WandaVision: All-New Halloween Spooktacular!
February 12, 2021 5:47 AM - Season 1, Episode 6 - Subscribe

The Halloween special is here
posted by cendawanita (133 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
1. i choose to believe the shark is a fassbender reference

2. i'm really impressed that not only is fox!pietro not just a stunt casting, they took his movie characterisation (fourth wall commentariat) and ran with it actually deliver the story, by commenting on the 'production' choices.
posted by cendawanita at 5:49 AM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


That ad!!! WHAT. Also, no more Ad Man and Ad Lady.

She turns SWORD into a circus!!! I laughed, grim as it was.

DARCY IS NOW INSIDE THE HEX. Will she get a speaking role?

Poor Agnes...does this mean she is not a real witch, or not powerful?

Over on reddit, people were speculating that the "frozen" people farther from Wanda were slowly starving to death (thus the ad) or possibly already dead.

We still don't know Quicksilver's deal.
posted by emjaybee at 5:57 AM on February 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


Soooo, who is Maria's "guy" that she's gonna bring in? Reed Richards maybe?

Hayward just articulated a good reason for people to hate the forthcoming mutants.

So many good lines and points about what someone is doing, where Wanda is getting all this new power and how casually she's shifting reality around.

Vision is still dead, outside of this bubble. But inside, he's alive and very himself.

Wanda's gonna grow that bubble, isn't she?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:15 AM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


I'm starting to wonder about the world where Loki ends up in the trailers for his show, which looks a little bit like this town.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:02 AM on February 12, 2021


Although we have seen our title characters’ Halloween costumes for months in the trailers, I found our first look at Fox!Pietro’s getup just delightful. Of course that couldn’t come up in the promos ahead of time for reasons but still: fantastic.

I too am ever more intrigued at who Monica’s guy is.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:11 AM on February 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


Wow, this episode. I was not expecting a Malcolm in the MIddle parody, but here we are. SUPER terrible costumes!

Pietro has clearly spent a lot of time on TV Tropes, admiring Wanda's work. She still doesn't quite seem to know how she's done it all, but Pietro seems somehow in on it. I like how he's going with what she "wants" and she's still trying to figure out how she has an alt-version.

Poor Vision. Almost broke through the firewall. Now we'll see what Darcy does in there...should be interesting.

I assume Wanda only has enough mind-dominating power to only care about animating people within Vision's range.
I'm disappointed that Agnes isn't more, somehow? From all the stuff people have said online, I was expecting more.

That was literally the most disturbing commercial EVER. Takes "childproofing" to a whole new level.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:44 AM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


....did y'all listen to the lyrics of the faux!MALCOM theme song?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:17 AM on February 12, 2021 [6 favorites]


I will riot if Darcy is harmed.

Or at the very least, write an firmly unpleasant review on the internet.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:23 AM on February 12, 2021 [12 favorites]


This is what i've been able to parse from the lyrics of this week's theme song...

Don't try to fight the chaos
Don't question what you've done
The game can try and play us (?)
Don't let it stop the fun

Some days it's all confusion
Easy come and easy go
What if it's all a vision?
Sit back and enjoy the show

Let's keep it goin'
Let's keep it goin'
???
Let's keep it goin'
Let's keep it goin'
Though there may be no way of knowing
Who's coming by to play

Also, Agnes' sweatpants say "naughty" on the butt.
posted by wabbittwax at 8:33 AM on February 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


Soooo, who is Maria's "guy" that she's gonna bring in? Reed Richards maybe?

2010s were the era of mockumentary sitcoms. That seems like the perfect time to correctly cast Reed Richards and them let him "Jim" the camera throughout the episode.
posted by Gary at 8:38 AM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


According to the subtitles it's:

Don't try to fight the chaos
Don't question what you've done
The game can try to play us
Don't let it stop the fun

Some days it's all confusion
Easy come and easy go
But if it's all illusion
Sit back, enjoy the show

Let's keep it going
Let's keep it going
Through each distorted day
Let's keep it going
Though there may be no way of knowing
Who's coming by to play
posted by scorbet at 8:44 AM on February 12, 2021 [7 favorites]


...people were speculating that the "frozen" people farther from Wanda were slowly starving to death (thus the ad) or possibly already dead.

I don't think this is the case. It's been more than a week of this and the kids running around for Halloween don't look harmed, and Pietro specifically called out that they'd been sleeping the whole time until needed to play extras.

A lot of Agnes' role in this episode works against the theory that she is Agatha. The only thing that left an opening was the question how do you get lost in a town you grew up in. Is that her fighting the control, or actually being lost because she's not from Westview.

I'm starting to wonder about the world where Loki ends up in the trailers for his show, which looks a little bit like this town.

Well, Loki was briefly de-aged and on a team with Billy and Tommy. (No, I do not actually think we are going to see Kid Loki, because where will you find a tween actor who can carry Hiddleston's energy.)
posted by Karmakaze at 9:05 AM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


Two things I noticed:

1) While Vision was wearing green spandex, the phrase "Kick-Ass" was spoken at least twice.

2) Wanda explicitly referred to this as the boys' first Halloween. They may have soap-opera-aged to ~10, but she still knows that they're much younger than that.
posted by Hatashran at 9:38 AM on February 12, 2021 [8 favorites]


And a third thing: Wanda's costume's headpiece reminded me of Magneto.

When Wanda and Pietro started talking about their father, I was hoping for him to say something like "Our father wasn't killed; he's Magneto!"
posted by Hatashran at 9:51 AM on February 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


I really enjoyed that. And it was also nice to finally have an episode where I understood the sitcom references. I don’t think the previous references have much resonance outside the US (at least not to this 44 year old) but Malcolm was a hit here in the UK
posted by chill at 9:59 AM on February 12, 2021


(No, I do not actually think we are going to see Kid Loki, because where will you find a tween actor who can carry Hiddleston's energy.)

If we were going to get Kid Loki, it should have been here filling the Dewey shaped hole in their Malcolm in the Middle episode.
posted by Gary at 10:48 AM on February 12, 2021 [6 favorites]


if we're moving towards modern time, maybe "inside the Hex" Darcey can become a broke diner waitress?
posted by alchemist at 11:35 AM on February 12, 2021 [26 favorites]


My current theory (still with large gaps) of the timeline:
  1. The events of Infinity War happen.
  2. Vision is laid to rest, probably under the protection of SWOrD
  3. When Hayward becomes Acting Director of SWORD when Maria Rameau relapses/dies, SWORD begins experimenting on/studying the body.
  4. The events of EndGame happen.
  5. Wanda goes looking for Vision's body. Maybe to try to "fix" him, maybe not.
  6. Wanda discovers that SWORD has him. This might involve help from and unknown entity (UE).
  7. Wanda goes in and gets the body. Maybe she even asks nicely, first.
  8. Wanda meets (or re-meets) UE, who offers to help her restore Vision.
  9. Some combination of Wanda and the UE create the Westville anomaly.
  10. The show begins.

posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:04 PM on February 12, 2021 [5 favorites]


My dumb observation: I like how the hex transformed the SWORD camp into a circus with lots of cute, thematic swaps, but when it absorbs a car dealership it just transforms it into a quainter car dealership.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:49 PM on February 12, 2021 [22 favorites]


Also, Agnes' sweatpants say "naughty" on the butt.

