Wanda faces grief in a new episode
Pietro’s mysterious return forces the heroine to face her past and opens a gap for Vision’s journey in search of the truth.
“Chaos is installed, don’t even try to question. Nobody will be spared […] Survival! The way is to take it ”. More than a fun reference to Malcolm in the Middle , a sitcom starring Bryan Cranston in the early 2000s, the opening song for WandaVision ‘s sixth episode , “A Scary Halloween”, is the first of many proofs that the Scarlet Witch and Visão can no longer ignore what is happening around them. While Pietro’s return forces the heroine to honestly face her past traumas, the symptoid finally gets rid of his wife’s powers to go after the truth and, together with the viewer, understand the extent of the problems created by Wanda.
Since the previous chapter , the Avengers couple’s fairy tale was already shaken, and the silent fights continue as part of the new routine of the house – a climate that definitely does not go unnoticed by the twins. Although Visão is suspicious of Pietro, even because the lover never talks about his relationship with his brother, he takes advantage of the gap in Wanda’s attention to investigate the neighborhood. However, he does not leave without poking his wife: “judgment, Wanda”.
This side quest , however, reveals the opposite: the Scarlet Witch cannot maintain the illusion of perfection, even in appearance. As the symptomoid approaches the border of the hex – energy field created by the heroine, whose name is a clever pun for “spell” -, the neighbors seem to be short-circuited, as if they were a bug in the Matrix. Repeating actions in a loop , or simply paralyzed, they are unable to hide their fear and let out a lonely tear, sometimes a wide-eyed surprise.
Interestingly, Agnes is no exception to the rule. Vision finds her stationed just on the edge of the Scarlet Witch’s “kingdom”, on Ellis Avenue, without reaction and dressed up as a witch – yet another nod to the popular theory that she is Agatha Harkness. She is in a trance, like the rest of the sitcom of which she is part of the main cast and, to understand this bizarre, the hero decides to wake her up. For better or for worse, he is surprised by an avalanche of information: he was an Avenger, whatever that means; Wanda doesn’t let anyone think of leaving Westview; and, worse, he is dead!
At the same time, Wanda is also unable to get rid of his suspicions. The change in Pietro’s interpreter, something she doesn’t seem to have caused, leads her to do a subtle investigation, while her brother gets closer and closer to Billy and Tommy, assuming the character of “fun uncle” for a day. Everything arouses suspicion: different memories of a childhood Halloween, the disappearance of the accent and, of course, its appearance. In an analogous way, it is difficult not to put yourself in the same position as Wanda, and the fact that Pietro says with all the letters “release hell, my demons” does not help – tell the truth, at that time, you also wondered if he was not the Mephisto. However, the skeptical stance is short-lived and, for the first time, Wanda speaks openly about his grieving process. The heroine does not remember how all this madness started, she only knows that she felt “an infinite nothingness”.
The moment is very sensitive and, therefore, seems to bode well for Marvel’s intentions for the character. Just as sitcoms have evolved over the decades, gradually deconstructing the image of the ideal family, WandaVision does this with its protagonist. She did not go through a sudden madness, which stripped her of her heroin side. She is still there, as Pietro reveals when mentioning how the Scarlet Witch preserved children in creating their sweet reality, as well as keeping couples together and not changing their personalities. In fact, she is experiencing deep depression, something intense, whether you have super powers or not.
There is a boldness in Casa de Ideias’ willingness to debate such a relevant topic, but it is above all a responsibility. The next episodes will therefore be crucial in determining whether the concept was carried out properly and successfully, or not.
This tender moment between brothers, however, does not take away the feeling that there is something wrong with Pietro. Although it is Evan Peters, not Aaron Taylor-Johnson, it is explicit that he is the Mercury of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). “I was shot in the street for no reason and the next thing I heard was you calling me,” he explains to Wanda – a great joke about the character’s outcome in Avengers: Age of Ultron, by the way, even though the scene has another tone. But, if this is true, why the visual change? After all, if he doesn’t have the character’s memories in the Fox universe, WandaVision is not introducing the multiverse. Yet, at least.
The many questions are the most glaring evidence of this mismatch. “Where did the children come from? How did you do all this? ”He asks. Even his attempt to comfort his sister (“this is better than giving people nightmares”) seems suspicious, especially in this episode, which guaranteed that not everything is as it seems. Whether or not he is Mephisto, you can’t tell. But it doesn’t seem absurd to think that Pietro is a kind of undercover agent.
The expectation of a clearer answer about the mutant was dashed by two discoveries: Billy has powers like his mother – and like in the comics – and Visão is trying to escape the hex. Convinced that Wanda is doing harm to innocent people, the symptoid decides to ask the outside world for help. However, he is unsuccessful. Even though he encounters agents of ESPADA, the attempt to pass through the force field causes his vibranium carcass to start to fall apart. The Scarlet Witch then expands the range of her powers and absorbs it again. In fact, not only he, as agents of the SWORD and even the astrophysicist Darcy.
The melancholy and shock of the moment are even more intense when you remember that, minutes before, the commercial within the episode had shown a man abandoned on an island, with no chance of survival. To make matters worse, the arrival of a cool shark, apparently a flash of hope, is revealed in vain, because the castaway cannot open the packaging of the Yo-Magic snack! and die. The advertisement, certainly the least obvious of all so far, can be interpreted as a mirror of Visão’s own journey in the episode, placing Pietro’s arrival as a false expectation of change (the shark) and pointing out an inevitable destiny for the character.
Twists also in the real world
While Wanda and Visão venture into the new look of the sitcom, Monica, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy live their own dilemmas. As expected, it is clear that the ESPADA captain and the agency’s interim director have completely opposing views on how to deal with the chaos created by the Scarlet Witch. Aware that there is no technology capable of overcoming the heroine’s powers, Monica also has doubts about what could happen to civilians if the Avenger dies. Therefore, it proposes a more welcoming approach. Hayward, for his part, got tired of pretending to be a good boy and proved to be, once and for all, a great asshole. “Which one of you is the daring friend?” He asks, ironically, in the face of the alliance of Rambeau, Lewis, and Woo, who are determined to prevent him from continuing with his arms attacks.
The discussion ends with the trio’s official departure from the activities of ESPADA, but they do not give up. Bringing a good and surprising dose of action, Monica and Jimmy get in hand with some agents and guarantee their freedom. The scene, besides being exciting, returns to warm the hearts of the most optimistic, who cheer for a solo series of the agent played by Randall Park. However, more important than that, are the revelations made from that moment on.
Hacking the agency’s system, Darcy discovers that Monica’s cells have been modified after going through the hex twice, meaning that the captain must really assume the role of heroin in the Marvel universe. Is a new Captain Marvel coming, or will the House of Ideas introduce it as Photon or Specter?
Furthermore, the astrophysicist still realizes that part of the SWORD archives can be accessed only by Hayward. They are hidden in a folder called Cataract, a name that may indicate the executive’s misrepresentation of the situation. Another sign of his possible villainous character? Perhaps.
And then, the lean task force is undone, separating Darcy from the rest of her colleagues. She is left behind in the expectation of finding out what these files are about and, it seems, manages to send them to Woo before being absorbed in the reality of Wanda. The agent and Rambeau end the episode by trying to avoid the same fate as astrophysics and, hopefully, finding the intriguing contact that Monica mentions for some chapters.
Who this mysterious guy is and how he can help them are just two of the questions left by WandaVision this Friday (12th). For a change. With the MCU once and for all invading the ideal world of sitcoms, the series should accelerate the pace – pleasing critics at the start of the season – and guarantee new bombastic developments in this final stretch.