WandaVision: Season 1, Episode 5 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review contains spoilers for Marvel's WandaVision episode 5, now available to view on Disney+. To remind yourself of where we left off, check out our WandaVision episode 4 review.  [poilib element="accentDivider"] After interrupting the comedy in episode 4 for an entirely SWORD-focused chapter, it was easy to expect WandaVision to return to its previously scheduled sitcom homage broadcast for episode 5 in an effort to rebuild tension. Instead, writers Peter Cameron and Mackenzie Dohr tear up the show’s established rule book and redefine the show’s boundaries between family sitcom and MCU drama. And with this change, it feels like WandaVision has almost achieved the ideal balance between its many elements. Episode 5 sees the SWORD storyline coexist simultaneously with Wanda’s sitcom reality, allowing the storyline to continually switch between both perspectives and visual styles. Within the ‘Hex’, a 1980s setting is the stage for a big hair, big family episode of WandaVision, in which we follow the staple sitcom plotline of kids learning the ups and downs of life via a new puppy. It’s a setup that further emphasises Wanda’s desperation for an idyllic life, although the portrayal of Tommy and Billy as practically blank stereotype children does sadly make them more of a plot point than characters worth investing in. On the other side of the anomaly, Monica, Darcy, and Jimmy continue the race to decipher exactly what’s going on. Their efforts butt up against SWORD’s increasingly aggressive Acting Director, Tyler Hayward, whose insistence on branding Wanda a terrorist calls on the MCUs established mistrust of government agencies, as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Agents of SHIELD. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/30/wandavision-episode-4-is-vision-even-alive-mcu-canon-fodder"] However, the revelations that Wanda has “thousands” of people trapped in Westview, all in the aid of creating a reality for her corpse husband who she stole from SWORD, does maintain a level of uncertainty around who is in the wrong. Wanda is portrayed as increasingly unsympathetic, though; she effectively gaslights Vision throughout the episode, constantly dismissing any concerns he has. And as Vision comes closer to the truth, Wanda becomes increasingly agitated. It casts her as a controlling, abusive spouse, but the suggestion of Wanda having resurrected Vision through grief makes the situation muddy and difficult to decipher. WandaVision has chosen to paint its story in shades of grey that the MCU rarely opts for, making for something particularly poignant here. Importantly, this fracture of the sitcom means the lines between the show’s two halves are now completely blurred. While the retro visuals do create a sense of ‘in’ and ‘out’ of Westview, the events going on inside are as dramatic as those being handled by SWORD. Previously, the sitcom episodes had been characterised by an uneasy sense of building dread buried beneath the bright, twee comedy surface. Here, though, we see that darkness come closer and closer to the surface as Vision begins to pull at the threads and see the world for what it is. This ensures that the story feels less like it’s on pause during the sitcom segments, albeit at the cost of the pure homage that made the first three episodes unique. Vision’s gradual understanding of the situation also makes for some of WandaVision’s strongest sequences so far. Starting early with his interrupting of Agnes’s script, we get a moment of uneasy comedy akin to a stage play going awry before an audience. Later, this builds into something significantly more traumatic as Vision learns of Wanda’s control over Norm. And finally, in the show’s first true comic-book-panel-made-live-action scene, his levitating stand off with Wanda is a rather literal signifer that the situation has elevated. The accumulative effect of these moments means we are seeing a form of Vision closer to the ethereal version we know from the movies gradually phase into the show. This marks quite a transition stage for the story as a whole. A gradual build towards the characters we know from the Avengers films is what we’d expect from WandaVision, especially as the mystery unfolds and the facade shatters. What few were expecting, however, was the return of Quicksilver in quite the format that Marvel has opted for. Breadcrumbs for Pietro Maximoff’s return had been laid in previous episodes, but seeing X-Men’s Evan Peters in the doorway - complete with audience “WOOO!” - instead of the MCU’s own Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes for quite the exciting surprise. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=wandavision-cast-and-characters&captions=true"] Quicksilver’s appearance poses so many questions, and promises a whole new mystery to solve in the coming weeks. Is this a further look at the multiverse coming as part of Doctor Strange 2 and, according to rumour, Spider-Man 3? Or will the X-Men universe be folded into the MCU, Ultimates style? Whether Quicksilver’s role in the story is a long term deal or just a cameo is unclear, but what is obvious is that Marvel is embracing Disney’s acquisition of the X-Men characters and the audience’s love for them. The moment is used for one of the episode’s rare jokes, too. Darcy saying that Wanda has “recast” her brother is a fun, self-aware nod to both the change in actor and the show’s own TV logic. Sadly, jokes like this are rare through the episode, despite so much of it being set within the sitcom. In fact, I’d say the homage itself is a bust beyond the ever-perfect theme tune and obvious wardrobe choices. While the new balance between real and fake is what the show needs to carry it into its new storylines, future episodes ideally need to deliver stronger jokes during the sitcom portions to help maintain that dark/light balance. At least until the entire facade shatters.

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