I can finally say I was right about something in Wandavision, it was Agnes Agatha all along, and that Agnes is indeed Agatha Harkness. I know some viewers will feel episode seven (aptly titled Breaking the Fourth Wall) is a filler episode, but I thought it was an improvement from episode six. I have enjoyed every episode of the show so far, but the show got more interesting once S.W.O.R.D. got introduced and we saw what was happening outside of Westview. Episode six focused more on what was happening inside Westview, and episode seven did the same, but now we have Monica and Darcy inside the hex to spice things up. The reveal at the end that Agnes is Agatha Harkness and that she has been manipulating some of the events in Westview, was awesome. They did the reveal using a fun little montage with a very catchy song. Wanda and Vision talking to the camera was really fun, and I think the episode did a great job of building tension leading towards the final two (possibly three) episodes. I am sure fans will be disappointed at the reveal of who the engineer that was helping Monica is, I myself got caught up in the hype of it being Reed Richards possibly played by John Krasinski; in an episode that is an homage to The Office no less, it would have been perfect.
BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL RECAP
The episode starts with Wanda in bed and Vision is not beside her, we then cut to Wanda is talking to the camera in a nod to Modern Family (particularly Claire Dunphy). Billy and Tommy come into the bedroom to ask for help, their video game is doing something very weird. The twin's video game controllers seem to be aging backward and the kids are left holding just Uno cards instead of video game controllers. Wanda is having trouble getting up and enjoying her life like she did before Pietro showed up. Wanda comes downstairs and ignores the kids in favor of getting some cereal, as she is preparing the cereal the milk container starts changing shapes eventually into an old-style glass milk bottle. The opening credits start, and the credits uses a musical score similar to the one used by The Office (another sitcom about people talking to the camera and breaking the fourth wall).
We are now outside of Westview with Hayward, there has been a new S.W.O.R.D. command post setup and he tells another agent "make sure the team has everything they need, we launch today". We also learn that the signal being broadcast of what is happening inside Westview has been lost. Vision wakes up and he is at the circus and is confused for being the new clown (since he already has his makeup on). Vison sees that Darcy is the escape artist of the circus, Vision recognizes her as the woman who tried to help when he was dying outside of Westview, but of course Darcy no longer knows who Vision is. Wanda asks Billy and Tommy if they have seen their father, the boy have not and ask Wanda if they should look for him. Wanda replies "no, if he doesn't want to be here, there is nothing I can do about it". Billy asks about the callous remark Pietro made about Vision already being dead, Wanda tells them to not believe anything he said and that he is not their uncle. Tommy asks who he is, Wanda does not answer, but she tells them she has no answers and that she is starting to believe everything is meaningless. There is a knock on the door and without looking Wanda opens the door using her powers and greets Agnes. Agnes offers to take the kids off Wanda's hands so she can have some time to herself. The house around Wanda starts fall apart as things revert to older designs.
We join Jimmy and Monica as they make there way to meet Monica's engineer contact, Jimmy is checking the information Darcy sent before she was captured. Darcy sent them the details of Catars\act, which is an operation to turn Vision back on and make him a sentient weapon (as the first two words of the S.W.O.R.D. acronym). They reach Monica's contact, and we see it is a team of military engineers led by Monica's contact Major Goodner (not a Marvel character). Monica thanks Goodner for the help and mentions her mom would have appreciated the loyalty, Goodner replies she was not the only one they were loyal to. The device Goodner brought is what looks to be N.A.S.A. type rover (as seen in The Martian). We are back with Vision and Darcy; Vision places his hands on Darcy's head and takes her out of the mind control. Darcy is back to her normal self; they commandeer a food truck to return Vision to his home. Wanda meanwhile is seeing the whole house is falling apart, and she cannot fix it. Someone behind the camera tells her that maybe it is karma for what she has done to Westview.
We see another commercial this one for Nexus, which is an anti depression medication for people who feel like the world is going on without you. Nexus will anchor you back to your reality or the reality of your choice. The side effects are feeling your feelings, confronting your truth, seizing your destiny and more depression. We are at Agnes' house with her, Billy and Tommy; Billy is happy because it is quiet there and that Agnes is quiet, on the inside (he can hear people's thoughts/feelings). Tommy asks if their mom is okay, Agnes replies that she is super-mom, though she later talks to the camera and says she thinks Wanda is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Monica is getting suited in a suit similar to what astronaut's wear, she is going to try and use the rover to enter the hex. The rover cannot enter the hex, Monica escapes right before the rover is spit out with the front of the rover changed to that of a minivan. Monica is determined to enter the hex, so she tries walking through even though Darcy warned her that it was changing her DNA. Monica is fighting her way into the hex, as she is pushing through, she is hearing voices (her mom, Nick Fury, Captain Marvel and a few more), the voices are conversations we heard in Captain Marvel. Monica's eyes start to glow blue and when she looks everything looks different, she shakes her head and he sight returns to normal.
Darcy and Vision are heading back to Vision's house and Darcy is filling Vision in on his own history. They are making poor time, and we see Vision talking to the camera explaining that he thinks Wanda is making impediments so he cannot return home. Darcy admits she doesn't know what is going on with Vision and why he couldn't leave the hex. Darcy says that she was watching, and she is sure that Wanda and Vision truly love each other. Monica enters Wanda's house, and she tries to tell Wanda what Hayward is doing, but Wanda stops her and says she doesn't want to hear about it. Wanda seems to think Pietro being there is something Monica/S.W.O.R.D. was responsible for. Monica is not backing down and encourages Wanda to use her powers to stop Monica, Wanda does not use her powers. Monica implores Wanda to not let Hayward make her into the villain, but Wanda says, "maybe I already am". Agnes sees the confrontation between Monica and Wanda from her window, and she races out to bring Wanda back inside.
