Wanda and Vision’s origins in the MCU are so different from the comics that going back and reading them probably wouldn’t gain you much insight. You can read them sheerly for the enjoyment of reading comics, though!
I suspect that there’s a pretty narrow intersection of fans who are invested in the MCU and also have enough familiarity with the DVDS to understand these kinds of Easter eggs.
All in all a very odd creative choice.
So episode 3 is more of the same, this time in a Brady Bunch-esque sitcom. It plays with the tropes a lot more dedicatedly than I expected, until it takes the turn.
It’s still difficult to tell who is a good guy and who is a bad guy, or if any of the neighbours have any independent control of themselves, but it does seem like it’s all Wanda’s doing. I guess she’s built an almost-impenetrable bubble-reality that they’re all trying to rescue her from, but end up just getting trapped in the artifice instead, and puppeted under her control.
…[mild open spoilers for episode 3, scroll past if you haven’t seen it]
The ending for episode three would not have worked IMHO if episodes one and two rushed ahead with the storyline. Loved it. (The ending was also spoiled by the original trailer, we knew that scene was coming, those of us who saw it could probably fill in the rest of the story gaps up till then)
My guess on what herb was trying to say is “imaginary” or something similar.
Trapped?
First was actually the red light on the toaster.
Well now, that was another episode.
Well plot advances happened. The sit com send up aspect though was less satisfying to me. Maybe I just have less love for the shows chosen of that era? I was more a fan of All In the Family and MASH. Brady Bunch wasn’t really the Zeitgeist of the decade. I get that those shows would not be serving Wanda’s escapism though.
And the weird not weird enough? Small towns hard to escape from and Herb being weird with hedge trimming the wall, the clear awareness of the facade that Agnes and Herb have anyway… not big reveals at this point. Oddness of expected sort so not odd.
So definitely Wanda is in control and at some level aware that she is keeping the main universe’s reality out. Babies born. Table is set. Next week is due to start serving the meal.
Random thoughts:
- the “theme song” sounded incredibly like “Come On Get Happy” (Partridge Family) but the layouts were more reminiscent of the Brady Bunch. And of course, the closing song was the Monkees (a lot of the quick cuts - e.g., the changing coats - were Monkees-esque)
- that was the Brady Bunch living room & backyard
- “Geraldine” kept falling out of character all the way through (well before she said “Pietro”) going from “sassy black friend” to not (the accent changed, posture changed, etc.). Teyonah Parris did a really nice job with that.
- I think it’s telling that Vision wasn’t there for the birth of the first baby.
- And I think it’s interesting that she “rebooted” him when he started asking the wrong questions/saying the wrong things.
- The commercials (together) are leading me to think that Strucker planted something when they did their experiments and then more recently that Hydra triggered whatever he planted - what we’re seeing is how whatever that was works in combination with her powers/mental state.
- It also seems like symbol people (the symbol on the helicopter & necklace. I don’t read the comics.) are trying to monitor her/break her out.
- It also seems like the other people may be, too (cutting through a concrete wall feels like a metaphor). Agnes’s line about “no house, no husband” is interesting, especially as we’ve also never actually seen her house or husband, just heard her refer to them.
There are a lot of things reminiscent of various old sitcoms, but they are re-stylized, not made to resemble those shows in too much detail. This last episode used the 70s architecture and home-styling with brightly colored polyester clothing the Brady Bunch were known for, but they didn’t really take it any further.
Obviously this is some kind of ‘dream reality’, but we don’t know what kind. It’s been done before many times, ordinary dreams, under anesthesia, in a coma, in the mind of a little boy staring at a snow globe. This episode may provide a hint, it ends by tossing a character into an episode of the Watchmen.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you the organization they’re with is S.W.O.R.D. Someone can certainly correct me here, but if we think of SHIELD as the FBI, then SWORD is the CIA.
I enjoyed the attempts to hide Wanda’s pregnant belly. It’s a running joke with my wife when shows go to ridiculous lengths to hide an actress’ pregnancy if it’s not in the story. (And I maintain that they should just lean into it as if nothing’s out of the ordinary. Have an actress flaunt her pregnant belly while in a scene drinking a beer, going to the beach, etc.)
I think the show’s doing a great job of hiding who the antagonist is. I don’t feel like Geraldine, Agnes or Hank are the bad guys - they’re all trying to assist Wanda in some way, we just don’t know how.
Also, Kathryn Hahn is amazing in everything she does.
I disagree; in this instance, it is very specific. I also, apparently, watched and still watch way too much tv.
(Another thing about the credits - of all three episodes. There are a lot of hexagons where I don’t expect hexagons.)
One other thing, twice in this episode she accidentally brought images/non-living things to life. That seems like a lot and it’s also outside of her skillset in the movies. I wonder if that’s a hint to reality?
I suspect that’s all to mirror the appearance of the beekeeper, which will likely be a season-long theme. (Someone in the other thread said that members of AIM wore outfits reminiscent of beekeepers.)
Missed that one!
This is what I was trying to say earlier. I think the ending of this episode has more impact because there was enough of the “normal” stuff in the first three eps to contrast it against.
Having said that, this sitcom portion didn’t land with me as well as the first two episodes did, so I think I’ll be happy if the real world starts to take a larger role in the story now.
Yes, I had mentioned that, and have noticed the recurring hexagonal patterns. AIM started out as the weapons development branch of Hydra, and Baron Strucker has been the head of both organizations at one time or another in the comics. But… the beekeeper had a SWORD emblem on the back of his suit, so that totally throws me off. I have no idea which Easter eggs and shout-outs are relevant, and which are red herrings.
There are too many Marvel comics that use bee-adjacent imagery or names. There are also villains named Hive and Swarm, and SHIELD has a base called the Beehive, which they acquired from yet another weird organization, The Enclave. Who knows.
Here is a link to an image of some of the “beekeeper” AIM guys. AIM Minions
Not only was that a Monkees song, but it was “Daydream Believer.” Who is the believer? Wanda? Or the people in the dream with her who may or may not be there unwillingly?
I suspect that’s an in-the-Wanda-bubble interpretation of a hazmat suit. I’m guessing that the the bubble over the town is an alternate and/or illusionary reality, created by Wanda’s subconscious, or something like that.