As we wind our way ever further down the Witches’ Road, Agatha All Along seems to have found its groove, both figuratively and literally.
By figuratively, I mean that the show has settled into a nice patten that manages to squeeze in lots of mystery and character moments (not to mention a ton of fabulous scenery chewing from Kathryn Hahn) while padding out the action with a weekly task that her coven have to solve if they’re ever going to survive. It may not be a particularly ground breaking plot, but I have to admit that the notion of Saw meets Wicked certainly has had me hooked with every new episode.
However, if we’re going to address Agatha’s w groove, the episode four is a grand place to start as the Witches’ Road chooses to take a particularly groovy route this week by injecting yet more of a musical streak into proceedings. Those who took to the earlier rendition of The Ballard Of The Witches’ Road might need to get on Spotify pretty sharpish, because we’re about to get an encore.
Anyone that was convinced that the fatal poisoning of human housewife, Sharon Davis (aka. Ms. Hart) last episode was merely a cheeky feint might have to check their expectations at the door as we start the episode with Agatha’s coven digging a grave for her lifeless body and putting her in it. The mood is tense and the group are wondering how their potions mistress, Jennifer Kale, missed the fact that Sharon drank two glasses of thr poisoned wine and subsequently didn’t give her enough antidote.
However, amid all the talk of blame and the mysterious identity of the Teen, the coven agree that they need a new Green Witch to replace their fallen member even though she wasn’t a witch in the first place. But much to Agatha’s annoyance, the witch they summoned just happens to be the predatory Rio Vidal, a face from her past who has already tried to kill her once this season already. However, much like the Teen, there seems to be much more to Rio than just an old frenemy, but before we have a chance to speculate, the Road decides to serve them up their latest task in the shape of another random house.
However, it turns out to be a house that one of their number, Alice Wu, remembers all too well and after entering the coven find themselves kitted out in groovy, 70s refinery as their latest task seems to be themed around Alice’s missing witch/pop star mother. Before you know it, a backwards played record summons a demon that seems to embody the curse that’s affected the Wu women their entire lives and the only way to dispel it’s winged ass is for Alice to step up to the plate (or, more accurately, the piano) and lead the coven in her mother’s version of the Ballad Of The Witches’ Road that’ll hopefully move them onto the next task.
However, before they do, a telling conversation between Rio and Agatha reveals that the former doesn’t seem to have the rest of the coven’s best interests at heart…
So now that Agatha has had some time to stretch its legs and fully relax into its format of gloomy Road discussions/costume change task time, it’s a pleasure to announce that even though episode 4 is a messy as a cauldron on wash day, it’s still a great amount of fun that gets maximum mileage from its tropes. The mysteries are still mysterious, the backstories are reliably drip fed and a surprising amount of fun comes from seeing the coven enter a new house just to see how they’re each going to be dressed this time.
This week, after the Desperate Housewives theme of the last episode, we take a trip to the 70s with all the rose tinted glasses, bell bottomed trousers and furry jackets Marvel’s costume designer can muster and as well as a battle of plunging necklines between Hahn and Plaza, the episode also drops in some crash zooms and split screens to continue the period feel.
However, while I’d say that this week’s task wasn’t as gripping as last week’s bout of poisoning and flooding, we still get some more insight into Alice, another spirited rendition of The Ballard Of The Witches’ Road (with instruments this time) and even a messed up looking demon to boot who proves to be a lumpy, snarling metaphor for the Wu family curse. But while this is all fun in a task-of-the-week kind of way, it’s the more separate, sedate character stuff that manages to hook you that starts with the welcome return of Aubrey Plaza. Aubrey has played twitchy weird types in Marvel properties before (I really must revisit Legion some day), but while Agatha hasn’t given the actress licence to fly completely off the handle yet, you can feel that it’s coming as it become plainly obvious in a short amount of time that “Rio Vidal” is probably a nom de plume that masks a far more dangerous being. Agatha knows who she is, but of course, as usual, Agatha isn’t saying anything outright and chooses to play her cards close to her nearly exposed chest and getting her old acquaintance to reveal some murderous intentions with the aid of a handy PA system.
It’s clear that despite their hostile, yet flirty love/hate thing they’ve got going on, Agatha and Rio have definitely been an item in the past so expect more revelations in the weeks to come. In fact, the whole Agatha/Rio thing takes such precedence over proceedings (as it should whevenever Plaza is involved), it almost manages to push the whole who-is-the-Teen thing into the background almost entirely. As a result, Joe Locke’s inquisitive youth doesn’t have much to do this episode except inquire about Agatha’s son and get wounded after getting thrown through a window by a demonic entity. But while this whole is-Teen-Agatha’s-son thread is seemingly debunked by Rio, it seems that the main mysteries are taking turns in the spotlight one at a time.
I made a comment on the last episode that the episodes have gotten messier ever since the witches started down the road and episode 4 does nothing to dispel that opinion, but what keeps Agatha on track is the rather obvious sight that everyone in front of camera genuinely seems to be having an utter ball. What with the changing costumes, the occasional musically interludes and a whole bunch of playful snark being hurled all over the place like spite grenades, the sheer energy this ensemble manages to conjure up is arguably more potent than the show itself and you can tell that everyone’s thoroughly enjoying throwing in as much flamboyant touches as they can. I mean, let’s put it this way: sure, Echo had roles for Daredevil and Kingpin and Loki had an epic ending to end all epic endings, but when it comes to flat out good vibes, it’s always been Agatha All Along.
Maybe the task format may soon overstay its welcome (by my reckoning there’s at least maybe three more characters who need testing), but until then I’m still happily caught up in the glamour (get it?).
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