Peggy work quickly on her feet. When the moment calls for action, she jumps right in and takes out anyone in her way. We get some pretty intense action scenes.
It's unfortunate that Cooper doesn't appear to have a big role in the series but James D'Arcy as Jarvis makes up for it with flying colors.
With little Easter eggs, such as Roxxon and Leviathan, we're reminded that the Marvel properties are in good hands. There is a great sense of a bigger foe with Leviathan and the stolen Stark tech. The show is definitely off to a great start.
Note
The "two-hour premiere" was actually the first two episodes. The above is just for the first episode. The second episode has some of the same feel. It does start developing the story in a different fashion since the characters are already established. Peggy gets to go undercover again. There is a nice balance of the serious nature of the plot combined with some light moments of levity.