WandaVision did it again y'all.
Answered maybe one or two of our questions from last week, whilst throwing about a dozen more in our faces before peacing out after 30 minutes. Yep. We're still getting these 30 minute episodes. But I have to hand it to the WandaVision team, because they haven't wasted a single second with these past 3 episodes. And they always leave you thinking of ways you can just put yourself into a coma for a week until the next episode drops. 'Because honestly. What is even life in this hellfire of a year these days without WandaVision?' Says I.
Oh. Did I just make a hell reference?!
Even during the recaps preceding an episode this damn show is doing things, which makes me glad I didn't skip it this week. Because during it, we actually see clips from the scene of Wanda's brother Pietro dying in Age of Ultron. Many wondered if we'd ever actually see the Pietro that Wanda remembers. And as WandaVision often does, it acknowledges a question viewers would undoubtedly have, and addresses it. It also clarifies Dr. Darcy's 'They recast Pietro' comment at the end of episode 5 for those who haven't seen Age of Ultron at all, and frames reasoning behind the concern Wanda has throughout the episode in regards to why Pietro looks different. I'mma talk more about Pietro aka Quicksilver in a minute. But whoever this is, it's not really him. And whilst the Marvel Cinematic Universe will absolutely explore the multiverse, it's looking like Evan Peters casting was a clever misdirect, and not the multiversal proof we initial thought it was.These WandaVision writers and Jac Schaeffer be laughing in our damn faces.
In this episode of WandaVision titled All-New Halloween Spooktacular!, we see Vision becoming tired of The Truman Show bullshit. Wanda trying to get to the bottom of why her brother looks different. Her 'brother' acting hella suspicious. The kids getting their powers. Agnes also acting suspicious. Acting S.W.O.R.D Director Hayward not even hiding that he's a piece of shit. Confirmation that Monica is every bit the selfless hero. Agent Woo throwing hands. And Darcy getting sucked into Westview as a result of Wanda going Super Saiyan and expanding the hex in order to save Vision, who finds his way outside of Wanda's Animal Crossing village. And then the damn episode ends after 30 minutes on what is one of the best and most aggravating cliffhangers we've gotten so far. In addition to yet more questions that this show is gonna have to wrap up in 3 episodes. But this is Marvel Studios. So of course this show will end with a bunch of these questions left blowing in the wind for other films in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to answer.Kevin Feige. You better get that money bitch.
WandaVision is now set in the early 2000s, and the sitcom muse here is Malcom in the Middle. Why skip the 90s tho? some of you may ask. But I think there is a reasoning for this, and why we got a focus on one show, and why it was this show in particular.Where-as previous episodes of WandaVision in each decade felt like fusions of multiple shows from that era, episode 6 is all Malcom in the Middle. From the intro, to the house, to the episode structure, to the kids. The family dynamic of Malcom in the middle is notable in the context of WandaVision. Lois is the matriarch and controls the entire family. Both at home and at work, everybody is scared of her. Lois' husband Hal is a pushover who does everything she tells him, and often goes off on his own little adventures; often unbeknownst to his wife, but she always finds out. Malcom, Reese and Dewey (all boys) are mischievous and always getting into trouble. Francis, the eldest son is such a problem child that he's been sent away to a military school. And on the rare occasions he is at home, he causes problems for the entire family, specifically his mother. Malcom's family has clear parallels to the WandaVision family. Wanda controlling Vision and the whole damn town being scared of her. The kids being mischievous. Pietro kinda filling the role of Francis, coming back from God knows where and causing problems for the entire family, which will mostly affect Wanda.
Malcom in the Middle was also notable for Malcom breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the camera and narrating the show, which Billy undertakes in WandaVision. This is a key detail. Because not only does this further show that Billy and Tommy aren't under whatever spell everybody else in the Hex is under, but the fact that Billy specifically is the main narrator and making observations further shows his connection to Wanda, as he eventually shares her powers. He's even wearing his costume from the comics. Malcom in the Middle is also a show centred on kids. And if Wanda is in control of the sitcoms to a degree, then after Vision's comment in the last episode about there being no kids in Westview, it makes sense that the next sitcom switch would then feature kids as the focus to shut him up.
