History Awesome / AgentCarter

* Peggy threatens the sexist, {{Jerkass}} customer at the diner where Angie works after he insults (and goes as far as groping) Angie one too many times by taking a fork to him, making it ''very'' clear that she's having none of it before telling him to find another place to eat at.

!Meta:

* First of all, the fact that Peggy Carter is effectively the first leading lady in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is an awesome moment in and of itself, both for Marvel and for Creator/HayleyAtwell for portraying her in a way that's seriously resonated with people.
* Not only that, but Peggy Carter has also become far more popular in the comics, to the point where Marvel collected several of Peggy's comic stories in ''Captain America: ComicBook/PeggyCarter, Agent of [=SHIELD=]'' and commissioned the limited series ''[[http://www.newsarama.com/22387-nycc-2014-peggy-carter-howard-stark-team-up-for-operation-s-i-n.html Operation S.I.N.]]'', where comics Peggy and Howard Stark team up during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. As a character created for the ''sole purpose'' of being dumped by Steve so he could go after [[ReplacementGoldfish her younger, hotter sister/niece]], ''then'' [[DoomedByCanon doomed to die of old age and Alzheimer's]], that's really something.
* Not only does the series pass UsefulNotes/TheBechdelTest in the show's ''very first conversation'' (not counting the opening flashback), but [[http://marvelmeta.tumblr.com/post/108226374975/10-things-agent-carter-did-right it passes numerous other tests with flying colors]], including the [[Film/PacificRim Mako Mori Test]][[note]]female character with arc not based around supporting a man[[/note]], the [[{{ComicBook/Batgirl}} Oracle Test]][[note]]disabled character whose narrative does not revolve around their handicap[[/note]], and fortunately fails the Sexy Lamp Test[[note]]Character can be replaced with a coveted lamp without changing the story[[/note]]. Best of all, the show doesn't pass them just by virtue of starring Peggy, but through other nuanced characters like Angie, Sousa, and Jarvis.
* [[http://www.thetvjunkies.com/agent-carter-a-heros-value/ Agent Carter: A Hero’s Value.]] In particular, this quote:
-->"Peggy spent so long trying to find a way to make her colleagues respect her, but what she realized was that you don’t need validation from others to feel important. Peggy Carter is such an impressive role model for girls to watch on television. She even rejected Sousa’s offer for a date, opting to move in with Angie instead (I can hear the Cartinelli shippers cheering from here). It’s a fantastic ending that completely challenged the way we wanted the story to go. Regardless, we know she eventually gets her due, going down in history as one of the greatest agents in SHIELD history."
* The show getting renewed for a second season despite its meager ratings.
* Another has to go to critical reception. ''Agent Carter'' scored a 97% on Website/RottenTomatoes. Until ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' premiered in April on Creator/{{Netflix}}, ''Agent Carter'' was the most critically acclaimed production Marvel put out, beating out ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', ''Iron Man'', ''The Avengers'' and ''Guardians of the Galaxy''. It should also be noted that ''Daredevil'' only beat out ''Agent Carter'' by 1 percentage point, which speaks volumes about how well ''Agent Carter'' was regarded by critics.
* Although some disliked the changes to Madame Masque's character, there's something almost inspiring in the way the writers transformed Whitney Frost. The original character is complex and has a decades-spanning HeelFaceRevolvingDoor status, but her turns always motivated by her love for a man, mostly in the context of romantic relationships or the fear of not having them after her accident makes her (in her opinion) less desirable. Agent Carter's Whitney Frost ''loves'' the power that comes with her disfigurement and doesn't care about her appearance, which was a way to make a living using guillible men at best and a curse that stood in the way of the credibility she craved to obtain at worst.

* After [[spoiler: finishing the mission and collecting the 'Zodiac', Peggy gets a talking to by Agent Flynn who chastises her for doing the mission alone and claims they don't need her in the agency. Seconds after this, Flynn gets a call from Howard Stark who tells him that Peggy's being promoted to co-running SHIELD with him, and that when Flynn tells her this, he's to tell her how honored he is to do so.]]

* Dottie [[spoiler: showing she's a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass by snapping Otto Mink's neck with her feet - all because she wanted his automatic pistol.]]

* Sousa, [[HandicappedBadass a man who needs a crutch]], putting up a fight against Dottie, a [[spoiler:Black Widow assassin]]. [[CaneFu Bonus points for using his crutch as a weapon.]] Just to drive to point home: everyone else who tried to fight her was [[CurbStompBattle brutally curb-stomped]], while Sousa managed to at least fight back (also, instead of trying to physically overcome her, he made sure try to shoot her).

