Agatha All Along: Season One

This is a collaborative review of the first season of Agatha All Along. Samantha M. Quinn and An Honest Fangirl talk about their thoughts and opinions. While they keep the bigger reveals mostly spoiler free, there are references to events in the show that could be considered spoilery.

This discussion also contains spoilers for WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Samantha M. Quinn: I just finished the series about half an hour ago, and I'm still processing.

An Honest Fangirl: Okay, yeah, processing is a very good word for it.

I'm... disappointed? I think? No, I do feel a little disappointed by that ending. About a few things, but the ending made it feel worse.

Samantha M. Quinn: I'm... admittedly torn about the actual ending. On one hand it feels a bit underwhelming, but the more I think about the complete deconstruction of the entire series in those last few episodes I'm starting to realize it was also a perfect ending. I think once I have a bit more time to stew on it, I'll have a more coherent take on what I mean.

But I want to start with the rest of the series. From the very beginning we were treated to altered reality in the form of Wanda's spell on Agatha. It was a fun introduction, if a bit confusing. Much like the rest of this series I bet with repeated viewings the actual episodes will feel a whole lot stronger. I absolutely loved the whole dark Canadian woods crime drama vibe, and how over the top and slightly off Agatha fit into that world. Rio's introduction was also somewhat bizarre and I could tell immediately there was something between the two of them.

Enter the Teen and chaos erupts. I wasn't sure about the actor or character at first, but he grew on me as the series went on. Ultimately who he ends up as is both incredibly satisfying and deeply important to the MCU's future. The weirdness didn't let up and soon we were getting into a fight and Agatha shifting through her personas and I think it was a solid set up for the rest of the series. While I did like the first episode I wasn't quite sold yet on the series.

An Honest Fangirl: So, I haven't seen WandaVision or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness, although I know the higher level plot points. Wanda puts everyone into sitcoms, it was Agatha all along, etc etc. Although I wasn't that confused, as I also knew that Wanda had put her under a spell. I enjoyed the crime drama vibes like you did, and I really loved Rio right from the start. Okay, I love Aubrey Plaza – she's just incredibly watchable – but I loved their dynamic immediately, especially when it became clear that Rio knew this was all fake and was pushing Agatha to do the same.

Agatha going through all of her personas was a very cool bit of camera work and editing. There were a bunch of just really well done sequences throughout the series on a purely technical level.

Teen was interesting. The first episode doesn't really give us a lot from him, especially since a lot of it was twisted through Agatha's perception. I ended up getting really attached to him... up until we find out who he actually is. After that, for some reason he just left me cold. Joe Locke was very good throughout, it had nothing to do with him. And I am curious to see him in the MCU going forward.

I'm not sure if this really set up the series as much as it just got Agatha into a place where she could actually do things, though. A lot of the set up happened in the second episode, which I'm glad they dropped at the same time as the first since they really do from a strong prologue as a pairing.

Samantha M. Quinn: You're right about the second episode being where they did a majority of the set up. The introduction to the coven was handled in a strange, almost off-putting way. The antagonism and sheer animosity towards Agatha is clearly universal.

I also get why you were turned off by Teen's turn. He went from geeky and somewhat sweet to dark and a bit terrifying. But he did slowly adjust back to his original personality, and the reveal didn't really change that persona at all.

An Honest Fangirl: The antagonism and animosity towards Agatha is actually what really threw me off for the entire series. I'm familiar with her character from other sources, namely the video game Marvel's Midnight Suns (which is criminally underrated and underplayed). She's a very warm and loving figure in the game. A little mischievous, yes, but she raised the player's character alongside the player's aunt, and served as a mentor to not just you but also to Wanda. She's a very clear heroic figure and is nothing at all like Agatha in the show. So I kept having to fight that as I watched, and I never really understood why she was so evil or why she killed so many witches. I'm guessing that's explained more in WandaVision?

Anyways, I really liked our coven, especially Lilia, although I am also very fond of tarot and the symbolism that comes with it. Jen intrigued me and I eventually warmed up to Alice. Sharon was my favorite, though. I loved how enthusiastically she approached the song. And the song! It's been stuck in my head for weeks now, specifically the version we got in episode two.

I was okay with Teen going dark and terrifying. I love it when sweet characters do that. It's more that it felt like the turn came out of nowhere and then was completely done and forgotten about by episode eight. But that also ties into the larger problems I think I have with the back half of the season.

Samantha M. Quinn: I get what you mean. The back half is a very different show than the front half. If you were vibing with the front half I can imagine the absolute deconstruction of the story and the status quo was quite an adjustment. The choice of using Agatha as an antagonist is an interesting choice made in WandaVision where she spent a good chunk of the runtime manipulating and gaslighting Wanda. It was also revealed that she killed her own mother by stealing her power. Her being a witch mass murderer is not terribly surprising, but a little much to ask the audience to forgive her.

