WandaVision Episode 3: The Grooviest Escape

I can completely understand the disappointment with the first two episodes of WandaVision. Even with the small intricacies of Twilight Zone-like oddities, the debut episodes of the Disney+ series mostly leaned heavily into the sitcom facade of the world of Westview. For a debut series from the 10+ year juggernaut that has been the MCU, this is absolutely the most non-MCU presentation we have ever witnessed. Being a year and a half removed from new content from Marvel Studios, I can see how disappointing it could be to not get the typical ground and pound comic adventure we've become to be used to. This is no typical villain versus hero show (as far as we know, thus far), but it is some of the best storytelling Kevin Feige and Co. have offerred us. I keep thinking throughout the episode “What am I missing?” because I know there are very likely pieces to the puzzle being subtly revealed. The show has me thinking, maybe a bit too hard, but a show that needs thought is a good show in my book.

With the debut of the season's third episode, Marvel takes the series into the world of 70's sitcoms (a la The Brady Bunch) and turns up the weirdness from the previous episodes. This time, though, it includes some cracks through which some MCU past could slip in. Following up directly from the last episode, Wanda is pregnant and she is developing...well, quite quickly. In a matter of a day, Wanda's pregnancy zooms from from conception to labor as she gives birth to twin boys (Tommy and Billy). The lead up to her expedited delivery, Wanda's powers fluctuate to match the outcomes of her pregnancy, such as when it rains inside when her water breaks. The most telling clues to this plot thread may actually come from Vision, who clearly recognizes that abnormalities of this scenario. Of course, Wanda redirects Vision's inquiries to the doctor with classic sitcom responses, continuing to keep the veil over Vision's eyes. This helps bring the sitcom aspect of the show full circle, from a style choice that was complained about, to a distraction technique Wanda is using to maintain the facade, it's just that the viewers experience it too.

Outside of the sitcom aspect of the show, the mystery surrounding this reality and Vision's return also start developing quickly. Let's start with the most prominent progression to the story, which was that involving Geraldine. We know the actress playing Geraldine was cast as Monica Rambeau, so we can easily deduce that this is Monica Rambeau undercover. Fueled by her mentioning of Pietro being killed by Ultron in a conversation with Wanda, it's clear that she carries some knowledge of the world outside of Westview. She also bore a necklace with a pendant in the shape of the S.W.O.R.D. logo, so she is most likely one of their agents. But why was she in Westview? Was she trying to help Wanda or monitor her or stop her? It's hard to tell, as the neighbors also cast their suspicions about her to Vision, but what is their role and why do they want paranoia surrounding Geraldine? We may never know, as Wanda becomes suspicious of Geraldine and her knowledge, sending her outside of the energy barrier that appears to be surrounding the town. We finally have confirmation that we are in the present time and there is a level of manipulation occurring in Westview that Wanda has a level of control over.

Pietro was felt even more in the episode, as Vision suddenly gained the power of super speed when rounding up the doctor to help with the birth. Amongst all the theories I have seen posted about who's behind the altered reality, why it's happening, what will happen with Wanda's children, and the role of S.W.O.R.D., there does not seem to be enough about the biggest question of all: who is Vision? Has the Vision we know been brought back to life? Has Wanda's powers grown strong enough to create a living being? If this is not Vision, how will Wanda handle having to lose him all over again. As much as I would not want that to be a selling point of the story (I've already seen how terrible that is in WW84), it has to be assumed that Wanda will eventually be snapped back to reality.

The neighbors. Agnes and Herb were EXTRA sketchy throughout the episode and not in an implicit type of way. They were very stark in their in their suspicious and monitoring of the doings in the Vision household. As discussed earlier, Agnes was pushing the conspiracy surrounding Geraldine's arrival to Westview, but Herb was almost glitching. He was cutting through concrete blocks with hedge trimmers (odd enough) that he appeared ignorant to. But his biggest play was attempting to tell Vision something about the citizens, including themselves, stating “She [Geraldine] came here because we're all...”. Herb is not able to finish his statement, but a few of the top guesses have been that they're all “not real”, “trapped”, or “dead”. He repeats it a few times but is ultimately cut off by Agnes, which is quite similar to how Wanda intercedes when it sees Vision is traveling too far down the rabbit hole. I know the common thread is that Agnes is a villain, however, I could see Agnes almost acting like Wanda's reality security.

I came across a really interesting theory that I think would fit the MCU better than the whole making a deal with the devil/Mephisto idea. Could Wanda be hooked to a machine similar to the B.A.R.F. technology that Tony introduced in “Civil War” and was further expanded on with Quentin Beck/Mysterio's hologram technology in “Far From Home”? Remember what Tony said about the technology: "Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or B.A.R.F. – God, I gotta work on that acronym. An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus... to clear traumatic memories." I think the idea of this being a Wanda therapy session gone wrong is a much more grounded theory and better fits the fabric of the MCU than Mephisto. Even with existing in a world knowledgeable of Norse gods existing in their own realm, none of it has ever felt very spiritual, and I think Mephisto as a demon/devil that has an influence over Wanda may borderline too hard on the line of religious imagery. Not that it would be a bad thing, but I can see where a major studio would not want to run into backlash from hardcore religious supporters about included Satan in their shows/movies.

The series is still mostly theory and conjecture and I find that very exciting. The format and storytelling along with the week to week episode drop raises the “around the water cooler” discussion about the series. Episode 1 was ok, 2 was good, and 3 was great. I am all in on this show following the 3-episode treatment and, while I have my thoughts, I really have no concrete clue of what is happening. I hope they continue taking the storyline with the babies down the comic wormhole, with Tommy becoming Speed (guess his superpower) and Billy becoming Wiccan (with powers similar to Wanda). Maybe a little Incredibles-like family and having to not only protect themselves from others discovering their powers but having to make sure their kids' powers aren't discovered as well could be fun. All of this to say and I didn't even get into the stork!! I simply can't wait for next Friday.