There’s no taming this tiger!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:20 PM on February 12, 2021 [10 favorites]


I still don't trust Agnes. That whole dead, dead, DEAD bit was sooo over the top.
posted by Pendragon at 1:20 PM on February 12, 2021 [5 favorites]


Hayward is a cartoonish badguy but I also like the suggestion that he's also suffering PTSD/grief like Wanda and expressing it in his own way.
posted by kokaku at 1:21 PM on February 12, 2021 [7 favorites]


This episode makes me more inclined to believe Pietro isn't really a universe-jumping Pietro, but probably Mephisto or Nightmare or whatever supernatural baddie is the Big Bad here. He's too much of a trolling dick to Wanda's trauma & current state to be a "real" Pietro. The casting feels like maybe a troll of the audience, though... or maybe a set-up to a later Pietro crossover? Would love that.

Expanding force fields are common for superhero/sci-fi stuff, but fwiw it also works as a callback to a big point of Wanda, Vision, and Monica's history. Shortly after Monica joins the team, Wanda & Vision get called out of the reserves to deal with a mysterious expanding force field in NYC. Vision phases through and immediately goes catatonic. Monica is the one to bust through. Then Vision spends months in a coma-like state, Wanda watches over him, and I guess she & Monica have some bonding there in an issue I missed. (This was all when I first started reading comics. I have big attachments to Monica.)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:29 PM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


I don't think there's a big bad. I think someone pushed Wanda into all of this but she's her own enemy here. I just don't see this ending in some big weightless CG battle (unless it's Wanda and Vision, but that would just be heartbreaking).

I have no idea where this is going. Is it House of M? There are enough hints that say yes, but it's also constantly surprising me. It's all just so ... satisfying. The complicated shifts in tone are amazing! I've watched each episode at least twice. I actually look forward to binging all of it again when it's over.
posted by edencosmic at 1:56 PM on February 12, 2021 [10 favorites]


I don't expect a big CG battle, either, but I do think there's some external baddie at work. Wanda has too many "I don't know" moments. I don't think she's denying her own bad moves--I think she's being manipulated. While she's clearly doing some bad things here, I think she's not the sole responsible party.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 2:07 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


"I have that XY chromosome!"
"Chip off the old Maximoff block"
"The energy inside has rewritten your cells"
"Mom and dad would have loved it here"

Swear to god they are straight up trolling us at this point, and I love it.
posted by EatTheWeek at 2:08 PM on February 12, 2021 [11 favorites]


Last episode, Vision noted the empty playgrounds; now there are *all* the children around.And this is what Pietro was talking about later. I first thought Pietro was surprised at the twins.

Herb’s “Do you want something changed?” feels like a followup to Agnes’ “should I do that from the top?” last episode.

omg, Wanda has the ability to freeze wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men

Pietro noticed Billy (with the headband) talking to the camera when they were gaming.

Darcy’s firewall hacking feels like another dramatic conceit now.

Aw, I think I saw a Ruth Bader Ginsberg costume on the cul de sac.

On the theater marquee, there are The Incredibles (2004) and The Parent Trap (1998). I’m not sure about the black & white movie being projected outside.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:30 PM on February 12, 2021 [13 favorites]


I don't think Quicksilver is from another timeline, I think he's to trick the audience while also reinforcing the idea that things aren't right and Wanda isn't in complete control of everything. She's made two references to not knowing how it all started, so I think there is another force that was the catalyst and Wanda is trying her best to make it a happy place. Let's say she's done a deal with the devil Mephisto, he's created a whole town for her in exchange for something else (?) and she's trying to make the whole thing more pleasantville for everyone while they are stuck there. There are holes in my theory, but I like that the show is both a trauma response and Wanda trying to "save" the town from whatever hell Mephisto may be trying to put them all through.

Quicksilver called the kids "hell spawn" in this episode, so you know, another clue to their "father" - ie. the catalyst for Wanda's being able to reproduce.
posted by crossoverman at 3:36 PM on February 12, 2021 [5 favorites]


Random observation: I'm pretty sure the car Agnes was attempting to drive out of town had Connecticut plates. We've not really seen her house, other than she says she's a neighbor. We've not met Ralph her husband. I'm starting to think she was just passing through town when Wanda took over. Not sure what that means in the grand scheme of things though...
posted by danapiper at 4:14 PM on February 12, 2021


How many episodes there are going to be in this season? Have we hit the halfway mark yet?
posted by Paul Slade at 4:18 PM on February 12, 2021


9 total, 3 more
posted by emjaybee at 4:28 PM on February 12, 2021


There are going to be 9 episodes total. So only 3 more to go.
posted by wabbittwax at 4:30 PM on February 12, 2021


Pretty sure one of those kids didn’t just have a good costume, they were dead and had been for quite some time.
posted by Ampersand692 at 4:35 PM on February 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


The thought of the comics Quicksilver seeing his screen counterpart wearing a costume with JORTS is amusing me greatly
posted by jason_steakums at 4:41 PM on February 12, 2021 [8 favorites]


I also wondered about the way too real looking zombie.
posted by mce at 4:47 PM on February 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


This show has surpassed my expectations to a truly bonkers degree. I am reduced to incoherent shrieking, but I deeply appreciate everyone here who is bringing the analysis, Marvel comics lore, close readings, and wild theories.
posted by merriment at 5:04 PM on February 12, 2021 [11 favorites]


"Uh oh, your blood is gifs now."
posted by Rinku at 5:24 PM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


You can't just mention zombie kids without a link to a screen grab, folks!

I agree that Pietro is needling Wanda too much to really be her brother. There's no compassion even when it's just the two of them. Billy called him a man-child, which fits the wacky TV uncle trope, but wacky uncles aren't mean.
posted by harriet vane at 5:34 PM on February 12, 2021


Uncle Jesse was wacky but he would still sit the girls down and make sure they treated each other with respect, yo.

So...(clears throat)

WHAT ABOUT THAT YOGURT AD THOUGH GUYS
posted by emjaybee at 5:50 PM on February 12, 2021 [7 favorites]


delicious yogurt, container needs a redesign
posted by kokaku at 5:54 PM on February 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


Yeah, if you can't break the seal you die.