* [[spoiler: Chief Dooley's HeroicSacrifice -- after being hypnotically compelled into putting on what's effectively a bomb vest that can't be removed in time, he makes a final dash towards the window, firing his gun to shatter it, and throws himself out of the office in order to save his agents.]]

* Peggy's response after Jack takes credit for the success of [[spoiler:stopping the attack on Times Square]]:

* The whole sting operation to [[spoiler:capture Dottie]], executed flawlessly by Peggy and the SSR New York office. Dottie herself goes down ''hard'' after Peggy wallops her in the back of the head with a coin bag to end the fight they had inside the bank vault, treating us to a slow-mow shot of the coins scattering out of the bag.

* A pretty dark one. As a little girl, famous movie star Whitney Frost dreamt to be a scientist, but she later found out that no one cared about her genius, and she could only exploit her pretty face. She discovers that even that is threatened by the emergence of a superpower like none other. What's her reaction ? [[spoiler: Experiment, take control of her powers and use them to get rid of someone who threatened her, her husband and their dream, running the risk to be disfigured. In that scene, after taking out the enemy, she just turns around, elated that she succeeded, and revealing her enlarged infection mark. Turns out after giving up her dream career a first time, she ''loves'' not being just a pretty face.]]

-->'''Peggy:''' ''(calmly)'' Thank you, Agent Flynn, but as has always been the case, I do not require your help.

* "You're not from around here are you?" "No, I live in Brooklyn, actually." *smile* *ass-kicking*. Also counts as a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}.

* "You're not from around here are you?" "No, I live in Brooklyn, actually." *smile* *ass-kicking*
** Also counts as a CrowningMomentOfFunny.

* The show getting renewed for a second season despite its meager ratings. ABC really wants to hold onto the feminist cred, it seems.

!!!Meta:

* Sousa, [[HandicappedBadass a man who needs a crutch]], putting up a fight against Dottie, a [[spoiler:Black Widow assassin]]. [[CaneFu Bonus points for using his crutch as a weapon.]] Just to drive to point home: everyone else who tried to fight her was [[CurbStompBattle brutally curb-stomped]], while Sousa managed to at least fight back (also, instead of trying to physically overcome her, he made sure try to shoot her.

** Though taking credit from the senator was a dick move on Thompson's part, the rest of the office now truly appreciates Carter now, with the standing ovation she got from all the other SSR personnel when she entered the office.

* Credit should also be given to Howard basically busting into the Arena Club[[note]]think the Diogenes Club from SherlockHolmes and any other old boys' club, only with more stringent and misogynistic rules[[/note]] with a harem to distract everyone (which allows Peggy to infiltrate the Council of Nine's premises undetected). When he employs RefugeInAudacity and AwesomeEgo at work, it's really nice to see it produce results.

* When the Zero Matter portal has to be shut down manually, ''every single one'' of the heroes steps up to volunteer for the HeroicSacrifice. Except Sousa, because he just heads right over and does it while the others are arguing. Even Howard Stark, who's often portrayed as a narcisist and a egoist, is ready to sacrifice his life without the slightest esitation.

* When the Zero Matter portal has to be shut down manually, ''every single one'' of the heroes steps up to volunteer for the HeroicSacrifice. Except Sousa, because he just heads right over and does it while the others are arguing.

* After a season of being manipulated, Thompson starts manipulating himself just so he can take down Master and Whitney and for the most part was quite effective.

* Rose proving herself as not just a receptionist but a very capable field agent. She helps out by keeping people calm during the initial sting to take out the electric fence and the guards, takes out a mob strong man gets his knife, looking none the worse for wear afterwards and even tossing a quip before taking him down. Then returns to help Sousa with getting Jarvis out of the room and then escorts everybody (sans Sousa and Peggy) out of the facility and back to base to secure the rods.

--->'''Whitney''': Whatever I want.

* A pretty dark one. As a little girl, famous movie star Whitney Frost dreamt to be a scientist, but found out that no one cared about her genius, and she could only exploit her pretty face. She finds out that even that is threatened by the emergence of a superpower like none other. What's her reaction ? [[spoiler: Experiment, take control of her powers and use them to get rid of someone who threatened her, her husband and their dream, running the risk to be disfigured. In that scene, after taking out the enemy, she just turns around, elated that she succeeded, and revealing her enlarged infection mark. Turns out after giving up her dream career a first time, she ''loves'' not being just a pretty face.]]

* We learn Sousa lost his leg at Bastogne(at the famous "Battle of the Bulge").