Agatha All Along

I think a lot of people were very dismissive when this show was announced, “who is this for” “why are we getting a spinoff of a spinoff” and many more baseless criticisms were thrown before the show had even began filming. From my point of view, I always had faith in this show. Given it was being helmed by Jac Schaffer, who had already proved to make an incredible show with WandaVision, and this being a continuation of her pocket of the MCU, I just had faith that this wasn’t a pointless show to fill the Disney+ catalogue unlike other spinoffs - did I hear someone say Echo?

I also believe this is exactly the way a franchise should work. Instead of planning multiple projects at the same time which never intersect at all, how about having what is ostensibly a sequel to something that proved itself to be good, with a character people loved and a creative team overseeing it to make sure character’s arcs are faithful. Might I also add to the people who were complaining that this was wholly unnecessary that there’s a whole demographic who enjoy the MCU who have very few projects that features characters who reflect them.

I knew given that Billy was a part of the show that this was going to have some level of queerness be a part of the show but never did I think we’d actually get Marvel fully embracing queerness the way this show did. From a representation point of view, this show is just incredibly meaningful. Marvel have released over fifty projects, Agatha All Along being one of the few to be lead by a woman, and the first by an openly queer woman and feature multiple queer characters. I think sometimes people think that might be enough, to mark a character as queer well that means that they’ve included representation right? Like Eternals is a great example, we get Marvel’s first gay kiss…so what? Nothing about whatever Brian Tyler Henree’s character was called felt queer, it was representation for the sake of representation. Agatha All Along features characters who feel distinctly queer. We get to see Billy’s relationship with his boyfriend, we get to see his room which feels lived in, I mean even if you remove the kiss between Agatha and Rio, their relationship still feels distinctly queer. It’s embedded in the writing for so many of the characters and doesn’t feel tacked on.

Outside of this just being something new and fresh for the MCU with the characters we follow, the show as a whole just felt like it was doing something different. So much of this show you are able to sense the craftsmanship and the level of work which went into making this as good as possible. It’s unbelievable that this show is the MCU’s cheapest and manages to look better than nearly every other show. I feel like staying strong to the idea of shooting practically did a lot for this show. It clearly enhances the performances you get out of your actors, and it adds a level of practicality which is felt by viewers.

I don’t think there’s any department which didn’t add to the magic of this show. The costume design for each of the characters was stunning and is just nice to have costumes which reflect character’s arcs. I just loved Agatha’s jacket so much. The score was stunning and levelled up the witchy vibes. I also genuinely liked how most of this looked as well, it’s not groundbreaking cinematography but it’s clear there was care put into how it looks.

No wonder you get a show which feels like everybody put their all into when you have someone leading the show who is in love with what they’re making and genuinely wants to make something special. It also helps to have the talented cast that this show has. Kathryn Hahn absolutely devours this role and has entered some of my favourite performances ever in the MCU. She has so much to work with and she does so wonderfully. I think the best thing about her performance is just how nuanced it is, Agatha is a villain, she’s the first villain besides perhaps Thanos or Loki who we’ve really got to explore, but, and it’s a credit to the writing, you root for her and understand her, which makes the show all the more complex as it goes on.

Wiccan, played by Joe Locke, really surprised me. To hold his own among all these incredible actors is hard and he does so, I think he settles into the role and it takes a little time but once you learn more about who he is, it’s a very good performance. Sasheer Zamata is also really wonderful as Jennifer Kale, but the standout of the supporting cast is easily Patti LuPone. She is special throughout the whole show but her episode where she gets to shine is unbelievable. She single handled makes the themes of the show surrounding womanhood and the perception of witches so special, it’s as an episode perhaps in contention for some of the best stuff Marvel has ever made.

I really adored this, it has some issues with some episodes in the middle and I’m not sure the ending was that satisfying, I think not closing out Billy’s story in this show is weird. I will say I will gladly have a final episode which focused more on internal stories of characters that the usual fights however. I really hope Marvel looks at this show and opts to write more unique shows and is not afraid of alienating viewers