Wait....
posted by chuntered inelegantly from a sedentary position at 6:02 PM on February 12, 2021 [9 favorites]


They're depicting Pietro's powers (and I guess the kid's too) like they did in Age of Ultron, with the blurry blue lines and fast motion as opposed to adopting the depiction from the X-Men franchise of seeing it from his perspective where everyone else is frozen in time as he moves playfully around them. Arguably, that was the best thing about the X-Men version of the character.

I figure this probably suggests something about something, somehow.

We'll know he's really the Quicksilver from X-Men when they change the way they portray his power. Until then, we must assume shenanigans are afoot.
posted by wabbittwax at 6:08 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


"1) While Vision was wearing green spandex, the phrase "Kick-Ass" was spoken at least twice."
Quicksilver guy was also in the movie Kick-Ass
posted by ssmith at 6:32 PM on February 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


The other Pietro actor was also in Kick-Ass
posted by Pronoiac at 6:45 PM on February 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


Wow, this episode. I was not expecting a Malcolm in the MIddle parody, but here we are. SUPER terrible costumes!

Thanks, I knew it was something but I didn't recognize it. (Never seen Malcolm)
posted by octothorpe at 6:53 PM on February 12, 2021


- Yeah, the "Kick-Ass" references are sly nods to both Quicksilvers being in that movie. (On preview: jinx, Pronoiac!)

- I'm still holding out for Agnes=Agatha. Here's my case: where is she in this episode? Not near Wanda and Vision, as she is in all the previous episodes (in fact, inserting herself into the action rather ostentatiously, "naughty" indeed); it looks like she's making a break for it, and came pretty close to the (old) perimeter before being caught in the Freeze Zone. And she's practically cackling.

- Leaning further away from Hayward being Hydra/A.I.M. and more toward his simply being way out of his depth. Even before he ran from the Hexpansion, his little rant as he was booting out our gutsy trio reeked of self-pity. He won't be in the director's chair much longer, methinks.

- I think that the movie being shown in the square may be the original Night of the Living Dead; it's totally inappropriate for showing in that setting, thus totally appropriate for the intermittent horrorshow that Westview is becoming, plus tying into zombie husband and maybe zombie brother.

- Also still thinking that Pietro/Peter is the gateway drug to the X-Verse. His fourth wall breaking may simply be an amplified version of that of the other characters' occasionally doing so; his thought processes may be literally running ahead of Wanda's efforts to tamp them down.

- The demonic/diabolical stuff intrigues me. In a way, the MCU has been slyly edging up to magic, more implying that it's a form of super-science (via the Asgardians and Stephen Strange's involvement with the Infinity Stones); if Mephisto is somehow involved, that gets more into traditional magic and mysticism, and even flirting with Certain Religious Implications. Not sure that Disney really wants to kick over that hornet's nest.

- Pretty sure that we're going to see Photon/Spectrum before this season's over.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:57 PM on February 12, 2021 [7 favorites]


I’m surprised no one has mentioned Wanda’s brief flash on Pietro as a corpse, same as she did with Vision.

I’m also surprised Vision didn’t simply revert into the corpse he actually is, once he stepped out of the barrier. It really seemed like, had the barrier not ripped him apart, he may have actually survived outside the barrier.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:02 PM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


I must say despite the corniness and flimsiness of the Hallowe'en versions of Vision's and Scarlet Witch's costumes, I loved the look of them, especially when the showed Viz's yellow cape flowing dramatically. When you compared his actual darker cape to the bright yellow one, it just doesn't move as well. I was also really impressed by Wanda's headpiece. That thing always looked like a nightmare to keep on, but they do an admirable job of it here.

Speaking of costumes, I was trying to figure out who young Wanda and Pietro were supposed to be while trick-or-treating for fish. Of course, I noticed his eye patch, but it didn't register with me that there were dressed as Nick Fury and the Black Widow even though that's what is being suggested elsewhere on the Internet. I don't know if I quite buy that as Wanda's antennae look more like a butterfly than a spider, and I can't remember Natasha with a long side braid.

The commercial this time was a little more subtle or guarded in allusions to the history shown so far in the MCU.

I think Evan Peters is more than living up to the level of acting that Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany have been demonstrating. I wasn't sure he had the skills or the range, but he's right there with them.
posted by sardonyx at 7:21 PM on February 12, 2021


My impression there was that it was not that the barrier was tearing apart, but that the parts of him that were made by Wanda (or whatever power she is using to make/maintain the anomaly, if it's not just her) were being reabsorbed/pulled back into the anomaly.
posted by Tabitha Someday at 7:23 PM on February 12, 2021 [5 favorites]


Well that was entertaining.
posted by skewed at 7:34 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


I’m also surprised Vision didn’t simply revert into the corpse he actually is, once he stepped out of the barrier. It really seemed like, had the barrier not ripped him apart, he may have actually survived outside the barrier.

My thought in that scene was perhaps Vision was, at that moment, only half-baked, in some sense -- that the entire hex is an elaborate process to revive Vision and it's currently only part done. The infinity stone in his head seemed extra sparkly in some shots this episode.
posted by Rinku at 8:54 PM on February 12, 2021


You can't just mention zombie kids without a link to a screen grab, folks!

I don't have a screen grab, but I think they mean the kid you see at about 16:10 when Vision is looking around the cul-de-sac where no one is moving. It looks to me like it's definitely a costume--there are clothes behind the ribcage and I think I can see a bit of a normal neck beneath the skull.

Still, if it was a kid who had starved to death, that would fit in with the idea that some of the commercials are reliving Wanda's failures. Lagos paper towels, after the mess she made in the city of Lagos, and now the starving kid on the island who can't get any nourishment from "Yo-Magic" (your magic, Wanda!!!). It's really hard to know what exactly to make of the commercials, but maybe they are manifestations of her subconscious guilt and anxiety peeking through the carefully scripted "reality" she's trying to maintain?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:57 PM on February 12, 2021 [5 favorites]


The woman playing Agnes is a professional actor and if I turned in that performance and it wasn't either an obvious hint about only pretending to be mind controlled or a complicated misdirect that will take the entire rest of the season to unravel I would quit my job, the director would quit his job, the writer would quit his job, we'd all be homeless because nobody's hiring waiters right now and no other industry still follows the boomer ideal of falling through the front window daydrunk and demanding a full time job.

I have no idea how so many people are like "she started cackling when Vision did the touchy thing! She's a normal person!"

