Marvel’s WandaVision just aired its 3rd episode. We now know there is something going on around this small town. We know that Wanda has more control over it than she realizes — we have seen her children Billy and Tommy (and the magical hijinks that ensue!) and we’ve had a few clues as to just what might be happening to the good people of Westview.
Wandavision also just introduced (officially) “Foxy” Geraldine, also known as Monica Rambeau. While she might still be a “side” character in Wanda’s quests (seemingly) we spend more time with her.
After Monica’s sudden…exit and that end scene (SWORD? Jimmy Woo?! A mysterious digitized field?), the show is dropping hints that there is something much bigger going on here.
The episode proves that Wandavision kicking off Marvel’s Disney+ shows is essential. This episode was loaded with Easter eggs for future stories.
The third episode with its babies, with Vision’s fruit, with Wanda re-writing Vision’s memories is why this show can re-define the MCU. What this episode hints at (the story is really unfolding here!) is a much larger story within the world of Westview.
Everything is a Technicolor Wonderland
The biggest change is that WandaVision has gotten a splash of color (stay tuned for some theories at the end of the review), but Wanda and Vision are living their best Brady Brunch lives as Wanda and Vision seemingly in the same neighborhood — just with everything in vibrant color including Wanda’s pregnancy that seems to progress at a rapid, indeed an unnatural, pace.
She’s rocking a gorgeous 1970s top, he’s looking like John Lennon’s later works, and they call over a doctor who is somehow able to go on a house call and on the verge of going on vacation.
Last review, we talked about sitcom tropes and there’s something familiar about a doctor trying to go on vacation for anyone who’s a fan of 1970s sitcoms like The Brady Bunch, the Partridge Family, and Three’s Company.
Doctors are always grumpy old men in Hawaiian shirts. In this case, Wanda and Vision have to hide their growing pregnancy from the doctor (while we all got a lesson about pregnancy and fruit.)
The technicolor wonderland might seem a little repetitive, leaning in on the gags and the awkward fumblings of robot turned future father. They talk about breathing and Vision bumbles around, but the bumbling does lead to a few little hints that Westview is far more treacherous than it looks.
The Neighbors are Watching
Kathryn Hahn’s nosy neighbor returns along with Vision’s “best friend.” One sports an afro, the other is on a bike with a “quirky wink.” Something is amiss however and Vision notices when his neighbor nearly saws through their brick fence.
Much like a set-piece, it’s almost as if the actor has missed his cue. This disturbs Vision, and paves the way for him to ask Wanda if she’s noticed something’s wrong.
Wanda then rewinds it, leading to the scene where she explains that they “just don’t know what to expect.”
That’s when their “friend” Geraldine shows up, played by Teyonah Parris. Sporting an excellent 70s jumpsuit and a very interesting necklace (I really need nerd jewelers to get on that please oh please) she and Wanda engage in a hilarious scene where Wanda tries to hide her pregnancy while her children, somehow altering the fabric of reality and causing more hilarious hijinks, twist the environment around them.
Eventually, Billy and Tommy are born and Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen prove their chemistry is real. Holding their babies, relishing in their family, Wanda forgets the twisted magic she buried. She seemingly forgets the troubles she had and relishes in their children.
When approached, she explains that she was a twin, mentioning Pietro for the first time in years. Humming a Sokovian lullaby for the children, Geraldine drops a bomb that will shake Westview worse than that “unusual couple.”
“He was killed by Ultron…”
Once again, the film shifts to the same detail that we are familiar with in the MCU, and Wanda isn’t pleased by the reminder of her brother’s death.
When Vision returns, after the doctor explains he’s never leaving because “small towns” and people talk about how Geraldine “isn’t from around here” — their new “friend” is gone and Wanda shares that she had to go away.
This is when the episode drops the biggest bomb that you have to see. Wandavision reveals a bit more of the “vision” than intended, and it’s time for people to start speculating even though it might take a fandom sword to cut apart the mystery.
Picking apart the Vision:
- That ending! That ending was what drove it home. The sitcom hijinks are growing old (though I can hope now that we’ve seen what the “outside” looks like we might be able to see Wanda’s sitcom reality come apart more frequently).
- Is Wanda the villain? If you’ll recall SWORD tried to reach Wanda by radio, but the longer that Wanda ends up in “her town” she might be a bit less willing to leave regardless of what the locals want.
- If this does turn out to be horror related (a lot of people suspect this might be Mephisto, or nightmare) did HYDRA summon them to give powers to Wanda? Is that why there are HYDRA commercials?
Tell us, as always, what you think in the comments below!
WandaVision airs Fridays on Disney+