Agatha All Along opens in much the same way as its predecessor, WandaVision, to scenes from a false reality. This time, instead of Wanda, it’s Agatha who finds herself lost in a TV show—though this series isn’t a sitcom, but rather a cop drama. It’s very much in the Nordic police drama, and even the opening credits feel like a callback to True Detective or similar series.
Speaking of which, the opening credits have some fun little tidbits, including text that reads “Based on the Danish series Wandavisyen.” For those of you who don’t obsessively watch this kind of show, lots of Scandinavian police shows are adapted into English dramas like The Killing. It’s funny, but it’s a gag that only lasts through the first episode for better or worse. I wouldn’t have minded watching Agatha navigate different eras of TV police procedurals and murder mysteries, but that would have almost certainly felt too derivative and unoriginal.
I should note that I genuinely loved WandaVision and its creative use of sitcoms and changing theme songs and all the other genuinely creative and clever storytelling—right up until it devolved into just more boilerplate Marvel stuff. While I warmed up more slowly to Loki, I thought that series ended perfectly. I had the opposite experience with WandaVision, loving it instantly but falling out of love by the end.
Was this the result of too much corporate interference? Was the show’s creator Jac Schaeffer forced to bend the series to fit the overall MCU plan in ways that were oddly jarring? These are important questions especially since Shaeffer is also the creator of Agatha All Along, which serves as a direct sequel and spinoff of WandaVision.
(I should also note that while Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) had a big part in Dr. Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness, it unfortunately undid much of her character development from the show, awkwardly and frustratingly forcing her into an almost identical arc—one of the most damning problems with that film).
Spoilers for the first two episodes of Agatha All Along follow.
Detective Agnes
Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) is Agnes in this alternative reality, an abrasive Westview detective whose badge was only just returned after she was suspended for punching a suspect. She’s loud and rude world-weary—a pretty spot-on parody of the kinds of detectives we get in so many of these kinds of shows, from the excellent Mare of Eastown to the execrable True Detective: Night Country.
She shows up to a murder scene with coffee for her and another officer. She stuffs donuts in her mouth as she bustles into the police station. When the chief of police—another Westview resident from WandaVision—gives her a hard time, she shouts “Eat my ass, chief!” which is a phrase I never thought I’d hear in a Disney Marvel production. Another female detective shows up, played by Aubrey Plaza. It’s obvious they have bad blood, but when Plaza’s detective visits her later that night and asks her “Do you even remember why you hate me?” Agnes has no idea. Plaza is actually Rio Dival, the Green Witch. The bad blood, we learn later, is the only part of this illusory story that’s real.
Other little cracks begin to form in Agatha’s false reality.
There’s a Jane Doe at the murder scene but we don’t see her face. Later, in the morgue, we see that long scarlet hair flowing out from beneath the sheet. It’s Wanda, of course. Agnes follows clues in her attempt to solve the mystery, one of which leads her to the library where she finds an entire section burnt to a crisp and a creepy guy tells he “There was a fire” and “every last copy” of the tome has burned. The book she’s looking for, we later learn, is the Darkhold, which Wanda absconded with at the end of WandaVision.
She catches a burglar in her house and he runs when she catches him snooping. She chases him down and he gets hit by a car driven by Mrs. Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) another WandaVision alum. Agnes “arrests” the burglar (who we only know as Teen so far) and questions him in the most ludicrously over-the-top manner possible. He asks her why she keeps looking at a painting, and the one-way mirror in the interrogation room flickers and we see a painting. When she shows him pictures of the Jane Doe, he says “They’re just pictures of flowers!” and sure enough, that’s all they are. He begins chanting and she cuffs him and takes him to a holding cell (her closet).
It isn’t until Rio shows up at the morgue and uses her powers to help shatter the illusion that Agatha realizes the truth: She’s been trapped in the vestiges of Wanda’s Westview spell.
She tears off her clothes, transforming into various versions of her sitcom self from WandaVision until finally emerging from her house completely naked, much to the chagrin of her neighbors. Herb (David A Peyton) tells her she’s gotten “a bit too casual with your boundaries” and explains that she’s been a Westview resident for three years, but over the past few days has been bitten by “the True Crime bug.”
I’m not sure exactly what this means. She’s been under Wanda’s spell for three years but only acting like a crazy person for the past few days? Why? Was she just normal Agnes, a friendly but deluded Westview resident before that?
I have other questions as we dive into Episode 2, which is all about Agatha and Teen driving around looking for new witches to join her coven. They’re on a timer because Rio—who Agatha has convinced not to kill her until she regains her powers—has told the Salem Seven where to find her, and apparently these are some very powerful and terrifying killers. Agatha needs to walk the Witch’s Road in order to get her powers back, and uses the promise of power to gain new allies (or perhaps frenemies is a more accurate term, as none of these witches appear to like Agatha).
The coven’s new members are: candleshop proprietor Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), psychic Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) the daughter of a witch / rockstar and Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp) who isn’t a witch at all. Each is persuaded in some way to join Agatha on her quest, mostly because each woman is down on her luck—except Mrs. Hart who thinks she’s going to a party, but puts on her game face when singing their witchy chant (blessedly less cringe-inducing than The Acolyte’s “power of many”) and fleeing into the magical trapdoor it invokes as terrifying hooded figures descend.
They find themselves on the Witch’s Road, which is ethereal blue but in many ways appears to be a twisted version of the Yellow Brick Road. They leave their boots behind them. One pair almost looks like ruby slippers. The credits roll.
As I noted in the headline of this review, I have yet to make up my mind about this show just yet. I’ve enjoyed the first two episodes, but it’s far too early to say whether the rest of the series will pay off. I had screeners for more episodes but I’ve decided to watch alongside viewers each week with pretty much all the shows I cover. It’s more fun and it allows me to remain in the dark about twists and turns and mysteries, which in turn allows me to speculate and make guesses without spoiling things. I like being part of the conversation.
What works best in this show is its sense of humor. Kathryn Hahn is very funny. So is Aubrey Plaza. The cast overall seems pretty strong, though the new witches have only just been introduced so it’s too early to say. I did find it a bit odd that Agatha was able to find this many witches this near Westview, however. Wouldn’t they have all been roped into all the Wanda stuff? That seems like a bit of a plot hole.
There is lots of controversy around this show already because it’s Disney and a lot of its stars have talked about how “queer” it is and a lot of Disney detractors are very quick to holler “go woke go broke!” and we’re all mired in this endless, exhausting culture war. So far, the show hasn’t come across as particularly queer other than Locke’s character who gets a call from his boyfriend (which he doesn’t take). I don’t care either way as long as it’s a good story that keeps me interested and so far, it has potential. I really enjoyed the first episode and the spoof of cop dramas, but the second episode was fine also. Not as good, but not bad, either.
It’s also important to remember that not every show has to be for everyone. One MCU show might be more macho and testosterone-filled. Another can be geared toward a more feminine audience. These things can and should exist together. She-Hulk was genuinely, objectively bad but Agatha All Along shows promise, even if it won’t necessarily appeal to every Marvel fan. We’ll see where it goes.
What did you think? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
Read the full article here