Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Unlocking Agatha All Along

Spoiler Warning for Episodes: Seek Thou The Road, Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate

Agatha Harkness was undoubtedly one of the best elements of WandaVision (2021) which in itself remains one of the best of the DisneyPlus Marvel shows.  Agatha’s reveal as the supernatural villain of the piece taking advantage of Wanda’s grief to steal her power delighted the audience.  The song ‘Agatha All Along’ trended and it is perhaps no surprise that it ends up being the title of the mini-series after a series of title changes – an in-studio gag to the final reveal of the name.  It was also no surprise that Agatha was swiftly announced to have her own show.  Three tumultuous years later for Marvel Studios, and the show has finally arrived.   Has the wait been worth it?

Spin-offs are always a difficult road to travel down.  They need to balance what was loved about their original source while providing a new story and new characters audiences can fall in love with.  Agatha All Along also has the added complication of needing to hold its own within the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe – connected and not at the same time. 

There is not a lot to criticise as the mini-series makes a good start with its first two episodes – providing a prologue in its first episode to clear the decks from not only WandaVision but also Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022), enabling the show to move forward into its own story.  

‘Seek Thou the Road’ is a good bridge in the storytelling from past stories.  It echoes WandaVision’s main concept conceit – a known character appears to be living in a distorted reality based on trope television because of Wanda’s magic.  Viewers of WandaVision know that Wanda trapped Agatha in Westview in her guise as a suburban neighbour as punishment for her attack on Wanda.  Viewers of Multiverse of Madness know Wanda ostensibly died to bring down the temple and destroy the Darkhold.  This episode allows a new viewer to get caught up, acknowledges the wider MCU, and unlocks Agatha from the spell to enable the character to progress.

As someone who did watch WandaVision, I loved the echoes – the neighbourhood characters popping up, ‘cast’ into different roles in Agatha’s distorted reality, the cop show tropes included (the hardened female detective married to her job, the detective who fights against the system but gets results, the buddy-buddy enemies to friends), the sense that not all is as it seems.  If I do have criticisms here, the trope story-beats do feel a little overplayed – but within the frame that this is a distorted reality, it kind of works or at least can be forgiven.

The episode format was very reminiscent of WandaVision and a nod to the artistic concept that people loved.  The reveal wherein Agatha rids herself of the spell, stepping fully naked out of her house and back into the real world is a great symbolic shedding of WandaVision.  When she reclothes herself, the story shifts to the setting up the mini-series itself with Aubrey Plaza’s mysterious character seeking revenge and her decision to leave Agatha to face the mysterious Salem Seven.  It introduces the main story arc: that Agatha will face the consequences of her past without the protection of the spell hiding her unless she can regain her witchy powers.

It also in a subtle way introduces the second arc of who is the mysterious ‘Teen’ character who breaks into Agatha’s home and who she essentially ‘arrests’ in her detective guise before realising that she’s actually just locked him in her pantry.  Who is he and what does he want with Agatha? 

In and of itself, it is a good episode, especially for a fan of WandaVision and the MCU.  I’m entirely thrilled that past footage was not used to ‘tell’ us what happened before and instead the audience is shown through the story.  However, I question whether it was completely necessary to spend so much time in the distorted reality.  I think it slows down the plot too much, delaying getting to the actual arcs of the mini-series.  It was a wise decision to drop both episodes at the same time as I feel the first episode does not provide a good enough hook for a casual viewer.

The second episode ‘Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate’ does do a better job of casting its hooks out into the audience, making the most of what is a standard and average set-up at its roots: world-building, a team formation, and the beginning of a journey.  It’s saving grace is that it tries to do all these things organically through the plot and the characters, and the performances are stellar.

A witch-wannabe ‘Teen’ introduces the idea of travelling the Road with Agatha to restore her powers, immediately picking up from where the first episode ended.  They set out as a weird double act to create a coven which is the only way to open and travel the road.  As Agatha attempts to get to know ‘Teen,’ the mystery of him is seeded as his name and his origins are hidden from her – his mouth disappearing along with his voice as he tells them to her.  He appears not to notice.  It’s a great mystery to a hook a viewer – who is Teen really?  Generating fandom theorising is something WandaVision did incredibly well, and it is definitely reinvigorated here.

A second mystery is seeded with the inclusion of Debra Jo Rupp’s character Sharon Davis in the coven.  Did Agatha only include her because she wanted to avoid Aubrey Plaza’s Rio and she was a last minute desperate replacement?  Or is Mrs Hart as Wanda cast her also a real witch?  It’s a question which may hook the casual viewer more than the Marvel fan. 

The third hook is the mystery of the Salem Seven and their role in the witchy world.  Who are they?  They are properly set-up to be spooky and supernatural.  The use of the animals as fore-runners to their actual appearance, their cloaked and oddly-formed bodies in movement – it’s well-done horror which is not overplayed.  They do come across as dangerous enough that they are a threat to a powerless Agatha, underlining the need for her to travel the Road.

The Road is clearly another hook.  It’s a trope, but it works.  The worldbuilding with the song and the different types of witches which must be part of the coven for the door to the path to open is very well done.  I can imagine that there will be groups of fandom friends getting together to sing the song and see what happens.  The ending with the removal of the shoes which is also mentioned in the closing credit sequences will also generate another round of ‘what can we spot and predict’ theorising.

The rest of the coven provide additional substance to the world of witches; Lilia’s Divination powers, Jennifer’s binding and Alice’s missing mother all provide one broad stroke of colour for each; their differing wardrobe choices, settings and attitudes another.  They still feel like caricatures rather than characters at this stage, but all the performances give them body and personality which transcend the caricature.

Joe Locke also does a really good job with the goth ‘Teen’ creating a likeable teenager who is very much of his generation.  He’s helped by great character beats in the writing which paint his character as much as his performance; the nod to social media, the wanting to provide food for the gathering, the boyfriend.

Kathryn Hahn absolutely revels in playing Agatha.  There are times in the first episode where her portrayal of the ‘detective’ is overblown but again, the distorted reality spell means that a lot of that is allowable in that context.  In the second episode, Agatha’s manipulative and self-serving nature comes across in spades because Hahn plays her to perfection with hand gestures, facial expressions, and other subtle body language.

Aubrey Plaza was great too in the first episode, but her character is still very much an unknown.  The ninja attack on Agatha for revenge is all a little one-dimensional.  There is still a mystery too in her character.  Who is she?  What happened with her and Agatha?

So, hooks galore.

All at this stage underpinned by great direction (some of the individual shots are fabulous) and production, and very solid if formulaic storytelling. 

In conclusion:

It’s a good start. 

A slow start to be sure, but the story is now set-up, the characters introduced, and the journey begun.  It will be interesting to see if it can deliver satisfying answers to the mysteries its posed.

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