In Disney+'s limited series follow-up to Wandavision, amoral witch Agatha Harkness (played by Kathryn Hahn), is back. On a quest to restore her lost powers, she travels on the Witches' Road, which grants the desires of whichever witches complete its challenges, alongside the mysterious young warlock Teen (Hearstopper's Joe Locke) and her new coven.
The showrunner is Jac Schaeffer, who also helmed Wandavision, and this really feels like one of the most seamless transitions from one MCU product to another. Some may be annoyed that the majority of the episodes is just one trial after another without any big story threats, but this still makes for an entertaining piece. Characters are strong, the show is imaginative, and it excels at plot payoff and timing on info dissemination.
However, pacing may bug people. It feels like certain moments and other elements appear haphazardly and aren't done as effectively as they could.
Also, know how what was happening in Wandavision was rather dark? This is a lot more. I can't say this is as dark as that "one" plot point of Moon Knight, but this feels like the most nihilistic of the MCU Disney+ shows (yes, even more than Secret Wars). One can't help but ask "What happened to you Schaeffer? What made you like this?"
This includes a certain team from the comic. If you don't like it when comic movies/shows simplify characters, make them more grounded, and take away some of the over-the-top aspects of them, you won't like what they did here (. Honestly, why even use the characters if you have no love for them. (Admittedly, Disney is trying to make its MCU shows more cost effective and some of the appearances of said characters would've cost dough. Also, this is a team that not everyone knows, so a lot of you probably won't care).
If you feel that Agatha may be too much like Loki, don't worry. Whereas there is part of Loki that wants to be the hero, and he puts up a face to hide his security, Agatha remains a confident, me-first sociopath who's always thinking of a quick way to come out on top. Not that the show doesn't show that she has a human side, but it doesn't try to glide over what she has been or done or suddenly soften her.
Hahn (who I'm guessing is one of the major reasons this show got made) continues to have this presence about her. Agatha may be awful but Hahn makes her very entertaining as she wisecracks and proves she's the cleverest one in the room.
The cast all around is pretty good. Aubrey Plaza is on the same level as Hahn as Rio Vidal, a mysterious witch that has a past with Agatha. Plaza is the queen of being weird and wild, but she really proves her acting job as she can show her more human side with just a look. Patti Lupone who is a theater star, but doesn't get a lot of high profile show/movie roles these days, is lively as a fortune seeing witch, and Debra Jo Rupp returns as the neighbor from Wandavision, and retains her trademark buoyant personality. SNL's Sasheer Zamata is a witch and high priestess in this. Honestly, I wasn't a fan of hers back on the sketch show. She really wasn't working for me. (Though to be honest, it could be the show may not have been using her properly. Wouldn't be the first time). But she was killing it here as a person with a confident personality and the one who likes Agatha the least. Honestly, I felt Zamata was underutilized here.
Recommended. I don't have quite as high opinion of this as many others online, but it does make for a solid watch that doesn't get boring, and definitely feels more confident and stronger than the recent likes of Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and Secret Invasion.
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