This article contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 7.
Over the past few weeks, WandaVision has managed to elevate itself from an amusing and creative experimental show to something more meaningful and clever, on top of bringing back fan-favorite characters and giving them their own spotlight. But a huge element of what has made the series feel distinctive might have just gotten tossed out the window in Episode 7: ‘Breaking the Fourth Wall.’ If the writers behind the show didn’t plan this out carefully, the series may have blindly missed out on a golden opportunity.
On the one hand, this episode showed that true to MCU tradition, this TV series might all be setting up and introducing new figures into the fold for future stories – it could very well end up serving as someone else’s origin story. On the other hand, the ‘big reveal’ of the episode, as fun as it is in the moment, could be what ruins the show’s deepest meaning if it isn’t handled well.
The comical unveiling of ever-helpful neighbor Agnes as being a villain in Agatha Harkness brings some mixed feelings with it once it’s taken into account with everything the show has accomplished so far. Seeing it laid out in comically dramatic form, confirming that ‘it was Agatha all along,’ saps a great deal of emotional edge from the narrative WandaVision has been exploring, both within its own context as an MCU show as well as the broader context of pop culture and mainstream superhero film. It could prove to be a terrible mistake in the pursuit of well-worn tropes and expectations of super-powered stories.
WandaVision spends its first three episodes as an eerily amusing meta-joke that does fun things to homage an older era of television and the traditions of sitcoms. And this is fun, especially with its moments of unease that work toward the reveal of what’s truly happening. But where WandaVision is genuinely special and truly unique amongst its peers – including MCU movies themselves – has been its earnest willingness to focus on actual pain. Using fantastic elements like ‘the Thanos snap’ as a catalyst to explore a narrative about grief, loss, and PTSD is what sets this TV series apart. While Wanda has always been an antihero compared to the rest, this show’s first six or seven episodes don’t frame any one person as ‘the villain.’
Rather than going along with tired ‘big bad’ plotlines, WandaVision was brilliantly framing the antagonist of the story to be something abstract and meaningful: internal struggles. Monica Rmbeau’s determination to empathize with Wanda and seek to help her be her own solution to this mess is more poignant and emotionally relevant in a time where we have seen so, so many superheroes beat their problems up but not process them. Wanda here is clearly dealing with her internal issues in external, extremely damaging ways. There are many parallels to real-life relationships that can be extracted here, and meaningful was that they can be resolved to express healthy coping mechanisms.
But if everything boils down to ‘Agatha bad, everything her fault, go beat up,’ then it will be a very deflating conclusion to what has been a well-thought-out conflict. It’s true that many will expect a big fight in any Marvel-branded property at this point, as well as some kind of big cameo from a major character in the MCU. And hopefully, the inevitable conflict will infuse clever reality-bending comedy and creativity the likes of which viewers have seen through the show so far. But if the series drops its entire setup of complex and difficult emotional struggle just for a big climax, it could be disappointing and even defeat the best thing the show has had going for it.
There are many theories floating around as to what the show could really be doing, and what it – and other ‘multiverse’ themed concepts in the pipeline – could be setting up for the MCU. The cheerfully ominous ‘Nexus’ commercial in Episode 7 alone has some possible foreshadowing that could mean a lot. But hopefully, the deal with Agatha isn’t as simple as ‘big bad, go beat up,’ but perhaps something more in-line with the show’s pattern so far. As an example, Wanda’s subconscious could be working against her. Or Wanda accepting her losses and pain could be the key to unraveling the whole mess she’s made. However the show concludes, it’s important to see it take its emotionally intelligent themes – thoughtfully woven into this ‘superhero’ media – and resolve them in a way that is honest to the questions and ideas it has established, as well as being true to the struggles its characters face.
It’s at the point with the Marvel Cinematic Universe now where it’s becoming abundantly clear the franchise is unsure of what to do with, much less how to write, many of its women characters. WandaVision has thus far been a breath of fresh air in this regard. It’s not only written various women in different roles of prominence, but it’s tackling more subtle and nuanced subject matter. And it’s doing it all with a burst of creativity in using references from Marvel’s history (including its Fox-owned X-Men films) as well as homaging entire generations of sitcom television. Here’s hoping Episode 7’s reveal is just one turn in a twisting path that doesn’t ignore Wanda’s internal struggles as the anchor holding the show’s meaning together.
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