But why doesn't Vision see through an obvious performance?
posted by fomhar at 9:10 PM on February 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


I don't exactly know the word for this--cultural osmosis maybe?--but I grew up in America watching TV but not really the TV this show is riffing on, and I'm really curious about how the style of each episode still feels so evocative of its era to me. Which, I guess that means the show is swinging big at our 2021 cultural signifiers for It's The Seventies more than what 70s sitcoms were necessarily like, but this definitely felt like watching 90s TV in some way I can't articulate, even though I've never seen an episode of Malcolm in the Middle in my life.

I have no spoilers, but now I really want to see what this show would do as a 2000s style mockumentary from inside a constructed reality as it quietly implodes.
posted by jameaterblues at 10:23 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


From the flashback: "I'm not the ones with the guns, Director." Didn't strike me before, but they know each other. Also, "Director". And in the next moment, Wanda turns the barrier from sciency-blue to Wanda-magic-red, like that was the moment she took full control from Hayward's puppet show? Hayward seems a lot more angry and scared now that the barrier is red.

Vision is doing a great Bryan Cranston impression at the beginning.

Jimmy Woo: "There's no time for you to diminish your colleagues when you're about to start a war you can't win." This guy.

After the Agnes and Herb scenes, I'm no longer convinced that she's Agatha. Vision's touch affected her the way it did Norm last episode and Herb was being weird like Agnes from last episode. So her character attributes seem less unique. I'm still wondering about Ralph though. Oh, and also why didn't we see her dossier, since she's such a prominent character?

That commercial was dark. "I remember hungry, I used to be like that all the time." "What did you do?" "Snacked on Yo-Magic, bro." The shark is Mephisto, obvs.

Pietro: "I got shot like a chump on the street for no reason at all." Brilliant lampshade. Wanda's really compartmentalizing, she doesn't seem to know what she doesn't know. She was letting Pietro get away with a lot more that other people, but she broke at the end and blasted him when he spoke the truth a little too plainly. "I'm not some stranger." Yeah, OK, we'll see..

When Darcy shows Monica her scans, she says she's going in to help Wanda no matter what. This could be simple bravery and I didn't feel like she was holding something back, but it's also still possible that she knows something about her condition.

What did Darcy discover in Hayward's files? All we know is "Classified Weapons Intel." She emailed it to Woo, so we'll probably see it in the next ep. (I wonder if james_woo@fbi.gov is getting a lot of fan mail rn.)

Darcy! Nooo!

Haha, Sword is a clown circus.

In conclusion, too short.
posted by Horkus at 10:53 PM on February 12, 2021 [4 favorites]


om the flashback: "I'm not the ones with the guns, Director." Didn't strike me before, but they know each other. Also, "Director". And in the next moment, Wanda turns the barrier from sciency-blue to Wanda-magic-red, like that was the moment she took full control from Hayward's puppet show? Hayward seems a lot more angry and scared now that the barrier is red.

While I don't think Hayward is the big bad here, he definitely is a baddie and I imagine we'll find out he's at least partially responsible for what's going on, one way or another.

His line about keeping the lights on in the Blip period is telling, too, and gets to his patterns. He's scared of people with superpowers and he's trying to get control over it, which is a recurring thing in Marvel comics in general.

On that note, I gotta say: it still surprises me today how many fans seem to buy the narrative of Lagos being Wanda's fault. The problem of the team operating without cooperating with the gov't and such is a real one, but everyone focuses on what Wanda did... which, ultimately, was to minimize the damage from a bomb that was gonna go off and probably kill even more people if she hadn't acted. It's natural for everyone in-world to dump on the superpowered person, because again, that's a recurring theme in Marvel properties. But I'm always surprised by how often the audience (elsewhere, not in this thread) buys into it.

But I also see people treat Thanos like his explanations were sincere too, so. Meh.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:15 PM on February 12, 2021 [13 favorites]


Oh, and also why didn't we see her dossier, since she's such a prominent character?


I rewatched all the episodes today before watching the latest ep (because now I have to pay! close! attention! instead of being "well this is a weird but fun conceit about two MCU characters I don't care about"), and noticed that on the Board o' Info in ep 4, as they're gathering data on all the townsfolk, everyone has a copy of a New Jersey ID clipped to their info sheet except for Agnes. There's a pic of the board in this article that also mentions the notable absence of the ID.

So... there may not be much of a dossier on her. Yet.
posted by paisley sheep at 11:28 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


Agree about Hayward's partial responsibility, and now things have gotten out of hand.

I don't think that the audience is meant to buy that Lagos was Wanda's fault. I think they're accepting the idea that the world would be irrational and reactionary about a tragic accident, and then political actors would use that outrage to further their own agenda. We've seen that happen so many times in the real world that it's bordering on roman a clef territory (cf. Benghazi). (I have Thoughts about what Tony was thinking in CA:CW, but this is not that thread.)

And Thanos was officially Mad, he could be completely sincere but also totally pants at the same time.

paisley sheep: We got closeups and mentions of the other characters names and her sheet is up there, so it's notable that we don't see hers up close.

Man, I've got to stop threadsitting, this show really has me.
posted by Horkus at 11:39 PM on February 12, 2021


The woman playing Agnes is a professional actor and if I turned in that performance and it wasn't either an obvious hint about only pretending to be mind controlled or a complicated misdirect

I thought the implication was that she was fighting to hold on to the normalcy Vision temporarily granted her. And losing. It's like she's shouting to him as she's being dragged away.
posted by straight at 11:48 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


I’m not sure about the black & white movie being projected outside.

My snap, subconscious, didn't-even-look-at-it impression was Plan 9 from Outer Space.
posted by The Tensor at 11:51 PM on February 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


If nothing else, Hayward would want the vibranium Vision is constructed from. Ultron spent time gathering stuff all over the globe. He might have taken (from who knows how many governments and shadow agencies) every bit of vibranium outside of Wakanda except for Captain America's shield.

But maybe someone offered a scheme to deliver into Hayward's hands a magically repaired and mind-wiped synthezoid? And maybe the scheme is not going quite like he'd expected?
posted by straight at 11:59 PM on February 12, 2021


Based on screencrush, the b&w movie playing is the original Night of the Living Dead (around min 16 though i don't agree with his speculation about fox!pietro)
posted by cendawanita at 12:40 AM on February 13, 2021


I appreciate the fact that as soon as we hit the nineties, the music is all butt rock and ska. They absolutely nailed that era of sitcoms just like all the rest.
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:31 AM on February 13, 2021 [4 favorites]


I find it super interesting that we're all praising this for the bang on portrayal of a 90s sitcom like Malcolm in the Middle when that show actually premiered in 2000. So the show actually hasn't done a 90s sitcom.

That said, MITM feels 90s because of the style of music and the frantic camerawork, which is more of a holdover from music videos and films than TV sitcoms. But this was perfectly Malcolm in the Middle.
posted by crossoverman at 3:06 AM on February 13, 2021 [6 favorites]


Great episode, I love this show!