Malcom in the Middle was a very deliberate choice of sitcom to base an episode on. It also first aired in January 2000, so it features a lot the shit you got from 90s sitcoms anyway. It always reminded me of the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, which just happened to be shot in New Jersey. The devil is in the details with WandaVision, and amongst other things it seems.
What we see in episode 6 is that once again Wanda is losing control of whatever all of this shit is, whilst also having great control over it in equal measure. She's no longer rewinding and editing moments with Vision, who is now fully self-aware and making very little effort to hide it, whilst also being conscious of the fact that he shouldn't piss Wanda off. This creates a very visible rift between Wanda and Vision, which will only get bigger as Wanda continues to buckle under the weight of what she's done, and as Vision comes to learn more of the truth about his life as it was and as it is now.Whilst the show seems to be setting up a big showdown between Wanda and Vision, which I believe we'll get, this won't be THE pinnacle of what the show builds to. Wanda and Vision will realise that there are other malevolent forces at work which threatens them as individuals, but more importantly, the family they built together. And that the only way to protect it and the families caught in the crossfire of all this mess is to work together. But there will not be the fairy tale ending that Wanda was hoping for. Either Vision or her kids will pay the price for Wanda's bid at a happy life, which could potentially lead to her fully snapping and triggering something monumental which will kickstart Doctor Strange 2, which WandaVision is a lead-in to.
Speaking of Vision, this damn show just went and dashed a whole bunch of theories that we thought we had locked down after episode 4. Vision is sick and tired of Wanda's foolishness, and lies to her about being part of the neighbourhood watch squad so he doesn't have to go trick-or-treating with the family for Halloween, all so he can go off snooping around Wanda Crossing for answers. This eventually leads him to the perimeter where he finds the energy barrier resembling CRT TV static, which he then breaks through. As we all figured would happen, Vision starts dying the moment he breaches it. Vision fights to break free of the barrier, but the barrier continues to pull him back into the Hex piece by piece. We see first-hand that Vision can't exist outside of the Hex, confirming partly why Wanda keeps him within it. However, two things seemingly get debunked. One is that Vision isn't some reanimated corpse that Wanda has put a Hex on to simply 'look' like he's alive, because he maintained his true appearance when he breached the barrier. He didn't greyscale and just drop dead. The second is that Vision had the mind stone back. So whatever deal Wanda had made to bring Vision back may have also included bringing back the mind stone, because of fucking-course it would. I was hoping we were done with these damn infinity stones, but I guess not.Marvel movie fans who have been following this show since before the world got hexed with Coronavirus knew the mind stone would feature in some capacity, because we see Wanda with it in one of the trailers, although the context of this scene is still unknown. I figured it was a flashback or an illusion. But now having seen Vision with the mind stone outside of the Westview barrier, there is clearly more to it than that. Also, Wanda's powers are derived from the mind stone itself. I'm keen to see how it all plays out. But I don't wanna see these damn stones being central to another saga, and Thanos returning for an arc. No. Then again, it could be a fake mind stone. After all, just having nothing there would raise suspicions.
Now, dem kids. Whilst Billy and Tommy do not age up any further in this episode, they do level up and develop their powers, as many of us who know of them in the comics suspected. Billy has the super speed of his uncle, whilst Tommy has the wicca powers of his mother.Whilst all powerful Wanda giving birth to two mutants (a term we've not yet heard in the MCU, but are bound to real soon) seems pretty normal, the fact that she did, that she did so in Westview, that Vision is the baby father, and that her kids have their powers so soon is of significance. Everything and everybody seemed to will Wanda into pregnancy in the earlier episodes, just for her to fall pregnant, carry through to term within a day, and then have her kids age through to 10 in the space of one sitcom episode. All of this is by design. But for the design of what, we do not yet know.
