All right, with this third episode, I’m pretty sure that my big spoiler-hidden speculation from the previous thread is more or less accurate.
I’m going to spoiler-mask this again, for the benefit of people who may be enjoying the show but don’t want to risk having a comic-geek-informed-guess giving things away.
Basically, Wanda is manufacturing this false-reality bubble as a defense mechanism because there was an attempt to resurrect Vision and it went badly somehow.
In this episode, we also get a clearer sense of Agnes’s place in the fake reality. She was a primary part of whatever Wanda was doing to get Vision back, and she’s been pulled into the bubble. She is not creating or controlling the fake reality. However, she has an interest in seeing it through. In this latest episode, note that she’s the one arguing with Herb the neighbor, who wants to tell Vision something. Agnes wants Wanda to go forward through the fantasy, getting to whatever conclusion was planned; she doesn’t want the bubble to burst because whatever it is she wants (it’s clearly related to the children) will be put at risk if that happens.
And note that, from this perspective, there’s actually been quite a bit of story development all along. It’s not just these sitcom larks with a couple of occasional hints; if my speculation is correct, then the sitcom plots are directly reflective of what’s actually happening. Note, in the first episode, that Agnes isn’t just the funny, nosy neighbor — she takes an active role in pushing Wanda along, showing up with advice and the dinner and such, ensuring that Wanda plays out the story. If I’m right, then there’s been more actual plotting than seems initially apparent, but it’s been masked and veiled and distorted through the sitcom lens.
I don’t think we’re going to get a reveal where there’s a bad guy who has deliberately, maliciously trapped Wanda and Vision in this bubble and is forcing them to enact this weird reality. I think Wanda is the primary creator/driver of the fake reality, and Vision is a partial reflection of his previous self, made out of a combination of Wanda’s memories and whatever bits and pieces she was able to extract from his ruined body.
There will be an antagonist, probably Agnes, possibly also involving Dottie, who did not make the reality but who wants to get something from Wanda and needs her to stay in the reality she’s made for herself for some reason. They will be obstructing external efforts to assist Wanda, and supporting Wanda’s desire to stay in the fantasy and play it to its conclusion. Compare Wormtongue whispering over Theoden’s shoulder.
If my guess is right, and there’s more going on here than just meaningless sitcom pastiche which will eventually break into something else, if this really is a distorted reflection of what’s actually happening, then our view of these early episodes will depend entirely on how the final couple of episodes stick the landing — pacing out the reveals, twisting us back into reality, dumping exposition in an elegant way, and giving us a satisfying, character-based conclusion. If any of that goes awry, then, yeah, these early episodes will feel weak. But there’s definitely a version of this show where we get to the end and then look back at the beginning and say “Oh!”