When Agent Carter premièred last year, Marvel fans were ecstatic.
Starring Hayley Atwell as fan favourite character Peggy Carter, the first eight episode series saw Carter kick butt, save the day and shut down sexism in the workplace.
While that was entertaining enough, viewers also enjoyed Peggy’s dynamic with best friend (and new roommate) Angie Martinelli.
The two characters’ friendship is wonderful to watch as not only do they have each other’s backs, but the roomies are also just really cute together (a hug towards the end of the first season is a particular highlight).
Naturally, some fans began to ship them (as ‘Cartinelli’) and have been encouraged by both Atwell and Lyndsy Fonseca (who plays Angie) – most notably, Fonseca tweeted “#Cartinelli forever”
Unfortunately, Angie will not feature in most of Agent Carter’s second season and instead, she will have a small cameo in the ninth episode where Peggy (and hilarious sidekick Jarvis) get knocked out and have a musical, black and white dream sequence.
Since the second season kicked off at the end of January, fans have continued to be more vocal about their disappointment, noting that the decision doesn’t make sense, especially as Peggy and co. relocated to Los Angeles, a place where Angie (who had dreams of stardom) had been desperate to go to.
One of the most serious accusations that has been put forward by fans since the season two premiere is that the team behind the show wrote Angie out for fear that Cartinelli shippers would demand that the pairing is made canon.
Fans say that if this is true (and we should note that there is currently no evidence that it is) it would be especially insulting as Cartinelli fans campaigned fiercely for the show to be renewed.
But, while it doesn’t look like Peggy and her gal pal (platonic or otherwise) will embarking on proper adventures any time soon, some fans have at least found comfort in the return of Russia spy, Dottie. While Dottie was a bad seed in season one (at one point she kissed Peggy in order to knock her unconscious), viewers have still been entertained by her shenanigans.
In the season two premiere Dottie is arrested before being handed over to the FBI, and while there’s no word on whether Peggy/Dottie will become canon (it seems unlikely as they seem to have put Peggy in a love triangle with two men), the chemistry between the two women is palpable.
These Peggy/Dottie breadcrumbs certainly don’t replace Angie and they also spark fears of queerbaiting/the queer villain trope, but it will be interesting to see what other hijinks Dottie will get up to (and Peggy will try to foil) over the rest of the season.
