Every week it seems that we’re all wondering how Wandavision will hope to surpass the previous episode, but time and time again it manages to up the ante. So it’s no surprise that this week the bar has been raised with episode 8, ‘Previously On’. *Warning! Spoilers Ahead!*
Following on from last week’s ‘Breaking the Fourth Wall’, where Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) emerged as a major villain, outside of Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) control, things have now moved into a whole new arena. No longer is everything part of Wanda’s grand plan, if there ever was one. Even Wanda herself is now at the mercy of this unexpected turn of events, this mysterious new player.
Pretty much all of ‘Previously On’ is a flashback of one kind or another through Wanda’s life, as Agatha strives to find out exactly how Wanda managed to create and maintain The Hex. Therefore, Agatha forces her to relive several key moments against her wishes. First of all though, we get a brief look into Agatha’s own past, jumping back to Salem, Massachusetts in 1693. Agatha is being held by the other members of her coven, charged with dabbling in magic that she shouldn’t be. Despite her protests, they decide she needs to pay for her crimes, but this soon goes horribly wrong, and Agatha drains the life from all of them. While details are scant, it establishes Agatha as a witch of great power.
Throughout this episode, Hahn is magnificent as Agatha, giving a deliciously menacing performance, full of depth and revealing multiple layers that she’s managed as the season has progressed. It’s a fun, ‘moustache twirling’ (figuratively!), and villainous turn, but in the best way possible. With such a late twist in the show, there was every chance that her appearance wouldn’t feel authentic or earned, but it feels totally grounded in the reality that’s been setup. Instinctively you know, without checking, that the breadcrumbs have been laid leading to this reveal. It had even been mooted by the fandom that Agnes could be Agatha relatively early, but such was the richness in the show that it was still a remarkably successful twist even with that knowledge.
The journey we get taken on in ‘Previously On’ fills in a lot of holes in Wanda’s history, starting from her childhood, and explains the many significant elements that have come together to create the current situation. The first is her home life with her parents (Ilana Kohanchi and Daniyar) and a young Pietro (Gabriel Gurevich). Things look idyllic, at least in the house, as a young Wanda (Michaela Russell) and her family watch old sitcoms while battles rage outside. This happy memory is ripped to shreds in a heartbeat though by the bomb that kills her parents, which sets Wanda and Pietro on their journey to Hydra. Although we know this material, actually seeing it, especially with Agatha’s sarcastic commentary makes it especially satisfying.
Similarly, the scenes inside Hydra where Wanda encounters the mind stone and a mysterious figure wearing what could be a Scarlet Witch outfit, combine known story with new information. Just who this person is and what the ramifications of that are will have a massive impact on MCU canon. It seems to suggest that her powers don’t come from the Hydra experiments, but are actually awakened latent abilities. Who is in her lineage that has passed these on?
From here Agatha drags Wanda into more recent history including the foundations of her relationship with Vision (Paul Bettany), which is touching and a nice addition. Critically in this section we see that Wanda didn’t steal Vision’s body from S.W.O.R.D. after all and that Director Hayward (Josh Stamberg) is a complete liar. So, in the real memory Wanda leaves peacefully and heads to Westview, and that the footage shown to everyone else was fabricated. That paints Hayward as either incredibly misguided or a villain, which is surely going to put him on a collision course with Monica (Teyonah Parris).
Once in Westview we now witness her grief become fully exposed. After driving through a run-down shell of a town, where we see lots of familiar faces going about their usual business, Wanda pulls up at a plot of land that Vision bought for their retirement. All that sits on the lot is the foundations of a home that was never built. Wanda’s emotions explode, creating both the black & white Westview and the sitcom version of Vision.
This is enough for Agatha to figure out who Wanda really is, even though Wanda doesn’t know herself, setting up a showdown. With Tommy (Jett Klyne) and Billy (Julian Hilliard) on magical leashes, Agatha confronts Wanda, ending the episode with the big reveal that she must be the Scarlet Witch, probably the first time in the MCU that the name has been properly invoked. There is also much mention of ‘Chaos Magic’, which is completely undefined in the MCU, but has a history in the comics. So much has been revealed here, but equally, so many new questions have been raised. Questions that we may not get answers to until Dr Strange returns. One more tease in this episode does suggest that next week’s finale could deliver some of those though.
This season of Wandavision has only occasionally used a post-credits scene, but the one that appears in ‘Previously On’ has immense significance for both this series and the wider MCU. As noted, Hayward was lying about Wanda stealing Vision’s body and he has had it the whole time. Clearly his ‘Cataract’ project was concerned with restoring a version of Vision that he could control, which is what everyone suspected. For Vision to appear as if painted head to toe in white though, is a comic reference that raises other implications.
Where it all goes from here is anyone’s guess, and with one episode left in the season that is a remarkable feat. Nothing has been obvious so far, and even when there has been some telegraphing of intentions, it still plays out in a fantastically satisfying manner. ‘Previously On’ not only filled in some gaps, but also moved things along in dramatic fashion. All of this is mainly possible because of both the continued excellence of Olsen, but also Hahn coming to the fore and proving once again how great she is. With this run of ever improving episodes, no one would bet against the finale being immense, and we can’t wait.