In the comics, Wanda's children are the product of the devil known as Mephisto. Wanda conceiving is basically like the Nativity. Except with the plot twist that the devil made Mary pregnant and not God, that Mary had twins, and the 3 wise men were all types of villains. There would have to be some type of crazy ass reasoning as to how Wanda fell pregnant, because Vision can't nut. And I truly believe that these kids are real and that they won't just vanish outside of the Hex.
Mephisto being the main villain behind all of this mess is a theory that the comics knowing Internet has been running with since day one. And in this episode there are several devil related references (as there have been in previous episodes) which further allude to this possibly being the case. Fake Pietro's hairstyle, which whilst accurate to the comics, look a lot like devil horns in certain shots. Fake Pietro jokingly refers to Billy and Tommy as 'Devil spawn' and tells them to 'Unleash hell'. He says 'Damn it, if Westview New Jersey isn't charming as hell'. Then there's his devilish and mischievous behaviour throughout the episode. When Wanda asks if Fake Pietro thinks the hex that's controlling everybody is wrong, he says no. And then there's the whole damn episode being set during Halloween.
There is a powerful being behind the scenes who had to have been able to not only concoct ALL OF THIS, but have the means to bring Vision back to life and have Wanda bear children. The devil would fit that bill. And Fake Pietro turning up looking different from what Wanda remembers, throwing these references around, and being there when the kids get their powers? Something is up with the guy. But as if Fake Pietro wasn't problem enough, there's another white man causing problems on the outside.
Acting Director of S.W.O.R.D Tyler Hayward is a full on piece of shit. He teeters on megalomaniacal about taking out Wanda. Sweetie. This is Wanda. One of the strongest Avengers who let you live 5 minutes ago. You think a few guns gon' mean shit to her? Hayward is a fucking idiot and his actions are going to lead to more casualties than he thinks Wanda staying alive will cause.Hayward's actions last episode when he tried to kill Wanda were so unethical and underhanded that he causes Monica, Agent Woo and Dr. Darcy to challenge hom, to which he reacts by just kicking them off the case and having them escorted off the premises. But not before Dr. Darcy hacks his S.W.O.R.D account, because she's not just an astrophysicist y'all. She a hacker too.
As Dr. Darcy digs around around she discovers that Hayward found a way to survey inside Wanda Crossing the whole time by tracking Vision, and didn't tell anybody. Dr. Darcy also discovers a file on Hayward's computer called Cataract, which sounds very much like a project name of some sort and one which undoubtedly includes Vision. Hayward taking possession of Vision's body and experimenting on it, then going to lengths to retrieve him points to Heyward having nefarious means for Vision, and willing to do what it takes to get a hold of him again. He is revealing himself to be a hater of all people with powers, and those who sympathise with them; and it seems that he's turning S.W.O.R.D into an operation to neutralise them or control them. Not completely unlike what Alexander Pierce did within S.H.I.E.L.D with Project Insight in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. So maybe S.W.O.R.D under Hayward's directive is no different from HYDRA after all. And when Monica is set up to take S.W.O.R.D back from him (which will absolutely happen), she's probably going to face a hard time steering it back to what it once was, because those who align with Hayward will more than likely run deep throughout the organisation - just as HYDRA did within S.H.I.E.LD. And when Monica does take over S.W.O.R.D, I can definitely see her bringing in Agent Woo and Dr. Darcy.
Monica clashes with Hayward and calls him a coward, and then he says some shit about her mother. This is one of the biggest signs that Hayward is one of the villains of the show. Yep. More so than acquiring Vision's body and trying to kill Wanda. And I'mma tell you why. Monica never called Hayward a coward to be vindictive. She said it because it's true and he's making bad decisions based off of it. Where-as Hayward's low blow retort about Monica's mother was just him being a cunt. Monica since the very start has been shown to be virtuous, honest and understanding - displaying all of the traits of a hero. She is true of heart. And even with Darcy telling Monica that she can't go through the Westview barrier again because of what it might do to her, she doesn't back down. Yeah. Let's talk about that.
