Agent Carter season 1 was full of wacky mad science, which I enjoyed. In fact, the entire season was centered around collecting wonky scientific devices stolen from the lab of Howard Stark, our resident mad scientist/playboy. The light implosion bombs were clever, though they were used up rather quickly. Most of the technology was used as a MacGuffin to move the season’s plot along, including Steve Rogers blood.
Howard Stark and his son, Tony Stark, are an interesting version of the mad scientist. They are generally seen as “good guys”, but are both arrogant, selfish, and often criticized for their lack of caution when inventing. The line between good and evil is a constant theme with this type of mad scientist. How much good have the Starks done vs. how much collateral damage have they caused? That factors a bit into my own story about Anika Frankenstein. Her mad-scientist father believes that his ends have justified his means and that the good he can accomplish in the future justifies his current actions.
But alas, this post was about Agent Carter season 2, where we’ve seen dark matter, the freezing of people, the phasing out of the scientist, and the Return of Howard Stark and his science proficiency. Howard makes a spray that can make Jason Wilkes reappear, and somehow, spraying into his throat makes him able to talk. For a spy/agent show, Agent Carter is built on not only science fiction, but wacky mad science fiction. I like it.
Peggy comes from a world where Captain America was created in a lab by scientists. She is more than happy to use Howard’s technology to close her cases. But she doesn’t have much to do with the science herself. She doesn’t fit into the “mad science” trope, but stands apart from it. I wonder what this show would be like if it didn’t use mad science. I loved Jarvis as Howard’s lab assistant, helping him with the wacky.