One thing is that when Wanda saw Pietro as dead, he seemed to be in his Halloween costume with bullet holes matching his bullet wounds.

So while she's seeing him as dead, it's not literally his dead body. So hopefully it's not literally Vision's dead body lurching around with her mind-control powers making people think he's alive.

When Vision was breaking out it seemed to me that the barrier was stretching elastically and pulling the magically-created bits of Vision's body back in. Not sure how that fits in with the cable-turned-jump-rope and kevlar-armour-turned-70s-jumpsuit in which magically transformed stuff seems to exist just fine outside the Hex.

I'm buying Agnes as being there against her will now. Also I think when the X-men are introduced it will be through the multiverse, probably starting with "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness", rather than X-men appearing in this universe. With repeated alien invasions being battled by superheroes, kids getting selfies with Smart Hulk, Thor having fans and getting trolled online, and then the Snap and return, it doesn't seem like it would be that big an extra shock to this universe if mutants started appearing.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 3:52 AM on February 13, 2021


Well that was fantastic. I am thankful to have such a great TV show to watch. I haven't loved a lot of the comic book TV shows and adaptations; they become too much like normal TV shows in their genre, crimefighting or detective work or whatever. This show is fuckin' weird. It is a comic book brought to the TV screen in the guise of 30 minute sitcoms. It joins Legion and Watchmen for comic-books-as-comic-books brought to life on screen.

Also also action sci-fi movies. Shout out to the CG crew; the effects for the expansion of the dome and Vision's disintegrating body were both fantastic.
posted by Nelson at 7:12 AM on February 13, 2021 [5 favorites]


This started with Jimmy Woo not being able to get to his witness. I've assumed for a while that was Agnes--hence no file on the board--whatever else she may turn out to be.
posted by stevis23 at 7:25 AM on February 13, 2021 [7 favorites]


Someone made a comment along these lines in the previous thread, but it's interesting how quickly we are all completely accustomed to and expecting this TV show to have special effects equal to a major studio movie. Maybe it's been too long since I've seen a movie in the theaters, but the production values here seem more or less the same, except for having scenes occur in exotic locations. Netflix is gonna have to step it up.
posted by skewed at 8:29 AM on February 13, 2021 [4 favorites]


With repeated alien invasions being battled by superheroes, kids getting selfies with Smart Hulk, Thor having fans and getting trolled online, and then the Snap and return, it doesn't seem like it would be that big an extra shock to this universe if mutants started appearing.

I recently saw an interview with a comics writer who had the same problem with the X-Men in the comics, in that the FF's Thing--who looks like a walking pile of gravel--could walk around Manhattan and people would be going, "Hey, Ben, wassup", and yet if they saw, say, Colossus, they'd be going, "aah, a mutant, flee!" But that doesn't take into account the existence of people like Magneto, who really do believe that they're the replacement for humanity. The go-to comparison for Magneto and Professor X is Malcolm X and MLK, WRT their respective philosophies, but that would only be true if Malcolm X, in his very first public appearance, had tried to steal a bunch of nukes, which is what Magneto was trying to do in Uncanny X-Men #1. It would be pretty easy to set up the various players in the MCU, especially with the availability of social media.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:16 AM on February 13, 2021


and noticed that on the Board o' Info in ep 4, as they're gathering data on all the townsfolk, everyone has a copy of a New Jersey ID clipped to their info sheet except for Agnes.

There is some weirdness with the Board o' Info. Abilash Tandon's page has notes on what happened when Vision briefly liberated him from his role as "Norm" -- the confusion, the concern for his family, etc. The tricky part is that Vison did this in the fifth episode and the notes are already there on the wall in the fourth.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:19 AM on February 13, 2021


I recently saw an interview with a comics writer who had the same problem with the X-Men in the comics, in that the FF's Thing--who looks like a walking pile of gravel--could walk around Manhattan and people would be going, "Hey, Ben, wassup", and yet if they saw, say, Colossus, they'd be going, "aah, a mutant, flee!"

Bigotry doesn't have to be consistent to be real. Ever hear "He/she's one of the good ones?" Making a bunch of prominent exceptions doesn't change the underlying base of prejudice at work. It's just another expression of that prejudice.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:00 AM on February 13, 2021 [5 favorites]


Was I the only one disappointed that Darcy didn't get an opportunity to stun any of the SWORD agents when Monica and Jimmy were engaging in fisticuffs with them? I do hope we get an opportunity to see Darcy's legendary taser-wielding skills in a future episode.
posted by sardonyx at 10:19 AM on February 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


Bigotry doesn't have to be consistent to be real. Ever hear "He/she's one of the good ones?" Making a bunch of prominent exceptions doesn't change the underlying base of prejudice at work. It's just another expression of that prejudice.

They actually go into that in some depth in The Boys. The speedster on the A-List superhero squad "The Seven" is black, and when he's in normal street clothes and isn't immediately recognized, he's targeted for profiling -- but when he IS recognized he's mobbed by fans.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed these last two episodes, and I was really feeling for Vision here. This show is the first I've seen of his character, but seeing him so afraid for everybody in town and trying to do something about it really gets to me. He seems like a very decent person. And ironically, that makes me even more anxious that he not die, and so I was rooting for Wanda to save him by spreading the bubble.

Recast!Pietro is such a creep, but I have no idea what's up with him. If he were just faking being Pietro, then why wouldn't he make himself look like the Pietro that Wanda actually knew? So I think this is really what he looks like. And his "memory" of Trick or Treating in Sakovia was just the sort of joke you'd see on a sitcom from that era, but Wanda even says that it's not how she remembered it, and it didn't seem to have any basis in reality. She also called out his accent, and him flipping the script on her didn't disprove her point. I think he's American, or at least not Sakovian. Maybe he really is Peter Maximoff, just not Pietro Maximoff?

That commercial was haunting. When it started, I genuinely just assumed we'd gone to a commercial break, and then thought, "huh, this commercial is so retro! It feels like an old school kids' commercial!" and then I realized that that was the joke. But damn. It gave the whole rest of the episode a really sinister feel, to me. Well, the commercial and Pietro are both pretty sinister really. I think the kid in the commercial is Wanda, trying to keep a happy face on what's going on in order to survive, and finding that it's not enough.

I don't know what's going on with Agnes, except that I think she might have some powers of her own. She seems much more able to keep her "real" identity intact than any of the other people in town, even when she's interacting with Wanda. My heart broke for her and Vision when she was like, "are you here to save us?!" and Vision was like, "I want to! I want to save everyone!" but he had no idea how or what was going on, and when she saw that she became hysterical.

