Three years after the hit Marvel Television show “WandaVision” was released, one of the characters who appeared got their sequel. That character is the infamous Agatha Harkness. In her show, “Agatha All Along,” Agatha finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth, “Teen,” frees her from a distortion spell created by Wanda Maximoff. Her interest is piqued when Teen begs her to take her on the Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and Teen pull together a desperate, misfit coven to set off down The Road.
Even with the intriguing plot, I was confused for a large part of the series. Admittedly, though, much of that was my fault. I didn’t realize it was a Marvel production until the seventh episode. This caused me to have lots of questions relating to why certain references and characters were popping up. Some of these questions came from the fact that I didn’t watch “WandaVision” and that I was oblivious to it being a Marvel production. Unfortunately, I didn’t know I was supposed to watch that show before watching “Agatha.” Honestly, I probably should have added “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” to my list. Ultimately, this impacted my viewing experience because I kept having to ask questions, which irritated my parents because they were trying to watch as well. So, I was banned from asking questions and was told I just needed to watch.
The reality is that even though I watched all of the episodes multiple times and with different people, I still had trouble with some connections. Going into “Agatha All Along” without any prior knowledge of her or other characters that popped up in “WandaVision” made me feel lost. I would have really benefited from watching “WandaVision” or reading the episode recaps people publish. So, I hadn’t done my “homework,” which I didn’t realize I had to complete. If the urge to watch this show comes to you as a reader, just know that prior knowledge is the key.
Among the things I didn’t know were why Agatha was trapped in the distortion spell and why Teen assumed a new identity. For Teen, he was searching for answers to what happened after his car crash. He wanted these answers because he—to put it lightly—assumed a whole other soul. This gave him a second chance at life, and it made him completely different. It was sad watching him try to reacclimate to the environment he should’ve been used to.
About the Characters
With the confusion and denseness, some aspects of the show fell a bit short. Unfortunately, one of those areas is some characters, and the problems for me start with the protagonist herself. Overall, I just did not like Agatha. I really couldn’t find a good reason to help justify to myself why she was so bad. Her whole persona in the Marvel Universe is basically to be a bad guy. Ever since the beginning of her career as a loner witch, she would kill a coven of witches just because she could. Her killings only grew more and more frequent after she gave birth to her son; this was to appease Rio so she wouldn’t take Agatha’s son. Her legacy of being the only witch to survive the Witches’ Road is because Agatha used it to fool gullible witches and take their powers. So, she’s not the greatest, but there were some moments in the show where she was nice, and it was refreshing to see.
By contrast to Agatha, Teen is much easier to like. The reason he is called Teen is because his identity is under a spell called a sigil, meaning to communicate with the rest of the coven he acquired a nickname. Later in the series, Teen gets his focus episode. It mainly focuses on his backstory and what led him to Agatha in the first place. It gives lots of insight into him as a character, and it weaves more threads that connect to the end of “WandaVision.” For most of the series, he was a positive force within the coven. When his true identity was revealed, he became a total jerk. So, I didn’t love that, though the jerkiness stems from the anger he slowly acquired throughout the Road against Agatha, but he took it out on everyone. That wasn’t cool, but what didn’t make sense to me was how he was nice, then a jerk, then nice again, all in the course of an episode. It just seemed too fast, especially with his whole identity being revealed. One of the upsides of him escaping the road at the last trial was him becoming positive again and helping Agatha out even though she had wronged him. Also, and this is nitpicky, why was he goth? After looking into his character in the comics, he gives off a dark vibe, sure, but there are lots of aesthetics that are dark (my favorite is dark academia), or they could have gone more emo-grunge route instead.
While on the topic of Teen and Agatha, it should be mentioned that some of the criticism levied at the show online was that it was one of the “gayest” shows that Marvel has produced because of its LGBTQ+ representation that was shown. For example, Agatha is a lesbian. She is shown having more than friendly affection towards Rio, and later in the episodes calls her “my love” as a term of endearment. Teen in his real life before the Road had a boyfriend too. It’s not the biggest contributor to the plot, but the producers decided it was vital to the character. Are these criticisms warranted? Ultimately, I can’t see a reason why the LGBTQ+ representation should affect someone’s view of the show’s quality.
Worth the Witch Watch?
So is “Agatha All Along” worth watching, and would I recommend it to others? It depends. If you liked “WandaVision” and want to find out what happened after the collapse of Wanda’s reality, then you should watch it, no doubt. Would I recommend this to others? Yes and no. While I had some difficulty understanding and enjoying the show, the family members who watched it with me really enjoyed it. I would recommend this show to people who like the more sci-fi witchy side of Marvel compared to the superhero action side, but the downside to this is I would be wary of recommending it to certain people. In other words, I would never tell my grandma to watch it.
That being said, there are members of my family who did watch the show, and as some of them were more familiar with the Marvel universe than me, their opinions should be considered as well. My stepmother Alison would recommend this show to others and believes it is worth the watch. She, like myself, was a non-“WandaVision” watcher. Despite this, she described the show as having an interesting plot with unique twists and turns. She still very much enjoyed it and wants to find out more of the backstories, as well as where Teen and Agatha’s journey will take them. She thought the acting was fair to good, and most of the storyline was surprisingly entertaining.
My dad watched some of “WandaVision,” but not all of it, but one thing he remembers is that Agatha was in the show and she was “a weirdo.” He would recommend it to others, and he says it’s worth watching. He liked the theme song so much that he downloaded it. In contrast to my earlier critique, he liked all of the different personalities of the characters, saying it made the characters seem more human because they all had their faults to overcome to move on as a group. Alison and my dad both agreed that one complaint was that Kathryn Hahn’s portrayal of Agatha was a little overdramatic at times. Ultimately, though, these are minor nitpicks for him.
My stepdad, Michael, is the most familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has watched both “WandaVision” and “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.” Having done all the “homework” necessary, he argues that it’s not necessary to watch those, but doing so makes “Agatha” less confusing. He would recommend it to others, and he thinks it’s worth watching. Michael also recommends watching “WandaVision” and “Multiverse of Madness” to make the experience of watching “Agatha All Along” more enjoyable.
Despite there being no confirmation of a second season, the show clearly sets up a follow-up to what was once pitched as a mini-series. Clearly, there is much more for me to learn about this character. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go do my “homework.”
Final Ratings
Riley: 3.5/5
Alison: 5/5
Dad: 5/5
Michael: 4/5
Average: 4/5
