Agatha All Along Wraps Up Just in Time for Halloween [SPOILERS]

Photo by Courtesy of Disney - © Disney

SPOILERS AHEAD!! (final warning)

With the end of the witches road, the end of Agatha All Along swiftly follows through a 2-episode finale designed to mangle everything the audience previously thought they knew. Episode 7 was the toughest of acts to follow and, whilst I don't think 8 and 9 topped it, I do think they provided a well rounded, well written, and overall gripping culmination.

During episode 8, we watch as two of the three remaining witches obtain what they sought from the road in the last of the trials, Jen (Sasheer Zamata) rekindles her power, and Billy (Joe Locke) aids his brother in reincarnation. Kathryn Hahn's Agatha offers the audience an out-of-character display of sappy sentimentality once she's alone, adding fire to the flame of her being much more than a foul, merciless witch.

It's not until she's broken free of the road that Agatha regains her power, and even then it's only as Billy selflessly blasts her during their grapple with Rio (Aubrey Plaza), this act of unity between the two foreshadowing what's to come. A climactic fight is a distinguishing characteristic of any Marvel project, but the action in this one did feel slightly disappointing. I wish we had a little more of a spectacle, rather than witches getting tossed to the side which unrealistically subdues them. It is important to highlight that the show lacks in budget, whereas its peers did not, so this fight scene could be an area it was stretched a little thin.

Agatha opting to sacrifice herself after being reminded of her son further reinforces the idea of her deep down not being all bad and, while this is warming to watch to some degree, I wish we could've seen her lean into being a true villain. Despite this, I do like the way it was handled, the Agathario kiss was a perfect ending to the arc. The whole scene was also visually stunning, the metamorphosis of the lighting from green mist to warm sunshine works seamlessly with the blooming of the flowers to round out the ending of Agatha Harkness as we know her, far more powerful imagery than that of just a body would've been.

The end of the episode is where doubt and confusion take hold, with Billy realising the road was never real and he conjured it all. Hints left throughout the series are dropped in to refresh the minds of us watching, effectively laying the foundations of further questions for episode 9 to answer, and that it does.

Episode 9 serves solely as a means to tie up the loose ends, it answers how the legend of the road came to be, but also sheds light on Nicholas Scratch, Agatha's son, who has been mentioned in almost every episode. Both of these questions are answered simultaneously as we experience a flashback to Salem times. My only critique of the segment would have to be the lack of Rio, it feels like we've been robbed of understanding more about the dynamic between Death and Agatha, not to mention how it feels like Aubrey Plaza has been slightly underutilised.

To conclude the show, we see Billy and ghostly Agatha team up to find Tommy, a duo I would be able to get behind but something about the whole ghost concept feels hard to take seriously, especially with the way the effects have been done. But ghosts aside, the ending felt well geared to set up the inevitable spin-off, and I think it would be a waste for Jen to not show up in it somewhere.

Agatha All Along is arguably one of the best Marvel shows since Wandavision, with such an expertly weaved narrative delivered parallel to show stopping performances, it's difficult to hone in on its flaws, but one thing is abundantly clear when it comes to the witches road; it really was Agatha All Along.