Agatha All Along review: A bewitching magical tale with an edge of darkness
Agatha All Along premiered on Wednesday on Disney+ this week with two episodes. The Marvel production and spinoff of the series WandaVision centers on Agatha Harkness, who was stripped of her powers following her battle with the Scarlet Witch in the finale. It was pretty intense but spectacular in the direction of cast performances and special effects.
Now it's Agatha's turn to open her book of magic and share her tale with others curious about this "purple witch" and what her authentic spells unveiled. You might be surprised or perhaps a bit afraid, but most of all, you'll be entranced by Agatha All Along. Your kids will enjoy it too but will pay more attention to the softer elements, such as the animals appearing or the music throughout.
Agatha All Along review: Bewitchingly dark
The series starts strong with the pilot episode, "Seekest Thou The Road," where Agatha is under an unassuming spell by Wanda, with the alias Detective Agnes O'Conner. Agnes is trying to crack a murder case in a true crime-styled TV drama, which felt all too real, but the story arc added a pleasantly ominous introduction to the series. She is stripped of her magical abilities, and to get them back, she needs to summon her Coven of crafted witches, as power works best when together. Moreover, the episode offered a glimpse of the supporting characters' backstories (with the exception of Teen) before they became members of Agatha's Coven.
Rio Vidal, the Black Witch, was Agatha's enemy before she was recruited, and it's interesting to witness the two in action before the heart of the story.
It's a rarity in media for a pilot to be a successful start to a series, but Disney and Marvel knows exactly where their priorities lay and how to make their brewed formulas boil over successfully. The company has been in practice well over a hundred years, so why alter it, other than to keep it up to date for today's societal norms.
The ingredients holding Agatha All Along together and making it entertaining are not only the talented assembly of its talented roster and Hahn's trademark sarcasm and dry humor. Despite her long and respectable list of credits, Hahn is truly Agatha Harkness.
The second episode gave the audience a song performed by the cast about getting projected to step onto The Witches' Road so Agatha could regain her powers and become who she was before. Of course, the journey down the Road will be a trial, but not without the fun and unsealing bottles to unveil even more secrets of Agatha and her spellbinding team.
The show only gets better from here on out, so you better strap in for the ride.