Agatha All Along – Episode 5 Review

For the first time in its run, this episode felt almost incomplete. Sure, we had a couple of interesting (and sad) revelations within it, but this particular task didn’t have the same heft as the previous two* and even though we lost another member of the coven (and Rio got another body for her troubles – more on her in a bit as well), there was a lack of true terror within the task. And it all felt . . . too easy. I mean, we know the series isn’t about to off Agatha at this stage of the game, and we know the central trio of Rio, Agatha, and Teen are making it to the end of the Road. So, a rehashing of Agatha’s betrayal of her coven (which was covered in the “Previously On” section as well as in WandaVision) and her issues with her mother – a confrontation that lacked any actual resolution or real reason for existing – didn’t feel like the best use of her trial. But, of course, that is assuming this is was her trial, and if it was, that it is the only trial she’ll face during her time on The Road.

*Agatha is a master of deflection in her life – nothing is ever her fault and the rare moments of vulnerability we’ve seen from her (like the almost kiss with Rio last week) come only when she was utterly exhausted and doesn’t want to fight anymore. Confronting her with her mother isn’t really something that can spark any sort of vulnerability in her – she’s defiant and angry still, all these centuries later. But hearing the voice of her son? That can stop her cold. But that all seemed like such a quick fix. And then there was her stripping Alice of power – why would Alice attack her and when did she regain her powers? I feel like she would have mentioned that to the group. So, I’m assuming this isn’t the real trial for Agatha. Rather, it was a means to provide her with her powers once more. And perhaps test to see if she’s willing to kill – against her will or not, juries still out on whether her draining of Alice was something she really couldn’t help – and just how far she will go to obtain what she wants: Nicholas. Or, it could have been a test for someone like Rio or the Teen. Rio was pretty quick to say it was Agatha’s test, after all. Put Agatha in danger, force Rio to care?

Ok, so where the trial felt a little anticlimactic – despite showing us that Alice had regained her magical abilities (something that also appeared to happened to Jen once she conquered her trial back in episode three), does that mean the witches are granted powers once they complete their assigned trial (so perhaps we should have assumed Agatha would need to kill someone in order to drain their abilities and gain back her “purple”) – there were several key revelations that we can noodle on for a bit as we wait for next week (and, presumably, Lilia’s trial – and a chance to see Patti LuPone slay).

First up, it appears I was incorrect when it came to the identity of Rio. I had heard rumblings that she was really Lady Death, a Marvel character whose reach extends into several corners of the current MCU, and I think the sequence with the Ouija board more or less confirmed it. When Teen read the instruction that they weren’t allowed to ask questions about Death, Rio’s cackle pretty much gave the game away. Not that there weren’t a host of other hints in the previous episodes. She can’t kill Agatha – clearly a deal was made with Death at some point, she needs bodies from Agatha – perhaps linked to that deal, and she took something from Agatha in the past that destroyed their romance – that would be Agatha’s son, Nicholas Scratch. So, Agatha and Death have a strained romantic history. I’m here for it.

The second revelation: the Salem Seven (who are the children of Agatha’s Salem coven – always clean up the loose ends, kids!) are on The Road because the summoning of Rio allowed them to track Agatha. That’s awfully convenient. And also very unlucky. There’s a part of me that wonders if there’s something more sinister at play here – is someone in the coven working in tandem with them? Or is there a more sinister force out there trying to stop Agatha? Chances are it’s just to provide the coven with a reason to rush down The Road a bit faster, but this is Marvel. One can’t help but wonder if there’s something else out there, pulling some strings.

And then for the big revelation, the one we all pretty much saw coming: Teen is Billy Maximoff. Or, at least Agatha has declared that he is Billy Maximoff – telling him he’s just like his mother was a pretty hard hit (and, really, she’s not wrong – another person telling her she should control her magic is a trigger point for Agatha). Also, that crown – and the Billie Eilish needle drop over the credits – absolutely indicate that our little Teen is really Wiccan, the magically powered son of Wanda Maximoff. Hardly a surprise, but still a lovely confirmation to have. And to see him using his powers? Pretty cool. Although, what, precisely, was possessing Jen and Lilia to make them toss Agatha off The Road? And why would Billy respond by throwing them off The Road as well? And just where is Rio? We know she wanted to kill Agatha at the outset of the series, but I wouldn’t think she’d really want to see her dead – at least not yet. Things that make one realize if this was truly Agatha’s task at all.

So, as an episode, this one was a mixed bag. It was more of a stepping stone to get us to the next portion of the story rather than a means to tell us more about our trial character this time around. Yes, we did get another tragic death with Alice moving to the great beyond (she may have vanquished the generational curse on her family, but she still wasn’t able to save herself from the terror that is Agatha Harkness) and a couple of key revelations about the identities of our two question mark characters, but the story didn’t have the same oomph as the first two trials did. There are some questions moving into next week – Will the Salem Seven catch the coven? What is Billy doing, trying to kill Lilia and Jen? Will Jen, Lilia, and Agatha survive? And where the heck is Rio in all this (perhaps trying to solve a task that is actually meant for her)? Even with my slight disappointment in the writing of this week’s installment – I always want to know more about these characters, not simply sit with information we already know – Agatha All Along remains the best MCU offering in a long time.