VisionQuest finally delivered on its promise to develop Vision (Paul Bettany, Avengers: Infinity War) in its seventh episode. While the season has felt a bit unfocused, this episode was concise and wrapped up Vision’s story quite nicely.
Bettany was challenged with multiple roles this episode, demonstrating his acting chops as both Vision and Phineas Horton, creator of the first synthezoid. The focus on Vision and his history makes sense given the show’s subject matter; however, it begs the question of what the other characters might be doing while he’s busy in his own head.
Jocasta (T’Nia Miller, The Haunting of Bly Manor) and Ultron (James Spader, The Blacklist) are still searching for Jocasta’s nanobots, trying to unlock a vault in her tomb to access them. We don’t see much of them, however, because the screen time is dedicated to Vision and his quest for the original synthezoid source code.
The balance of multiple plotlines is once again mismatched, as Vision’s plot makes up a large chunk of the episode. We see a bit of Ultron and Jocasta’s scheming, and a glimpse of Tommy (Ruaridh Mollica, Witness Number 3) and Paladin (Todd Stashwick, 12 Monkeys) as they watch over Vision and Lisa (Lauren Morais, The Red King) in their current states.
While it’s understandable why the show wants to focus on Vision and, by extension, Ultron, the lack of focus on Tommy Maximoff is still astounding. All the references to Wanda and Westview are technically resolved, but this part of Tommy’s history feels less explored than Vision’s.
Visually, the episode was on the weaker side. Despite some interesting lighting in Vision’s mind, the coloring can’t match the creativity of the fifth and sixth episodes. The graphics also look a little odd, especially when the Client is involved. They show up at points outside Vision’s house, and while the low quality is likely intentional, it still feels out of place compared to the crisp visuals of the real world.
Ultimately, VisionQuest’s biggest challenge has been bridging the two worlds cohesively. With Vision’s emotional journey finally finished, the finale might finally fix this tonal gap. However, it might be too late to fix how out of place characters like Paladin and Jocasta still feel.
