Issues Regarding "WANDAVISION"
ISSUES REGARDING "WANDAVISION"
Recently, I did a re-watch of the DisneyPlus/Marvel Cinematic Universe limited series, "WANDAVISION". After viewing the penultimate episode, (1.08) "Previously On", I realized I had a few issues with the series.
The seventh episode, (1.07) "Breaking the Fourth Wall" ended with this revelation that the long-living witch Agatha Harkness was behind the whole psychic anomaly surrounding the fictional town of Westview, New Jersey. Yet the revelations from the flashbacks forced upon former Avenger Wanda Maximoff by Harkness in "Previously On" revealed that . . . yes, Wanda had originated the anomaly. She started it in a moment of anger and grief over the permanent death of the synthezoid and former Avenger named Vision. In other words, Agatha's claim in "Breaking the Fourth Wall" that she had been behind the whole incident merely contradicted what Wanda's flashbacks had revealed. So, what was Agatha's role over the Westview incident? An enabler? A disrupter? As it turned out . . . both. Agatha had occasionally disrupted Wanda's anomaly in order to learn the true nature of the latter's powers and steal them. This means that Agatha's little "confession", "It Was Agatha All Along" was nothing more than a lie. A contradiction. Something to serve as a cliffhanger for "Breaking the Fourth Wall", perhaps? Regardless, I thought it was a sloppy move on the part of screenwriter Cameron Squires and showrunner Jac Schaeffer.
While viewing "WANDAVISION", it occurred to me that it basically seemed like a character study - touched by science-fiction and magic. Which leads me to wonder why the MCU thought it was a good idea to convey this narrative via a nine-episode series. Since nearly every episode is roughly 25 minutes, I have come to the conclusion that this story is roughly four hours. Or nearly four hours. Four hours for a character study? Seriously? Do not get me wrong. I have a good opinion of the series’ narrative. But I found this 25-minute episode format rather frustrating. And unnecessary for this kind of story. "WANDAVISION" could have easily been told via a motion picture with a 100-minute running time.
As for the television sitcom format that the series used to convey its narrative - I never warmed up to it. To be honest, I found it distracting and nothing more than a clever gimmick. Mind you, "WANDAVISION" did not remain stuck in one particular time period. The narrative progressed from the 1950s to the 2000s with each episode. My family and I are in the middle of a re-watch of "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D." Season Seven. This was the season in which the protagonists had skipped through history trying to prevent the Big Bads from prematurely destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. My sister pointed out that it was possible the writers of "WANDAVISION" had copied the time travel narrative from "S.H.I.E.L.D." Season Seven and used it to convey the television sitcom formats from the 1950s to the 2000s or 2010s. In other words, Kevin Feige, Jac Schaeffer and the series’ writers may have slightly plagiarized Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. That is something to think about.
Also, one particular episode featured a major blooper. I am referring to the sixth episode, (1.06) "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!". The episode featured the marquee for the town’s movie theater:
First of all, when is this particular episode set? The 1990s or the 2000s? One of the films listed on theater's marquee, "THE PARENT TRAP", a remake of the 1961 Disney film, had been released in 1998. The other film listed, the award-winning animated film, "THE INCREDIBLES", had been released in 2004. So, did Wanda set the events of "All-New Halloween Spooktacular" in the 1990s? Or did she skip a decade and set it the 2000s? Inquiring minds want to know. Regardless, this was an obvious blooper that no one bothered to comment on. I would bet that one person or more will come up with an excuse for this obvious blooper.
Do not get me wrong. I enjoyed "WANDAVISION". But there were aspects of it that I found frustrating. I believe the story, which basically strikes me as a character study, could have been more effectively told via a movie, instead of a nine-episode series. I found the television sitcom formats distracting and unnecessary. And I have some issues regarding the Agatha Harkness character and an obvious blooper from the series' sixth episode. But I must admit that "WANDAVISION" has proven to be among the better MCU productions from the past few years.