One wonders;
Agnes/Agatha has been talking about her husband Ralph the whole series, but we’ve yet to see him. Maybe that reveal’s coming next.
Yes, I think Agatha is instrumental, but not the key. There’s more to this than someone creating havoc. Something to do with the kids, too.
Yeah this wasn’t much of a reveal, certainly not a twist. And I’m not buying the title playing over the reveal. Not all all along.
All in all the weakest episode to date.
Thoughts on the commercial? Thoughts on next ones?
It depends on what you bring with you to the series. I don’t read the comics. And I’ve tried to avoid spoilers (not completely successful, but tried. There are just so many spoilers out there). If it weren’t for this thread, I’d never have heard of Agatha Harkness and I wouldn’t know about witches in the MCU. Under the L&O rule, Katheryn Hahn is too famous not to be important (arguably, so is Debra Jo Rupp, but she hasn’t been in every episode).
If I’d been watching cold, this would have brought clues together.
Style was “Modern Family” which was guessed earlier. But the main credits were sounded like “Parks & Recreation” (I’m not sure what it looked like) - which isn’t a family sitcom (unlike most/all of the other sitcom references). This is also the first ep where Wanda & Vision haven’t been together at all during the episode (which was also kind of referenced in the credits - which were all Wanda, no Vision). I didn’t recognize the set (or the set at Agnes/Agatha’s).
Also, Darcy seems to know in pretty strong detail what happened on the battlefield in Wakanda - and she’s just a research scientist (sure she has a connection to Thor, but based on his state of mind in Endgame, I don’t think he was calling her up to give blow-by-blow accounts of the fight). So it must be common knowledge. Hayward (who must have some level of security clearance) should be well aware that Wanda nearly took down Thanos single handed.
I don’t think Ultron is connected in any way to this story’s present.
Also, do NJ houses usually have storm cellars like that? I think of those as midwestern things?
But you knew about wizards, which are basically the same thing.
Thanks. I did not. I watched the full credits for several episodes to check for the standard MCU credit cookies, but finally gave up a couple of episodes ago, just in time for them to finally put one in…
I’m thinking that Westview may sit on the Nexus of All Realities. That would certainly explain the presence of the FoX-Men version of Quicksilver, and it would tie into the broader multiverse, providing a natural lead-in to Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
And confirmed, Monica Rambeau is now Photon/Pulsar/Spectrum.
I agree that the “Agatha is behind it all” is just too neat and tidy - I think there’s another twist coming as to who is really behind it all, and why.
It’s clear Pietro isn’t Pietro - but who Pietro is remains to be revealed.
Speaking of which: was it Pietro’s voice we heard briefly from behind the camera (who was “not supposed to talk”)? I didn’t recognize it.
Another great episode. It’d been clear Agnes wasn’t just Agnes, and wasn’t just another town denizen, but (without reading all the internet speculation) I’d imagined she was just someone else’s pawn to keep tabs on Wanda, or something like that. I did already know Monica was eventually going to get powers, but that was nice to see.
In case I’m not the only one who didn’t get Guano Lad’s post right away, Agatha’s theme song is based on the Munster’s theme. It’s really nicely done. (also a family sitcom). Based on that, she’s somehow involved in Pietro & she’s the person that the talking heads were talking to.
Only the ones from Kamar-Taj. I wouldn’t have made the connection between her and there. She doesn’t seem like she’s been under the guidance of the Ancient One.
Also, Dottie was in the background for the Monica/Wanda/Agatha confrontation scene. And there was a delivery man from “Presto.” delivering boxes.
I’ll second what @amarinth is saying. In this thread we’re benefiting from a lot of informed speculation, so we feel like this episode is more confirmation than revelation. But if you’re just a common mainstream normie watching by yourself, with maybe an occasional “wow, where is this going” with FB friends, this one rips the lid off a lot of stuff, with a corker finale.
It’s interesting that we didn’t meet the mysterious aerospace engineer. Whatever that was supposed to be about, the friend arranged delivery of the gear without making a personal appearance.
That delivery man seems to be around lots at key points.
Munsters cute given monsters living a normal suburban life but not quite working out.
My brought up to speed is almost exclusively from posters in this thread. Without that the name Agatha Harkness would be a reveal to me but that she was involved? Still so telegraphed that I’ve thought it a feint. And still do. I still think her fear of Wanda was real … but now Wanda is fritzing. Expanded her bubble too far, shaken by Vision seemingly having left her. Vulnerable. Agatha is now stronger than Wanda with Wanda so stretched and full of self doubt. But wasn’t before this. I’m still think Agatha is the shiny coin to distract us (and more so the group nerdmind) from the meat of the trick. The real reveal is intended to surprise them as well.
I agree – I suspect there’s more than just Agatha. She might even have been an inadvertent victim of what’s going on, at least at first, and her powers have enabled her to retain her identity. I think someone else is controlling and manipulating Wanda, at least to some degree, maybe with Agatha as an ally, maybe not.
I think if we simply add up the pieces that have been laid out, we don’t really need another big bad to be pulling strings behind the scenes - Agnes is perfectly capable of doing so, the show just told us so. But now we have a big glowing basement of the occult, complete with nether tentacles, a glowy book, some sort of summoning circle, etc.
