Agatha All Along, the song from WandaVision that you just couldn’t get out of your head in 2021, is now the title of the MCU’s latest Disney+ series spinning off of that critical and fan-beloved show. Kathryn Hahn returns as the witch Agatha Harkness left brainwashed by Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) aka The Scarlet Witch after Agatha was revealed to have been pulling the strings “all along” in Westview. With the appearance of old flame Rio (Aubrey Plaza) and a mysterious teen (Joe Locke) Agatha finds herself on a mission to gather a new coven to travel to the fabled Witches’ Road in a quest to reclaim her stolen power.
Kathryn Hahn’s role in WandaVision was certainly memorable, but it seemed like a stretch to give the character an entire spin-off series while the state of the MCU seems to be trending downward. After watching the first 4 episodes, it’s good WandaVision and Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer didn’t agree as the series satisfyingly treats viewers here with a great vehicle for Agatha. The better-than-expected miniseries has its issues but gives Agatha a host of new characters to manipulate in deviously fun ways with the clever premise setup.
The show premieres with a two-episode release and viewers will do well to be patient as the setup to the plot is cleverly done with some genre parody, but also somewhat slow. Thankfully, the re-establishing of the character and the new stakes of her world are elevated by Hahn’s infectious energy. Hahn and Plaza also exude an inordinate amount of sexual electricity that’s hard to resist when they share the screen. Things eventually find their footing plot-wise near the end of the 2nd episode and everything opens up from there in the next two installments.
Although it’s a spin-off, Agatha All Along refreshingly has its own vibe, mixing scares, comedy, and terrific musical elements. Hahn has a wonderfully talented cast supporting her in the newly created coven consisting of the likes of Broadway legend Patti LuPone as coven “mother” of divination Lilia Calderut and the comedic genius of Debra Jo Rupp reprising her Westview neighbor role Sharon Davis. Jo Rupp is on fire, stealing every scene, all the while being adorable and hilarious. Filling out the roster is Sasheer Zamata as “potions” witch Jennifer Kale and Ali Ahn as “protector” witch Alice Wu-Gulliver – both get overshadowed at times by their co-stars, but their voices pack a punch in the eventual musical elements, so their talents aren’t wasted.
Joe Locke’s role as the witch-obsessed mystery teen, who purposely remains nameless for the early episodes, is the most teased secret of the miniseries. Locke is borderline overly exuberant but settles in as the episodes roll on and becomes a more endearing character – even to the coven. While fans online figured out the character’s identity twist long ago, casual viewers will be invested and debating his identity unless they decide to do a quick Google search.
Not having seen beyond the 4 episodes given to critics in this 9 episode miniseries, I have growing concerns about the direction of the remaining installments. There’s a creeping feeling of a formulaic element settling in which has been a momentum-killing problem with many MCU Disney+ series. Hopefully, that’s not the case and the series continues with originality and surprises. Additionally, the supporting witch’s backstories ultimately seem to be used as ongoing episode filler, which could hurt the tempo and overall narrative, but that also remains to be seen.
Agatha All Along feels akin to a more mature Hocus Pocus in both scare and subject matter. It looks fantastic with each episode presenting different trials on The Witches’ Road featuring different environmental colors and aesthetics. Overall, the series has a creepy, dark, and purple-shaded look befitting Agatha and the spooky season of its release. It all culminates with a two-part finale scheduled to release on the night before Halloween this year – a great time to cap off what looks to be a pleasant MCU seasonal surprise
Score: 3.5 out 5