It was suspected in the last episode that something wasn't quite right with Monica when she was X-Rayed following her ejection from Wanda Crossing, and the scans came back blank. But now we get confirmation from Dr. Darcy having hacked into Monica's S.W.O.R.D file containing her bloodwork, that there's an alarming discovery, which again, Hayward didn't share. Monica going through the Westview barrier twice has caused Monica's cells to be re-written at a molecular level, which means we will absolutely see Monica get her powers in this show. But when Dr. Darcy warns Monica that she can't enter a third time due to the uncertainty of what will happen to her, Monica states how over bloodwork she is, because of how many tests she had to watch her mother go through following her cancer diagnosis and treatment. This also explains why Monica was so hesitant about undergoing additional blood tests in episode 5. Part of it may be out of fear that she could be diagnosed just like her mother, and would prefer not knowing. The cause of Monica's cells being re-written could also potentially be an insight into what caused her mother's cancer in the first place. But what Monica says after Dr. Darcy's diagnosis is also of great importance. 'I know what Wanda is feeling. And I won't stop until I help her.'Hayward and Monica both have the same level of knowledge of Wanda, but have taken completely different points of view on her, and approaches on how to deal with her. Hayward see's her as a threat to be killed. Monica sees her as somebody in need of help.
Monica's selflessness and willingness to help somewhat mirrors Vision. Monica is doing all she can do to get inside and help, regardless of what it means for her own life. Whilst Vision did all that he could to get outside and ask for help for the Westview residents, regardless of the fact it almost killed him.The same way that Monica and Hayward reach different points from the same place, the same goes for Wanda. Monica is channelling her grief and loss into helping others. Whilst Wanda is allowing her grief to consume her, and inadvertently consume others in the process.
Pietro's appearance at the end of episode 5 immediately had us thinking that it was Quicksilver from the FoX-verse. But his behaviour in this episode is so questionable that I don't think it's Quicksilver at all. WandaVision playing out through sitcoms enable the playing of the trope of recasting by not featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and not having to explain why. But the show also has fun not fully letting it go. There is a Kick-Ass reference, as both Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Evan Peters starred in that film. And this in conjunction with Marvel now owning Fox, allows them to cast Evan Peters for shits and giggles, knowing full well everybody would establish it as a multiverse connection, when it's not fully the case. It's clever as fuck. And it also leaves the door wide open for the original MCU Pietro to actually make an appearance. I don't think that he will, but it'd be great if he did.The Quicksilver we know from the X-Men movies is a more of an open book, and would not be so selective with information. He also wouldn't dodge questions the way this Quicksilver does. This Quicksilver also has a knowledge of the mechanics of Wanda Crossing (i.e the hex on the residents and there suddenly being kids everywhere) that he wouldn't have if he were plucked from another 'verse. This is a thing that somebody would only know if they were already in Wanda Crossing the entire time, or watching it all from the outside. This Quicksilver also knows far too much. A Quicksilver from another 'verse wouldn't know anything about Wanda's life at all. Certainly not Vision having died. It's telling that Quicksilver knew nothing of Wanda's life or history, but knew this one specific detail which led to Wanda ending up where she is now. Shit ain't right. This is not a recast of Pietro. It's not Pietro at all. Also, Quicksilver from the FoX-verse didn't have a twin that he knew of. And his name was Peter. Not Pietro. He lyin'.
