Despite my fears about a spin-off show born from a minute-long viral song, Marvel’s latest addition to its TV show lineup “Agatha All Along” shows promise in its initial two episodes.
Even though the lingering thought of “Why am I watching this?” remained in my mind, the show provides a fun break from the rest of the mostly draining Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The first show to come out of the Disney+ era of Marvel, “WandaVision,” was incredibly well received, especially during the COVID pandemic when fans were starved for any content. The show’s main villain, Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn, immediately became a fan favorite due to her stellar comedic timing and impeccable performance. Additionally, the song revealing her as the villain, “Agatha All Along,” went viral inside and outside of Marvel fan communities, reaching fifth on iTunes’ Top 100 singles chart and winning the show an Emmy.
These combinations helped to garner support for a show about Agatha. Admittedly, I highly doubted that a song and a good performance would convince Kevin Feige to green-light an entire TV show about a witch who has never starred in a comic book run of her own. The Snyder Cut had just come out to mixed reviews following the fan movement that brought it back to life, so my expectations for a fan-advocated comic show were low. However, much to my surprise, “Agatha All Along” was announced less than a year after its source material’s finale. Some say Marvel is receptive to fans’ ideas — I say this reeks of financial desperation.
The first episode begins with a satirical reimagining of true crime TV shows, a la “Mare of Easttown,” complete with a prickly, HR-nightmare female detective and a ridiculously small aspect ratio. This style draws from the show’s predecessor and its episodic parodies of TV show genres.
Although the fun does not last for long, Agatha’s portrayal as a quintessential female detective who has an abundance of sexual chemistry with the brooding agent — played here by Aubrey Plaza — is enjoyable while it lasts.
By the end of the first episode, the show has eliminated the need for background knowledge about Marvel. The second episode opens with Teen — played by Joe Locke — the teenager Agatha found breaking into her house during the previous episode, begging her to take him down the Witches’ Road, a treacherous journey that will give those who survive it anything they desire. The rest of the episode follows them assembling the coven required for the expedition.
Hahn is impossible to hate as Agatha. Despite the character’s awful personality, Hahn’s knack for comedy elevates the show. Because of her talent, the showrunners faced the difficult task of finding women to stand toe-to-toe with Hahn, especially because Joe Locke lacks comedic prowess. Still, they surely delivered.
Broadway heavyweight Patti LuPone, SNL alum Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn and Debra Jo Rupp all hold their own in the scene they have with Hahn. By the time the episode ends with the group beginning their trek down the Witches’ Road, the audience is looking forward to watching the strong female ensemble — and the sole man, Teen — work together.
Teen, who is as traditionally 2000s emo as Disney would allow, acts as the group’s gay son, especially with lines like, “I love your Insta page, by the way! You totally minimized the size of my pores.”
“Agatha All Along” is downright entertaining. One of its strongest points is its tonal balance. The show leans into its darkness but still offers plenty of wry one-liners and moments of comedic levity, which is such a relief after 10 years of Joss Whedon’s style of quippy and quirky comedy that has had Marvel in a chokehold since “Avengers,” — even long after Whedon jumped ship.
The show isn’t exactly visually interesting, but at least I can see what’s going on without my brightness all the way up, which is more than I can say for other comic book media of recent years. Unfortunately, the song created to emulate the hit song which the title is derived from, “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road,” does not capture the same charm of its predecessor.
“Agatha All Along” is such a blast to watch that it took me until the end credits of the second episode to think about why it exists. While it has the chance to be a great show for everyone, its disconnection from the main Marvel canon dampers my enjoyment. Marvel’s fractured nature is hurting itself in the long run. The studio needs to decide whether its TV shows are essential viewing.
While I’m leaning towards “no” for this one, theories suggesting that Locke’s character could be the Scarlet Witch’s son and a member of the Young Avengers, Billy, make it a must-watch for Marvel fans. However, if the show can continue on this engrossing run of form, maybe, just maybe, I’ll let Kevin Feige slide on this one.