I’ve been enjoying Agatha All Along quite a bit since its hilarious premiere, and while there have been some ups and downs along the way, the latest—and effectively penultimate—episode of the series (episodes 8 and 9 air on the same night) was truly outstanding. The show’s creator Jac Schaeffer, who also directed this episode, has done something really remarkable, tying up a lot of loose ends and weird moments from earlier in the series in a tremendously satisfying way as we enter the final act and the end of The Witch’s Road.
The story this week centers on Lilia (Patti LuPone) an ancient witch who, we discover, set aside her powers because they were too much for her to bear. We learn that her whole life has felt out of sequence and that she’s constantly moving through time, but can’t control her time traveling. All those odd scenes in earlier episodes where she’d say a random Tarot card are explained here, in Lilia’s very own trial.
Hocus Pocus
Each time she’s named one of these cards in an earlier episode it was because she was slipping in and out of time, flashing forward to this trial. In the present, she recalls the various members of the coven and which card they embody and in the past, in those moments she thinks back on, her past self speaks the card name out loud. This always seemed like something that needed an explanation—rather than just “kooky Lilia”—but I’m very impressed with how awesome that explanation turned out to be.
The other big revelation, though hardly a surprising one, is that Rio is actually Death. Pretty much everyone had theorized this given the myriad clues pointing to her true identity, but it was still great to see Aubrey Plaza appear in all her deathly splendour.
Lilia and the other witches find themselves in a tower on the Witch’s Road, each decked out in a classic witch’s costume. Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) is the Wicked Witch of the West. Jen (Sasheer Zamata) is the old crone from Snow White. Billy (Joe Locke) is in full drag as Maleficent (if the cheekbones fit!) and Lilia herself is Glinda, the Good Witch.
As she tries to figure out how to play the Tarot cards, swords fall from the ceiling and the entire ceiling is slowly encroaching, swords and all, ready to crush all of them. She has to go back in time to her old mentor to learn the truth about her powers and, finally, accept them. “I’m the Time Traveler,” she says, realization dawning.
When the last card is played, she hurries the rest of the witches through a portal, but stays behind to face the Salem Seven. They surround her but she has a trump card: Reverse Tower. She flips the card on the table, and the entire tower switches direction. Down is up and up is down, and—in glorious slow-motion—they all fall from the floor to the sword-covered ceiling, impaled and destroyed. Lilia manages to hang on for a moment, but her fingers slip and she falls to her death as well, going out a hero.
Of course, since Lilia exists outside of time to some degree, this isn’t exactly the end for her. We see her once again, as a child, smiling at her mentor. Time is a flat circle.
Practical Magic
This is all so much more satisfying than the battle between Wanda and Agatha at the end of WandaVision, which went “full Marvel” for lack of a better term. I love how clever the magic has been in this show so far, and this week’s was the best episode of the bunch. Magic should be creative, and I’ve been annoyed that so many wizard duels end up being competing beams of light. In some ways, this show is like the inverse of WandaVision, which started out so strong but fizzled out in the end. Agatha All Along is only getting better as we near the two-part finale. Don’t get me wrong, I loved WandaVision and its clever use of sitcoms and misdirection, but I genuinely hope that this series ends better.
We haven’t seen much of our titular witch over the past two episodes, however, and that’s a bit of a shame. Kathryn Hahn is so damn good as Agatha, one of Marvel’s most compelling and sympathetic villains. She steals every scene. But I’m glad we’ve gotten to focus more on Billy and Lilia as well, and I’m certain the next two episodes will give us plenty of Ms. Harkness. And Death, of course, in one form or another.
The show continues to be very queer for a Disney production as well, much more so than The Acolyte which . . . wasn’t really at all despite how it was promoted. I know a lot of people will write it off as “woke” or whatever, but I’m glad to see it and especially because we get lots of good humor in the mix. “Want a straight answer, ask a straight witch,” Agatha says, winkingly. And Billy looks great in drag. I often criticize heavy-handedness when it comes to pushing social issues in shows or games, or in performative or token diversity. Agatha All Along avoids that and gives us—for the most part—really solid writing and entertaining characters of all stripes.
The big questions remaining as we enter the last stage of this story are:
- Will Billy discover Tommy?
- Is Wanda coming back from the dead?
- Will Billy fully become Wiccan?
- Is Agatha going to die?
- Also, will we see Vision again? Doubtful in this show, but you never know. We got Ralph Bohner, after all.
- Will Jen survive? With nearly the entire coven dead, this seems unlikely.
- Will there be a big showdown between Agatha and Billy? This seems more likely, and how it plays out could make or break the series.
All that remains a mystery, but I’m excited to see where they go in the last chapter, and I’m happy that Marvel has given us another show as creative and quirky as WandaVision. Along with Loki, these are easily the best MCU shows we’ve gotten so far. What did you think of ‘Death’s Hand In Mine’ and how do you see this all playing out?
Let me know on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
