Agatha All Along Will Prove Everyone Wrong [SPOILERS]

Photo by Courtesy of Disney - © Disney

SPOILERS AHEAD!! (final warning)

Diving into a new Marvel show, you may be inclined to perceive it how you've perceived the last dozen or so, how many are there again? Forgettable, shallow plots feel like a common denominator for so many recent Marvel projects, it's almost like that's the standard we've come to expect. But pressing play on Agatha All Along? I was immediately hooked.

The show went through a plethora of name changes before settling on its title, this was likely a clever marketing stunt rather than the result of indecisive writers, and it was a successful ploy at that, with the frequent switches garnering plenty of buzz. Wandavision (2021) and Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) are key to understanding the events of Agatha All Along to its intended depth. Whilst the show could be enjoyed without any prior MCU knowledge, I would implore you to at least watch Wandavision first.

Episode one opens with Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) acting out her 'job' as a detective, still under the hex Wanda bestowed upon her at the end of Wandavision. As she investigates the murder of what appears to be Wanda at the end of Multiverse of Madness, Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal aids her in shaking herself out of the spell. She leaves detective Agnes behind and steps back into Agatha Harkness through a crafty transformation sequence cycling back through each of her Wandavision personas.

Harkness comes to realise she is unable to use any magic, which establishes her main objective of the season; to recover her power. It's 'Teen' (Joe Locke) who suggests walking the Witches' Road, spurring the duo onto collecting a coven to do so. The coven comprises witches Lilia Calderu (Patti Lupone), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), and Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), each of whom have their own reasons for embarking on the road. To complete the five, Agatha recruits her neighbour Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp) who, as far as the audience is concerned, is not a witch. Episode two concludes with the coven and Teen successfully gaining access to the road.

The standout performance has to be that of the leading lady, Kathryn Hahn effortlessly encapsulates Agatha's wit and unpredictability, her interactions with Teen providing well-timed, but often unexpected, comedic relief. Joe Locke's Teen, whose true identity still remains a mystery, is evidently written to represent Gen Z, and whilst he does a brilliant job of working with what he's given, some of the dialogue feels forced and out of place, which isn't aided by the scattered accent slips.

Disappointingly, the visuals feel distinctly like that of a marvel show, it's hard to pinpoint whether it's the colours or lighting, but I wish the cinematography had a slightly darker, witcher feel to it. We get a taste of what could've been with the appearance of 'The Salem Seven', but even then there's still a looming 'this is a Marvel show it's not that scary' air.

It is important to note that the composition of the opening scenes, the detective illusion, sets itself apart from the rest of the episode to emphasise the divide between Agnes' fantasy and the real world. From the get go the colours sway more to the neutral tones to mimic the feel of a detective show, likely drawing comparisons to Mare of Easttown (2021). It undoubtedly takes a rewatch to fully appreciate the hints dropped during the detective sequence which allude to Agnes' real world surroundings, like the flowers representing police tape, or the painting as the one-way mirror. This is the level of subtlety we've seen before in Wandavision, and it's reassuring to know that that attention to detail hasn't been lost, Jac Schaeffer is still very much a genius.

If the Marvel bros weren't already put off by the female lead, the singing is sure to send them running. To open the witches road, the coven breaks out into a catchy rendition of the 'Ballad of the Witches' Road', the fives voices compliment each other effortlessly, and it's hilarious to see Mrs Hart chime in as she gets the hang of it. Of course it would be blasphemous to not single out Patti Lupone, the multi tony award winner not only delivered a fabulous performance in this scene, but in the episode so far. I'm intrigued to see more of each of the witches in future episodes.

And be sure to not tell the Marvel bros about Rio and Agatha's dynamic, there seemed to be a little something else underlying the prominent hatred in their overly racy fight scene. It was borderline humorous to see two powerful witches devolve into a fist fight over a heated past that the audience is not yet privy to, hopefully, actually almost certainly we'll learn of their backstory in episodes to come, but for now lesbians everywhere have fallen to their knees seeing Aubrey Plaza in her FBI suit.

Whilst it won't be studied for years to come, Agatha All Along is well-paced and enjoyable, delivering well-rounded performances. In true Marvel fashion, every character has a backstory you're just itching to dive into.