I didn't quite like Lilia until her last episode; she was just too weird and somewhat caustic. Same with Jen; she seemed overly antagonistic. But I liked them both by the end. Alice also got me by the end of her arc, and had one of the saddest lines in the season. Of course the saddest line was spoken by Agatha in the finale: "Sometimes little boys die."

As for that song, yes, it has been living rent free in my head for weeks. What kills me is the underlying darkness and outright evil surrounding that song, despite the relatively innocent and loving origins. It also makes me wonder, now that the road was created once, will it exist again? While lethal, there was something rather fantastic about the actual road and its experiences. I guess we'll see if it is ever brought up again. With the MCU, there are no guarantees.

An Honest Fangirl: Yes, I was very much vibing with the front half. Deadly escape rooms that reflect a different character each time? Yes, please! But Agatha's trial confused me and felt kind of lame compared to Jen and Alice's. Lilia's was great. She had my favorite episode of the series by far. I knew that her kookyness had to be leading somewhere and it didn't let me down. Well, what it did with the Salem Seven was super lame. They were just lame as an entity, and there was no reason for that. It looked like a lot of care had been put into their costumes, with each witch having a different make and dress based on their animal, but I never managed to get a long enough look at them to confirm.

I had really hoped that Rio would get a trial. I think a lot of my disappointments with the series, specifically the finale, could have been solved if they took the flashbacks and turned that into Rio's trial and made her go through with it. Although I guess she never really was part of the coven, huh? That's why Teen didn't get a trial either, unless you count the entire show as his "trial."

But then that would be a very different show, and like you said, the deconstruction is kind of the point. The big twist involving the road was great. I loved it, and it made so much sense in hindsight. They foreshadowed it really well. It was the only twist I didn't see coming since both of our identity reveals were pretty obvious. I don't think the Road exists anymore. Teen pretty emphatically ended it, after all. It was so, so pretty, though. I loved how the color of the path changed with each section (of course, yellow being the color for when Agatha gets turned into the Wicked Witch).

Samantha M. Quinn: The Salem Seven really did feel like a big threat at the beginning, and while the ultimate resolution was satisfying it was a bit underwhelming after all the build up. Agatha's trial was weird (they were all weird, to be honest), but I think that was an intentional choice. Especially after the episode eight reveal. Rio was never going to get a trial, and after it was made clear who she was I never had any illusions we would learn much more about her. She's simply too big of a character to unpack in a show with other priorities. But kudos to Marvel for getting Aubrey Plaza to play that character. I hope they can keep her around for a long time.

The aesthetics of the show were really wonderful, and yes, the ever changing colors and the little details everywhere made this a high re-watch contender. After everything that happened towards the end I almost have to rewatch just to look at the show with a different perspective. Lilia's episode alone almost required it, but with the Agatha, Rio and Teen reveals in seven, eight and nine... well I have a friend who needs to see it, so I'll get a chance to rewatch anyway. I bet it is way better knowing all the secrets.

Do you have any final thoughts?

An Honest Fangirl: Oh, Aubrey Plaza killed it. Part of my disappointment honestly might just stem from me wanting more of and from her, even if I understand logically why that wouldn't happen. I do wish that we saw how she and Agatha met, though. Or really just more with that whole relationship considering the implications.

I keep saying 'disappointed' a lot, and I don't want it to seem like I didn't enjoy the show. I absolutely did, and I feel like it's one of those that absolutely rewards a rewatch. I'd definitely put it up there with Loki in terms of quality. It set up the character of Teen super well, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him in the larger MCU and everything that his existence implies. The last two episodes just didn't do what I really expected them to do. Maybe that's an issue with my own perception and expectations.

Almost all of the details and storylines were very tightly plotted and written, so the showrunner and writers definitely had an overarching vision for everything. So much of it was just clever and skilled from a production standpoint. The acting was fabulous across the board too, although I do have to highlight Kathryn Hahn as Agatha. It's really hard to play a pathological liar who is constantly manipulating everyone around her, but you could always see the gears turning behind her eyes and the peeks behind the curtain were tantalizing.

I'd give it 4 out of 4 Ballads for the first six episodes and 3 out of 4 for the last three so.... 3.5 for me? Roughly?

Samantha M. Quinn: Aubrey Plaza is usually the MVP of whatever project she is involved with, and I do wish we could've had more with her. That being said, Kathryn Hahn absolutely carried the show, even with her being a less than sympathetic character most of the time. While I may have wanted a bit more from Agatha's backstory, I do feel like we know her a bit better than before. Her new situation and how things ended put things into an interesting place, and I'm curious where the character goes from here.

I'll agree that this was mostly great, with a few mildly disappointing/frustrating elements towards the end.

3.5 Bells Tolling for the Witches Road