The show will likely end with a big battle against Agnes. She’ll be attempting to open a portal down in her little dungeon, likely trying to summon an even bigger bad that she can serve. Show will end with her being pushed through portal (probably with the kids in tow), portal will close, Wanda and Vision will reach some sort of resolution, the Hex will fall. Post-credit scene will be Agnes approaching the Bigger Bad on their throne, a la the post-credit scene in The Avengers.
Yeah, I strongly suspect that Agnes’ role as a villain is going to turn out to be similar to that of Loki in the first Avengers, or Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy. Whether or not she’s the one directly responsible for the events of Wandavision, she’s in the service of a more powerful being with its own agenda that we haven’t seen just yet.
The core idea of a classic witch is that they channel powers granted to them by a “patron” — some higher force that basically uses them as a willing conduit. Historically this was typically assumed to be the devil or beings in his service; the possibilities are obviously much more diverse in the Marvel universe.
My money is still on Blackheart. I think that heart on the calendar their first day “in town” — which neither Wanda nor Vision remembered drawing there — was a low-key signature from the one behind the whole thing, hidden in plain sight. Blackheart has similar powers to Mephisto, but conveniently avoids real-world religious entanglements that Disney might want to steer clear of. I could totally see them avoiding the character whose name can apply to the devil figure some people actually still believe in IRL in favor of a similar one that’s a layer removed from real-world mythology.
My WOTM (Wag Of The Moment) is that Agatha will attempt some ritual involving summoning her Master to inhabit the twins, Wanda will ‘wake up’ at this threat to her children, a battle will ensue, the Master will get involved, and Agnes, Wanda, the Master, the twins, probably Vision and definitely the Hex Bubble will all disappear, kicking the resolution can down the road.
Alternately, with only two episodes to go, Agnes is clearly shown to be on Wanda’s level power-wise and the ensuing battle is resolved without ramping up any higher.
Bolding mine.
Yeah. The show explicitly telling us so, now, smashing us over the head with it, is precisely why it is not just so. There are at least two more big reveals coming and one of them at least designed to be a twist that catches the big fans on their back feet.
Still guesswork to what they are.
Commercial. Wanda is at a Nexus. She can get anchored back to reality … or the reality of her choice. But feeling her feelings, confronting her truth, seizing her destiny … and more depression … may be side effects. This is current trauma. Magic is not helping what she is psychologically starving for (last commercial), she is at the crossroads. Monica seems to be the doctor offering to clear her to move on with her life. Pain, loss, grief. Accept them as your truth.
Of course Darcy actually is a doctor, took pains to correct Hayward I think on her title, so the doctor visit might be to come. And duh Doctor Strange.
Well, comic books science is its own thing, but she is specifically an astrophysicist. She even had that line in the last episode about being a “STEM girl” and thinking Vision would have an on/off switch.
I agree Agatha isn’t the big bad, though - there’s still two more hour-long episodes, so unless the series ends with a two hour fight between three women with ill-defined nonsense powers, there’s at least one more twist coming. My guess? Agatha’s not a villain at all. She’s generally not a villain in the comics - she was the Fantastic Four’s babysitter, for god’s sake. And when we see her in the montage, nothing she’s doing (aside from killing the dog) is explicitly villainous:
- She interferes in the talent show, although it’s not clear in what capacity - was she making Vision act loopy, and not the gum?
- She puts a whammy on Herb, which is apparently why he was trying to cut through that wall with a hedge trimmer. If she’s behind the fake world in Westview, why is she pushing one of the cast members to break character like that?
- She’s responsible for faux-Pietro. But faux-Pietro was the first person to get Wanda to explicitly acknowledge that she’s manipulating Westview, again working against the “happy little town” illusion.
- She fakes being hysterical when Vision found her in the car, which encouraged him to try to escape the town.
- She’s revealed as the person who asked Wanda, “Do you feel like you deserve it?” during one of the sitcom “interview” segments.
- She kills the dog. Which, okay, fuck her, but we still don’t know why she did it. Presumably, she was trying to force the twins to age up again, but to what purpose? What if whatever being has designs on Wanda’s kids specifically needs them to be children, and that was Agatha trying to thwart them?
A lot of these sound like she’s working against the hex, not controlling it. I think the fact that her character reveal was still in the form of a sit-com intro is significant. It’s not like Agatha is a “sit-com themed” supervillain or anything. If this were her putting all her cards on the table as the show’s main villain, I’d expect the sitcom artifice to end, not ramp up. And, of course, the whole point of the sitcom antics is to cover up the truth - her reveal still being a sitcom parody makes me think it’s also a lie, and that whoever is controlling Westview is trying to force Agatha into a villain role to direct attention away from itself.
Also, that suspiciously eldritch tome that the camera focused on in Agatha’s lair: assuming that’s the Darkhold, I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t use the same prop for it that showed up in Agents of Shield and Runaways. But also kind of relieved, because it’s a dumb looking prop. Still, they missed the chance at another “multiverse” connection there.
Yup, the show also told us it was “all Wanda” back in episode 3.
And, like Jill Biden, a doctor! Did the commercial say medical doctor? Nooooo.
I’m betting Sparky isn’t really dead, or forever dead anyway.
In terms of her motivations … the theme seems to be to get Wanda increasingly more disturbed. Getting Vision harder for Wanda to control by creating things that make him question what’s going on, or even getting him away from her … gaslighting with faux/Fox (cute that play they did) Pietro … to weaken Wanda’s power so that she is on more equal footing, if not stronger.
I really do think that delivery guy is there for no good reason too often. He’s not just another townie.
Phrasing!