WandaVision
Recap
You wander the world with a vision of what life could be
But then the years come and teach you to just wait and see
Forces may try to pull us apart
But nothing can phase me if you’re in my heart
Crossing our fingers, singing a song
We’re making it up as we go along
Through the highs and lows
We’ll be right, we’ll be wrong
We’re making it up as we go along
And there will be days
We won’t know which way to go
But we’ll take it higher
You’re all I desire
When the going gets tough
When push comes to shove
We’re making it up
‘Cause we got love
We got love
We got love
We got love
Baby, we got…
WandaVision
Spoiler Level: Off The Charts
Review
I generally don’t like to post spoilers. However, we have reached a point in WandaVision where every moment is a spoiler. So to continue my reviews going forward there will be spoilers. If you don’t want to read spoilers you should use this chance to run.
WandaVision has become the hot topic of super hero TV/Movies. And understandably so. It’s been almost a year and a half since we have had anything new MCU related. This review picks up with episode 4 since last time I redacted everything about the show and typed “Spoiler” a lot. Wasn’t that cute? I’m covering episode 4, 5, and 6 but I am going to try to write this out in a linear fashion as it does establish the timeframe the show is set in. Episode 4 was the episode everyone who was tired of the sitcom had been waiting for. It opened up with something I think we all needed to see. After Professor Hulk did the first snap of the Nano-Gauntlet, our heroes who got dusted by Thanos all return through portals created by Dr. Strange and the mages to get everyone where they needed to be…fighting the Endgame. But what about the ordinary folk who were blipped away? Episode 4 opens with Geraldine reforming in the same place she turned to dust…sitting in a chair next to her mom’s hospital bed. But her mom isn’t there, the bed is made. As the hospital descends into chaos with everyone blipping back in the same place they were in when they disappeared. Geraldine…who isn’t really named Geraldine but Monica Rambeau…was first seen as the child of Maria “Photon” Rambeau in the film Captain Marvel. Monica is told that her mother died three years ago (two years after the blip). Three weeks pass and Monica gets her bearings straight and returns to work for S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Department) a covert government agency. During the three weeks Monica was adapting to things, Wanda Maximoff broke into a S.W.O.R.D. facility and stole the body of Vision and disappeared (seen in episode 5). Shortly after that, the sitcom “WandaVision” began airing in glorious black and white…not to homes but somewhere out in the ether. At the end of that episode one, the camera pulls out of an old TV into our color world and we see a hand we later find (again in episode 5) belongs to Darcy Lewis, last seen in Thor The Dark World.
Monica Rambeau is assigned to assist FBI Agent Jimmy Woo (Ant-Man) who is working on a missing persons case. They meet up at the city limits of Westview, a place two policemen on the scene say does not exist even though there is an enormous sign behind them that says “Westview”. Monica decides to send a small drone into the town but it promptly disappears.
In the sitcom world of WandaVision, Wanda steps outside her house and finds a small helicopter-like toy in her bushes. The remarkable thing is that it is in color! Back in the real world, Monica approaches what seems like an invisible barrier but upon getting too close and touching it, she is sucked into the anomaly.
24 hours later, a van carrying a bunch of top level scientists including astrophysicist Darcy Lewis arrives at the S.W.O.R.D. base of operations outside of Westview. Darcy makes a startling discovery…mixed among a large amount of cosmic microwave background radiation is another signal. She soon deciphers it as a television signal broadcasting what looks like an old black and white comedy called “WandaVision”….starring Wanda Maximoff and the previously dead Avenger, Vision. She gets an old (not flat) television and begins watching the show. Episode two is airing and we see Monica–who is now going by “Geraldine”–befriend Wanda. They are both at a community luncheon for the wives’ fundraiser for “The Children”…except there are no children to be seen in Westview. Next, Wanda has an awkward moment when one of the other wives, Dottie, and she hears someone calling “Wanda” through a portable radio. Episode 5 shows us this was Jimmy Woo’s voice and Darcy had engineered it to penetrate the “Hex” as Darcy is now calling it.
Later, as we see the town putting on their talent show. Wanda and Vision are doing a magic act dressed as “Glamour and Illusion”–a reference to a pair that Vision and The Scarlet Witch fought in their comic book mini series. Outside, S.W.O.R.D. tries to get through the barrier by sending a man underground through the tunnel system. In Westview, Vision and Wanda return home after the talent show. Suddenly Vision notices that Wanda is visibly pregnant. Then they hear a noise outside and step out to investigate and see what appears to be a bee keeper coming out of a manhole. Wanda resets reality to before the manhole and they go back inside the house where all of a sudden the screen is awash in color.
