{🚨SEMI-SPOILERS🚨} Created by Jac Schaeffer, Agatha All Along follows the infamous Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), who finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth teen (Joe Locke) helps break her free from a distorted spell cast by Wanda Maximoff. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven and set off down down down The Road.
The MCU series WandaVision delivered many stand-out performances and characters but biggest amongst them was Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness. So as a result of the show’s grand success a spin-off following Agatha was announced not long after and now it is finally here after three years of waiting. So does this series manage to live up to expectations and the success of its predecessor? The answer is yes.
Agatha All Along not only lives up to expectations but completely surpasses them, delivering a wickedly crafted and unique series that stands out among the rest of the MCU shows. I expected this series to be a fun watch for the spooky season but I did not expect it to be extremely investing and phenomenal from start to end with its amazing performances, clever writing, and magnificent technical elements that were clearly made by passionate hands that were given time to make their craft.
As much as I enjoyed WandaVision it was clear that pandemic impacts took a very huge toll on the show’s production in some parts and we never got to see the full vision as a result. But with Agatha All Along I was able to see Jac Schaeffer’s full unaffected vision be brought to life and it was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Now due to the way this series is like I will need to discuss some spoilers regarding certain characters and plot points, so if you have not seen the series yet up to episode six do not read past this point, but know that I won’t be delving into any spoilers regarding some of the majors twists or events that occur throughout the series.
One of the greatest strengths of this series besides its spectacular writing is the ensemble cast, which honestly might be one of my favorite ensembles from the MCU shows so far. We get to see each character and their respective cast member a chance to shine both in performance and development over the course of the series as they face a high-stakes journey. Kathryn Hahn as the titular Agatha dominates the show as expected but here she ended up delivering a far superior performance compared to her work in WandaVision. Agatha gets more fleshed out in this series which allows Kathryn Hahn to put her full acting range on display. Whether she is delivering dark humor, villainous drama, or surprisingly emotional moments Hahn brings her A-game to the table in a truly compelling character journey from start to end.
Now even though they do flesh out Agatha’s origins to make you feel genuine sympathy for her and understand her vulnerabilities she remains a villain through a majority of the series making this feel like an actual supervillain story and not an anti-hero story. She has done terrible acts and has no care for the lives or feelings of others showing that she only really cares about herself, which this series heavily reminds you of throughout. While there are definitely some major changes that occur with her by the end of the series she still felt and acted like a villain from start to end and I absolutely loved that for how refreshing it was to see a comic book property actually commit to be a villain story and not a villain turned anti-hero story like we’ve gotten frequently over the years.
Surrounding Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha is an extremely talented supporting cast that manage to match her greatness in terms of performances each in their own way. Her two biggest rivals performance-wise are Joe Locke and Aubrey Plaza as Teen and Rio respectively. Joe Locke’s mysterious Teen initially begins as a rather timid, thoughtful, kind and comedic sidekick for Agatha on the journey that Locke plays wonderfully but didn’t seem that compelling of a character at first glance. But it all turns out that he was putting on a false face and was hiding his true intentions when it is revealed that he is actually William Kaplan, a young Jewish boy who died during a car accident and whose body had been found by the soul of Wanda’s son Billy Maximoff as a result of the finale events of WandaVision.
This was one of the more obvious twists that many people expected to happen ever since Joe Locke was first cast but it was still an amazing reveal regardless and Joe Locke ends up delivering a phenomenal performance as this fantastic adaptation of Billy that succeeds in capturing all of the important elements of his character from comics. We get a very compelling arc for him in this series that plays a key part in the narrative as well as Agatha’s journey that is written to perfection. There were so many ways his character and his inclusion in this series could have been done wrong but thankfully it did not go wrong as a result of the amazing combined efforts of Joe Locke and showrunner Jac Schaeffer.
Aubrey Plaza is an absolute spotlight stealer as the sadistic and darkly humorous former lover of Agatha who like Teen/Billy plays a vital role in Agatha’s journey. You can feel the intense tension and romantic chemistry between Rio and Agatha all thanks to their fantastic performances but it becomes so much bigger than what is initially shown when it is revealed who Rio actually is and what she did to hurt Agatha causing them to split. I will not give away Rio’s true identity but it was a major surprise that not only impacts the events and characters of this series but also manages to have a much larger impact on the MCU as a whole due to the character’s importance to the Marvel Universe in comics. Aubrey Plaza plays this role beautifully giving such immense presence every time she is on screen and easily resulting in one of the best debuts for a powerful comic book character that we have had in a while.
The rest of the coven serves as a brilliant and highly memorable band of characters that each get their own chance to shine through solid writing and performances from their respective actresses. There is Sasheer Zamata as Jennifer “Jen” Kale, a bound sorceress and potions expert who’s talents are vital to the coven’s success and manages to stand out for her kind heart and intelligence all of which are wonderfully portrayed by Sasheer Zamata. Then there is Ali Ahn as Alice Wu-Gulliver, a protector witch that is afflicted by a generational curse that causes her and her family to be haunted by a demon. Ali Ahn delivers intense emotion as this character having a small but powerful arc on the journey in the series, which explores themes of generational trauma and facing the past head on no matter how much it hurts.
