Agatha en todas partes

Agatha All Along is a fun addition to the spooky season, but it suffers from some critical shortcomings that keep it from greatness.

I love witches and witchy stories so I was thrilled for another outing into the occult side of the MCU. However, when I started watching the show I found myself somewhat disappointed, though also somewhat entertained as the story progressed with good moments pocked with a few flaws.

The main downsides to the show are its frequently poor dialogue and corny storytelling, nevertheless after one masterful episode and a truly compelling twist I was almost convinced that this was not a mediocre MCU project, it was good maybe even great. Almost. At this point I wanted it to be great, but ultimately the unsatisfying ending dragged it back down from greatness to just being pretty good.

This limited series, a sequel to WandaVision, follows Agatha, still trapped in Westview and stripped of her powers. Her situation changes when a mysterious teenager frees her, and together they embark on a quest along the Witch's Road, a mythical path said to grant travelers their greatest desire-in Agatha's case, the restoration of her powers. To navigate the trials of the road, they must assemble a coven representing the five witch specialties: Earth (green magic), Water (potion magic), Fire (protection magic), Air (divination magic), and Spirit. As they journey through the road's trials, tensions arise within the group, with secrets and hidden motives threatening their success, and they soon discover that nothing on the Witch's Road is as it seems. Overall, due to clever pop-culture references to classic horror and witch-themed features, chilling moments of genuine terror, a remarkable ensemble cast, -especially Hahn's electrifying performance as the titular character- and wicked dark humor, this show was really good, and although, I wish we had received more background lore and character development for some of the other coven members, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with this series and thought that It served as a fantastic medium to further explore Agatha's character and is a strong addition to Marvel's comeback era, where quality is clearly being prioritized over quantity, and with its much more mature tone and language, the show reflects an MCU that has grown with its audience and paves the way for future projects, add to that some brilliant foreshadowing, jaw-dropping twists, and an insanely catchy song that refuses to leave my head, and this mini series has undoubtedly left a lasting impression and has quickly become one of my favorite Marvel Disney+ shows.

This takes place after the events of WandaVision and Dr Strange Multiverse of Madness. I am rating this after watching episode 7 and I look forward to watching this every week. The first episode starts off in a bizarre fashion and I think might cause some viewers to abandon ship early, however the writing is very clever and the time jumps that go back and forth add a delightful twist to every episode. It's hard to trust the negative reviews on this because the Marvel fan base has become as bad as the Star Wars fan base so take it with a grain of salt.

I think the casting is pretty good and Kathryn Hahn does a splendid job reprising the Agatha Harkness character all in all I think of you like a darker mystery and enjoyed WandaVision then you will probably like Agatha all Along as well.

Rooted firmly in what made WandaVision an enticing watch, Agatha All Along delivers a familiar viewing experience, but goes about it in its own way.

The premise is deceptively simple--a down-and-out villain on a quest to restore her power. As the story unfurls, we see it's about much more than that, and even Agatha's seemingly straightforward motivations are reframed by the end. The story takes its time with the plot twists, but once it starts, it doesn't let up until the very last minute of episode 9.

Led by a career-defining performance from Kathryn Hahn, the cast works well separately and best as a group. Locke and Plaza are highly engaging as the mysteries of their respective characters centre and recontextualize the narrative.

This is a thrifty production by Marvel standards, as you can sometimes--not very often--tell. The broom riding sequence is janky, and the final confrontation has to mostly take place offscreen. This has an upside as it more or less forces the narrative to zero in on the emotional aspect and make us empathize with these characters. The finale in particular surprised me with how poignant and small-scale they allowed it to be, respecting the core of the show as it offers a solemn and mature look into Agatha's world not often associated with the superhero genre.

Overall, this has been a quality MCU offering that shows not all superhero tales need expensive fireworks to shine.

Plot

A spell-bound Agatha Harkness regains freedom thanks to a teen's help. Intrigued by his plea, she embarks on the Witches' Road trials to reclaim her powers and discover the teen's motivations.

Cast

Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, Paul Adelstein, the always adorable Debra Jo Rupp and a cameo from Evan Peters! No cast problems here.

Verdict

Love it or hate it nobody can dispute that the MCU has accomplished something truly astonishing. Am I a fan? Yes. Am I a blind fan who defends it senselessly and claims it's all great? Absolutely not. Some is incredible, some is dire, it's a mixed bag and that's simply inevitable and should not be frowned upon. Taste is subjective, I didn't like Dr Strange, Black Panther or several others that were critically acclaimed for example.

Agatha All Along follows the fascinating Wandavision (2021) and I'm shocked it actually exists. Think of all the high profile Marvel heroes that have failed to get their own movie/show and yet Agatha Harkness has?! Very unexpected but I wasn't against it, this could have turned out to be a wonderful surprise I thought. I was wrong, but not entirely.

You see I like Hahn, she just tends to do movies I don't enjoy and her over acting style comparable with Kristen Wiig can get old fast. Sadly that's here in abundance, however the shows writers seem to tug the character and her personality left and right so dramatically throughout the shows 9 episode runtime that sometimes she's more bearable than the others. Thankfully a fantastic support cast manage to balance the tone out, except Locke who is for the most part awful. Yes he improves as the show progresses but overall I found him somewhat annoying and you can't have two annoying characters, especially when essentially they're the dual leads!

The show flips from marginally above average stuff to quite enjoyable, it keeps your attention, it kept me intrigued and yet at all times it felt like something entirely unidentifiable was missing and that frustrated me all the way until the very poor finale.

Agatha All Along is a passable watch, it's a novelty addition to the MCU, an acceptable companion piece to Wandavision but don't expect it to make a lasting impression.

Rants

This is one of those IMDB credits that you don't want to delve into the 1/10 reviews because you know exactly what you're going to find. Let's break it down, female lead, gay side lead, almost every character in the show is some description of LGBT, lots of diversity throughout and you can even see a trans lives matter banner in the final episode. Yep, the "Anti-woke" brigade love this one and reading their drivel, vitriol and absurd justifications for their intolerance is infuriating. Live and let live people, don't get upset about things where there is no victim. Think of your blood pressure if nothing else!

The Good

Great cast Some really enjoyable moments It's "Different" and the industry needs more of that

The Bad

Some characters can be a tad annoying Doesn't flow as well as it should Dreadful finale.