In the new, all-color world of episode 3 vibing a 70s look, Wanda’s pregnancy is moving along at a highly accelerated rate. She is growing very fast but no one seems to notice. When Wanda’s water breaks, it starts pouring rain in their house. Vision runs off to find the doctor and Geraldine drops by. In a funny scene, the stork painted on the nursery wall comes to life and starts walking around the house as Wanda tries to keep Geraldine from seeing it. At one point, it starts nibbling on Geraldine’s pants which have a fish pattern on them. Wanda tries to use her powers to make the bird disappear but to no affect. Eventually the stork runs out of the house just as Wanda goes into labor.
Geraldine being the only one there, helps Wanda deliver little Tommy. While Geraldine and the doctor are in the kitchen, Wanda goes into labor again and soon she and Vision are the proud parents of Tommy and Billy. For those familiar with the comics, Tommy and Billy later become the heroes Speed and Asgardian–which quickly gets changed to Wiccan. Later, Wanda is alone in the living room with Geraldine and sings the twins a Sokovian lullaby. Then out of the blue, Geraldine mentions Quicksilver being killed by Ultron. Wanda turns deadly serious and tells Geraldine to leave. When Vision asks, she tells him Geraldine had to go home. Outside the Hex, Geraldine’s body is propelled out of the barrier. She lies on the ground surrounded by S.W.O.R.D. and says “It’s all Wanda”.
As Darcy watches the end of episode 3 she notices the argument between Wanda and Geraldine has been censored…like it doesn’t exist. After Darcy is called away we get to see what really happened…that Wanda used her powers to expel Geraldine…crashing through wall after wall after wall, flung all the way across town and out the barrier. Wanda repairs the broken walls and no one is the wiser.
In episode 5, Geraldine, er, Monica is going through tests. Tyler Hayward is briefing his team that while at first they thought Wanda was a victim, he now believes she is the “victimizer” who has kidnapped all these people and an entire town.
Monica joins and says she doesn’t believe this is a premeditated act of aggression. Tyler says she is a terrorist. This is where we see the footage of Wanda stealing Vision’s body. Elsewhere in Westview, the sitcom has moved onto an 80’s theme. Wanda and Vision have their hands full with the twins. Even more so when they turn around and see the boys have aged themselves 5 years! Even stranger is the fact this all happened while Agnes was there and she acts like she doesn’t notice a thing. When the boys find a dog they ask mom and dad to keep it but Vision and Wanda say they don’t think the kids are old enough to take care of a pet yet. Maybe when they are ten. So what else would the boys do but age themselves to 10 years old. And then in comes Agnes with a dog crate. Wanda magically whips up a dog collar much to Vision’s consternation as Agnes is right there.
But Agnes doesn’t bat an eye. A little later the dog runs off and when Wanda and the boys find him he is being wrapped in a blanket by Agnes who sadly tells the family Sparky ate some Magnolia leaves. Wanda tells Tommy and Billy that dead is dead, there’s nothing she can do to bring the dog back. So sad.
After Monica pilots another drone into the Hex and tries to talk to Wanda, Tyler Hayward reveals the drone is armed and, despite Monaca’s pleas, Tyler tries to kill Wanda. This only serves to really piss off Wanda and she is sick of people trying to interrupt her perfect world. So she puts on her signature red jacket, grabs the drone, and marches right through the Hex barrier and tosses the drone at Tyler Hayward who has a team of agents with their gun sites trained on Wanda.
Wanda delivers an ultimatum to Hayward and tells him “This will be your only warning”. She flips the guns so they are now all pointing at Hayward then turns around and returns to her home where Vision is waiting with a lot of questions. The WandaVision credits start rolling as Vision and Wanda get into a tremendous fight to the point Vision rises into the air almost as though to attack and Wanda counters his move.
After the couple begins to calm down, a fresh hell arrives with a knock at the door. Wanda opens the door and finds…her brother? But Wanda’s brother Pietro was played by Aaron Taylor Johnson and this is Evan Peter’s Quicksilver from FOX’s X-Men films…”Peter”. The show has officially hit its lowest moment!
Halloween has come to Westview in episode 6. Wanda is dressed as The Scarlet Witch (though, in an act of consistency that name is never uttered). Vision is dressed as the comic book Vision in what looks like a cheap costume from the Spirit Shop. Similarly, Pietro and Tommy are dressed in super cheap looking comic book Quicksilver costumes and their hair looks like they’ve been in a wind tunnel. Quicksilver’s hair isn’t like that. He has two small curls in the front whereas Pietro and Tommy look more like Wolverine. Billy’s costume is like a thrift store version of the comic book Wiccan costume.
Wanda and Pietro take the boys trick or treating. Suddenly, Westview’s streets are crawling with children for the first time. Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo can see the current broadcast of episode 6. Monica, looking at Evan Peters, asks “Who’s that?” and Jimmy replies “Wanda’s brother came to town”. To which Darcy adds “He brought the wrong face”. Gotta love that Darcy! While Darcy was pretty much in the background of her two Thor films but still good for some laughs, here she has a much better fit and her quips work very well.
