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    • Review of the Complete Agatha All Along Series: A Path Worth Taking
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    Review of the Complete Agatha All Along Series: A Path Worth Taking

    Kathleen William Posted on

    Warning: This review contains full spoilers for the first season of Agatha All Along.

    It was quite a surprise when Agatha Harkness became the breakout sensation of 2021 WandaVision. She was never more than a supporting character in Marvel Comics' supernatural stories; She never wrote the cover line of her own book. And yet Kathryn Hahn's Nosy Neighbor enchanted viewers so much that she earned her own spin-off series three years later. Could WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer capture purple light in a bottle again with Agatha All Along? While it doesn't quite reach similar heights, the nine-episode series offers more of the mind-bending mysteries and gripping dialogue that made “WandaVision” such an entertaining time, all anchored by Hahn's endlessly watchable villainess.

    This is essentially a sequel with many connections to its predecessor, from the scene-stealing Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) to the traumatized Ralph Bohner, who recovers after the whole Quicksilver thing thanks to a humorously paranoid performance from Evan Peters. Nevertheless, “Agatha All Along” is its own thing. It takes on a fittingly WandaVision-esque tone, with Hahn's character stuck in a brilliantly realized parody of the HBO crime drama Mare by Eastown. But then it suggests – or should I say – a completely different path Street? “WandaVision” may be full of TV history, but this is Marvel at its most theatrical: original songs, beautifully crafted practical sets and a brilliant supporting performance from Broadway legend Patti LuPone. It's teeming with camp, which is a nice counterbalance to the dark supernatural elements.

    Ironically, Agatha is saved by the magical descendants of the very person who cursed her: Joe Locke's goth teenager Billy Maximoff (originally referred to simply as “Teen”). Together they put together a coven of witches to follow the legendary, treacherous witch path, which promises power to those who pass its tests and reach the end. This encouraging premise gives way to a potentially tiring formula as the witches are confronted with a new magical escape room, episode after episode. But “Agatha All Along” keeps so many plates in the air, each holding a tantalizing secret about its curious characters, that it can never get boring. The obstacles in the way are truly deadly: whoever loses their life along the way stays dead. Even the series' weaker middle section is buoyed by the steady drip of clever clues and delicious drama between the group's conflicting personalities.

    The coven is made up of witches from various magical disciplines, each with their own reasons for working with someone as blatantly deceitful as Agatha Harkness. While it's admirable that each member gets their time in the spotlight, their stories end up being hit and miss. Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), for example, has very little screen time, so it's hard to feel invested when she experiences an emotional revelation at the end of her personal trial. Jennifer Kale's (Sasheer Zamata) story is similarly sparse, although we spend a lot of time with her as the character survives to the end. (Saturday Night Live alum Zamata doesn't wear out her welcome; her humor and wit are always a blast.) The lone standout of the group is Lilia Calderu, played with heart and courage by the incomparable LuPone; their exciting time jump episode: “The hand of death in mine“is by far the best of Agatha All Along.

    And at the top of the street stands Hahn's Agatha. She's a truly nasty piece of work, astonishingly selfish and mercilessly murderous. Betrayal comes as naturally to her as breathing, but she has a surprising amount of charm. Watching her spin lies and manipulate the feelings of every member of the circle is good television. We learn that she has a soft spot for her late son, Nicholas Scratch, and that's why she takes a liking to Billy – but refreshingly, Schaeffer and company weren't tempted to give her a redemption arc. She learns to act selflessly, but in the end she becomes the same evil, unrepentant witch.

    That's one of the reasons the final doesn't work so well. In the list of unanswered questions, we never find out what drives Agatha. We approach the story with a loving and insightful look back at her time as a mother, but her true motivation remains frustratingly unclear. Many of Agatha All Along's crime novels walk on this line between fascinating and annoying: the revelation that “Teen” is actually Billy Maximoff does not materialize,Tap to view. Either way, there's no reason to really care when it comes time to pull back the curtain. However, such misfires can eventually hit their mark: Billy's disappointing exposure is smoothed over by a fantastic flashback detailing how he managed to survive after the curse was lifted.

    Watching Agatha weave lies and manipulate the feelings of every member of the circle makes for good television.

    Poor Joe Locke went on an entire press tour where he could only refer to his character as “Teen,” even though his true identity was obvious to even the most casual viewer of MCU films and series. Marvel loves its secrets and so we had to endure several episodes where a seal kept Billy's name a secret. The entire seal storyline is pretty weak – especially the reason why Lilia created it in the first place. It seems like a justification for why Wanda can't sense Billy living in a new body in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but it just doesn't work.

    Since Billy as a character only comes online after his big coming out, we only get to know him in the final episodes. Nevertheless, Locke does an excellent job of portraying Billy's tragic situation: a lost soul searching for his identity and his brother. In Episode 8, he gets a quick and brief chance to don a full Wiccan costume – a great take on his look from the comics. And the consequences of what Billy accidentally did with his power are suitably grave, giving him something in common with his mother and his new ghost mentor.

    While it's fascinating to watch the spark fly between Agatha and Rio (and witness the MCU's first-ever lesbian smooch), their relationship feels a bit undervalued. Tap to view– that simply needs to be explained in more detail! Whenever “Rio” is on screen, things get a lot more interesting, which is why it's a shame that it seems to come and go at random, often skipping entire episodes without explanation. She is a strange presence in the show. Sometimes she's an ally, playing drums in a musical challenge; another time he threatened to cause harm while brandishing a twisted knife. Rio is inherently compelling, but seems to be crying out for more substance.

    It's tempting to call her the villain of the series, especially because the Salem Seven end up being complete idiots. But it is far more complicated. Thanks to her presence, Agatha All Along is able to explore themes such as the fragility of life and the inevitability of death so intensely. It's one of Agatha All Along's greatest strengths that it fearlessly plunges headfirst into a sea of ​​complex ideas and explores them with such a complex, flawed, and remarkable cast of women (and their emo twink). All in an absolutely incredible supernatural setting with its own set of dangers and wonders; You really never know what awaits you around the next bend on Witch Street. Yes, we later learn (in one of Marvel's best-executed twists) that the street isn't what we, or Agatha, think it is. But that doesn't make the experiences the circle has along the way any less important.

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    Kathleen William
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