Herb being so calm but also seeming to reference Wanda being the director of this show also made me wonder about him and the Neighborhood Watch. Is the Neighborhood watch actually watching Wanda? Are they a real thing, just quaint-ified like the Circus was?
posted by rue72 at 10:22 AM on February 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


I believe Darcy did hacking things back in the first Thor film so it’s not totally out of nowhere.

Before she headed out, she emailed the secret Hayward file to Woo. The project name was “Cataract”, which is ... something that obscures vision, I guess?

I assume this commercial was the Soul Stone, complete with the skull dude who can’t use it
posted by rmd1023 at 1:25 PM on February 13, 2021 [3 favorites]


I assume this commercial was the Soul Stone

Whoa, I did not know this theory about the commercials representing the Infinity Stones, but in retrospect it's so obvious. And in retrospect it seems obvious that between:

1. In-universe people commenting that Wanda has never before had such power to control space, time, reality, and minds, and

2. The fact that the broadcast is coming through the cosmic background radiation (i.e. the remnants of the beginning if the universe, when the infinity stones were created),

That even if the stones themselves aren't involved, it must be some echo of them.

Speaking of which, people keep talking about Mephisto or Nightmare being part of this show—I don't know how much of that is conjecture, and how much is close reading of spoilery things I avoid. But a line from Endgame that seems to be under-discussed is when the Ancient One says that the infinity stones protect our universe from dark forces outside of it. I always assumed that the destruction of the Infinity Stones was going to set up the next mega-arc of the MCU when the dark forces invade. I'd always guessed this could be a return of Dormammu, but certainly Mephisto or Nightmare could qualify as well. I guess this weird little show about a lonely, grieving woman could actually be the kickoff for the new mega-arc!
posted by ejs at 1:59 PM on February 13, 2021 [11 favorites]


still thinking about how, at the end of the episode, Mrs. Fedora announced “warning, incoming game”
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:16 PM on February 13, 2021 [11 favorites]


You've got to hand it to WandaVision- the one episode every week schedule works so much better than putting everything out at once. Take Metafilter; if Wandavision had been a single binge viewing, it would have probably garnered a dozen or so posts, like most full season posts. As it is, we have 70+ posts every week, full of analysis and speculation. It's no contest- one episode a week is much better for sustaining interest.
posted by happyroach at 9:23 PM on February 13, 2021 [24 favorites]


I find it super interesting that we're all praising this for the bang on portrayal of a 90s sitcom like Malcolm in the Middle when that show actually premiered in 2000. So the show actually hasn't done a 90s sitcom.

After the 80s episode, we spent some debating which 90s sitcom they would emulate, and were stuck.

The biggest sitcoms of the 90s weren't about stereotypical white suburban generic nuclear families, not in the way that all the famous shows they riffed off for previous decades were. Friends, Seinfeld, etc were all ensembles of adult characters. The definitive family sitcoms of the 90s were the Simpsons, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - neither of which they could really work with.

I think the writers were as stuck as we were, and they figured that Malcolm in the Middle - which premiered nine days after the end of the 90s - was close enough.

I wonder what they'll use next.
posted by automatronic at 9:27 PM on February 13, 2021 [2 favorites]


*cough* Dinosaurs(1991)*cough*
posted by M Edward at 9:38 PM on February 13, 2021 [2 favorites]


Though it definitely would have been a shift in socioeconomic class, I had somewhat been expecting a riff on Roseanne.
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 9:51 PM on February 13, 2021 [1 favorite]


See i thought it was a good Pete and Pete amalgamation, too. But uh maybe too niche?
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 10:26 PM on February 13, 2021 [6 favorites]


MARRIED... WITH CHILDREN
posted by porpoise at 1:14 AM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]


I would guess Modern Family is next from the look of the last trailer.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:58 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


Who's the Boss? was '84-92, M...wC '87-97. Roseanne '88-97 (+reboot). The Simpsons debuted in '87 on 'The Tracy Ulman Show.'

I remember seeing the first ever clip of The Simpons on The Tracy Ulman Show, when it was first broadcast.

Was at Uncle Benny's house in West Van - dad had apprenticed to him and mom was giving a valiant effort to make pleasant with Auntie (and would continue to, in Auntie's - prolonged - old age after Uncle Benny passed) and us kids (me 8 or 9, kid sister 5) were left alone to watch TV to be quiet and I liked what I was seeing on Ulman.


In retrospect, interesting that the shows of that era I was drawn to were depicting the difficulties of striving towards "middle class," in contrast to the late 70's/ early 80's excesses and easy existence as the middle and upper economic classes (Happy Days was '74-84, Diff'rent Strokes '78-86, Silver Spoons '82-87, Family Ties '82-89).

That last one's where Michael J. Fox plays a proud and loud Young Republican.

For reference and calibration, The Muppet Show debuted in 1976, Fraggle Rock was '83-87, Dinosaurs was '91-94.

posted by porpoise at 2:03 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


My prediction is a Vision centric Office/30 Rock style episode where Jimmy, Monica, and Darcy meet up at Vision's workplace to find a way out. The 4th wall breaks will be them sending messages to help on the outside and cutscene gags will be the fake world falling apart.
posted by cmfletcher at 5:12 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


The Dick Van Dyke show and Bewitched were both filmed in the 60’s, so I think the “sitcom per decade” thing is being taken too literally. They’re just moving forward in time stylistically with every episode.

What Wanda needs is a live action, family-focused show where people argue but everyone is fundamentally cheerful, happy, safe, and loving. That’s her goal, for everyone to be happy, safe, and static, and the tragedy is that she keeps failing on all counts. Anyways, her goals rule out a bunch of the ones people have mentioned (Wanda wheedling Vision for sex constantly would not work, them wearing dinosaur costumes with a sitcom that calls back hard to earlier-era family sitcoms also wouldn’t work.) Roseanne might have worked, but there aren’t any stairs on that set.
posted by tchemgrrl at 5:21 AM on February 14, 2021 [9 favorites]


a live action, family-focused show where people argue but everyone is fundamentally cheerful, happy, safe, and loving.

so what I’m hearing is, she needs to kidnap MCU Mike Schur.

(god can you IMAGINE them doing The Good Place)
posted by nonasuch at 6:27 AM on February 14, 2021 [7 favorites]


In the soul stone with Ted Danson as Adam Warlock?
posted by cmfletcher at 6:54 AM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]


The most meta choice they could make would be a Community style sitcom, since that's where the Russo Brothers came from. Or possibly Arrested Development. I don't see either of those choices really working though.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:54 AM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]


I could absolutely see a Community parody working, because not only is it literally called Community, but it's about a bunch of people coming together in a situation at least partially out of the control of some of them. And Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi, Jim Rash, and Donald Glover have all made MCU appearances.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:03 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


Whoa, I did not know this theory about the commercials representing the Infinity Stones...

