‘Agatha All Along’: The Witch Is Back! And So Is Marvel TV MVP Kathryn Hahn!
When we last left Agatha Harkness — centuries-old alpha witch, Salem trials OG, subject of the catchiest fake-TV theme song since “Too Many Cooks” — she’d been imprisoned by Wanda Maximoff (a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch) in an illusion of small-town Americana, and left to play the part of the nosy neighbor in perpetuity. Everything ends eventually, however, including situation comedies, which is why the creators of Agatha All Along have allowed Ms. Harkness a programming upgrade. Agnes the eternally perky busybody straight outta TV Land is gone. Meet “Agnes of Westview,” star of the moody, premium-cable prestige drama of the same name. She’s a tortured homicide detective in a rural Northeastern burg, plagued by personal demons, too many unsolved dead-girl cases, and a steady diet of red wine and Wawa hoagies. The opening song is a carbon copy of Tom Waits’ “Down in the Hole.” The credits note that it’s based on the popular Danish crime series Wandavisdysen. The overall mood is “Just try to fucking top this, Kate Winslet!”
Like WandaVision‘s callbacks to the sitcom canon, this cold opening to Agatha’s solo show is both a fake out and a first-rate inside joke to television fanatics. Unlike the inaugural entry of the Marvel/Disney+ Streaming Universe, which used vintage network comedies as a season-long anesthesia against agonizing grief, creator Jac Schaeffer’s follow-up to his superhero tragedy pokes fun at self-serious procedurals just long enough to make you miss the goof once it’s gone. (Why Harkness is now deviating from her regularly scheduled programming isn’t exactly made clear; we’re just left to assume it’s due to some combination of black magic, the passage of time, and Westview’s belated embrace of Peak TV.) Soon, this spell will be broken, Agatha All Along will settle into a nice groove as a quest adventure, and — per the four episodes sent out to the press — take full advantage of the supernatural sisterhood assembled for the task at hand. The witch is back!
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More importantly, so is the star who played her. You can’t underestimate how vital Kathryn Hahn is to Schaeffer’s spin-off-slash-side-mission affair, even if you recognize that her delirious turn in what remains Marvel’s strongest series to date already made her a MCU-TV MVP. Career-wise, she’s toggled deftly between a scene-stealing human peanut gallery — her muttered-wisecrack game is tight — and a series of women experiencing deep identity crises (especially on the small screen; see Mrs. Fletcher, Tiny Beautiful Things, the extraordinary I Love Dick). Here, she gets to do a bit of both, throwing out zingers aplenty yet still playing up Agatha’s disorientation, desperation, and determination once she’s released from her enchantment. It’s pitched right in the actor’s sweet spot, between acerbic wit and rapidly approaching a nervous breakdown. “There are two Jane Does in this case,” Agnes the detective is told, just before she’s pulled out of her mental haze. “What’s your real name?”
Agatha can answer that question, thanks to two mysterious strangers. One is Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza, no stranger to the whole witchy-poo thing), who first appears as a fellow jaded detective and then as a rival sorceress. She’s the first to suggest that something even more wicked lies beyond Westview; the two also seem to have a tempestuous history with each other, including one filled with a lot of sexual tension. (Cast members have described the show as being “the gayest project Marvel has ever done,” and these early episodes suggest it might actually make good on that promise.) Rio also happens to mention that a group known as the Salem Seven is looking for her, and unless Agatha can get her powers back ASAP, this witch is toast.
The other is a teen simply named Teen (Heartstopper‘s Joe Locke) — every attempt to say his own name results in his lips being momentarily stitched up. Still, longtime comic readers will likely recognize who this character is, and why his presence in Marvel’s ongoing multi-phase soap opera could ultimately be a big deal. For now, he’s just a wannabe warlock, savvy enough to know how to break the Scarlet Witch’s spell over Agatha yet not able to tap into the really strong magic. This is why he needs Ms. Harkness’ help. There’s a mystical place called “the Witches’ Road” that, should someone successfully complete a series of tests along the way, “will give you all you want, if you make it to the end.” The teen wants her to take him there so he can realize his potential. And if Harkness can aid him in this endeavor, she may be able to get her own formidable powers in time to face the evil that’s heading her way.
But before the two can walk the walk, they have to assemble a coven that fulfills all of the necessary elements to make the trip. Divinations will be provided by the fortune teller Lilia Calderu (Patti Lupone, hitting all the right camp notes). Potions come courtesy of Jennifer Kale (SNL veteran Sasheer Zamata), a lifestyle influencer with a failing skincare line. Protections spells shall be handled by Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), an ex-cop whose mom once wrote a Top 40 hit about this rumored path to Wiccan bliss. The resident “earth witch” slot is quickly filled by Agatha’s old Westview neighbor, Mrs. Hart (That ’70s Show‘s Debra Jo Rupp). Rio joins the team once they’re following the definitely-not-yellow-bricked road, though whether she’s along for the ride as a friend or a saboteur isn’t clear yet.
From there, we get an ensemble buddy comedy, a lot of inter-witch bitching and bantering (“You are the reason people think we poison apples, steal children, eat babies.” “Babies are delicious!”), some songs, a few spooky interludes, a detour into a sort of Real Housewives of Hades misadventure, references to virtually every pop-cultural mention of witchcraft, and a few more songs. Wisely, Schaeffer brought back Kristen Andersen-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the duo behind that original “Agatha All Along” earworm from WandaVision, to pen some new tunes, including “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” and a 1970s-style showstopper that would make the witch-friendly Stevie Nicks proud. Harkness made her MCU debut in a TV show that was all about trauma and the psychic debris it leaves in its wake, and there are hints that Agatha herself has a past colored by loss that’s slowly chipping away at her emotionally.
What you won’t get is a nonstop parade of Easter eggs, constant nudges toward future crossover sagas, and the feeling that you’ve been cheated — that last one alone makes this a cut above a lot of Marvel’s recent output. Some of the more interesting and imaginative MCU stuff has been happening away from the full-franchise assault and in the televised margins, where the stakes are slightly lower (Werewolf by Night, the goofy Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special). This may have sprung from an Avengers-adjacent series with a storyline that continues to reverberate across multiple intellectual properties, yet this new show’s blend of the company’s horror shows, campy humor, and spotlighting of a former side character feels more in line with those Disney+ specials and one-offs. That high-concept joke at the beginning is enough to inspire a slow clap, yet Schaeffer and Co. aren’t interested in repeating themselves any more than they are in setting up a five-film run down the line or extending your superhero fatigue. Agatha All Along may take its title from a flashback, but everything else about the show (so far) suggests that there’s more than enough to mine when all you’ve got is all Agatha, all the time.
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