History Series / AgentCarter

* CacophonyCoverUp: Peggy turns up her radio so that she can safely hammer a hole into the wall to hide the vial of Steve's blood.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Agent Carter'' has its dark moments, but in general it's the most lighthearted of the MCU's tv shows. It's no coincidence that the scenery and outfits are much brighter and more colorful here than in the other shows.

* MadeOfExplodium: Molecular Nitramine, one of Howard Stark's "bad babies" that is compared in power to the A-bomb. One grenade's worth of nitramine (coupled with a storage of a few dozen more such grenades) is enough to blow up an entire refinery in an enormous explosion, then implode it into a ball about three feet in radius. So just think what a full-size bomb's worth would do.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: An AvertedTrope in an invoked example. Knowing how sexist her coworkers are, Peggy uses "ladies' matters" as an excuse to have a sick day from work. This does allow her to leave without them questioning what would probably be suspicious activity.

** At her diner Angie is yelled by a rude customer who is apparently a regular. She tells Peggy that during her work hours she's not allowed to say exactly what she'd like to call him.

-->'''Peggy Carter:''' Oh this could be useful... ''[off Jarvis' expression]'' Oh don't be lewd!
* PlatonicLifePartners: Peggy is one of the few women Howard Stark doesn't actively hit on and their dialogue indicates that he firmly considers her to be a friend. Although she claims he tried to kiss her on V-E Day and she made their boundaries clear by throwing him into the River Thames, she told that story to Agent Sousa to convince him that Howard doesn't like boats knowing quite well he made his getaway on a boat. Given how she clearly still feels about Steve, it's clear her willingness to risk being charged with treason to help him is an indication of this trope on her part, and given [[PresentAbsence how Steve felt about her]], we can guess [[TheBroCode Howard's intentions as well]].

* PreMortemOneLiner: Peggy delivers one to Green Suit just after pinning his hand down to the truck full of explosive nitromene with a knife, and just before leaping off of the truck.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: The show's depiction of sexism seems over-the-top by today's standards, but ''Agent Carter'' takes place well before the women's liberation movement and at a time when traditionalist attitudes toward a woman's "place" actually were that common. As happened to Colleen in the first episode, the prevailing attitude was that the ladies did their part while the men were at war, but once the war was over, they were expected to go back to their proper "sphere" as wives and mothers, as though the war never happened. And most women Peggy's age, if they weren't stay at home wives and mothers, were either secretaries, teachers, waitresses or nurses.

* StuffBlowingUp: Thanks to Howard's Stark's stolen invention nitramine, best described as a hand grenade nuke. A single one blows up an entire Roxxon refinery and a truck full of one later blows all the water out of a lake.

---> '''Carter:''' A quick jab to the right eye will adjust his attitude tremendously.
---> '''Wilkes:''' Won't get us anywhere. Besides, it's not like he's a rare specimen. [[ValuesDissonance You gonna punch all of L.A.?]]

** In season one, [[spoiler:Dottie]] is this for Peggy. Both she and Peggy are skilled ActionGirl secret agents who use other people's underestimations of their skill to their advantage. Peggy does this by exploiting her coworkers' sexist assumptions about her abilities while [[spoiler:Dottie]] does this by ObfuscatingStupidity and acting like a ditzy CountryMouse. Both are also capable of flawless UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents when undercover and OnlyKnownByTheirNickname. However, they use different fighting styles, with [[spoiler:Dottie]] relying on SheFu acrobatics, whereas Peggy relies on her fists, {{Improvised Weapon}}s, and brute force. Additionally, Peggy chose to become a secret agent, while [[spoiler:Dottie]] was {{brainwashed}} into becoming a ChildSoldier at a young age by her Russian trainers.
** In season two, Whitney Frost. Like Peggy, her mother discouraged her unladylike talents and people don't take her seriously, which she sometimes takes advantage of to manipulate them. While Peggy is a physical fighter, Whitney is a scientist and uses hired thugs. Whitney also recognizes Peggy as being very similar to her, insisting she be targeted before she creates too many problems for them.

