Note: This review contains spoilers for Agatha All Along.
Last week, Marvel Studios released the final two episodes of their newest Disney Plus original series, Agatha All Along, just in time for Halloween. While there were no shortage of naysayers predicting the show’s doom, I am happy to report that Jac Schaeffer and the team have done it again, bringing us one of the most cohesive and entertaining Marvel originals since WandaVision.
Agatha All Along
Directed By:Â Jac Schaeffer, Rachel Goldberg, Gandja Monteiro
Written By: Jac Shaeffer, Giovanna Sarquis
Starring: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Aubrey Plaza
Release Date: September 18, 2024 on Disney Plus
For those who are still deciding whether or not to take the plunge on this new series, I will be doing my level best to keep the largest majority of spoilers contained in the final few sections of the review. I will still be talking about the series as holistically as possible throughout, however, so read on with that in mind.
Stellar Performances From Stars Old and New
Across the board, the actors of Agatha All Along commit to the craft. From newcomers like Joe Locke to long-time actors of the stage and screen like Patti LuPone, each member of the coven brought their character to life across the 9 episodes. Locke, in particular, was hitting on all cylinders, providing a perfect mix of sass, concern, and something darker hidden just beneath the surface. A major question of the story revolves around the identity of the so-called “Teen,” and Locke manages to play both sides, from the bumbling would-be witch to the reality of his true nature, with disarming ease.
Kathryn Hahn, the titular Agatha, also never disappoints. From the villain of WandaVision to the reluctant leader of a new coven in Agatha All Along, Hahn also adroitly switches from savior to sinner at the drop of a hat, leaving the viewer constantly guessing until the very end exactly who’s side she’s on. The legendary musical actress Patti LuPone also provides a strong showing, getting an entire episode near the end of the series to really show off her non-musical chops. The seventh episode, which serves as the focal point of her storyline, is easily within the running for one of the best individual episodes of the season, taking the already mind-bending adventure into a tailspin of pseudo-time-travel that begs the viewer to keep up while never getting so twisted in itself as to become incomprehensible. So much of this is anchored by LuPone herself, maintaining control of the episode’s central throughline and easing the viewer from what could have been an entire mess of timelines into something truly thought-provoking to behold.
Not every performance stands out quite as noticeably however. That 70’s Show‘s Debra Jo Rupp barely gets a chance to shine, which is a shame, but far from surprising considering the nature of her character in relation to all the others. Ali Ahn’s take on Alice Gulliver-Wu was also a little flat throughout, but it’s hard to say how much of this is at Ahn’s feet and how much lies in the fact that her personal arc in particular never felt like it had the same amount of thought as almost every single other member of the coven.
It nearly goes without saying that, in a sea of actors enjoying the hell out of their job, Aubrey Plaza stands head and shoulders above the rest. The character of Rio Vidal is delightfully unhinged, a true wild card in more ways than one, and Plaza gives her every ounce of mad glee and grave solemnity that she requires in equal amounts. I don’t know if I’d say she’s the unequivocal best performance in the show, but I can’t in good conscience write a review on Agatha All Along without mentioning her by name. Her cackling laughter at the most inopportune moments alone is enough to win you over, if you’ve somehow been living under a rock until now and have never seen Aubrey Plaza before.
A Magically Coherent Tale From Beginning to End
If I’ve ever had a major criticism of many Marvel original television-style series, it’s how they have an almost unstoppable penchant for spending ninety percent of their episodes telling a story with a particular tone and style, only to spend the final episode hard-shifting into an abrupt change of pace that aligns more with the classic superhero feel of capes, tights, and larger-than-life characters with ridiculous nom de plumes. It’s an issue that’s plagued Marvel series long before Disney Plus, with otherwise largely series like Netflix’s Luke Cage succumbing to a strange street-fight with a super-suited villain under a serpentine moniker after eleven episodes of gritty, inner-city crime drama. Even the Disney Plus offerings that were largely critical darlings like WandaVision doffed the TV-remaking gimmick for a big magic fight between Wanda and Agatha in the final episodes.
Agatha All Along neatly avoids this pitfall, and for some, that may be all you need to hear to give this one a try. For those that still need convincing, however, the series does its level best to keep the viewer entertained across all nine episodes equally. The first two episodes largely exist to transition Agatha (and the viewer) away from the world as presented in WandaVision to the world of witches at large and set the stage for the coven’s journey into the Witches’ Road. Even as the show detaches itself from the episodic sitcom nature of its predecessor, it sets the stage for its own “monster of the week” style premise.
