During the red carpet walk leading up to the premiere of Marvel Television Studios’ latest venture, Agatha All Along, Variety‘s Marc Malkin hit several cast members up with variations of the following question, “Did you realize you were making the gayest Marvel project to date?” It’s a slightly annoying, click-baity question, and cast members responded varyingly.
Aubrey Plaza, who plays coven member Rio, answered as only she could: “That’s what I signed up for!” Other cast member reponses mostly aligned with Plaza’s bold proclamation. However, Joe Locke (Heartstopper) responded in a more thoughtful manner: “It’s got many layers, and definitely gay is one of them…[In] Heartstopper, the queerness is the plot of the show, whereas [with ‘Agatha‘]…it’s not the driving force of the plot.”
I bring all this up to say that, yes, Agatha All Along does have several gay aspects to it (which you can discover for yourself), but it isn’t a “gay show.” All of that feels orchestrated to give the series an edge it simply doesn’t have. It does offer several layers and wildly varying tones to it, but not everything works in a fully satisfying way. Based on the four episodes provided for critics, it stands to reason that no one will be bored. You may be bewitched, bothered, or bewildered… but never bored.
Agatha All Along picks up three years after the events of WandaVision where Wanda Maximoff (Elisabeth Olsen) punishes Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness by putting her permanently into her nosy neighbor alter ego Agnes. Other those three years, “Agnes” lives in Westview powerless and unaware of her true identity. Agatha‘s first episode, in fact, revisits the WandaVision trope of honoring television series that came before it, although this time it’s not a sitcom at all — rather, “Agnes” puts herself squarely into a parody of HBO’s Mare of Easttown.
And Kathryn Hahn proves again what an incredibly gifted physical comic she really is. She nails many of Kate Winslet’s more gruff Mare characteristics. Her “many” devouring of a donut was a particular highlight, so watch for that. Overall, the throwback provides a very funny start to the series while not overly replicating what came before in WandaVision.
Naturally, Agatha regains her memories but not her powers. She forms a coven of middling witches (Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, and Debra Jo Rupp) to join her and a mysterious newcomer named “Teen” (Locke) to travel the “witches road.” Along the way, they will face multiple trials (their biggest fears) before fully regaining their abilities and emerging as the witches they were intended to be.
Provided screeners took us through two of the trials, and they’re more akin to the campier leanings of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story. One feels like a Nicole Kidman Hamptons-set nightmare (think A Perfect Couple), and the other trial feels like being locked in a Daisy Jones and the Six recording session. Agatha wants to be both scary and campy fun (like American Horror Story before it), but the tonal balance between the two doesn’t work as often as it should. The cast is also saddled with too many witch lore moments, but they are always fun to watch.
I suppose my biggest question about Agatha All Along is really who exactly is this series for? Marvel fans will give it the “toxic Rotten Tomatoes” treatment as they will expect something that dives heavily into Marvel lore (it doesn’t really… not yet anyway). Non-fans who may be drawn to the theme of female bonding likely won’t want to muddle through the exposition.
Which brings us back to Malkin’s original observation and the fact that the series will play best with audiences accustomed to camp, creative costumes, and vivid production design. On that level, it works well enough, but I’m not sure that fully sustains a 9-episode run. Agatha All Along is a fine show, but it feels like a relic of an era that brought Marvel Studios a significant amount of criticism and derision. I support their direction to be fully inclusive, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of a great story.
It’s a fun, fluffy series that definitely could have used more magic. I’ll keep watching for sure, but I can’t help but feel that the very talented cast is wasted in watered down American Horror Story.
Agatha All Along premieres two episodes tonight at 9pm ET on Disney+.
