Let Me Whine About WandaVision

CAUTION: Spoilers for WandaVision included in this post.

I already know I'm going to get some flak for this, but I'm gonna write it out anyways. WandaVision isn't as good of a show as it's cracked up to be. I think one of the biggest issues with WandaVision is that it's uncomfortable with telling a story without introducing as many connections as it can to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). 

Now WandaVision is a good show. The acting is definitely excellent and I can't really comment on good writing because I honestly don't know what good writing is at this point anymore. It's just that there are a few episodes that really bring the whole thing down for me.  Let's talk about this

After a slow and amazingly eerie build up from Episode 1 to 3, it's established that something is very wrong with the world Wanda lives in. Episode 1 involves the ever so creepy and eerie segment where Vision's (in the show's show, he's called "Viz") boss chokes for what seems like an eternity. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat because it hinted that Wanda doesn't really have control over the world she has created. It shows the littlest of cracks and that's pretty cool. The opening episode had me hooked. 

Episode 2 escalates things further. While Wanda and Vision try to prepare for a magic show in the town square, Wanda starts to notice more and more peculiar things happening. The radio calls her name during the country club meeting. A red colored toy plane is found in the bushes when it's clearly a black and white show. These events are carefully and appropriately placed throughout the first arc of the show. It also helped that the end credits (which are like seven minutes long) indicates that someone is watching her. The end scene with her seeing the bee man come out from the street and stare was fantastic and downright scary. I was definitely going "what the crap?" 

With Wanda changing up her show fantasy to get rid of the bee man, her show progresses to a 60's/70's aesthetic, we finally get color in Episode 3. I didn't really care for Vision's comedy, especially about babies being born in one episode because, I don't know, did that really even happen in the sitcoms back then? The episode finally shows that Monica, while being able to befriend Wanda, was able to invade her world like the bee man from Episode 2. So while we find out that Wanda has a show, we realize that it is set in a real place and that it's not actual fiction (in term of the MCU). Monica gets "removed" as we will see in Episode 4. 

Episode 4... is where the WandaVision lost me. I didn't feel like the reveal of what's truly happening had a big enough payoff. Am I to believe that one girl from the Thor movies knows everything?

Episode 4 is also where we see the MCU shift away from telling a truly engaging, stand-alone story.  We get yet another origin story for a character who will be in another subsequent MCU film. The thing about Episode 4 is that it's a microcosm of what I dislike about MCU movies. There are characters who I am supposed to technically already know about (example Darcy, from the Thor movies) and also it tries to plug in origin story vignettes to make sure the fuel to the MCU train is sustained. There can't be a self-contained story anymore. You can't just watch something and enjoy it to a full extent on its own. Episode 4 also pulls the veil away too abruptly. With the whole mystery of what is being done sort of revealed (obviously not completely...that's in Episode 7), I kind of started to check out. 

However, I really liked the Halloween episode (Episode 6). Vision starts to realize things are not how they seem. He lies to Wanda to investigate the town on his own. In Episode 5, he finds that he can remove the mind control from the people in Wanda's show. In Episode 6, he then proceeds to  break out Agnes out of Wanda's mind control and realized the world really is Wanda's doing and that she controls everyone in the town. He also finds out that he was dead! What a shocker for a computer AI. 

But then mystery is lazily squelched by the reveal in Episode 7 (which wasn't a great parody of early 2000's sitcoms like Malcom in The Middle). Besides maybe one little tip in a couple of the episodes, I don't think there was any real way to know Agnes was pulling the strings in the world and it just made things straight up confusing. The little song they do is cute (I laughed at "And I killed Sparky, too!") , but it doesn't hide the fact that so many questions pop up and don't get answered. Like, was she being controlled by Wanda until Vision un-mind controlled her in Episode 6? But the little theme song shows that she was aware throughout the whole season. Is she controlling everyone in Westview or is it still Wanda? That's confusing because it's confirmed later that she was only controlling Quicksilver (Wanda's Brother). Can she unmind control everyone in Westview or just the guy who is Frankenstein? But the Frankenstein dude seemed super cool with the whole thing unlike the other people that Vision unmind controlled ("WE SEE YOUR NIGHTMARES!!!"...Poor Norm...). I felt cheated. I don't think it was possible to put any clues together that would deduce that Agnes was the culprit. I guess the biggest clue is that she was a major supporting actor in every episode. But that's a bit of a stretch...

Meanwhile, we have a subplot that quickly develops in the past few episodes where Monica gets...energy powers? She seems to be able to break through the magical barrier (endearingly called "The Hex"...because it's in the shape of a  hexagon and magic loves angles) because she used to be in the barrier? There's also the generic army general/boss villain saying Wanda is actually the villain and must be stopped. There is a lot that goes on outside of the Hex but most of it was lost on me. Did I mention some top secret government organization made another Vision? 

Episode 8 is the main crux of the season. The episode of what caused the Wanda to do what she done to the people of Westview. It connects back to Age of Ultron (quick note: I forgot she was even in that movie). I thought Agnes (now called Agatha) was going to help her tap into the large amount of magical power she had and train her, but instead she somehow manipulates Wanda's control over her own reality to make her walk down memory lane. It's an effective technique to give Wanda a bit of backstory. But to be honest, it's the only episode you really need to watch to give Wanda any character development. 

While Episode 9 is the finale, it didn't really feel that way. Most of it comes down to a big climatic battle that we've already seen many times before. Mostly the same flying, shoot and punching action we've seen before. I found myself liking some of the commentary Agatha makes to Wanda during the prelude during their final fight. It helped give Wanda's action to get rid of Vision some emotional weight. But wait, did Vision just make a copy of himself in another Vision? Seriously? Basically, Vision is still alive since, ya know, he's a computer. The alternate Vision then, predictably, flies away so he can be used later in another MCU movie. Somehow their is a bit of irony that the alternate vision of this show just flies away. 

So really, the weight of the ending doesn't really hold any effect. It's true that Wanda is hurting, but the Vision technically isn't gone. All his memories of Wanda and how he "feels" about Wanda are in tact with the alternate vision who will surely show up in Avengers 5: Galactus Boogaloo.  

All in all, the show is quite good if not for the qualms I had with the storytelling. The inclusion of MCU plot beats got me spacing out from try keeping track of it all. I couldn't help but think that Monica will be Captain Marvel 2. The alternate Vision to be back to woo Wanda in a later movie. I expect Agatha to largely be forgotten until the next large Avengers meetup. I spent a lot of time thinking of how this has and will fit into the MCU mythos rather than just enjoy the show itself.  I enjoyed about 6 of the episodes very much. However, episodes 4, 7, and 9 brought this show down quite a bit. I'd probably recommend people to watch it just because it is a very unique take on the superhero genre...for the first three episodes. However, I was disappointed with the way things panned out as the show went on. 

One last thing,  I wish magical battles could be a bit more creative than just boiling down to laser battles. Not just in MCU but in anything. They can control reality. Couldn't they come up with something else? Use the people in the town as bait. Use some sort of trickery and such. I mean, Dr. Strange was so cool because the magic he did, actually bent reality (though most of his stuff just turned into energy blasts as well). 

Also to note, the scene where the mom from That 70's Show (Debra Jo Rupp) says, "If you won't let us leave, just let us die!" made me laugh out loud. Something about her delivery. So while it's supposed to be a sad and tragic scene, I couldn't keep a straight face.