WandaVision - S1E9: The Series Finale
MARVEL - DISNEY+The season finale of WandaVision is certainly action packed, although it seems to leave several questions still unanswered. The real threat behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe expanding into the realm of television is how much story these shows can actually tell without alienating those who simply watch the movies. This was noticeably a detractor on the original MCU shows, such as Agents of SHIELD, which touted its connectedness but rarely failed to make any lasting impression on the world.
One big draw to the Disney + shows are, of course, the use of the movies’ stars and it’s continuation of character arcs from heroes have graced the silver screen over the past several years. Yet, even with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany leading their very own show, there does feel a certain safeness even within the drastic events of this finale. There is no doubt many threads introduced here will be picked up in upcoming movies, but it stands to be seen how easily they will be segued into those films without explaining all the backstory.
The episodes picks up immediately after the cliffhanger of the previous – Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) has Wanda’s (Olsen) twin children in her grasp, whilst the resurrected body of Vision (Bettany) has also come to destroy Wanda. What follows is a stop/start fight on the streets of Westview between Wanda vs Agatha and Vision vs Vision (this being the Vision that Wanda conjured up, only just aware of his actual reality). The action here isn’t particularly extravagant and plays best when powers are being used, rather than actual fighting occurring. The best example is of Wanda using her old school mind tricks, à la Age of Ultron, to enter Agatha’s head and place her into her worst nightmare. In an interesting battle of minds, Agatha manages to contort this into a nightmare for Wanda.
The action is also very much a family affair. Despite the newly powered Monica Rambeau (Teyonnah Parris) being on the scene, she doesn’t get involved in the main conflict; instead, Wanda and her family lead the charge. The intent here is to obviously focus on the theme of the entire show, which is the idea of family and love. The whole family has been constructed from Wanda’s grief, so it’s complimentary of the writing team to still keep this present and not divulge into an all-out superhero extravaganza, which could all too easily have been the case.
What is most satisfying about this episode is seeing Wanda embrace the identity of the Scarlet Witch. The development of Wanda’s character over the series has been hit and miss, with some forced scenes detracting from the narrative. However, in this climax, it feels natural and deserved and, in one way, can be seen as a belated origin story for a character who has been around for six years.
As a whole, WandaVision has struggled to maintain its pace. The sitcom format became overused and irritating fairly on in the show, and it was only the well-placed teases that made it worth soldiering on for. With some, it was worth the wait and with others, it feels like they were incredibly misjudged (Evan Peters as Pietro genuinely feels like a waste of time). Most of the series’ enjoyment has come from its core cast. Olsen is a delight and is sure to bring a much needed ambivalence on her character’s journey through the next few films. Bettany has clearly never enjoyed playing the Vision more, whilst Hahn was deserving of more villainous screentime, in a role that greatly needed expanding. Yet it is Parris who has been the show’s greatest find – Monica has quickly become one of the MCU’s most interesting heroes and hopefully, her journey will continue on an upward trajectory.