Wanda doesn’t seem to be freaking out that the guy saying he’s her brother doesn’t look a thing like him. She does ask what happened to his accent to which he replies what happened to hers? Wanda, for those who may be asking the same question, worked to rid herself of her Sokovian accent with the help of the Black Widow while she was on the run after the Sokovian Accords. Peter/Pietro tells Wanda “Details are fuzzy. I got shot like a chump on the streets for no reason at all and the next thing I know, I heard you calling me. I knew you needed me.” For some reason, Wanda doesn’t seem concerned that her “brother’s” speech pattern is totally different from her “real” brother. He speaks like someone who grew up in the United States not a European country.
As the show plays, Darcy is also taking some readings from inside Westview and they notice that the closer people are to Ellis Street where the Hex barrier starts, the less movement people are making with some not moving at all. Wondering where Vision is? Well, while the trick or treating and “brother”/sister reunion is happening, Vision has been walking towards Ellis Street and he too begins to notice the strange movements occurring. One woman is toggling back and forth trying to hang something. Many kids and adults seem frozen in place. He comes across Agnes, dressed as a witch, in her car and stopped at a corner. She act like she is in a trance-like state. Vision gives her a little jolt of electricity and she gets more animated, asking “You. You’re one of the Avengers. You’re…Vision! Are you here to help us?” He says “I am Vision. I do want to help. But what’s an Avenger?” Agnes goes “What? Why don’t you know? *trembling* Am I dead?” Vision replies “No, no. Why would you ask that?” “Because you are” she says. “Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead!” Vision tells her of his intent to reach those outside of Westview. “How?” she asks. “No one leaves. Wanda wouldn’t even let us think about it”. Agnes starts cackling like a real witch. Vision zaps her again and she goes back to her neighborly self and drives away. Vision continues walking, crossing Ellis Street. Back at S.W.O.R.D. Monica intends to go back inside the Hex but Darcy says she can’t. She shows her Tyler’s medical report on her bloodwork. Darcy tells Monica that the energy inside the Hex has re-written her cells on a molecular level. Twice. Could this be the beginning of an alternative origin of Monica Rambeau’s super hero (she’s been Captain Marvel but that’s taken, and also Photon, her mom’s nick name, and now in the comics she’s Spectrum–take your pick). But Monica says she won’t stop till she helps Wanda and takes off with Jimmy. Darcy stays behind to try to crack Tyler Hayward’s firewall because she believes there is something important behind it.
Peter/Pietro asks Wanda a strange question…where has she been hiding the kids? He thinks she’s done a great job. She’s kept families and couples together and their personalities aren’t all that different from what’s underneath and they have better jobs. He knows things he shouldn’t know which is another reason why I dispute him being Wanda’s brother. Wanda: “I don’t know how I did it. I only remember feeling completely alone. Empty. I just…Endless nothingness.” She turns around to see Pietro looking dead, riddled with bullet holes. Just like when she saw Vision in their home as a corpse.
when Vision arrives at the barrier, whiich he can see with his eyes, he begins stepping outside using all his might as the Hex tries to keep him inside Westview. He begins to deteriorate, pieces of him coming off. He’s dying. Back at the Westview town square Tommy has been zipping around at super speed. But Billy is still, as though he can sense something. He hears his dad’s voice and runs off yelling “Mom!” Wanda tries to understand Billy and Peter/Pietro says “It’s not like your dead husband can die twice (actually, he already has died twice) and Wanda throws him through the square with a hex bolt. But outside the hex Darcy runs up, having hacked Hayward’s firewall. Before she can do anything she gets hand cuffed to a S.W.O.R.D. truck. Wanda gets Billy to tell her what he sees. That her husband is dying.
Wanda goes into full Scarlet Witch mode and unleashes an enormous hex that makes the Hex field start growing so she can get Vision back inside and save him. Monica and Jimmy are driving, trying to outrace the growing Hex field. As the S.W.O.R.D. teams tries to evacuate, the Hex barrier reaches out, swallowing Vision and saving his “life”. But it keeps growing, capturing Darcy as it expands. As S.W.O.R.D. tents and vehicles are swallowed they end up transformed inside the Hex into carnival/circus tents, food wagons, and people are turned into clowns. Hayward is in a vehicle with the growing Hex on his ass. He radios for help. The Hex just keeps growing.
Final Thoughts
My only problem with the show is bringing in Evan Peter's Quicksilver. He doesn't bear any resemblance in any way to the comic Quicksilver or the Quicksilver established by Aaron Taylor Johnson. So I hope he does not stick around. And I've loved all of Peters' talents on American Horror Story where he has shown a wide range of characters. I just hate his Quicksilver. But I do feel WandaVision is deserving of a place right up there with the best of the MCU films.
WandaVision Episodes 4-6: Please Stand By
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Acting - 10/1010/10
- Music - 10/1010/10
- Production - 10/1010/10