From that article:

The toaster has a yellow blinking light in the center of the knobs and dials, which look like a face, representing the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead.

But the blinking light on the toaster was clearly red, not yellow.
posted by Pendragon at 9:08 AM on February 14, 2021 [8 favorites]


I was thinking about this some more, because, what the hell else is there to think about that isn't just depressing, and I have some thoughts about why this series is so exciting. And I think it's because it's new. Like really new. It's not another story about an egotistical jerk who gains awesome power and then against all odds learns humility to become a hero. It's not another teenager out of his depth who gains awesome power and grows to accept the awesome responsibility. Sure, these are characters that have been around for decades and there are elements of the story that are familiar, but even hardcore comic book fans aren't sure where this is going. All those YouTubers and clickbait article writers claiming to understand where the easter eggs are leading are out of their depth. They have no idea. And it's very refreshing. It's full of possibilities, not least of which is that we know Marvel now has access to their entire roster of characters and this is the beginning of them deploying that embarrassment of riches.
posted by wabbittwax at 9:42 AM on February 14, 2021 [16 favorites]


Quick check:

When the expanding wall of the anomaly was chasing Hayward, was anyone else rooting for the wall?
posted by Tabitha Someday at 10:25 AM on February 14, 2021 [28 favorites]


Also it's centered on a woman, who is very powerful, but who isn't just a Manic Pixie Tough Girl. Plus strong supporting characters, two of them women, two of them minorities. The stories are different and less predictable than your standard white dude angst hero with father issues.

There's a lot to like!
posted by emjaybee at 10:28 AM on February 14, 2021 [8 favorites]


I think the commercials aren't about the stones but are a manifestation of Wanda's trauma. Trapped with her brother and a Stark missile, human experimentation at the hands of hydra/Struker, accidentally killing innocents in Lagos. I'm not sure about the yogurt shark though. It's possible she's aware on some level that she's killing the townspeople.
posted by cmfletcher at 11:22 AM on February 14, 2021 [5 favorites]


I’ve been binge-reading Al Ewing’s Marvel work recently. It’s really good. He foregrounds heroes of colour, integrates deep continuity, and consistently makes me laugh and then a page later bends my mind into a new shape. If you’re curious: Mighty Avengers (only one white main character!), Loki: Agent of Asgard, and The Ultimates (cosmic troubleshooters with an “ask questions first, shoot later” ethos and incredible art). The way this show *feels* like a trippy self-aware comic book is so cool and reminds me of his comics.

Marvel Studios seems to be going for more of a British TV model, with limited series rather than six-seasons-and-a-movie. I imagine that’s only possible because of digital distribution and integrated production on the back end (shared CGI resources, a steady second unit, etc). Fingers crossed that lets them keep the quality this high and support lots of creators and different approaches getting a turn in the sandbox.
posted by sixswitch at 11:44 AM on February 14, 2021 [5 favorites]


(I didn’t mention Immortal Hulk as it’s his newest run but it’s 🔥)

(All these are available on the Marvel Unlimited app btw)
posted by sixswitch at 11:49 AM on February 14, 2021 [4 favorites]


> In the soul stone with Ted Danson as Adam Warlock?

Oh, right, mentioned but not yet born in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, starring Chris Pratt, and so Parks and Rec might be relevant.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:55 AM on February 14, 2021


Seconding Al Ewing, and Immortal Hulk in particular. Anyone who finds themselves "Marvel curious" from these shows might find Ewing really rewarding to read, as he is a living lore encyclopedia who regularly finds creative ways to use characters and concepts that no one has even thought of in years, and always lays out the stakes and conditions really clearly.
posted by EatTheWeek at 12:15 PM on February 14, 2021 [3 favorites]


When the expanding wall of the anomaly was chasing Hayward, was anyone else rooting for the wall?

Not me! I strongly dislike Hayward, but that's the point of the character. A series like this needs a good villain.
posted by Ampersand692 at 2:14 PM on February 14, 2021


I was thinking about this some more, because, what the hell else is there to think about that isn't just depressing, and I have some thoughts about why this series is so exciting

Also, I think most superhero related movies or tv have figured out that they should start on Chapter 3, and then slowly fill in the backstory.

Who did I need to talk to get Darcy, Woo, and Luis in the same series, preferably their own.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:27 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]


Something like X-Files, but set in the MCU.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:27 PM on February 14, 2021 [2 favorites]


Wanda wants a happy family. She grew up watching american TV, and when she says to herself "I wish my life could have been different," it's the american sitcoms she grew up watching that stick in her mind as "happy family."

At what point did she switch from doing this subconsciously to doing it consciously? I don't know. And, I suspect... perhaps even her conscious efforts might be being ruled by her id. But a powerful change happened when she told the kids not to age up.

I believe she believes that when all is said and done, vision will be gone - but their kids will still live.
posted by rebent at 2:43 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


The commercials have all referenced Wanda's trauma, and this week seemed no different, but just more abstract. The kid is starving, gets given Yo-Magic, but can't use it to save himself. Wanda was given magic, but it hasn't prevented all these terrible, devastating things from happening to her. It didn't stop her brother or her love from being killed, so what good has her magic been to her? The kid is her, given what she needed, but unable to derive any benefit from it.
posted by cosmic owl at 3:38 PM on February 14, 2021 [14 favorites]


> now I really want to see what this show would do as a 2000s style mockumentary from inside a constructed reality as it quietly implodes.

Find out what happens when people stop being polite... and start getting real.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:03 PM on February 14, 2021 [5 favorites]


I have some thoughts about why this series is so exciting. And I think it's because it's new. Like really new.

Yes, absolutely agree. But there's also the mystery of it...like Twin Peaks, Lost and Game of Thrones, it has questions you care about, that you can chew on all week between shows. It's more than just a half hour a week of entertainment.

As much as I'm going to hate when this is over, I'm glad it's just 9 episodes so they can't screw it up the way...uh, Twin Peaks, Lost and Game of Thrones did.

I was thinking about this some more, because, what the hell else is there to think about that isn't just depressing

So it's not just a great show...it's a great show for this moment.
posted by PlusDistance at 6:20 PM on February 14, 2021 [3 favorites]


And I think it's because it's new. Like really new.

This show is also restoring my faith in:

- storytelling. The storytelling is tight. I mean they still have time to blow it, but it feels very much like being under an expert's control. You can go backwards (I just made someone watch all 6 episodes and I watched them over all together) and see the crumbs so nicely.

- play. I have no idea what conversations people had, but the imaginary ones I think of the set designers and writers and everything involve a lot of fun, because the details pop so nicely. I think Mad Men was the last show that made me think people took the time to see the whole room, if you know what I mean, not just the gun on the mantle.

