It Was "Agatha All Along"

Minor spoilers ahead.  

"Agatha All Along" got off to a bumpy start.  It was already in a rough spot because it's a sequel to the "Wandavision" series, centered around a minor comic book character, and didn't have much of a budget to work with.  However,  it does boast an excellent showrunner and cast, led by Kathryn Hahn as the anti-heroine witch Agatha Harkness.  She was a standout in the "Wandavision" series, and gets the spotlight in her own show this time around.  

The plotting is very messy, but the story isn't too hard to piece together, even if you haven't seen "Wandavision."  In the aftermath of her battle with the Scarlet Witch, a de-powered Agatha has been stuck in Westview and enchanted into thinking that she's the protagonist of a "Mare of Easttown" style police drama.  A wannabe fanboy of Agatha's (Joe Locke) tracks her down and manages to break the spell she's under.  He asks her to take him to the Witches' Road, a legendary magical trial that requires a full coven to traverse.  Agatha recruits the card-reader Lilia (Patti LuPone), potion expert Jen (Sasheer Zamata), and protector witch Alice (Ali Ahn).  Agatha's normie neighbor, Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) is also roped into the trip to be their "green witch."  They have to face not only the Witches' Road, but several foes who are intent on killing Agatha - another coven called the Salem Seven, and Agatha's ex Rio (Aubrey Plaza), with whom she has a complicated history. 

Most episodes of "Agatha All Along" involve the witches coming across a new trial on the Witches' Road - which usually operates like a themed escape room - delving into somebody's backstory, and displaying some magic to advance.  There are several ongoing mysteries, such as what really happened in Agatha's past with Rio, and why is Agatha so hated?  And why is Joe Locke's character under a spell that prevents him from telling anybody his name, prompting Agatha to just call him "Teen"?  Who is he, really?  We get some answers, but not all of them, and some viewers will not be happy that some big plotlines are left totally unresolved.  The finale is an oddly anti-climatic episode about Agatha and her son Nicholas (Abel Lysenko), who she had in the 1700s.  It's also one of the best final episodes of any MCU series to date.

"Agatha All Along" is refreshingly unconcerned with fulfilling audience expectations or servicing the larger Marvel Cinematic universe.  It has its own stories that it wants to tell on its own terms.  A key element is a "Down the Witches' Road" ballad written by Robert and Kristen Anderson Lopez, which we hear multiple versions of in different episodes.  There's a 70s hippie episode and an 80s horror movie episode, and one where everyone is in fairy tale cosplay.  Agatha, Rio, and Teen are all unambiguously queer characters.  Also, in an unusual move for a comic book series, the dead characters almost all stay dead.  The individual episodes are a lot of fun, but at the same time "Agatha" sneakily manages to have some strong, interesting stakes and delivers a surprising amount of emotional heft.  Not everything works, but I appreciate the urge to not play it safe.

The show's big failing is trying to do too much.  All the different pastiches and costume changes every week distract from the fact that a lot of the characters are underserved - Lilia, Alice, and Jen in particular.  I can't quite get my head around Rio either - she definitely could have used her own spotlight episode, or at least some additional exposition clarifying how she functions in this universe.  Plaza is perfect for the part, and I'm very receptive to what she's doing, but not all the pieces are clicking here.  Part of me wonders if the writers are saving parts of the story for a second season of "Agatha All Along," which seems like an awfully big risk considering the state of Marvel Television at the moment.  

Kathryn Hahn and Joe Locke end up being the show's biggest assets.  Hahn in particular is fabulous at being tragic one minute and frightful the next.  I was rooting for her every step of the way, despite knowing that she was up to no good.  This is the first major thing I've seen Joe Locke in, and he's great - his spotlight episode is easily my favorite.  Minor spoiler here - we'll likely see him again in the "Vision" series being prepped for 2026.  Hopefully Agatha and Rio will show up too.  

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