WandaVision Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Breaking the Fourth Wall
Sarah Little
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Well, well, well...looks like we finally have ourselves a villain.
The jam-packed WandaVision Season 1 Episode 7 picked up right where WandaVision Season 1 Episode 6 left off with a Modern Family-Esque half-hour.
And since the show was on their last decade of sitcom television, it was only a matter of time before we got some insight into what the heck has been happening in the world of Westview.
First things first, Wanda is not the villain of this story. But she is being manipulated into thinking that she is.
All along, many fans and critics have speculated that Agnes is not the kooky neighbor she appears to be. We all believed Agnes to be Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch from the comics.
WandaVision confirmed this theory to be true near the end of the episode, and things will probably look a lot different going forward.
Monica: See, see? That's where you and Hayward differ. He's gonna burn Westview to the ground just to get what he wants. Don't let him make you the villain.
Wanda: Maybe I already am.
The show often plays with aspect ratios to portray the difference between the false reality and the real world. They used it to signal the change in the direction of WandaVision when Wanda entered Agatha's lair.
It's such a cool way to inform the audience of the series's happenings, and we are now lead to believe that the sitcom world is no more, and the next couple of episodes will look a lot more like a Marvel Cinematic Universe production.
It's hard to hate any character Kathryn Hahn portrays because, well, she's Kathryn Hahn. Even when she's singing about manipulating a couple of our favorite superheroes and killing a puppy, we're smiling and singing along.
Okay, maybe the puppy thing did give us pause, but she still makes for a fantastic villain.
You know, part of me secretly wanted a guest spot on the show, but seriously, that sucked.
Darcy
Some people may complain that the Agatha Harkness reveal could be seen from a mile away, but that's when you know a show has done a good job of foreshadowing and building their story.
An evil Agnes makes sense, and it accounts for many strange things that have been happening in Westview.
But it begs the question; why?
Another popular theory amongst fans is that Mephisto is also behind the creation of Westview and that Agatha is helping him. In the comics, he uses Wanda to create the twins -- Billy and Tommy -- so that he can siphon off their magic.
If that's true, it explains why Agatha took the boys off of Wanda's hands near the beginning of the episode and why they were nowhere to be found at the end of it.
It's a little dark, but we've seen worse in the MCU.
In any case, Agatha's reveal combined with the commercial for Nexus gives us even more evidence that WandaVision is building up to reveal the Multiverse.
Even though there is still a ton of mystery to be uncovered about him, we now know that Agatha conjured up Pietro on Wanda and Vision's doorstep.
This means that she must have some information regarding Evan Peter's version of Pietro from the X-Men films. Who knows? Maybe she's from the very same universe as him.
There has to be more to this "Pietro" than meets the eye. I doubt he's Mephisto in disguise because he seems more like a sidekick than anything else. But he's bound to be part of the Multiverse setup on upcoming films in the MCU.
Other than the evidence of Pietro, the commercial for this episode was quite revealing. While the antidepressant advert was a nod towards Wanda's state of mind, it also shared the same name as a cross-dimensional gateway in the comics.
Nexus is a pathway between all realities, AKA the Multiverse. Could the show be any more obvious?
If it wasn't clear before, Wanda is not doing so well, everyone.
She is slowly losing her mind after experiencing intense grief and Agatha's manipulation.
As someone who has always been Team Wanda, it's awful watching her breakdown after all that she has been through. Why can't she be happy for once?
As punishment for my reckless evening, I plan on taking a quarantine-style staycation. A whole day just to myself. That'll show me.
Wanda
Of course, very few superheroes achieve that happy ending, but if anyone deserves it, it's Wanda. Because of Director Hayward, everyone seems to be against her except for Monica, Vision, Darcy, and Jimmy.
When Wanda stole Vision's body from S.W.O.R.D., she was only protecting him from being turned into a sentient weapon. Hayward only made it look like she was the villain. Once again, men with too much power turn out to be corrupt.
Monica is one of Wanda's number one champions, which is why it's so frustrating to watch Wanda oppose her time and time again.
It could be that Wanda associates Monica with Hayward, who she sees as an enemy who tried to turn Vision into a weapon.
I'm not afraid of you, Wanda. I lost the person closest to me, too. The worst thing I can think of has already happened to me and I can't change it. I can't undo it. I can't control this pain anymore. And I don't think I want to, because it's my truth.
Monica
But now that Monica has powers of her own, we are dying to see them team up and take down Agatha once and for all.
That doesn't seem likely any time soon since Agatha caught them both near the end of the half-hour. And if Agatha can kill a puppy, who knows what she has in store for them.
In the comic books, Monica Rambeau has powers akin to Captain Marvel's, and going through the Hex for the third time has finally unlocked them.
Monica has been a highlight of WandaVision, and it's a delight to see her sprout into the superhero that we all knew she could be. Even when she was a kid, she had superhero potential.
Did anyone else get emotional when we started hearing some of Carol Danvers' and Maria Rambeau's lines from the Captain Marvel movie? WandaVision sure does know how to hit us where it hurts.
In any case, Monica gained these powers just in time for the real fight to begin. Bring on the action!
Elsewhere on the half-hour, Vision and Darcy struck up a friendship and became the comedic duo we never knew we needed.
It was about time someone filled Vision in on his life before Westview, no matter how painful it was, and we're grateful that Darcy had the nerve to do so.
Darcy: Can I help you, creeper?
Vision: You don't remember me from last night? We locked eyes. There was a unspoken understanding.
Darcy: Um, hard pass.
Darcy has always been a comedic relief in the MCU, so it was nice to see her get sentimental with Vision while also cracking a joke or two, of course.
And if Wanda and Monica are under the spell of Agatha, Vision, and Darcy are the only hopes Westview has left, and we are more than happy to see them team up some more.
Overall, "Breaking the Fourth Wall" is the calm before the storm and sets up the final two episodes rather nicely while also sticking to its sitcom homage roots.
After the craziness of WandaVision Season 1 Episode 5 and WandaVision Season 1 Episode 6, it felt strange for the show to pull back its reins, but by the end of the episode, it all made sense.
If we've learned anything by now, it's that WandaVision does everything for a reason and that nothing is random.
There has been so much build-up to the truth that now that we know about Agatha, there are sure to be crazier reveals that will leave our heads spinning.
Everyone better strap in because we are in for a wild ride.
What did you think, WandaVision Fanatics?
Were you happy with the Agatha reveal? Do you think there are more villains to this story? Will we see the Multiverse on WandaVision?
And what or who do you think Pietro really is?
Let me know in the comments!
WandaVision airs Fridays on Disney+.
Sarah Little was a staff writer for TV Fanatic.She retired in September 2021.
