WandaVision
"WandaVision" won Marvel its first Emmys a few weeks ago, which is a big deal. It was up for some acting Emmys and didn't win any of those, which was odd to me. I definitely thought Paul Bettany and Kathryn Hahn would take it home, but I wonder if Emmy voters couldn't get past the fact that this was a superhero show. All in all, it's pretty impressive that Marvel is starting to snatch some trophies.
"We Interrupt This Program"
Darcy Lewis: "1950s, 1960s and now the '70s. Why does it keep switching time periods? It can't be purely for my enjoyment, can it?"
Jimmy Woo: "And I can't believe Wanda and Vision are having a baby."
Darcy Lewis: "You want any?"
Jimmy Woo: "Heck, I thought about it for sure. A little Jimmy Woo. Get him a little FBI badge."
[realizing what she means.]
Jimmy Woo: "Oh you... chip? Sure."
It's time to find out what is going on outside of Westview. After being blipped back, Captain Monica Rambeau returns to S.W.O.R.D. Director Tyler Hayward sends her to meet FBI agent, Jimmy Woo and she ends up sucked in to the Westview bubble and becomes part of "WandaVision." Astrophysicist Darcy Lewis discovers the signal and starts to watch the show. Meanwhile, what is really going on in Westview starts to become more apparent.
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| She's pissed. |
So, y'all wanted a twist?! When I started to watch "WandaVision," I thought that the show was going to keep its secrets close to its chest until closer to the end, but with episode 4, we see the events of the first three episodes from a different perspective. And it really works.
The episode grips you from the beginning. It starts off with Monica Rambeau blipping back into existence. We haven't really seen how the blip affected normal people. It's super cool when blipped heroes are materializing to fight Thanos and his forces, but what is it like everywhere else in the world when half the population just rematerializes? This cold open gives you an idea and it's pretty chaotic and terrifying. The setting being a hospital adds another layer of craziness and drama. All these things are happening at once and no one is able to give attention to everyone who needs it. I really hope we see more flashbacks to this kind of stuff as phase 4 unfolds.
Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo take center stage in this episode. We really get a sense of who Monica is in this episode. She's a devoted daughter. She is good at her job. Teyonah Parris is really effortless in this role. The way she is believable as the daffy sitcom player Geraldine and as the no nonsense Monica is so great. This episode sees the returns of "Ant-Man's" Jimmy Woo and "Thor's" Darcy Lewis and this the pairing we didn't know we needed. Kat Dennings sardonic Darcy is perfect in this setting. She's take charge and full of snark. Randall Park is the G man you want all G men to be like. He's human and sweet and wistful, but still kick ass. Honestly, Disney Plus needs to give us an "X-Files" style show with Jimmy and Darcy like yesterday.
We get to see the full confrontation between Wanda and Monica and it is kind of chilling. The way Wanda turns on a dime and nonchalantly expels Monica from Westview is crazy and then she just puts everything back the way it was. It certainly doesn't feel like Wanda is a prisoner in Westview.
Grade: A-
"On a Very Special Episode..."
Darcy Lewis: "She recast Pietro?!"
Commercial: Lagos Paper Towels
"WandaVision" has moved on to a new decade. It's the '80's and our unusual couple is struggling to meet the demands of being parents to twins even with Agnes' help. The twins aging up to ten years old does help, but raises a lot more questions. Wanda gives her boys a crash course in grief, something she is intimately familiar with. Outside Westview, S.W.O.R.D. is getting more aggressive in their plans to stop Wanda and inside Westview, Vision is getting suspicious and that's all before we get to our very special guest.
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| Look Ma, no hands. |
This episode of "WandaVision" gives us the show's take on the sitcoms of the 80's like "Full House" and "Family Ties," which this week's theme pays homage too. As always, the show does an insanely good job of paying tribute to the shows of the period. Everything is pitch perfect. The costuming. The hair. Come through Elizabeth Olsen's perm and scrunchie. Things aren't going as smoothly as they have been in past episodes though. Things start getting a little wonky when Agnes visits. When things get maybe a little too real, Agnes asks if they should "take it from the top." Wanda plays it off, but Vision is starting to get suspicious and Wanda can't get her husband off the scent. While playing around with the computers at work, Vision gets a communique from S.W.O.R.D. He somehow de-brainwashes Norm and it goes about as well as you could imagine, and only heightens Vision's suspicions in regards to his wife.