- heart. This show is letting itself be about the feelings. For example, Vision's weird mix of analytic ability and a non-human naivete really comes through, and against that, through their relationship, Wanda sometimes comes out with just a burst of rawness that is quite lovely and usually covered in cynicism or followed by a fight scene. (Sometimes I think the conversation was "oh, we'd normally have a bad guy burst in and have a huge fight?? DOORBELL.") The one that stood out for me in episode 5 was "I don't know how this started."

- fourth wall antics. I swear I need the joint operations Maximoff Anomaly/The Hex commemorative t-shirt because those are my chips and my whiteboard...and it's been a long time since Old Person Me felt like I needed to communicate to the outside world that I have had that sort of fan experience of feeling a part of the world.

- and yes, as per above - weird. I love how weird this show is.

I don't always love Disney for a lot of reasons, but one area I admire even when it's part of the horrific close-the-loop of the Disney Wedding (also available on Disney, for a TRUE HORROR SHOW check it out!) is how when they DO choose go for it with their Imagineers, they really go for it.

And since this series is Disney expressing an experience through American Mythology, the myth of the suburban lifestyle (see Celebration USA) - they really do get it. It shows how much they didn't get Mulan or Moana or various things they have tried to appropriate. But this thing, where they are calling on their ancestral, Mickey Clubhouse, Sunday Night Movie experience, it does go deep I think.

I hope they stick the landing man.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:22 PM on February 14, 2021 [18 favorites]


In looking at the promos so far there are a few scenes we haven't seen already that intrigue me:

-Alternate view of 70s Agnes riding her bike
-Alternate view of Wanda raiding the SWORD facility
-A camera angle at floor level showing the 50s world, Wanda's foot stepping into view, then a cut to Vision saying "Welcome home."

Also...if you look at the used car lot and circus after the Hex expands, it does not look modern...the cars look like 50s era. Did she turn the clock back?

The next episode is 60 minutes long.
posted by emjaybee at 9:41 PM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]


I double-checked and the used car lot seems to have post 1950s cars after the transform, there's a boxy Mercedes, a Volvo, and a few others I can't identify. The town sign seems to have a Fifties car on it though. I don't see how they can keep going forward in time for the next three episodes though, they might stay with the current timeframe.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 1:57 AM on February 15, 2021


These last three episodes are around 60 minutes each.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:33 AM on February 15, 2021


I love how weird this show is.

I would recommend you watch Doom Patrol. That show has weird in spades......
posted by Pendragon at 5:09 AM on February 15, 2021 [10 favorites]


...if you look at the used car lot and circus after the Hex expands, it does not look modern...the cars look like 50s era. Did she turn the clock back?

It's a small used car lot. Even in the 80s, small hometown lots had cars from almost every post-war era. It could also be that Wanda has now just thrown everything together in a big, huge blender.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:31 AM on February 15, 2021


And I think it's because it's new. Like really new.

For another weird comic-inspired story, I highly highly highly recommend Legion.

Also, the aforementioned Doom Patrol.
posted by kokaku at 6:40 AM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]


Doom Patrol is so good, I love it dearly. Best thing the Berlanti TV superhero effort has produced to date.
posted by EatTheWeek at 9:56 AM on February 15, 2021 [6 favorites]


Well, that's just great. Now I want the Doom Patrol to pop up in WandaVision. That'd really break some brains.

(And yes, Doom Patrol is weird and great.)
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 1:13 PM on February 15, 2021 [3 favorites]


Cats and dogs living together type of stuff, yes, indeed.

I mean, it's only a matter of time before the mouse buys DC, right?
posted by Kyol at 1:28 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]


Nth-ing the love for Doom Patrol, it's really well done. It's unfortunate that production of season 2 was cut short by COVID, but presumably they can just take up where they left off whenever they're able to do season 3.

I also liked Legion a lot, although the final season didn't quite work for me. I think the episode order may have been cut, and so they didn't have as much time to wrap up the story as originally anticipated. Still, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in weird comics-inspired storytelling.

WandaVision has been very entertaining so far. Most of my pet theories already have been aired in this thread, so rather than repeat any of that stuff, I'll just say that I'm pleased & impressed to see Marvel do something like this that's very different from the rest of their output, yet still connected to their overall universe. Also, Jimmy Woo has been a favorite minor Marvel character of mine since I was reading comics as a kid in the Silver Age, so it's been fun to see him (and Darcy as well) again in WV.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 1:41 PM on February 15, 2021 [4 favorites]


> These last three episodes are around 60 minutes each.

Fun fact: as a general rule, dramas are an hour, and comedies are a half hour.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:31 PM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]


By that, I meant to suggest that the mood of the show could change. It might also mean we're about halfway through the running time of the show.
posted by Pronoiac at 4:08 PM on February 15, 2021




Just learned that the theme song was sung by Kathleen Hanna! (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, The Julie Ruin)
posted by kokaku at 12:25 PM on February 16, 2021 [13 favorites]


This run-time speculation is based on an off-hand comment that the series is 6-hours long. Depending on how you count the length of the first six episodes (6 x 30mins?), maybe we've got 3 hours left. Maybe the next two are 30 mins each and the last episode is 2 hours?!

This show always makes me want more, which is great. That doesn't mean they should just give me more. Wanting more is why I love this show so much.
posted by crossoverman at 5:00 PM on February 16, 2021 [4 favorites]


Oh god, WandaVision broke Disney+
posted by Pronoiac at 12:14 AM on February 19, 2021


Episode 7 is showing as the normal length (38 mins including the immense all-languages credits).
posted by TheophileEscargot at 2:11 AM on February 19, 2021


Omg, Wanda changed it!!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:11 AM on February 19, 2021


Also, stick around for the credits in the next episode
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:50 AM on February 19, 2021


Next episode post is up... Not sure if cookies and milk are SOP here too...
posted by cendawanita at 3:52 AM on February 19, 2021


Oh god, WandaVision broke Disney+

What...does this mean?
posted by medusa at 11:30 AM on February 19, 2021


Too many True Believers trying to watch at the stroke of midnight on the west coast caused some Disney+ outages.
posted by EatTheWeek at 11:35 AM on February 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


Got it, thanks ETW.
posted by medusa at 1:19 PM on February 19, 2021


It comes out at a really weird time, it’s after lunch for me in France, normally I’m asleep when US TV airs!
posted by ellieBOA at 10:19 PM on February 19, 2021


Ummm... For anyone considering watching Legion as a result of suggestions here, I feel it's only right to note that the end of Season 2 needs serious CW regarding consent.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:34 AM on February 26, 2021 [3 favorites]


Very amused by:

DARCY: OH FUUUU --

[The Hex sweeps over her]

-- UDGE!
posted by kyrademon at 9:49 AM on March 3, 2021 [6 favorites]


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