REVIEW: ‘Agatha All Along’ Episodes 1 & 2

The biggest hurdle Agatha All Along faces is its studio. Depending on how you define recently, be it The Marvels, Thor: Love and Thunder, or the last 15 minutes of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel has been a studio of diminishing returns for a while now. It’s long past the point of superhero fatigue as we now tread water in the lazy IP grabs and failed attempts to capture the magic of the MCU.

However, every so often, a Marvel television series works. Most notably, the series that began the foray into the television medium for the studio, with WandaVision. So, it makes sense that the best original series from the studio would capitalize on its breakout character. Agatha All Along, as a product, was inevitable.

However, Agatha All Along Episodes 1 & 2 work despite the studio housing them. The most egregious elements — the necessity to know what came before (WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) — are now a staple of anything that comes from Marvel. That said, it does a decent job at setting its own tone and identity; even the first episode sees Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) have to peel off the previous versions of her.

The first two episodes play it fast with the plot as we learn that, since the events of WandaVision, Agatha has been trapped in a false reality. Hilariously, that takes the form of a crime procedural where she believes she’s a detective trying to solve the murder of Jane Doe. She comes to with a little help from a mysterious teenager and an old witch acquaintance, Rio (Aubrey Plaza), who refuses to play a role in Agatha’s reality. We soon learn, however, that lifting the veil doesn’t bring safety.

With her powers gone and Plaza’s Rio promising more enemies to follow after her own aborted attack, Agatha, prompted by Teen (Joe Locke), seeks out other witches to create a coven to face the trials of the Witches’ Road. The end of the road promises all they desire, be it power or answers as long as they can survive. The witches in question are Jennifer (Sasheer Zamata), a potions witch; Alice (Ali Ahn), a protector witch; and Lilia (Patti Lupone), who specializes in divination. All outcasts of some sort, they begrudgingly join Agatha on her quest to seek their own desires.

Agatha All Along Episode 1 is a bit of a slog; the story only picks up once Plaza arrives, and the story pivots out of the fake reality. While the procedural elements and Twin Peaks title card are lovely, with a tongue-in-cheek touch, they fail to maintain momentum. It’s funny in theory but boring in execution, especially as it relies so heartily on Hahn to do all the heavy lifting.

Instead, the real magic of the series and its vivid charm arrives in Episode 2 when the entire cast gathers together. Each has a distinctive personality, and Hahn works better in a group to bounce off of. We want to see just that for a show about an unlikely coven of witches. The costuming clearly has a blast in carving out who the characters are through their clothes, all decidedly witchy, even if they all offer their own personal colors. Even the most structured outfits have a billowy effect.

By the end of Episode 2, the story fully immerses us, even with its, at times, clunky dialogue and perpetual inability to light a night scene (which at this point is just endemic to Hollywood television.) There’s a suitably spooky atmosphere when the significant threats present themselves, with exciting designs and movements that keep them unsettling. But essentially, the first two episodes are mainly playing set-up, as we meet the characters, identify the threat and motives, and establish certain mysteries that will carry through throughout the season.

The biggest being the identity of Teen. Agatha is shocked when, after asking his name, his mouth and voice are blurred, so she can’t hear what he says. It happens again when she asks him where he came from. While Teen, on the whole, veers on the side of tedious due to being both an audience stand-in and exposition lifter, his mystery and Agatha’s interest in him is intriguing.

Locke is at his best in the smaller, more subdued moments rather than when he has to land a cringy zinger. While there’s certainly speculation about who the character is and what it means for the future of the MCU (fine, whatever), here’s hoping the series teases it out with the right amount of mystery.

But the best performances so far are easily Hahn and Plaza. The two set the screen aflame in just a few brief scenes with their crackling chemistry. Plaza, as always, brings a snake-like energy to her performance, clearly emulating elements of her character from Legion. Meanwhile, Hahn easily embodies this role, bringing just the right amount of depth to a morally dubious character who, to her own chagrin, isn’t quite as bad as she probably would like.

Directed by Jac Schaeffer, Agatha All Along is a decently entertaining vehicle for Kathryn Hahn to show off her versatility. Episodes 1 & 2 suffer from pacing issues and setup as they move all the pieces in place but come alive when the group fully forms. It’s not quite a return to form, but, at the very least, it exhibits signs of life and personality. And considering the hellish qualities of its worst efforts (see Secret Invasion), that’s an enormous bar to clear.

Agatha All Along Episodes 1 & 2 premiere September 18th on Disney+, with new episodes on Wednesdays.