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| WandaVision "Previously on" |
We open on a slice of backstory not for Wanda, but for Agatha Harkness. Her almost uncontrollable magical talent is showcased in 17th Century Salem when she crosses the line by the standards of her coven. But as Agatha's magic is presented as learned mastery, Wanda's magic is contrasted as not being from any book, any Malleus Maleficarum tone. It comes through pain, and choices born out of trauma.
Agatha guides Wanda to four periods of her life to understand, essentially, the full prelude to the creation of her sitcom version of Westview. First comes a traumatic tour of the moment Wanda and Pietro lost their parents, militant factions using Stark Industries ordnance just as was established in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It had been "TV night" in the Maximoff residence, drawn from their collection of sitcom DVDs. (I have that same edition of I Love Lucy Season 5. It's a great season.)
The family was watching The Dick Van Dyke Show at the moment it was forever torn asunder. So Wanda's recreation in Westview is a return to the comforting moments of her childhood. More than that, the last comforting moment.
Next comes the Hydra experiments that gave Wanda her powers, followed by a bonding scene between Wanda and Vision at Avengers HQ taking place shortly after Age of Ultron. In Wanda's room, she's watching Malcolm in the Middle while bearing the crushing weight of her brother's death, pulling from possibly the very same DVDs her family had in Sokovia. So the episode wonderfully demonstrates how TV was always a part of her life, always there for her, even in the Hydra-occupied castle. It's eminently relatable, like how WandaVision is here for us.
Finally, we see Wanda coming to Westview shortly after a traumatic trip to S.W.O.R.D. HQ and right before the events of the show started, deed in hand for the property where she creates her home with a construct of Vision. (It's a bit tricky to figure out when in the MCU timeline that deed would've been set up.) In the same burst of energy that reconstructs Vision and builds a house, the Westview hex/bubble roars into black and white life. And because of what this episode builds, we deeply understand what's behind this fateful moment, and why a 50s sitcom.
The other flourish of the episode sets up a new perspective on Wanda and her powers. We hear terms like "probability" and "chaos magic", familiar from the comic version of the character, only now spoken of in the MCU. We are given to understand that Wanda was born with powers, and the encounter with the Mind Stone in Loki's Sceptre only strongly enhanced what was already latent.
It's a retcon that may have mutant-shaped implications for the MCU. It's also a retcon that I'm not the biggest fan of. I personally prefer the version of the story where Wanda volunteers to make the total artificial jump from "normal person" to "enhanced", in order to compete with the Avengers, and specifically merchant of death Tony Stark. Implicit in comments that Wanda and Pietro are the first to survive Mind Stone experimentation is that it's quantifiable; that because of latent mutations they were exceptional to begin with. In that way, it's reminiscent of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 retcon that I'm also not overly fond of: that Peter Quill could handle the Power Stone not because of the power of friendship but because he's half Celestial. But in any case, it's still very much a workable arc, and it all culminates in the episode's ending. That, reader, is the first time the words "Scarlet Witch" have passed anyone's lips in the MCU.
In a mid-credits scene, Director Hayward powers up Vision's previously lifeless body, making for a Dr. Manhattan-like spectacle. So it appears Hayward was lying to Monica, Jimmy, and Darcy about Wanda stealing the body...
In "Previously on", WandaVision has its best episode yet, foregrounding the pain and power of the real Wanda Maximoff. Not a character in a sitcom, but an Avenger and superhero that has gained a real depth through this show. 9/10.
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