Darcy has dubbed Wanda's construct "the Hex" because of its shape. It's a great nod to the comics where Wanda's powers were dubbed "hex bolts." Director Hayward is proving to be just the piece of shit you thought he was. He's lying to Monica. Condescending to Jimmy and Darcy. Sending in armed drones to try to take out Wanda. Everything he says feels fishy and he may have footage of Wanda stealing Vision's body, but it feels doctored and why is he bringing it up now? Monica is on Wanda's side even though she personally felt the oppression of Wanda's control and it seems as if her body is changing due to the Hex. It's not a huge surprise that Monica would want to help Wanda based on her relationship with Carol Danvers even though that relationship feels... strained. I guess we'll have to wait for "The Marvels" to find out more about that.
For a sitcom riff, "WandaVision" gets super deep in this episode. Olsen continues to kill it. Finally giving Wanda the depth she deserves, whether she's going full pissed off Avenger on Hayward and his S.W.O.R.D. goons, coaching her boys through grieving or having an argument with Vision, Olsen is always firing on all cylinders. It's cool to finally see how the sausage gets made so to speak. Wanda making the credits roll. Vision firing back. Paul Bettany raises to meet Olsen and sparks fly as the two spouses go at it. They are ready to have a full on battle and the dissonance of the two floating in the air against this ridiculous backdrop is amazing. With the arrival of our special guest star, it doesn't seem like things will be settling down for the couple any time soon.
Grade: A-
"All-New Halloween Spooktacular"
Pietro: "Hey, don't sweat it, sis. It's not like your dead husband can die twice."
Commercial: Yo-Magic yogurt
The arrival of Uncle Pietro has turned the WandaVision household upside down. Wanda and Vision are still being icy to each other despite all evidence to the contrary. As the reunited siblings take the twins trick or treating, Vision takes a disturbing solo trek through town where he ends up outside the Hex. What will Wanda do to protect her husband? I think you have a good idea.
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| Old school |
This episode almost feels like a place setting or a table setting kind of episode. It gives us what we have come to love about "WandaVision." We get the playing with the sitcom tropes. This episode is an homage to the classic '90's sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle" down to the opening credits. We get the jump cuts. The talking to the camera. Pietro is the breakout star who probably is full of catch phrases that could be sold on t-shirts and tote bags. Wanda and Vision still seem to be playing their roles as usual except this time they are dressed in Halloween costumes that are loving homages to their classic comic costumes. I love how Wanda's is a Sokovian fortune teller. Chef's kiss. That is a great touch. The friction from last episode is still there even though they are acting like everything is kosher in front of the twins. Vision declines to join the family in the Halloween revelry in order to scout around on his own.
Vision's trek through Westview takes the episode from fun sitcom Halloween romp to a much more depressing and creepy place. The people repeating the same actions over and over again while a single tear falls. Agnes sitting in her car not moving until Vision taps her temple. This gives me another opportunity to wax poetic about Kathryn Hahn. This is really her only moment in the episode but she really steals it. The dawn of realization, the recognition of Vis that goes from hope to dismay to hysterics is pitch perfect.
I love the stunt casting of Evan Peters as Pietro. It's great because he played another version of Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver in the Fox "X-Men" movies and because stunt casting has always been such an integral part of sitcoms. Peters and Olsen play off each other really well. Wanda is suspicious but she wants to believe that this really is her brother. Pietro seems to be fishing for information that Wanda doesn't have. It's quite the dance and it's one of the more intriguing parts of the episode.
Outside the Hex, Hayward's actual motives are getting clearer when our trio finds out he's tracking vibranium inside the Hex. He removes Monica, Darcy and Jimmy from the task force, but that isn't stopping them. Monica is determined to get back in. I love this, but you expect me to believe that no one from S.W.O.R.D. realized that Darcy was hiding in that tent hacking them? Ummm... sure.
Like I said earlier, this episode is fine, but the pacing is kind of slow, especially as we are amping up for the finale. It's good, but things don't really start to happen until the last five minutes. The twins get their powers, Vision is disintegrating outside the Hex, Wanda expands it, capturing most of S.W.O.R.D. including Darcy. It's a great note to end on, but I wish some of this momentum would have been spread out more.
Grade: B
Next, Wanda and Vision are estranged, we learn more about Wanda's past and it's the series finale of "WandaVision."
As always, I'd love to know what you thought about these episodes. What were some of your wild "WandaVision"theories while the show was airing? Hit me with them in the comments.
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