Agatha All Along: Death’s Hand in Mine

October 23, 2024 6:41 PM - Season 1, Episode 7

The remaining suffer the hand they are dealt in the next trial.
posted by 1970s Antihero (24 comments total)

Hell yes, it's the Patti LuPone episode! And seen through her Billy-Pilgrim-unstuck-in-time perspective, no less! (mostly, at least.) This could have gone badly really easily, and indeed for a while at the beginning of this I was sure that it would, but they absolutely stuck the landing, plus gave us confirmation on the (I believe) prevailing Rio theory, and even found time to creak the door open as to Wanda's fate.

I'm really enjoying the hell out of this show.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:52 PM on October 23 [9 favorites]

I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending of the previous episode, but this one landed pretty successfully (with a tasteful cut to black).
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:55 PM on October 23 [2 favorites]

She went out like a boss. And the rest of the episode was excellent as well; the costumes (and Billy taking a few moments to admire his own Maleficentness), the Tarot tying into the deathtrap, the revelation about Rio.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:18 PM on October 23 [4 favorites]

Ok I just watched it again. Yeah, this one just straight-up rules.

A very small touch that I loved at the very end - the opening notes of "Time in a Bottle" manage to totally fit the "old Sicily" vibe of the last shot of the episode before going into the credits, which is just really cool.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:54 PM on October 23 [1 favorite]

Great lines:

"You want straight answers, ask a straight lady."
"Oh damn, using his full name!"
"Relax, baby, we're cool."
posted by Navelgazer at 9:02 PM on October 23 [3 favorites]

Love that Lilia passing her trial meant not that she lived (apparently) but that she saved her coven. A nice contrast to Agatha’s selfishness—I assume Agatha’s climactic trial will require actually sacrificing something for someone else.

Surprising that Teen’s question was “Am I William or am I Billy?” If I’m not mistaken, there’s no William left except for what Billy pretends to be, and he doesn’t need to pretend much these days.
posted by ejs at 10:16 PM on October 23 [3 favorites]

"Time in a Bottle" was a great closing song but it distracted a bit from the vibe when the captions -- which for this series usually name the song playing or at least accurate describe it -- called it "folk music".
posted by rhiannonstone at 10:59 PM on October 23

Surprising that Teen’s question was “Am I William or am I Billy?” If I’m not mistaken, there’s no William left except for what Billy pretends to be, and he doesn’t need to pretend much these days.

Well, it seems to me that the question indicates it's not that clear to Teen himself if there is no William left.
posted by Pendragon at 11:14 PM on October 23 [4 favorites]

The rare episode that is not only great, but lifts up the whole season/series. I was kinda liking the show, but now I LOVE it and can't wait to re-watch!

The scenes in the tunnel with Lillia and Jen were a delight. Wonderful dynamic between the two of them.
posted by Frayed Knot at 7:50 AM on October 24 [3 favorites]

Proof that time is a flat circle: "Time in a Bottle" as the soundtrack for a scene with someone who might be described as "Bohneriffic" [mild spoilers for one of the X-Men movies]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:58 AM on October 24 [6 favorites]

He seemed to remember Lili from the bar bitzvah, which was before the car accident. He was also pretty emphatic that he considered Mrs. Kaplan to be his real mother. There is also the question of whether there was enough of Billy to be an entire real person. He may have grafted onto William's soul rather than displacing it.
posted by Karmakaze at 1:44 PM on October 24 [5 favorites]

I think it makes sense, at least, that he considers Mrs. Kaplan to be his mom - she's been his mom for the past three years even if he has no memories from before then, and from what little we've seen they have a solid, healthy family relationship. (If Dad knows and is making Teen's bf's favorite dinner, that seems like a good sign to me, anyway.)
posted by Navelgazer at 2:00 PM on October 24 [6 favorites]

Epic!

Great writing on this series, man. I teared up a bit, the being unstuck in time plots get me hard, and this one is good. Worth a re-watch! Great performances, especially the lead!

How are they going to top this?
posted by eustatic at 3:27 PM on October 24 [2 favorites]

How is Patti LuPone not an EGOT winner? (I know she hasn't done a ton of movies but still.)

This show does so well balancing the clever writing with the plot and the heart-hitting moments. I love it.

Also, they mostly got the Tarot cards right, which I really appreciated (even the Death card, although not as great there as some of the others).

I look forward to binging this show once it's over.
posted by edencosmic at 5:46 PM on October 24 [4 favorites]

Also, it's Disney, but if "If you want straight answers, ask a straight lady" doesn't make it on T-shirt, they're just giving up money.

I suspect I can find some great ones on Etsy already. I haven't looked, but I'm just going assume yes.

(I have already bought three Agatha-related T-shirts ...)
posted by edencosmic at 7:18 PM on October 24 [5 favorites]

It was clear that *something* was going on with Lilia momentary fugue states and randomly shouting tarot card names, but they brought it all together wonderfully. This was such a solid episode - I've seen the "we're assembling this timeline out of random other parts of the timeline" thing done before but rarely so well. I was worried they were wasting LuPone but, nope. Definitely loving the bits in the tunnel. And proof that getting sucked under the ground on the Road isn't necessarily death means that the only character who's died so far on the Road is Sharon. Who I fully expect to return, probably in the last episode. ("Somehow, Sharon returns" wouldn't be the biggest stretch we've seen from a Disney property...)
posted by rmd1023 at 7:39 AM on October 25 [1 favorite]

I suspect that the Teen bringing his Brother back will also bring back everyone else who we've seen 'die' - including possibly Wanda ?

How that might apply to the Coven that's hunting Agatha I have no idea.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:35 AM on October 26 [2 favorites]

Wait, why? Resurrection is not something we have seen a lot of, and I thought this series has established Toby as 'lost', not dead.

Lilia especially, also Alice. Those characters are resolved, they completed their dramatic arcs...I feel like it would be a poor dramatic choice to revive them
posted by eustatic at 10:23 AM on October 26 [1 favorite]

Variety interview with Jac Schaeffer about this episode.
posted by rmd1023 at 2:03 PM on October 26

Lilia is at peace, Alice and Sharon straight-up got the shaft. They have also not lived for 100s of years. If traveling the Road always involves this much attrition it's no wonder most witches stay hidden. Sheesh.
posted by emjaybee at 3:09 PM on October 26 [1 favorite]

This episode was so good, I had to rewatch it. I love these witches, they've been a blast.

Plus, this is one of the funniest shows I've seen in awhile, with top notch banter between the characters that springs from their various personalities. Would love to see this cast in something else, because they're killing it!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:08 AM on October 27 [3 favorites]

I didn't get what was going on. I feel stupid.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:31 PM on October 28

Here’s all the time jumps, but in order, to clarify things. If you have questions, go ahead and ask!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:43 PM on October 28 [6 favorites]

SWORD or whoever would have to buy out the residents of Westview cause ain't nobody buying those houses. Though there's really no place on Earth/Space/ other timelines that Avenger shenanigans won't impact you, so maybe that wouldn't matter. There a fucking giant stone guy in the middle of the ocean, after all. Maybe occasional witch battles/reality switches are not that big a deal.
posted by emjaybee at 11:06 AM on October 31 [1 favorite]