It is 1946, a year after the end of the war and the disappearance of Captain America. Thousands of trained men and women have come home from fighting, looking for a new place to use their skills. One of those is Peggy, still despondent after the loss of Steve and hampered from getting a better job by the misogyny of the times. But in between tedious office work for the SSR, Peggy is contacted by her old friend Howard Stark, eventual father of [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], who needs her help in clearing his name and finding whoever is stealing his restricted weapons. Accompanied by his butler Edwin Jarvis, Peggy puts her skills to the test, beating up bad guys and laying the foundation of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

** In real life Peggy never refers to Steve as Captain America but her fictionalized counterpart, in the ShowWithinAShow, Betty only ever refers to Cap as "Captain America."

** Samberly repeatedly accuses field agents of not giving [[DeskJockey lab techs]] like he the respect they deserve. He has a point, at first, but his protests become so petty that it eventually becomes clear that he's just a complainer.

** In season one, [[spoiler:Dottie]] is this for Peggy. Both she and Peggy are secret agents, as well as skilled [[ActionGirl Action Girls]]. They both use other people's underestimations of their skill to their advantage. Peggy does this by using her coworkers' sexist assumptions about her abilities while [[spoiler:Dottie]] does this by ObfuscatingStupidity and acting like a ditzy CountryMouse. Both are capable of flawless UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents when undercover. They are also both OnlyKnownByTheirNickname. But they use different fighting styles, with [[spoiler:Dottie]] relying on SheFu acrobatics, whereas Peggy relies on her fists, {{Improvised Weapon}}s, and brute force. Additionally, Peggy chose to become a secret agent, while [[spoiler:Dottie]] was {{Brainwashed}} into becoming a ChildSoldier at a young age by her Russian trainers.

** Averted with Peggy. Peggy's fighting style is devoid of fancy acrobatics or thigh-crushing. Instead she relies on good old-fashioned punches, kicks, and [[ImprovFu anything around her]]. Consequently her battles with crooks look extremely brutal.

** Carter wears a bright red Stetson Aviatrix at the start of the first episode. It's prominently featured on the posters, and is pretty much a required component of any Peggy Carter cosplay. During the first seaosn finale she sports a blue version during Howard's hallucination of her holding Steve's shield.

** Peggy is mocked for being Captain America's "liaison" though they were barely planning their first date when he "died", and some of her coworkers are convinced that she was sleeping around with other men for her position. Worth noting here that Peggy was in a position of authority with the SSR ''before'' Steve finally got himself enlisted (she was his instructor in Basic Training), and there's absolutely no evidence she got there through any means other than her own merit. The men of the SSR simply can't imagine any way for a woman to succeed ''unless'' [[NeverASelfMadeWoman it's on a man's coattails]].

-->'''Jarvis:''' [''Sighs''] I-it's just that with Mr. Stark's tendency to, um...
-->'''Peggy:''' Prematurely evacuate?

* TastesLikeFriendship: Subverted with Dottie Underwood. In a flashback to her childhood in the Black Widow program, she shares some bread with a fellow inmate in their OrphanageOfFear, only to NeckSnap her [[DeadlyGraduation during training]].
* TeamPowerWalk: in "The Atomic Job" to the tune of "Pistol Packin' Mama". It's all very heroic until Jarvis brushes some lint from his lapel, Samberly stumbles, Peggy asks where the car is, Jarvis apologizes and runs off to get it while the others stand around and look variously pained.

* TragicKeepsake: PlayedForDrama with the vial of Steve Roger's blood; it has great potential scientific benefit, yet Peggy is understandably reluctant to hand it over so Howard Stark can exploit it for profit.

* UptownGirl: Angie briefly freezes out Peggy when the latter turns down her invitation to move in next to her, and then climbs into an expensive car driven by Jarvis, assuming she's motivated by snobbery.

* StarterVillain: Leet Brannis and [[TheVoiceless Green Suit]] serve as the antagonists of the first 2 episodes while also working against each other. They also both die in the climax of Episode 2, leading to [[spoiler:Dottie Underwood and Dr. Fennhoff]] becoming the true big bads of the season.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

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''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' | '''''Agent Carter''''' | ''Series/{{Inhumans}}''-]]]]]