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This week’s Malcolm in the Middle-inspired Halloween-themed episode of WandaVision seems to put to rest the suggestion of Agnes’s true identity of Agatha Harkness. And it may also reveal who the show’s true villain is … sort of because there’s still one big question from Episode 1 that hasn’t been answered: who was watching at the end of the episode?
This week, Wanda has skipped the 90s apparently, going straight to the year 2000 (when Malcolm in the Middle premiered) and Halloween, giving us a cringey look at what actual humans would look like if Marvel had stuck with the comic book look of the costumes for its superheroes (one could argue we’d never have gotten to this point because the X-Men would have been laughed off the screen if they’d kept the spandex costumes — anyone remember the controversy when the team’s outfits were changed from the expected look?). Evan Peters’ take on Pietro is now fully integrated into the family, charming Billy and Tommy while rubbing Vision the wrong way. Wanda is still perplexed about his appearance, both physically in Westview and by his physical appearance. She’s also peeved that Vision isn’t sticking to her plan of being with the boys for their first Halloween, instead he’s part of the neighborhood watch … another signal that he’s no longer under her influence although he’s still trying to play along.
Uncle Pietro steps in to take the kids trick or treating and Wanda bumps into Herb, who’s getting reports of all the candy being stolen, all the Jack-O-Lanterns being smashed, and everyone being covered in Silly String (and we see Uncle P is using his super speed to make mischief with the boys). He also tells Wanda that Vision is not on watch duty. So where could he be?
Outside The Hex, Monica, Darcy and Jimmy have discovered Agent Hayward hasn’t been completely forthcoming with them, now seeming to be on a mission to kill Wanda to stop her influence inside The Hex. But on whose orders is he acting? He goes for a really low blow when questioned by Monica, telling her she doesn’t have the stomach for this and it’s a good thing she wasn’t around when her mother died. Harsh. And then he kicks the trio off the base. But Monica and Jimmy manage to take down a few guards — leaving Darcy to ask why they didn’t tell her about the plan — and they hack into Hayward’s computer. He’s found a way to track Vision inside The Hex. They also notice the other life forms around Vision that don’t appear to be moving. Are they dead or alive? Monica contacts her ‘friend’ who has a suit that can help her get back into The Hex, but there’s a slight problem — passing through the force field twice now has altered Monica’s cells. There’s no telling what could happen to her if she goes in a third time, but she is adamant that she is the one who can help Wanda and put a stop to whatever this is she has created.
But inside The Hex, Wanda isn’t even sure what she’s done. And again we are confronted with the question of is Pietro really Pietro. He sits Wanda down for a talk in the town square, and he seems to break character a bit, congratulating her for creating this holiday scene. Look, there are children (something Vision had already noticed there was a significant lack of)! Where have they been all this time? Just asleep so they didn’t have to endure her mind control? Wanda really can’t explain it, which also puts into question just how much of this is her, and she has a brief flash of her last memory of Pietro, dead, three bullets to the chest (it would have been really cool if they’d used Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s likeness in that moment). Pietro also reminds her that Vision is dead. And then they discover Tommy has developed the super speed powers of his uncle. But Wanda is left with a lot of nagging questions, and the one at the top of her list is Vision’s location.
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Vision is getting further away from the center of Westview and he’s beginning to see some terrifying images. People stuck in time, some in a loop like the one woman is keeps attempting to hang a Halloween decoration, a single tear rolling down her face. As he gets closer to Ellis Avenue — which Wanda told the kids not to go past — he finds a car sitting at the intersection. Inside is Agnes, just staring ahead. Vision asks her what she’s doing there and, in a mental fog, asks where the town square is. Vision is confused as to how Agnes could not know where it is since she grew up in Westview, so he snaps her out of her stupor and she immediately says he’s an Avenger. Vision asks what’s an Avenger which further confuses Agnes. When asked why she doesn’t leave, she tells him that Wanda won’t let them. She also tells him that he’s dead. Not ready to face this reality, he puts her back under Wanda’s control and ventures past Ellis Avenue, approaching the wall of The Hex. This interaction seems to blow the fan theory that Agnes is not who she seems.
With Monica and Jimmy headed for their rendezvous, Darcy stayed behind but it wasn’t long before she was found and handcuffed to the front of a Jeep. And then they all saw something, someone trying to emerge from The Hex. Vision’s attempt to pass through was not as easy as Wanda’s, the force of The Hex pulling him apart. Darcy was yelling at Hayward to help him, and Vision was yelling at them to help the people inside. But the force field was too much for him and he appears to be dead, again. But Billy suddenly develops his mental powers, and they aren’t as fun as super speed because he can hear his father’s cries for help. He doesn’t know the exact location, but Wanda freezes everyone in Westview and uses her power to … expand The Hex.
As Hayward the rest of the S.W.O.R.D. officers try to make a run for it, they leave Darcy trapped in place. The Hex expands, consuming the base, turning it into a traveling circus, the officers now clowns. Darcy lets out an ‘Oh, crap!’ as she is consumed but we don’t see her fate just yet. Monica and Jimmy can see behind them that The Hex is moving, and in the opposite direction Hayward is frantically calling to see if anyone can hear him. But The Hex stops expanding as soon as Vision is safely back inside, keeping Hayward, Monica and Jimmy safely outside. But why was Hayward tracking Vision and what does he want with the synthezoid, who are Monica and Jimmy going to meet, what happened to Darcy, and who else has a hand in what’s going on with Wanda and Westview? Does Pietro know more than he’s telling her? He did seem more clued in to reality, so we have to question if he truly is Pietro, or is he from the ‘multiverse’ which we know Marvel is now constructing with both the new Spider-Man and Doctor Strange films. There are a lot of questions to be answered over the final three episodes, and another is will this end in a cliffhanger to be resolved in a movie? Will this in any way tie into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? That we will have to wait to see.
New episodes of WandaVision premiere Fridays on Disney+.
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