Fare thee well Mrs. Hart, we hardly knew you. And, judging from that final line of the episode, neither did Agatha, whose selfish needs brought you on this trip and led to your unfortunate death. However, the death of Sharon means that the coven is now in need of a Green Witch – preferably the one that was foretold in Lilia’s writing – Rio a.k.a. Blackheart. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here.
This episode provided us with what I assume will be the basic episodic structure for the next several episodes – at least until we get the chance to see each of the witches utilize their unique set of skills to try and beat the task presented to the coven on The Road. So, where WandaVision had its episodes centered around an era of sitcom history, Agatha All Along will be using a task as the center piece of the remaining installments (presumably until we get to Agatha’s test – which I’m guessing will be the last of the lot, requiring her to finally take things seriously and become vulnerable to complete the quest). It’s a simple if effective storytelling technique, allowing a different supporting character to take center stage while still letting the other characters to get key pieces of character development tossed in for good measure.
So, this week it was Jen’s chance to shine – complete with a really lovely pep talk from Agatha, stressing that while Jen is still very much traumatized by the forced binding, she still has the goods to be a badass witch. But, while we did see Jen realize she has a brain*, we also got some interesting pieces of information relayed to us in the individual hallucination scenes. For Alice, it was her mother’s belief in the family curse – one that seems to ultimately lead to one’s death. For Lilia, it was the revelation that some individuals (family?) were dead in Sicily – and seeming to haunt her as well. As for Agatha, well, coupled with Jen’s warning to Teen about the rumors surrounding the fate of Nicky, Agatha’s missing son, it looks like she might have actually traded him for the Darkhold years ago. Which would explain her internalized anger and horror that Wanda destroyed all copies after stealing hers. Lots of trauma to unpack there.
*I wouldn’t be shocked if each of the coven members’ tasks further aligned with the Wizard of Oz gifts. But I also wouldn’t be shocked if they didn’t. Just something to stick a pin in for future episodes.
The mystery of just who Teen might be – Agatha’s son? Billy Maximoff? Billy Kaplan a.k.a. comic Wiccan? – deepened a bit as well. He speaks of his parents as if they are still alive – although they are “sleeping” in his words, because it might be night, but could that mean something else? – so, he seems to believe he has them. And he claims not to know the sigil that has prevented him from speaking his name – something that apparently can only be cast by a witch. So, might he be Wanda’s son? Or might he come from someone else – perhaps Mephisto, who was finally name dropped in this episode? If Rio is Blackheart, who is Mephisto’s son, maybe she’s behind Teen’s appearance and existence? Some interesting questions here to ponder.
As for the episode itself, well, it was entertaining if not all that exciting. Sure, we had a death of a supporting character, but I think we had all worked out that Mrs. Hart had to die so that Rio could take her rightful place in the coven – even if Agatha desperately doesn’t want her to. And we were deprived of Aubrey Plaza this week, which was a major bummer. That being said, I still had a fun time watching the episode. Kathryn Hahn really is an absolute star and is just so smooth with her looks, one-liners, and reaction shots. And to be able to turn on a dime and provide the emotional layering necessary to fully sell Agatha’s heartbroken reaction to her hallucination? She’s really really great.
So, not a home run, but a solid double this time out. I remain eager to see which witch gets the chance to step up and shine in the next task – and just how and when Rio is going to be joining the team. Agatha needs someone to put her in her place – and force her to care – and Rio just might be that person. I guess we’ll see next week.
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