And then there is Patti LuPone as Lilia Calderu, a 450-year-old Sicilian witch who experiences time in a non linear fashion, and whose skill is in divination. At first her character appears to be rather comedic on the surface with sudden outbursts of dialogue that make her seem crazy but it becomes much more clear that there is much more to her as the series progresses before reaching a major climatic turning point that changes your entire perspective of her. The seventh episode is where the story of her character comes together and is masterfully executed not only thanks to excellent writing but also an outstanding performance by Patti LuPone, who’s broadway talent is used to full effect making her one of the biggest standouts in a series full of standouts.
There are some other notable performances and characters that appear in the series that also offer great contributions but there is one set of characters that I will admit was the only weak addition to the series and that is the Salem Seven. The Salem Seven are the revenge-driven children of some of the witches Agatha murdered in her past and they serve as minor antagonists in the series who are hunting Agatha and the others on their journey. While they certainly add additional stakes and are super creepy in terms of appearance and action they actually don’t contribute as much to the narrative as a whole compared to all the other characters and plot points. I personally feel that if they had been taken out of the series they wouldn’t have negatively impacted the story that much aside from one important scene that involves them. They were the one weak element of the series but they definitely weren’t enough to bring down the amazing quality of this series as a whole.
This series reaches the same quality heights of greatness of its predecessor WandaVision in terms writing but I also felt that it exceeds the writing of that series with its own writing full of grand stakes and insane twists, guaranteed to mess with your heart and mind, that are so brilliantly executed.
The visual and narrative clues to the revelations of all the major mysteries of the series are cleverly littered throughout the series without being too obvious and it all ends up coming together masterfully, making this series the biggest mind-bender of the MCU but one that doesn’t feel overly confusing and doesn’t treat audiences like idiots. Despite being a story with a mystical setting, occasionally campy tone, and a huge exploration into the world of witchcraft in the MCU it ends up being a much more grounded and mature series than expected, which is part of what makes it stand out from other MCU installments. There are darker themes and sequences layered throughout the story and stakes for the characters are proven to be extremely high and compelling right off the bat as their journey shows no mercy through the trials.
The theme of death plays a large part in this series showing that it is inevitable as well as permanent and that no amount of magic or witchcraft can save you from it no matter what. These kinds of stakes can be just as impactful or even more impactful than the world/universe-ending stakes we get frequently in other MCU installments and a part of me hopes we can get more projects like this that take more creative risks with their stories and stakes despite being set in a universe full of various superpowers.
The character arcs and themes built up over the course of the series all comes together in a beautifully crafted and structured two part finale that avoids the most notable issues of some previous MCU show finales.
The finale of this series felt earned and doesn’t solve all the conflicts of characters with action heavy sequences but instead takes a more unique and compelling approach to its ending resulting in a satisfying conclusion that leaves nothing hanging but also does open the door for future stories to follow. It honestly reminds me a lot of Loki Season 2’s incredible finale although this is much smaller in scale compared to that. On a technical level this series is crafted masterfully on every level from its effects, sets, cinematography and most importantly music. It has been confirmed that this is the cheapest show made by Marvel Studios so far and yet despite this it looks visually stunning in every single way possible showing the results of how time and proper budgeting can be beneficial for the MCU going forward after some mistakes made in past installments. It also goes to show that depending on the kind of story that is written there is no need to shove in action heavy sequences to make the story interesting because the writing and dialogue can do that on its own when done well.
This series features the highest usage of practical effects and sets amongst the MCU shows next Loki Season 2 and it all looks beautiful. I was so immersed into what was shown on screen especially with the realm of the Road that was all built practically along with the deadly trials and their traps that you’d think were done with CGI but in fact were not. You could tell there was very little use of CGI through a majority of the series and when CGI does get used it looks fantastic even for a show with a lower budget. The same can be said for the cinematography that captures so many beautiful and haunting shots in this series that stay with you for the longest time. The costumes and makeup in this series are also brilliant especially during the trial portions of the show where it involves different eras of film & tv similar to WandaVision.
And then there is the music, which plays a vital role in the narrative and actually pushes the story forward unlike another comic book project released recently that failed to do both. We get a fantastic and wicked score from returning WandaVision composer Christophe Beck and his new co-composer Michael Paraskevas. These two deliver some truly haunting tracks together that fit perfectly with the tone and witching themes of this series.
But the biggest heroes for music in this series are Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez who also return from WandaVision and wrote all of the original songs in this show. Their greatest work is “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” and its other versions played through the series. Unlike the WandaVision songs which were more like catchy tunes that were kept in tradition with the sitcom theme of the show, the Ballad plays a critical role in the story and impacts some of the characters in unique ways for what it means to them, especially Agatha. The Ballad and its alternate versions featured in the series are written and performed amazingly but its narrative importance is what I love most about it compared to other uses of music in other comic book projects.
Aside from the one element in the series that I wasn’t too keen, on this series was truly spectacular from start to end and has not only made its way as one of my top favorite shows of this year but also my top favorite MCU shows so far for how passionately crafted it was and how it is a uniquely refreshing story full of brilliant twists and turns that really stay with you more than anything that has come before. WandaVision fans will love this show. Horror fans will love this show. Witches fans will love this show. Everyone will love this show if they give it a fair chance. I’m going to give Agatha All Along an A+ = 99.
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