After a long and winding road, Agatha All Along has come to an end. It was full of ups and downs and a little bit of mischief, but a question has haunted me in the few weeks since it wrapped up: was it really any good? Throughout the Watching Now podcast, where we covered every episode of Agatha All Along, I mainly had positive things to say about the series. Still, I also admitted that witchy things weren’t really my jam (an example being that I despise The Wizard of Oz with a burning passion). So, upon reflection of the series, I’ve decided to see if I still believe it to be one of the better Marvel Disney+ shows or if it’s more akin to Secret Invasion.
Agatha All Along is the story of Agatha (who would’ve guessed) following the events of WandaVision, with Agatha under Wanda’s mind spell. It’s been three years since Agatha lost her powers and was left in Westview, but all that begins to change when a mysterious dead body appears out of nowhere. Perplexed by this occurrence and the sudden arrival of a face Agatha knows she’s seen before, events are set in motion that free Agatha from her confinement and set her loose once again. Without her power, she’s a sitting duck for her enemies, like Rio and the Salem Seven. So, she does what any reasonable witch in her position would do: create a new coven and walk the Witches’ Road to regain her power! But not all is as it seems…
The story here is on the better end of the spectrum regarding MCU series. It does a decent job hooking you within the first two episodes and, for the most part, carries that momentum throughout its nine-episodes. I was intrigued by all the mysteries, such as who Rio was and the truth behind the Witches’ Road. I also kept guessing who the Teen character was because he was only called “Teen” for the first half of the story. What did hurt the story for me was the formulaic approach the middle chunk of episodes took. Each would start with the coven walking down the road, having a squabble, finding a house, completing a trial, rinse, and repeat. There were some good character moments in these episodes, but I wish they mixed it up even a little.
I was also disappointed with how the Salem Seven were used in this story. They appear in a total of three episodes and have no real bearing on the plot besides looking spooky and having one or two chase scenes. And while I recognise that the story was good, it didn’t quite click with me as much as some of my fellow Watching Now podcast members. This could be because of the aforementioned dislike of witchy things, but it just never hit perfectly with me.
What I did really enjoy about this series were three specific characters that I was longing to see more of week after week. The first is the titular character, Agatha, once again portrayed by Kathryn Hahn. Her performance throughout the entire series was stellar and kept me engaged even when I found the story less than interesting. I particularly loved her snarky banter with the rest of the cast and how she bullshitted her way through so many situations. And that reveal at the end made everything she does throughout the series so much funnier.
Besides Agatha, I really enjoyed the characters of Rio and Billy (FKA Teen), played by Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke, respectively. I liked Rio mostly because I like Aubrey Plaza; she brings all the right kinds of unhinged to this role. On the flip side, I didn’t expect to like Billy as much as I did, but the way they weave his story into the overall narrative was a highlight.
It’s unfortunate that I didn’t click with the rest of the characters as much as I did the three I just mentioned. The rest of the coven was just kinda there for the most part, and I couldn’t even remember their names until the sixth episode. Patti LuPone, Ali Ahn, Sasheer Zamata, and Debra Jo Rupp all put in good performances, but the story just couldn’t get me to care for them. There were one or two character moments that did make me somewhat interested in them, like episode seven with Patti LuPone’s character Lilia taking the spotlight. While it was one of the better episodes, I found it came a little too late to make me care what happened to her. I didn’t actively hate the coven, but I just wish more was done to make me more invested before the last three episodes.
When news dropped that Agatha All Along had the lowest budget for an MCU series to date, I made sure to temper my expectations for how the series would look. I wasn’t expecting any giant CGI monster fights or over-the-top locales typically associated with the MCU. But despite the budget constraints, Agatha All Along is one of the most consistently good-looking MCU projects we’ve seen over the past couple of years. Sure, I could point out a bit of dodgy CGI here and there, but for the most part, everything was done practically and looked pretty great. The different houses each had their own unique feel (which helped alleviate a bit of the repetitiveness), and the Witches’ Road itself had this dark vibe that I quite liked. I also thought the wardrobe for the characters was great, with my favourites being Agatha’s blue jacket (which just fit her vibe so well) and all of Rio’s fits throughout the series.
The soundtrack was decent as well, although I kinda got sick of the Witches’ Road song that kept getting repeated. I know that it made narrative sense to keep popping up, and yes, I thought it was neat the first time I heard it, but after the third time, I had enough. Besides that one song, the rest of the soundtrack is a typical MCU score with witch vibes thrown in for good measure.
With all my complaints, you’d think that I despised Agatha All Along, but that isn’t true. I still enjoyed watching this series, even if it wasn’t really my vibe. The story, while a little repetitive, was engaging enough to get me through, and I liked how it felt like a sequel to WandaVision. I enjoyed a handful of characters, but I wish the rest of the cast had just a tiny bit more development. And for the budget limitations, they did a great job visually. It’s not my favourite MCU series, but it’s definitely not the worst.
Have you watched Agatha All Along? What did you think? Where would you rank it? Let us know in the comments where we can talk about all things Marvel.
