The witches brew for Marvel Television’s new “Agatha All Along” is what you might expect: a little bit playful, with a dash of comical amusement, some slightly creep witchcrafty macabre notes, a pinch of musical singalong moments, and easygoing mystery as a topper. A spin-off of the “WandaVision” series centering on that antagonist witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), the limited series is a lightweight effort; lighthearted, light on its feet, light on depth, and a bit mid in flavor. It’s Marvel’s version of “Hocus Pocus,” really which only a slightly bit more bite. But this seems to be the intention, for better or worse, an entertaining diversion aiming to delight fans with a PG-ish level of creep. But any viewers asking for a modicum of weight or soul have probably come to the wrong coven.
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Yes, there are some occasionally horror-ish moods and spooky vibes, but it’s more Spirit Halloween or “Haunted Mansion” than it is “Friday The 13th,” and talk of the show leaning into anything resembling terror is deeply overstated (you’ve been warned). Still, while “Agatha All Along” feels far from a classic in the making, Hahn, Plaza, and the cast are pleasing enough, and the series, so far anyhow, is an easy way to pass the time.
Created by Jac Schaeffer, also the mind behind “WandaVision” and the series showrunner, lead writer, and director, ‘Agatha’ feels like a logical extension of its antecedent series and features similar levels of trifling mysteriousness. “WandaVision,” however, had many twists and turns and, despite how uneven it was at times, crafted a compelling tale of trauma and heartbreak (flawed, but still Marvel’s best series thus far).
Whether ‘Agatha’ will possess comparable poignancy is unclear and arguably doubtful, given that it feels like it has a different, less emotional, and tragic remit. However, there are a few suggestions that hint that Schaeffer’s series may still have a few tricks up its sleeve.
Mirroring the “WandaVision” architecture at first—pretending to be something it’s not initially—“Agatha All Along” begins with an episode in the vein of “Mare Of Easttown” and “True Detective,” and Agatha playing a local detective investigating the grizzly murder of a deceased woman. Playing with cop procedural cliches, of course, a rival detective from another county is brought in to assist (Aubrey Plaza), but all eventually becomes clear (and the show doesn’t drag it out and makes this mystery mercifully short). Like the early black and white “WandaVision” episodes that featured Wanda living in a 1950s-esque sitcom delusion, Agatha is trapped in a buddy cop fever dream and the true inquiry. Taunted by Plaza’s more done-up and slick detective, she is eventually broken out of this spell—a remnant from “WandaVision” through the help of a mysterious and suspicious boy known as the Teen (“Heartbreaker” star Joe Locke).
Coming to her senses but still unsure what fateful role Teen will play in her story, Agatha decides to go on a journey down the perilous Witches Road in order to reclaim the powers Wanda robbed her of at the end of Schaeffer’s inaugural series. But the legend of the Witches Road is such that no sorceress dare travel it alone, so Agatha, with the puppy-dog-ish Teen loyally following her in tow, set upon a recruitment path to find enchantresses that can accompany her on her journey.
It’s no easy task. Agatha is wildly unpopular in the witch community and is the most notorious hextress who has given the group a bad name. Still, despite most of the rejections, hard passes, and preliminary revulsions, Agatha appeals to the idea of reclamation, as all these witches have also been stripped of their former glories and abilities. No one is generally eager to help Agatha, but the temptation to recover some of their erstwhile magnificence and occultist splendor is too hard to pass up.
Reluctantly, witches like Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), and Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) eventually join the coven. Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp), Wanda’s Westview neighbor from “WandaVision,” also gets conscripted into the fold. Ultimately, the more antagonistic witch, Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), also intersects with this traveling party and becomes a tentative troupe member.
While all the witches have mystery and intrigue, it’s clear Agatha and Rio have history, sapphic, romantic history that eventually turned sour. While they essentially call a truce on the quest, it’s fairly evident Rio is the secret villain behind it all, like Hahn was in “WandaVision,” and has more in store for her former paramour.
Likewise, The Teen has secrets, too. The boy has a sigil placed on him, meaning any time he offers his real name or personal information, it is X’d out and unhearable to any of the other coven members. His true nature and what he truly wants is unknown, but he doesn’t seem as obviously wicked as Vidal.
Each character has their own unique backstory; Lupone’s elder Calderu is a down-on-her-luck psychic who has lost her ability to see the future; the embittered Kale has gone into the new age-y wu wu essential oils and wellness business thanks to her expertise in potions, and Wu-Gulliver is the daughter of legendary rockstar and necromancer Lauren Wu, the songwriter behind the popular version of “The Ballad of The Witches’ Road” song that needs to be performed before undergoing the odyssey.
Once the house of Harkness is formed, the collective faces a series of challenges along the road, most of which occur in different haunted houses with spooky and foreboding qualities that will test their mettle and tenuous alliance.
If it all sounds predictable, familiar, and ho-hum, that’s because it mostly is. Then again, to be fair, Disney only offered critics four of the nine episodes, and this first half is mostly just all apéritif framework and setup for hopefully something darker with more fangs. But again, it’s uncertain if these darkhold diaries will offer something tastier on the horizon as the musical quality of ‘Agatha’ seems to point to something a little more trivial and inconsequential like “Goosebumps,” “The Addams Family” or campier fare like “Death Becomes Her.” Still, as trifling as “Agatha All Along” feels, at least it’s watchable, marginally humorous, and not at all like Marvel homework despite its connection to past Marvel shows. Furthermore, and maybe this is faint praise, at least it’s a big step up from the dire “Secret Wars” and “Echo” nadir, hopefully signaling that nature is healing and Marvel is at least becoming passable TV pleasure for now. [C+]
“Agatha All Along” debuts September 18 with two episodes on Disney+.
