Review of “Agatha All Along”, episode 3 - Donnecommebernard

Review of “Agatha All Along”, episode 3

September 26, 2024 | angela

This review contains full spoilers for Season 1, Episode 3 of “Agatha All Along.”

With the central premise of “Agatha All Along” established and Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) leading her new coven down the Witches' Path, it's now time to have some fun. Episode 3 wastes no time, diving straight into the first trial of the path and delivering a scary and insightful chapter to show what Agatha and her witches are made of. It's a fantastic episode that deftly walks the line between gloom and black humor, giving us everything “Agatha All Along” promised.

First of all, the Witches' Road set is absolutely gorgeous. The winding leafy path that leads nowhere, the twisted and gnarled trees and the ever-present fog all combine to create a menacing, supernatural atmosphere. It's like Tim Burton's Wizard of Oz. The fact that the set was practically completely finished makes it even more impressive.

Scene by scene, Debra Jo Rupps ~~Mrs Hart~~ Sharon Davis is a non-stop delight. The other characters are familiar with witchy stuff to varying degrees, but she's experiencing it all for the first time and her reactions are relatable and hilarious. Sharon is by far the most entertaining character on the show, which makes her apparent demise at the end all the more heartbreaking. In a place as magical and ever-changing as Witch Street, death doesn't have to be final, right? OR?

The show has definitely found its place now that the entire cast is assembled. It's at its best when we see their extremely different personality types play off each other. Knowing how selfish and uncaring Agatha is, it's great to watch her try to be a leader. You can see the physical strain it takes for her to be encouraging and helpful. There's a constant back and forth between Agatha wanting to do what's best for her and what's good for the group, and it's her unpredictability that makes her so entertaining. She's so duplicitous that she makes Loki from the early MCUs look like a saint compared to her.

The first trial of the Witch's Path takes the group to a fancy beach house that suddenly appears on a sunny seashore. It's a welcome surprise to see that the horror elements of Agatha All Along aren't limited to the usual horror environments (damp basements, dark and creaky houses, etc.). It's a whole different kind of scary to be in a haunted house with white decor, bright lights, and a digital kitchen timer counting down to your doom.

Thanks to Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), we get another piece of the puzzle regarding Teen's (Joe Locke) true identity. Kale slyly hints that he might be Agatha's son, who she traded for the Darkhold. That would certainly be a surprising twist, but I'm still betting he's Wanda's son, the now-grown Billy Kaplan, who becomes the superhero wizard Wiccan in the comics. As we see later during Agatha's hallucination, she is haunted by her decision to trade her child for power. It's probably a safe bet that the lock of hair in her locket came from her sacrificed little boy. That would explain why Agatha's necklace inspired her to accept Teen's help in the first episode. She has a soft spot for him, perhaps because she believes he's her son. We also learned that someone placed a seal on Teen to make him unrecognizable not only to Agatha, but to all witches, which raises the question: who wanted to hide him from the witches?

This episode ramps up the horror and features some pretty disturbing imagery. More of that, please.

Another key point from Kale: She mentions Mephisto! I'm not going to lie, after weeks of pondering misguided Mephisto theories during WandaVision, it was satisfying to finally hear a character in the MCU mention his name, even if it was just in passing. Those familiar with Marvel lore know that the evil Mephisto is part of Wanda's complicated comic book history with her children, which is why many fans expected him to be part of her story in the MCU. Now that his name has been mentioned, it remains to be seen if he was just mentioned as a nod to fans or if he's being teased for an eventual appearance later in the season. Could Teen really be an agent of Mephisto? Was it Mephisto who put the seal on him? We'll see!

The trial at the beach house is designed to test Kale's potion-brewing skills. It starts off silly, with the poisoned wine causing everyone's faces to swell to cartoon proportions, with swollen noses, cheeks, and lips. Patti LuPone's delivery of “Honestly, I don't hate it” is hilarious. Then things take a turn for the worst, with each witch experiencing a fever dream in which a figure from their past comes back to haunt them. This excellent sequence is equal parts terrifying and insightful, offering a clue to the skeletons hiding in each character's closet. Up until this point, the show has been mildly scary, but this episode ups the horror and features some pretty disturbing imagery. More of that, please.

With such a large cast, it's no surprise that some characters don't get as much screen time as others. Of all the witches, I feel like I know the least about Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), so I hope that gets rectified sooner rather than later. While we spend a lot of time with Teen, his character doesn't come across strongly enough. He offers a lot of explanation and enthusiasm, but I'm still waiting to get into his personal story. On the other hand, LuPone's Lilia Calderu is quickly becoming a favorite as she imparts wisdom to the group while also being a good sport about all the madness going on. (By the way, who the hell is she talking to?)

Other thoughts

– The lyrics of The Ballad Of The Witches' Road include the line “Gather, sisters, fire, water, earth, and air.” The first trial was about water, so can we expect the rest of the challenges to involve the other elements listed?

– In the first episode, during the Agnes of Westview segment, Agatha entered a bedroom that belonged to her son, Nicholas Scratch. (Funny enough, fans thought the rabbit in WandaVision was her son because “Nicholas Scratch” is her son's name in the comics and the bunny is named Señor Scratchy.) It looked like Agatha was keeping her son's things and living in mourning, and now we know why he's gone. Unless…

– Considering Agatha misses her son and Teen wishes she had a mentor who was a witch, it wouldn't surprise me if the road gives them “what they need most” by bringing them together like mother and son.

-I still can't believe Mephisto was mentioned! Do you think Marvel only did this because fans were dying to see him in WandaVision? Whatever the case, let's all consider this a personal victory.

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