'Agatha All Along' review: Kathryn Hahn conjures up pure, witchy fun
Agatha All Along feels like a witch's potion brewed specifically to make me giddy with joy. How could it not, when its ingredients include magical trials, rocking songs, and Patti LuPone herself?
The MCU's latest TV series serves as a follow-up to 2021's WandaVision, focusing on Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) nosey neighbor turned witchy nemesis Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), and taking its name from her Emmy-winning introductory theme song.
Yet even though Agatha All Along finds itself in superhero sequel territory, the series and showrunner Jac Schaeffer (also the creator of WandaVision) forge their own path down the Witches' Road. Yes, you'll still find genre pastiche in the vein of its predecessor — although far less extreme — as well as witchy characters struggling to regain what's been taken from them. But Agatha All Along's focus on a coven of underdogs also invites new kooky characters into the MCU, whose chemistry with Agatha is the show's biggest superpower.
What's Agatha All Along about?
Agatha All Along kicks off with a WandaVision-esque TV show spoof. This time, instead of Wanda taking the lead, it's Agatha. Sporting a scarf, a hardboiled detective attitude, and hints of a Delco accent, she's the spitting image of Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown. (A fake credit sequence calls the show Agnes of Westview.)
However, Agatha's gritty murder mystery is nothing more than the distorted remains of Wanda's spell over Westview. In reality, she's completely powerless after her fight with Wanda — it takes a mysterious Teen (Heartstopper's Joe Locke) to break her out of her enchanted prison. (Yes, Agatha All Along purposefully obfuscates Locke's character's name, going so far as to cover his lips and silence him when he introduces himself. Trust that there's a witchy reason why.)
Teen — as Agatha calls him — wants Agatha's help to get to the Witches' Road. It's a legendary path riddled with deadly trials, and whoever reaches its end receives the thing they want the most. For Agatha, that would be the power Wanda sucked away during their battle. For Teen...well, just like with his name, Agatha All Along plays that reveal close to its chest. But in order for this unlikely duo to reach the Witches' Road, they'll need to assemble a coven.
Get ready to fall in love with Agatha All Along's coven
It's no surprise that Hahn is delightful in her return as Agatha Harkness. She commands the screen with just a single twirl of her many cloaks, or a disgruntled groan at the compassion of those around her. But it's Hahn's chemistry with Agatha's new coven-mates that ends up being Agatha All Along's greatest strength and surprise.
First up on Agatha's recruitment list is Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), a psychic with a bit of a diva streak. (And yes, Patti LuPone playing a witch is exactly as fun as it sounds.) Joining her is potions witch Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), sporting a sarcastic streak that often rivals Agatha's own disdain. Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) is the daughter of a mystical rock star who mysteriously vanished in her attempts to find the Witches' Road, leaving her with a hard protective shell and a skepticism of all things magic. And a surprise addition to the crew is none other than Agatha's Westview neighbor Sharon (Debra Jo Rupp). She's no witch (she's really more there to fill a coven quota), but her perpetual confusion makes for a welcome foil to the centuries-old witches' blasé approach to witchcraft.
Teen is a great foil for the coven as well. His fanboying and bouncy enthusiasm over the Witches' Road break up the other witches' resentment for each other (but mostly Agatha). Frankly, he acts as a bit of an audience stand-in as well, because who wouldn't be excited to hang out with this coven and watch these actors play off one another?
Rounding out Agatha All Along's cast of witches is Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), a powerful witch whose first interaction with Agatha post-spell is holding a dagger to her throat. Clearly, there's some history there. Based on the crackling chemistry between Hahn and Plaza, my money's on former lovers. (With Agatha All Along being toted as "the gayest Marvel project yet," here's hoping I'm right.)
Rio and Agatha aren't the only witches with troubled pasts. Every member of the coven has experienced some kind of pain or setback. Why else would they be desperate enough to try their hand at the life-threatening Witches' Road? Watching these women open up about traumas — many hinted at in some genuinely spooky visions — proves a fairly moving (if sometimes heavy-handed) experience. These backstories add depth to the otherwise hilarious group interactions, chock-full of the kind of fast-talking and sniping that only occurs when you're in a room with larger-than-life personalities.
The Witches' Road is a highlight of Agatha All Along
The bonds of Agatha All Along's coven are forged in the fire of the Witches' Road, which feels like a twisted play on The Wizard of Oz's own yellow brick version. Among swaths of gnarled trees and stretches of mud that devour anyone who strays too far from the path lie tests that Agatha and her companions must conquer. Each test is not only a chance for the witches to prove their mettle, but also for Agatha All Along to have some more genre-bending fun with a trial-of-the-week format.
Take, for example, a dangerous pit stop in a beachside mansion that feels like something right out of Big Little Lies. Or a perilous visit to a '70s-era recording studio. These trials come complete with their own magical costume changes, paying tribute to WandaVision's episodic change-ups. They're also a total blast, especially the multiple moments when singing becomes a life-saving tool. Seriously, any moment that sees Hahn and LuPone leading a witchy girl group had me punching the air in excitement.
That excitement may start slow in Agatha All Along's earlier recruitment stages, but by the end of the first four episodes sent to critics for review, it was at a fever pitch. Here is a Marvel show that's unafraid to be campy, kooky, and weird, that ditches the "eight-hour movie" formatting of other MCU series and embraces the episodic power of TV that WandaVision harnessed so well. Add that to the dream team of Hahn and her coven, and you've got a show that's nothing short of magic.