Check out our thoughts on the first four episodes of Marvel’s Agatha All Along!
Hey All!
Agatha All Along comes just in time for the “spooky season” which comes earlier and earlier each year. Here we are in the Fall of 2024 and Disney Plus’s new show Agatha All Along is only the third Marvel production of the year. The beginning of the year was a full series release of Echo on Disney Plus and this summer was the summer of Deadpool and Wolverine. We were fortunate enough to see the first four episodes of Agatha All Along and here are some of our thoughts.
Agatha All Along brings back Jac Shaeffer (who wrote a few episodes from the now classic and beloved Disney Plus Series WandaVision) as writer and showrunner. Agatha All Along also brings back Kathryn Hahn as the Agatha Harkness who stole the show in WandaVision and now has her own show which takes place 3 years after the events of WandaVision.
Much in the same way that each episode of WandaVision was meant to reflect a different era of television sitcoms I aesthetic, format, and performance, Agatha All Along has thus far taken a similar route within the first four episodes.
The first episode begins with credits that refer to the show as Agatha of Westview, and state the show is “inspired by the Danish show WandaVision,” and is very much in the style of a hard and gritty modern detective show like True Detective. The episode continues until the spell placed by Wanda at the end of WandaVision is broken.
Seemingly, the plot of Agatha All Along is about Agatha using a group of witches assembled by Agatha to go down “The Road.” The Road is, at least in the Marvel Universe, a supernatural path on which witches can take and will be tested before reaching their prize. The prize being whatever they desire.
In the same way that WandaVision changed up its style in different episodes, episodes three and four shift their aesthetic and tone based on two different tests; one of them includes a rock and roll performance from the cast which can sing. The shift in style definitely keeps things interesting on a visual level.
Other than Kathryn Hahn as Agatha, and a few cameos from actors who played inhabitants of West View from WandaVision, it’s a brand-new cast of actors and characters. Broadway star Patti Lupone plays a divination witch (fortune telling) named Lilia, former Saturday Night Live star Sasheer Zamata plays a potion witch named Jennifer Kale, Ali Ahn of The Diplomat is a witch named Alice who is the daughter of a very famous witch who became a musician, and Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Rec fame plays a violent and angry witch who clearly has a history with Agatha.
Relative newcomer is Joe Locke who is playing a young teen who is learning witchcraft and has a spell on him which prevents other witches from hearing his name or his backstory.
Much like WandaVision, something new about each character and the plot is revealed like a mystery unravelling from week to week in each episode. The small mysteries and dynamic between the actors within the coven are engaging enough to keep coming back for more.
After four episodes, it is clear that the mystery behind the teen’s identity and the unraveling of the coven’s dynamic while they continue down “The Road” are the real drivers of the show. Kathryn Hahn/s performance as sassy and conniving Agatha is always entertaining, and she has not missed a beat in between now and WandaVision.
Usually after four episodes I have a good take on where the show is going but I think this is part of the built-in mystery of Agatha All Along be a little chaotic and unpredictable. The performances backstabbing paranoia dynamic amongst the characters are enough to keep me engaged to see what new precedent Agatha All Along will set within The Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Don’t recommend it for younger Marvel fans, this one is definitely for the adults and that’s perfectly all right with me!
Check it out the first two episodes tonight exclusively on Disney+!
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