With a family member back from the dead but different, Vision knowing the truth about being dead and there being a whole world outside of Westview, these kids having powers, and Westview being able to be populated with new people; somehow, we're still not closer to figuring out exactly what is happening here. The questions and theories just keep stacking. One thing which is becoming more and more clear is that Wanda isn't the sole cause of all that is happening. And if she is, then she is unaware and under the control of somebody else. When Wanda is asked how she did everything in Wanda Crossing, she says she doesn't know and that she's not sure how it all started. You could say that Wanda is lying, but I don't think she is. I genuinely think she has no idea. A big clue and a reoccurring one is Wanda's pain. She states that whilst she doesn't remember how she created the hex, that she remembers a feeling of being completely alone and endless nothingness. Something had to have happened to Wanda. It's becoming increasingly unlikely that Wanda just strolled into New Jersey and said 'I'mma just live in a bubble here with my dead husband'. She had to have had a reason to go there. Somebody had to have been able to display an ability to bring people back from the dead for her to agree to whatever this mess is. And in the process, somebody had to have either put Wanda under a type of Hex or taken a part of her in order for her to not only fail to remember details so they can keep their own identity hidden, but to enable Wanda to live through the feeling of nothingness.As each episode drops, it's seeming less and less like Wanda did this alone. And that whatever she did do of her own accord, wasn't as selfish as we think it is. Ever since coming into the MCU Wanda has found herself in situations where her actions are misunderstood. Sure, she's been a bitch, but it's never so cut and dry. Wanda went to Hydra to be a lab rat because she felt powers could help her avenger her powers and do something for Sokovia. Wanda blowing up that building in Lagos, was a result of her trying to save Captain America and the lives of those on the ground, and was a complete accident, which she was remorseful of. Wanda siding with Cap to break the Sokovia accords, was because she knew Captain America was on the right side of things, and she also owed him for believing in her when nobody else did. In Infinity War, she left the side of the man she loved to protect her friends, which resulted in her having to then kill him, only to then watch him be killed by Thanos. Wanda's life is tragic. She tries to do the right thing, only to have it backfire. This woman is not destined for happiness. Now look where she is. Monica already alluded to Wanda containing Westview to stop something, which has painted her as a villain. And even though her extension of the barrier seems like an evil bitch move to 'take over', she did it solely to save Vision's life.
There is also the matter of Wanda's powers, which seem to have grown beyond the skillset of what we saw of them in The Avengers. Wanda can do more than just telepathy, telekinesis and energy blasts. She can now create realities. Somebody had to have shown her how. And we now see that whatever containment was around Westview can be extended at will by Wanda herself. Because when that bitch heard Vision was dying and that he can see soldiers, she knew where he was, pushed that hex out perimeter out and turned that little S.W.O.R.D camp into a circus, because that's exactly what that Hayward operation is now. Wanda is insanely powerful, and whoever it was that played a part in all of this was aware of the extent of her powers, beyond even what Wanda herself knew.
In the midst of the mysteries is still Agnes. Vision found her stuck like everybody else on the edge of town, sat in her car on the outskirts mere metres from the town perimeter. It seems that the further out from the town centre people are, the slower their rate of activity is. Although they do remain under the Hex. I say town centre and not Wanda, because I think Wanda is a red herring. Sure, she's responsible for a lot of this shit, but not all of it. There is somebody else in that town pulling strings. And whilst it seems like Agnes was undergoing the same slow cognisance of everybody else far from the town centre, I think it was an act. We have already seen displays of Agnes not being under the Hex as everybody else is. Also, how did Agnes even get that far out of town before she ground to a complete halt? And when Vision 'awoke her', for her to just tell Vision that he's dead and that it's Wanda's supressing everybody's thoughts and not allowing them to leave felt messy and 100% intentional. Almost as though she knew the sequence of events that would follow as a result. This also marks the second time that Agnes has planted seeds of distrust within Vision; first it was Geraldine, now it's Wanda. She's playing games. And the fact that she was dressed as a witch too? Would the real Agatha Harkness please stand up?
There is usually never just one bad guy in a Marvel production. There's sometimes seemingly two. The main baddie and then somebody who's serving them in some form and helping set shit in motion. So rest assured we'll get more than one reveal as to who the main piece of shit in WandaVision is. But WandaVision seems to be doing something interesting which is giving both Wanda and Vision a villain each. Hayward only wants Wanda out of the way so he can have Vision. But Wanda's true adversary is somebody or something else. I'm not certain as to whether Hayward and this other villain are in cahoots, but they seem to have very similar objectives, which is to use the powers of an individual for their own personal means. So it will be interesting to see if their paths intersect in anyway or if they already had in the past.