Vision and Darcy are still waiting at the same streetlight after waiting for the construction to finish, they are about to finally move when a crossing guard appears and stops traffic. Vision is talking to the camera and he realizes he doesn't need to talk to the camera he gets up and flies away. Wanda is now inside Agnes' home, she looks around, and does not see Tommy and Billy, so she asks Agnes where the boys are, and Agnes says maybe they are in the basement. Wanda heads to the basement where she sees not the boys, but vines everywhere and a book that is glowing with an orange light. Agnes comes down and says that Wanda is not the only magical girl in town, she says her name is Agatha Harkness. We see a montage of Agatha using her own powers throughout the episodes and then credits roll. Halfway through the credits we see a post-credits scene of Monica trying to enter Agnes' basement through a cellar door and Pietro (or is he Pietro) appears behind her and says "snoopers gonna snoop" as the episode actually ends.
BREAKING DOWN BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL
Marvel has done an amazing job of turning Wandavision into essential viewing for fans of the MCU, this episode introduced Agatha Harkness to the MCU and mysterious glowing book. I'll start with the book because I am wondering if the book is the Darkhold. The Darkhold has appeared in numerous comics and has appeared more recently in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Runaways. The Darkhold featured in Agents and Runaways looked the same in both series, but that is not the book we saw in Agatha's basement. The glowing book could be the MCU's version of the Darkhold, or it could be another magical book. The book also could be the key how Wanda's powers have changed, but with only two episodes remaining I figure the book will be every important. As for Agatha/Agnes, I was right, but I am not sure how this will all play out with her. In the comics, Agatha was a mentor figure to Wanda, but in the show, she appears to be a nemesis. I am sure we will learn more about Agatha in episode eight, but until then all we can do is theorize. What did Agatha do with the twins, we never saw them, though I wonder if she changed them into the beetle that was on the drapes and the bunny in the cage. Also, Agatha's basement was very large, almost magically large, there were display cases that were glowing red. I am guessing we were in Agatha's lair; we also could have been in Agatha's boss' lair. I am not totally convinced Agatha is the big bad, is she just a minion of a bigger, badder villain. With only two episodes left, I am sure we are going to learn a lot more about Agatha. Also, Vision believed it was Wanda slowing him and Darcy down, I think it might be Agatha that is putting impediments in the way.
Pietro disappeared after he was blasted by Wanda at the end of episode six, we got that one quick glimpse of him in the episode seven post-credits scene. Pietro looked different in his episode seven appearance, his hair was different, and he was dressed different. I am still unsure what he is, is he another human in Westview that Agnes took control of, is he Quicksilver from the x-men universe, or is he a demon. I have no idea, though I am glad I was right that it was not actually Wanda's brother Pietro. I had hoped with the casting of Evan Peters that there might be a tie to the Fox X-Men universe, if Peters was just fun stunt casting rather than part of something bigger, I will be disappointed. Another thing that I found weird is how both Wanda and Vision knew that Pietro was not Wanda's brother, but an imposter. Vision mentions that Pietro was an imposter, and when Wanda and Monica were having their confrontation, Wanda accuses Monica/S.W.O.R.D. of being behind the imposter Pietro. We know Agatha is responsible for Pietro, but how did Wanda and Vision come to the same conclusion even though they have not been together for some time. Earlier in the season, Vision made the comment that usually he and Wanda are of the same mind. I am wondering if Vision knows Pietro is an imposter because Wanda believes he is an imposter. Since we only got a brief appearance of Pietro, is he still working for Agatha or is he going to help Monica.
The Major Goodner reveal will be something I am sure fans will be annoyed at for awhile, there was so much expectation that it would at least be a new MCU character, rather than the new character we got. Since such a big deal had been made about the engineer contact during the fifth and sixth episodes expectations grew. I am not sure if this was intentional red herring, or it was the result of a show with such dense material that fans are reading too much into everything. There is also the possibility that Major Goodner was not the engineer, but rather an ally delivering what the engineer designed. I believe Goodner is the engineer, but it was never confirmed in the episode. We only had a very short time with Hayward in this episode, but in that brief amount of time we learned he is planning something that is launching today. I believe Hayward is going to attempt to send in a team, but I am curious how his team make it through the hex, and what is the goal of the mission.
The key theme to this episode seems to be that Wanda is depressed, she is seen struggling with being motivated to keep the illusion working. Wanda also tells the twins that everything is meaningless, and she is glad to let Agatha take the twins. Wanda as Vision notes upon learning his history has been through a lot. The commercial in this episode is for an anti-depression medication called Nexus, the commercial might be alluding to the fact that in the comics Wanda is a nexus being. A nexus being is someone so powerful they could alter the reality of the universe. As I have mentioned in the other episode reviews, Wanda will appear in Doctor Strange's new film due out in 2022. With all the hanging threads left in this season, I wonder if everything will be wrapped up before the series is over. It would be a very MCU thing to do if they left some big questions unanswered, I would be excited to see some of the storylines picked up in later MCU films or series. Join me next week as I review and recap episode eight.
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