What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?

"The lights are hot, the cameras are loaded, and the safeties have been removed from the pyrotechnics!"
"Wait, what?"

Don't worry, Jarvis! It's magical pyrotechnics! There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Promise!

I really am a sucker for old movies, so I'm predisposed to love this one. I mean, the very quick shot where only Agatha's eyes were lit as she had a sudden epiphany? I eat that kind of stuff up, especially if attention isn't called to it. It's just a little detail that tells you just how much love and care went into this, and that should be appreciated and complimented.

I didn't realize that Kingo would be in this, but in hindsight it was such a smart move. The Hollywood vs Bollywood dance number was just a joy to watch. Granted, I don't know enough about Bollywood movies to pick up on any easter eggs or subtleties, but I loved how the music changed depending on what side we were watching. I really loved the finger guns, too.

Obviously, anything that leans so heavily into finger guns also leans very heavily into the comedic side of things. Howard Stark and Jarvis were a joy to see again, especially Jarvis. Poor, long suffering Jarvis. He made me laugh the most out of anyone. I mostly wanted Howard to slow down a little. I realize that the fast-talking is a strong character trait for him (and Tony for that matter) but if I didn't have the subtitles on, I doubt I would have caught half of what he said.

For a moment, I was worried that we wouldn't get full Cosmic Agatha, but we did and she was as magnficient as she deserved. The fight with Arishem was a little lame, though. They're just going shoot lasers at each other? And sure, Agatha did a cool spell there to low key crucify Arishem, but it was over so quickly! Ah well, another victim of only have 30 minutes. To be fair, this episode fit within the run time much better than most. There were a few logical issues (Agatha beat all the other Eternals???) but I was able to brush them off. If anything, I would have loved more dancing.

This is the second episode in a row where someone is brought back from the edge of evil by a well-timed speech about the power of friendship and love. Now, this isn't an inherently bad thing. It's a very nice message, even if Howard declaring that movies make war obsolete was laying it on a bit thick.

But twice in a row? I kinda wanted Agatha to laugh in Kingo's face and keep going with her evil Agatha plans. It's just a bit too neat and cheesy, and I'm sure this is a particularly subjective critique. But remember the first Dr. Strange episode? It was dark, and the fact that the ending was so dark was one of the things that made it so good. I miss that a little. At least change it up so it's not a big friendship speech again! Please?

Random Thoughts

Sooo... Cosmic Agatha was ridiculously hot, right? Not just me?

I laughed out loud when we cut to "Meanwhile in Space" with the Watcher just floating there.

I was going to make a comment about how they had renamed Hollywood, but wikipedia informs me that the sign really did read "Hollywoodland" until 1949.

Howard casually knowing that Agatha was a witch the entire time, but not saying because he wanted to take advantage of the truly magical special effects? Perfect.

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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.

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