Review: Wandavision – The Season Finale s01e09

In a large contrast to the relative intimacy of the early episodes, the Wandavision ‘Season Finale’ was not afraid to ‘go big or go home’.  In this instance it was much more ‘go big and destroy home’, setting things up for the next phase of the MCU and changing things forever.  *Warning! Spoilers Ahead!*

There was a lot of speculation ahead of this episode that it would be used to introduce mutants into the MCU, but in the end none of that materialised.  Significantly though, it did introduce a slew of information about the nature of Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) magic and some backstory we’ve never seen before.  This answered a lot of questions, but also raised quite a few new ones.

The majority of the Season Finale is frenetic, with two major battles raging across Westview.  On one hand it picks up from last week, with Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) facing off against Wanda, while on the other the White Vision appears, set on destroying Vision.  These battles are presented as full-on cinema perspective scenes, a world away from the tight confines of the initial sitcom setup, but this has been naturally introduced and feels an entirely correct escalation.

What’s interesting throughout the episode, and indeed the season, is that it isn’t entirely clear who the villain is.  Both Agatha and Wanda have displayed traits that could make them fit the description, but equally do have some good intentions.  It’s a nice exploration of the grey area that refuses to exist in a binary good/bad dichotomy.  For all her villainous presentation, Agatha is seriously concerned that Wanda is the Scarlet Witch and will destroy the world.  To that end, she wants to remove Wanda’s power, but what isn’t clear is what Agatha wants to do with it.  No doubt an ulterior motive exists that isn’t altruistic.  Equally, Wanda has to figure out what harm she’s been doing and then try to fix it.

What Agatha doesn’t realise during this battle is that Wanda is constantly adapting and learning how to use her magic from Agatha’s actions.  While we’re certain that Agatha would have preferred Wanda learn it in a more controlled way, it ends up being how Wanda overcomes Agatha, which totally blindsides her.  It is likely that no one, and especially Wanda herself realises how much power she has, and that becoming the Scarlet Witch is going to have some baggage.  By the time the end-credits scene rolls around, showing The Scarlet Witch reading up on all her missing knowledge, we know that she fully has her own agency and will be a formidable presence in the future.

In contrast, Vision’s (Paul Bettany) future is a little more uncertain.  While Wanda is busy fighting Agatha, White Vision arrives and is prevented from attacking Wanda by Westview Vision joining the fray.  There then ensues an interesting fight between the two, who are obviously very evenly matched.  This turns into a war of words as well as a physical one, as Vision tries to reason with White Vision.

He employs the philosophical thought experiment known as ‘Ship of Theseus’, which describes a situation where rotten parts of the ship are replaced over time.  Once they are all replaced, is this ship still the same ship or essentially a new one?  Similarly, if the removed rotten planks are then cured and remade into a ship, is that the true ship?  As White Vision and Westview Vision could both be described as ‘Vision’, who is the true one?

As White Vision is the original body, but without the Mind Stone or Vision’s memories, Westview Vision decides that the ‘rot’ could be the memories, so he restores them to White Vision.  This makes White Vision decide that he is Vision, and leaves.  It’s an interesting device to use and a fascinating interpretation, which essentially retains Vision in the MCU.   He will of course be a slightly different character now, as he doesn’t have the emotions that the original had.  Using the Ship of Theseus here also runs parallel to their central theme with Wanda and Agatha, meaning that both have strong discussions around identity, and what constitutes good or evil characters.  Does pushing this into the grey areas make him the Grey Vision from now on?

Monica’s (Teyonah Parris) journey through the Season Finale is an interesting one.  Having grown up with both her mother and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) as role models, she has a natural heroic streak that also innately seeks justice.  This has been evident in her reactions to events, and the decisions she has made throughout Wandavision.

In this Season Finale, we can see that her new powers haven’t changed her, but merely given her new strength to fight along the lines she would have anyway.  She instinctively goes to protect the innocent, and we even see her put herself in front of bullets intended for Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne), even though, as is confirmed later, they are constructs of Wanda’s magic.  Her progression is so natural that we’re likely to see her as Spectrum in the MCU, especially if the mid-credits scene indicates what we think it does.

It’s certain that the end result of this series is a vastly different future for these characters in comparison to how it started.  Born of grief, it has ended with a mixture of hope for some, and a different layer of grief for Wanda.  In order to save the town and move forward, she has had to sacrifice her sons and her version of Vision.  That will take some time to come to terms with, although the small cry for help in the end-credits scene may give her a glimmer of hope that she can still save them.

If there’s a flaw in this episode, it is probably how Pietro (Evan Peters) is handled, as it seems like opportunities were missed.  This could have been that grand mutants connection, made across the iterations of Marvel films, but instead all the tease just led to a poor dick joke.  To a certain degree that is probably for the better, as it means that they can focus on Mutants somewhere else more thoroughly, rather than have it as a subplot here.   

That’s a bit of a minor quibble in the face of what has been a highly effective and engrossing series though.  It has to be said that it’s a bit of shame that with the stories most likely being taken up next in the films, we are unlikely to get a second series.  That is understandable though, and it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that Marvel will simply do many single season shows, instead of one or two multi-season efforts.  This could work and keep it fresh at the same time.  For now though, thanks to Jac Schaeffer and Matt Shakman, and especially to the brilliance of Elizabeth Olsen, we have been treated to a fantastic series that raises the bar.  Roll on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!