“WandaVision” is considered one of (if not the) best live-action Marvel shows from the Disney+ era, so the spin-off series about Agatha Harkness had some mighty big shoes to fill. The winking witch from Salem, Massachusetts who was ousted by her own coven for using dark magic popped up in the Westview Anomaly created by Wanda “Scarlet Witch” Maximoff over 300 years later, taking on the “nosy neighbor” moniker of Agnes and manipulating the idyllic sitcom-inspired paradise Wanda created to protect herself. Once the Scarlet Witch realized Agnes was Agatha in disguise and she was responsible for all of the chaos, Wanda stripped her of her powers and sentenced her to live out her life as Agnes in Westview indefinitely.
This brings us to “Agatha All Along,” a look at what has happened since Agatha was condemned and the death of Wanda Maximoff in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” (for the record, I personally don’t believe for a second she’s actually dead). While “WandaVision” played with sitcom tropes inspired by classic shows of yesteryear like “I Love Lucy” and “Leave it to Beaver,” we shouldn’t be surprised that after Marvel and Disney+ teased us with a variety of faux-titles, “Agatha All Along” is deliciously chaotic, whiplashing between prestige TV and kooky, campy goodness. It’s a true ensemble show led by the always phenomenal Kathryn Hahn, who finally gets to lead a series that understands what makes her so great. While the show takes an episode or two to really sink its claws in you, “Agatha All Along” is funny, eerie, bursting with Marvel lore, and is going to really piss off the lowest common denominator tights and capes crusaders fan … and that’s a good thing.
To quote Melanie Lynskey’s “Yellowjackets” character Shauna, “I think this stuff is for bisexuals and goths.”
Down the Witches’ Road
When we first reconnect with Agatha Harkness, she’s still in her “Agnes of Westview” persona, which has since evolved from a nosy neighbor to a “Mare of Easttown” true crime investigator. Of course, just as the cracks began to show with the “WandaVision” sitcom facade, the prestige true crime cover starts to fall away once Agatha realizes that to get her powers back, she’ll need to assemble a coven and go down The Witches’ Road. Fortunately, she’s also got an unnamed teenage familiar to join her as well.
Kathryn Hahn is rightfully the star of the series, but she’s bolstered with one of the best ensemble casts in Marvel history. “Heartstopper” star Joe Locke is a delightful addition as the familiar “Teen,” Sasheer Zamata shines as a Goop-esque sorceress version of Jennifer Kale, Ali Ahn’s protector witch Alice Wu-Gulliver brings the perfect level of traumatized angst, Debra Jo Rupp returns as the terminally delightful Sharon Davis/Mrs. Hart when Agatha needs a Green Witch (she’s a good gardener, close enough!), and Patti LuPone proves once again why she’s a living legend as Lilia Calderu, a 450-year-old divination witch who loves to take Agatha down a peg whenever she can. The wildcard here is Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal, a witch with some serious history with Agatha that remains somewhat of a mystery after watching the first four episodes made available for critics.
“Agatha All Along” does what every good Marvel show should do — make me want more. The fact that I have to wait nearly a month to see where things go next (including seeing if Marvel makes good on Aubrey Plaza’s claim that she signed up for the “gayest Marvel project” yet) will be agonizing, but getting the chance to theorize with other fans each week is a hell of a way to kick off the Halloween season.
Witchy hijinks of the week
Once the coven is on the road, each episode follows a “monster of the week” formula but trades monsters for a trial of witchy powers catered to each character. The television subgenre and production style changes with each trial, and each episode reflects the element aligned with each witch. The mysteries within play out like a haunted Marvel escape room, and give the production team the chance to really flex their stylistic muscles. “Agatha All Along” is a feast for the eyes and the constant reference to “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” song is a hell of an earworm.
But for all of the magical, witchy hijinks that envelop each episode, there’s something incredibly human about the coven’s journey. All of these witches agree to join Agatha on the road because they too need something, and they’re willing to put up with Agatha’s grating attitude and penchant for screwing over the people close to her if it means she’ll get ahead. But the more time we spend with Agatha, the more we see the cauldron of vulnerability inside her bubbling over. All of these women are battling very real pain, and when that reality shines through — that’s where the real horror shows up, and I’m not just talking about the Salem’s Seven cloaked in all black and writhing unnaturally across stairs. As fun and funny as “Agatha All Along” is, there are also some genuinely frightening moments to really hammer home how terrorized and internally tortured this coven has been for a very long time. Is Agatha Harkness truly evil, or is she just coping with her own demons in a destructive manner?
The first four episodes of “Agatha All Along” have done a great job at finding the balance between turning Marvel lore into a spooky fun time (not unlike “Werewolf By Night”) and laying the groundwork for what has the potential to be one of the best Marvel TV shows on the roster by being unapologetically its own thing.
/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10
“Agatha All Along” is now streaming on Disney+.