The next five episodes each center around the five trials of the Witches’ Road, magical tests centered around the deepest desires and darkest secrets of the coven, giving the viewer insight into each character’s backgrounds and motivations for walking the Road. These trials range from kooky to downright spooky, and are a fantastic medley of every different shade of emotion we tend to associate with the Halloween season. And just when you think you’ve prepared yourself, the show sends you an emotional curveball that asks you to examine just how much you’ve grown to care about the character of the week, after all.
These emotional beats succeed with varying results. Some characters ultimately end up striking deeper chords than others, which, in a perfect world, would not be the case in an ensemble cast. Overall, the highs of the strong episodes tend to counterbalance the lows of the weaker ones, which rarely overstay their welcome at any rate, pushing along the overall story and journey even if the audience is left a little cold over the dramatic events they just witnessed.
The real high notes come in the final two episodes, which both bring the entire journey to its dramatic head in a powerful spectacle that, as mentioned, doesn’t focus on giant monsters or exotically-costumed heroes throwing energy blasts, but instead on the personal relationships that have fostered, decayed, and re-blossomed between the characters present. The final episode, in particular, makes the gutsy move of devoting its entire first half to an extended back-story reveal that re-contextualizes the events of the entire series in a way that seals in most of the gaps around the story and fully prepares everyone for either another season or whatever continuation of these characters Marvel has planned.
All in all, Agatha All Along is very intentionally written in a way that masterfully balances immediate entertainment, series-wide storytelling, and larger Marvel world-building in a way that’s rarely been seen on Disney Plus.
Setting the Stage For a Larger Story
If it wasn’t clear, expect much larger spoilers from here on out.
In a move that is perhaps the most important for a Marvel Cinematic Universe project, Agatha All Along also lays the groundwork to let the more magical elements of the Marvel comics really come into play.
For starters, let’s take one of the more open-ended loose ends of the show, the fate of Sasheer Zamata’s Jennifer Kale. Kale, finally repowered after the events of the Road, flies off under the strength of her recovered abilities to never be seen again by the end credits. In the comics, Jennifer Kale is a close friend of the one known as Man-Thing, a grotesque-yet-gentle swamp beast that also serves as the guardian to the Nexus of All Realities. This character was previously introduced into the MCU in the 2022 television special Werewolf by Night, hinting at the character’s larger involvement in the MCU as a whole going forward. With the universe’s current focus on multiversal storylines, it’s very possible that Man-Thing’s role as guardian of the Nexus of All Realities could yet serve as a major story beat for the over-arching narrative.
More immediately, Agatha All Along lays down some of the final set pieces for a Young Avengers movie or series. Multiverse of Madness introduced moviegoers to America Chavez, the Hawkeye series gave us Kate Bishop, and Falcon and Winter Soldier briefly featured a cameo of the Patriot, Eli Bradley. At the conclusion of Agatha All Along, Teen has fully stepped into his true identity as the reincarnation of the Scarlet Witch’s son, Billy, more commonly known in the comics as Wiccan, and he and Agatha are on the search for his brother Tommy, also known as Speed, who has also been reincarnated into the world after the events at Westview.
This is already five members of the most iconic Young Avengers lineup, and the MCU can easily add Iman Vellani’s ever-plucky Miss Marvel to the mix for their take on the teenage team. No matter how they decide to go about it, I think this is an important move for the MCU to take at this juncture.
There’s no denying that interest is waning in the tales of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as they push for ten years of box office and streaming service ever-presence. Not only is the Young Avengers an incredibly loved comic book team, there’s also no denying that the current cast of main heroes has been holding it down for quite some already. A fresh set of heroes that appeal to younger viewers with some interesting dynamics to their legacy predecessors could be just what the MCU needs to kick-start itself back into the box office powerhouse it has been in years prior.
Final Thoughts
I must admit, even after enjoying the first two episodes of Agatha All Along, I was skeptical. I wasn’t entirely sure what purpose the show was serving in the grand narrative, and I couldn’t be certain just how well it would be able to break out of a niche audience and resonate with the larger viewing populace. Now, after watching all nine episodes, I don’t know why I ever worried.
I’m sure there are shows out there that are better written. I’d imagine there are shows out there with more powerful acting performances. There might even be a show being aired right now that better suits its grander narrative in a more complete way than Agatha All Along, though I’d be skeptical of that one. Even so, this show provides an above-average story to an above-average cast of actors to deliver a consistently above-average piece of television entertainment.
If you’ve strayed from the MCU for one reason or another, is Agatha All Along good enough to drag you back in? I can’t be sure, but why not give it a chance and give it a chance to hex you like it’s enchanted so many others already?
