Agatha All Along, the sequel series to WandaVision, is off to a wickedly strong start and it may just be the best start to a Marvel Disney+ series since, well, WandaVision.
Since WandaVision, evert MCU Disney+ series has suffered from spending too much time in the set-up which results in a breathless post mid-season race towards the finish line. Now some shows have been way better in their execution as Secret Invasion was an unmitigated disaster while Loki navigated this chaos with panache and potent emotion.
Agatha All Along, with its fourth episode firmly inscribed into the Darkhold, has not suffered this same fate. Now, could that be because it’s one of the few sequel series Marvel has done? One could make that argument, but let’s not forget how long Loki Season 2 spent setting up and establishing its mystery box before it really found its footing.
Even with its intentional false start of a first episode, Agatha that has not had the concrete boots of lore, world building and greater MCU connections slapped on it. Jac Schaeffer and company have created a series that, so far, has a very specific and intentional pacing.
In Episode 1, Agatha (Kathryn Hahn, A Bad Moms Christmas) wakes up from her prestige crime drama spell and we meet two of our most important characters — Rio (Aubrey Plaza, Legion) and Teen (Joe Locke, Heartstopper). Episode 2 finds Agatha and Teen assembling the coven in order to go on the Witches’ Road while the third and fourth episodes find the coven dealing with the trials of The Road.
It’s a fairly straightforward approach where everything unfolds in real time for our characters. We learn about the road and the fate befallen to each witch as each episode progresses. We are given tidbits about the sigil placed upon Teen, the fate of Agatha’s son and the beguiling relationship between Rio and Agatha. Then, there are bombs dropped along the way to stop us and make us question everything – did Jennifer (Sasheer Zamata, SNL) just mention Mephisto? What on earth is happening to Lilia when she enters this fugue-like state and starts giving vague prophecies of the future?
Instead of setting up mystery boxes, shoehorning comic book lore and MCU-ness into every corner, or spending way too much time on exposition, Agatha All Along just unfolds before our (and the character’s eyes). This lends to more intrigue for the audience. We want to see what lies down the road, what that note on the mantle says, and why on earth everyone is dressed like an album cover. And most importantly, we have a sincere, emotional connection to the witches. This is a series that care as much about character as it does story, and this is the formula that works best for Marvel.
Besides the guiding force of Jac Schaeffer (who Marvel needs to keep investing in, as she’s a tremendous storyteller and showrunner), the absolutely stacked cast takes Agatha to a whole other level. This is easily one of the best MCU/Disney+ casts to be assembled, and that’s a pretty bold statement given the amount of high profile names we’ve seen attached to Loki, Hawkeye and Moon Knight.
Kathryn Hahn is devilishly delightful as our head witch in charge. Hahn delivers a brilliant performance that is supercharged with as much emotion as it is humor, and she can turn either on in the blink of an eye. This duality allows for this fascinating relationship between the audience, the coven and Agatha. She is the series protagonist, so we want to see her succeed, but can anyone – including the audience – truly trust her? She’s not been shy about using the coven to gain her powers back. She’s fairly callous when Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp, That ’90s Show) dies, and often tries to take short cuts that benefit only her. Yet at the same time, we’ve seen her have a maternal protectiveness of Teen, and during the fourth episode we saw her open up to Rio and be way more supportive and motivating to Alice (Ali Ahn, Supernatural) than we could expect. This volatile nature makes for an even more engrossing journey for us as we follow Agatha’s trek down the Witches Road.
Her chemistry with Joe Locke, particularly in the premiere episodes, is ungodly good. They work together like a comedic duo that’s been honing their craft for decades – not two people working on their first project together. Locke is this wonderful audience proxy that is filled with wide-eyed wonder and charm. If his character turns out to be who we all think he could be (it rhymes with Silly Waximoff), having him in the MCU for a long haul is a very good thing. As for the rest of the coven, we could be here forever extolling their virtues, but let’s just say they all bring their own bit of humor, heartbreak and intrigue to an already excellent series.
The MCU has found something special in Agatha All Along. If Marvel is smart, they will look at the formula employed with this series – having a set showrunner, a focus on character and emotion rather than just MCU tie-ins and easter eggs, then the fate of their television universe will be on a much more consistent and prestigious road.