This was another great episode, and one which you can tell the team had a lot of fun making, between the comic accurate outfits, the Halloween setting, having a new character to unleash on an episode, and then the amazing cinematic moment at the end.WandaVision goes from strength to strength each week. This shit has me sat ready at 8am on a Friday to watch an episode a first time, then re-watching again straight after, and then watching the bitch twice again again on a Saturday.
The writing, the mystery crafting, the production. This show honestly feels more like a Marvel Comic than any of the films we've gotten so far, which is furthered by having to wait each week for a new episode. I know there are been people moaning over wanting a full series drop, but as great as the show still would have been, it wouldn't have had the same impact if the entire series dropped at once. Part of the fun is knowing you're being herded through the mystery along with everybody else, and getting to theorise together with complete strangers and share an experience. If Marvel had dropped the whole of WandaVision back in January, we'd wouldn't still be talking about it a whole month later. That's for sure.
The show just gets better and better. If it's able to keep this momentum right up until the end, and there's no reason to believe that it won't, then the final two episodes are going to be absolutely ridiculous.
As is always, the acting is top notch. But after a string of episodes where Elizabeth Olsen stole the show, Evan Peters dominates in this episode. He steals every single scene he's in, and he has great on-screen chemistry with the kid who plays Tommy, who is also a great little actor. It's a shame that after 4 episodes of Elizabeth Olsen killing it with sitcom and period specific acting that we don't really get much of it here. Maybe Wanda is slowly giving up the act because she doesn't see the point anymore now that Vision knows it's all a jig. Or maybe her concentration is slowly breaking because she's feeling thrown off and confused. But it would have been cool to see Wanda play more to the character of Lois from Malcom in the Middle, who was one of the best characters in that show thanks to Jane Kaczmarek's amazing performance. But Elizabeth is still a joy to watch on screen, and still gives great nuance in her performance. Not knowing how to react to Vision's snide comments. The sense of unease around Fake Pietro. The joy she feels around Tommy and Billy. The way her entire demeanour changes when she goes into Scarlet Witch mode. Run Elizabeth her awards.Paul Bettany also continues to shine. Fun Vision is great and nice changes of pace for the character, but Bettany's performance as Vision comes to realise the lie and that his life isn't what it seems is far more compelling. Even in a stupidly wonderful outfit, it doesn't detract from the moment. Vision's reactions to what he's seeing as he walks around the cul-de-sacs at night are what draw your attention because of Bettany's performance.
That first conversation that Wanda and Vision have following his breaching of the barrier is going to be awkward as fuck. And I wonder how it will go and if it will be under the guise of a sitcom, or if we'll actually not see the immediate aftermath, and instead get a 'So, here's some of what happened' episode which fills in the gaps of how things came to be.Either way, I'mma be up at 8am on Friday, with the bagels and tea READY.
📒 My Episode notes
- No future outfit Wanda gets for the films is going to be as cool as her comic accurate Halloween outfit
- Darcy shoulda known better than to run her ass out to Vision
- Arrest me Agent Woo
- The scene of Wanda going Super Saiyan and extending the hex field snatched my wig
- Who is Monica's aerospace engineer?
- If Darcy doesn't show up in the next episode as a diner waitress in reference to 2 Broke Girls, I-
- Evan Peters was amazing in this episode
- The kids were also great, especially the kid playing Tommy
- C'MON YOUNG AVENGERS
- Seriously though. Who the fuck is this Pietro?
- So, we just gon' act like Dottie never existed?
- And who is the main villain?
- Was Aaron Taylor-Johnson busy? Not even a cute flashback moment?
- Dr. Darcy and Agent Woo spin-off, when?
- These last 3 episodes need to be longer than 30 minutes.
- Where is the Bee Keeper though!?