I can’t control this pain anymore. And I don’t think I want to. Because it’s my truth.
Well, ****. That all happened, didn’t it?
I’m not going to lie, I also found this episode a hair lacking, by comparison with the first five episodes of the series, though I think it is better than the sixth and I think that this episode neatly sets the table for the series to get super good here for the last couple of episodes.
I love the talking head style sitcom a lot and that might be why I’m a little disappointed in this episode, which I felt basically posits that it is that kind of a sitcom episode and then doesn’t really explore the concept or the tropes in the way that a lot of the previous episodes have explored their respective sitcom inspirations. I know that we’re winding things up for the series finale (and I assume the next two episodes will be sitcom-pastiche-free), but still it felt like they really glossed over the talking-head-style tropes and that there was a lot of potential there.
Anyway, on to the good stuff. After Bettany really stealing the show in the last couple of episodes (not that Olsen was ever at all weak or bad, just I felt Bettany rather outdid her in the performance area), Olsen really tears back into it in this episode with a great performance. Same from Teyonah Parris and I have to say her getting super-powers was a real forehead-slap moment for me; I knew that Monica was a hero called Photon in the comics, but I somehow hadn’t connected the dots that this show was going to be her origin story, not even after that incredibly obvious foreshadowing about her cells changing due to passing through the Hex barrier in an earlier episode. And what about that reveal of Kathryn Hahn as the villain? I mean, I’ve been waiting for it and it did not disappoint. I was looking online and I know see that apparently the whole “Agatha All Along” song was like a huge viral hit; I can honestly say that I missed all that completely. I genuinely didn’t know she was the villain until it was revealed in this episode; I mean, I “knew,” because, like I said, Kathryn Hahn, but I didn’t actually know-know. Anyway that big is great and I’m excited to see Hahn go full “Disney villain” in the next couple of episodes. Ha, look at that, she’s literally a Disney villain. Love it. Perfect casting. I’m excited.
And did I or did I not say that “Hexed Darcy” was going to be adorable? That ******* costume is amazing. And, you know, I never had Vision and Darcy on my list of character pairings that I really wanted to see, but clearly I should have, because they’re great together. I mean, look, MC(T/D+?)U, just tell me Darcy isn’t going away for another ten damn years after WandaVision, that’s all I’m asking.
Anyway, solid episode that neatly sets the table for the next two episodes, which I am greatly anticipating; not quite as excellent as the show can be, but still really good.
tl;dr – a step up from episode six, still not on the level of the first five, this one whiffs on some beats, but it certainly delivers the plot developments and sets up the final episodes perfectly. 3 ½ stars.