The Wandavision spinoff no one was asking for has come and gone. Agatha All Along follows Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha as she breaks free from her mental prison and heads down the Witches’ Road. In her efforts to reclaim her powers, she uncovers the truth behind the mystery Teen’s motivations.
The MCU has churned out a lot of average properties in the last few years… and this only adds to that list. Agatha All Along is by no means a bad, horrible and boring series – it does enough things well to be somewhat enjoyable. The outrage it has copped online is by no means warranted – it’s not good, but its existence isn’t offensive. In terms of its narrative and characters, the series just didn’t hook me. It starts out okay by injecting a little bit of mystery into the story, both with the teen’s identity (which was a given) and the overall goal, but it didn’t do much to develop those points to an intriguing level. The middle section of the season sees the characters going through various trials which change the aesthetic of each episode, like how Wandavision did. It’s a fun novelty for about two minutes, with one episode having a psych-horror vibe and one having a 70s psychedelic look, but beyond that it doesn’t do much to enhance the story. What makes it tough to care about the story is the lack of an enticing end goal. Sure, we know Agatha is after her powers, but the mystery behind what lies ahead on the Witches’ Road just isn’t interesting. On top of that, the time spent meandering through escape room challenges and attempting to flesh out the supporting wishes isn’t gripping.
At no point in this series was there any concern about the wellbeing of the group of witches, for me. Despite their unique looks and thorough introductions, I couldn’t bring myself to care about their personal arcs and journeys of self-discovery. The only characters who I did enjoy watching, and actually wanted to learn more about, were Agatha and Teen. Their arcs were both intriguing and covered in a veil of mystery, adding suspense to future reveals and greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the final two episodes. Aubrey Plaza makes her MCU debut as Rio, an intriguing character when introduced, but in the end doesn’t have much of an on-screen impact. Many of the supporting witches have a lack of personality, making it hard to enjoy rooting for them, meanwhile Agatha is a bundle of joy elevated by Hahn’s delivery. As much as I didn’t connect with the story, it’s at its strongest when it takes itself a little more seriously and does away with the quirky trials used as an avenue of self-discovery. Any sequence dealing directly with Teen’s backstory and his inner conflict or Agatha’s maniacal desires and chaotic antics really worked – the entire two-part finale is tonally darker and overall more gripping than the rest of the season combined.
Aside from the occasional neat story beat, the plot left a lot to be desired, but there’s no complaints when it comes to the overall look of the series. Aesthetically it’s a very beautiful show, with great visuals that capture the eerie mysticism of the Witches’ Road really well. Being backed by that Disney and Marvel money helps, but we’ve seen that money go to waste before – thankfully that’s not the case here. As each episode adopts a new aesthetic to fit with the theme of its trial, there’s slight changes in the way it’s shot, and it’s well done every time. Additionally, the set design is great – it’s almost entirely filmed on what are clearly studio-built sets, and they all fit the vibe of the show. The Witches’ Road is clearly a built set, but that works perfectly with the way it comes across in the series as like this pocket of reality. Overall, it’s a very well-crafted series right down to the finale, which takes things in a bold direction.
I touched on the impact of Kathryn Hahn, but it needs to be highlighted just how brilliant she is across every single scene. She’s the pulse of the series, injecting life into every episode in a way that no one else even comes close to. The quirky, unserious persona she brings to Agatha makes her a fun character to follow – who needs a comedic relief sidekick when your lead IS the comedic relief. She nails the comedic timing like a true pro, but it also able to get serious when the story calls for it. Along her side is Joe Locke, who plays Teen. His performance took some getting used to – I wasn’t loving the character in the initial few episodes, and it wasn’t until he begun getting fleshed out in the latter half of the season that I started to enjoy the performance. For a character shrouded in so much mystery, Locke does a great job of getting you to care about him and what might happen with him going forward. His best moments are when he’s able to bounce off Hahn – their back and forth makes for plenty of fun moments that shine through the dull moments.
In the end, Agatha All Along doesn’t do much to help the MCU’s recent track record, but that’s not to say it’s bad. It’s a fine series that nails the technical elements and has a couple of engaging character arcs, but fails to back it up with an engaging story. Aside from Agatha herself, who offers plenty to love with a charming personality, the cast of witches are almost entirely forgettable right down to their names, none of which I can recall. It goes out with a great final two episodes that elevate the journey and bump up my score thanks to recency bias. It may not have hooked me, but many people are responding well to the series, so it could be worth a watch after all.
5.9/10
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