Why Wandavision Episode 8 is GREAT!

Wandavision is a Marvel Disney+ show which I plan to make a video on after the season ends, but this episode was just so good that I couldn't help but to write about it. After the previous episode which was the weakest of the episodes, this one stood out for sure, but it exceled in quality compared to all the other episodes till now. Now of course, I think some of the beginning episodes were some of the best as it was new, fresh, charming and somewhat experimental. But this episode easily takes the #1 spot.

SPOILERS AHEAD

After the reveal of Agnes being the witch known as Agatha Harkness, we see a backstory of how she has tremendous magical powers and what not. But this episode starts out a little weak. Agatha's monologues are performed brilliantly by Katheryn Han, but feel mostly to set up other characters rather than propel the storytelling forward. But after that, when Agatha forces Wanda to revisit her past, it is simply genius writing as - 

1.  The audience catches up on how this sitcom started.

2. It builds on Wanda's character 

First, we see Wanda's childhood living a happy life with her brother and parents. This is where the theory that Wanda probably saw sitcoms in her youth which inspired her warped reality is confirmed. To anyone who has seen Avengers: Age of Ultron, they know that due to an explosion, their parents die and a "Stark" missile haunts them. So I anticipated the bomb, and it happened. As Wanda and Pietro hide under a bed (as described by their adult versions in Age of Ultron) they wait for the Stark missile to go off, and a young Wanda wishes that all of this was a dream by drawing inspiration from the "happy go lucky" sitcoms which talks about how these sitcoms are a from of escapism where in the end, everything ends well.

 

Then we see how Wanda got her powers from the mind stone as the apathetic Hydra Agents experiment on her knowing full well that she could die. After a bombastic and colorful exposure to the mind stone, she's imbued with her superpowers. It's interesting as we see Wanda and Agatha both going through these memories one by one.

Then we see Wanda alone in the first house gifted to her by the Avengers watching sitcoms in order to cope with her brother Pietro's death. Now it was funny to see that the compound had the usual blue-grey color palette (which I've criticized quite often), but the heart of this scene is the conversation between Vision and Wanda as this is one of their first moments of bond. It has some comedic moments to it as Vision attempts to understand human emotions, but also heartfelt as he wishes to try, understand and help Wanda who is a victim of extreme trauma. This is where the performances by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany shined as I really believed in their intimate moment of connection. Then on seeing present Wanda crying and attempting to hold back re-living this scene again was just heartbreaking. 

Then we finally get to see how this show started as Wanda wishes to bury Vision, but realizes that his body is being dismantled. Hayward (the so called antagonist) is a mixed antagonistic force as he's seems like a cliche jerk, but also establishes his conflicting beliefs with Wanda, for she sees him as a human who's capable of love and empathy, whereas Hayward literally calls Vision, "A weapon" and "3 billion dollars worth of vibranium" The part where Wanda tries to reconnect with a broken Vision and says, "I can't feel you", is a great emotional parallel to a moment in Infinity War where Vision tells Wanda, "I just feel you" before letting her destroy him. 

On seeing Wanda entering the town of Westview, the camera takes it's time to show it's citizens that we had seen in previous episodes.

Wanda then enters a broken house and opens the letter sent to her and sees that it was a house that Vision planned to live with Wanda in, and grow old in which just added salt to the already deep wound causing Wanda to have a mental breakdown and create this sitcom reality trapping it's residents beginning the show. 

The reason I loved this show is because, one of my problems with some of the episodes of the show is that it's too rushed, not because I want to see more (which I do), but it needs time to breathe. But this episode is less about action and setting up other properties, but more about the exploration of Wanda's past and psyche. How she dealt with trauma, and the relationships she made and lost that only fueled her traumatic hopelessness. The reason, I feel, that this makes Wanda a better character is because despite her magnificent powers, her internal conflict humanizes her as it's something we've all felt to some extent. In other episodes, Wanda's depression is hinted multiple times. But here, it is fully explored which is great because it really dives into it headfirst.

There's one last episode left for the show and I've never been more excited. I really hope whatever Marvel does, it suits and benefits the narrative and the character arcs that I feel are required. I'm really worried for I don't want this show's ending to fail, but I trust Marvel and their ability to create magical stories than fuel our imagination along with characters that we can empathize with. 

Thank Your for Reading

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