A visionary new age of television.
WandaVision is a 2021 superhero sitcom created by Jac Schaeffer. It is now streaming straight to Disney+. The series will run for nine episodes until March 5, 2021. The series stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. It is based on various Marvel Comics. This series is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, acting as the first of the original MCU shows. The next will be The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
"I think something's wrong here." -Vision
Plot
As newly weds, Wanda and Vision move into the suburbs and try to fit in as normal people while concealing their powers. When strange occurrences begin taking place, Wanda and Vision realize something is very off with their new life.
Episode 3 "Now in Color" Review
WandaVision picks up with the continued plot line that originated from episode 2. Wanda is now very pregnant and certain things happen that make a fun situation. The dialogue in this was still very representative of the 70s. Even the sets and camera quality felt like it was The Brady Bunch or Good Times. The aesthetic, like that of the previous two episodes, felt very in sync with the era that it's set in. Vision commanded more of the comedic parts of this episode. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are fully committed to changing their roles while the setting of the show changes. The effects are still mostly practical, which just immerses the audience in the 70s. It makes for a really unique experience for someone like me that doesn't watch shows from the 70s or 80s. And, out of the three episodes that we've gotten, I'd say that Now in Color is the creepiest. The last five minutes of the episode are very chilling and very unsettling. It's keeping me on because I really want to know what's going on. That said, I do think that the sitcom, while fun, will get old. If the next two episodes are still sitcoms and no answers, that will be frustrating. This episode definitely teetered on the side of getting a bit too repetitive, but then the final few things happened and I still like it a lot. There were some relatively awkward moments that weren't meant to be creepy and still made me uncomfortable. I would say that some of the attempted comedy in this episode doesn't work as well as some of the other one-liners we've gotten. There is a certain scene that drags on a bit too long and got old, but then it transformed into utter eeriness. I am still very excited for next week's episode and will spend all of this week digesting the glimpses that they gave us in episode 3.
Fun Factor: 8.5/10
Acting: 9/10
Story: 7.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Quality: 8.5/10
"Now in Color"
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Paul Bettany as Vision
Teyonah Paris as Geraldine/Monica Rambeau
David Payton as Herb
Kathryn Hahn as Agnes
Randy Oglesby as Doctor Nielsen
IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED WANDAVISION EPISODE 3, STOP READING!!!!!
Episode 3 Spoiler Section
The entire situation with Wanda being pregnant and her powers going bananas because of her pregnancy was funny. I think it worked in light of the previous two episodes also being about concealing their powers. I do think that some of the jokes didn't land as well as they intended, but some of them were actually very funny, especially the one with Vision and the doll. I think that the scene with Geraldine and the stork went on too long. Eventually it lost taste and could've easily been cut down by about a minute. But I know that you want to hear me talk about the creepy stuff, not the funny stuff, so I'm going to get to that.
The first element of creepiness is played for laughs, which makes it even more uncomfortable. Vision is talking to his neighbor, Herb, who is accidentally cutting through a wall on Wanda and Vision's lawn. Vision tells him, and he fully acknowledges it, but keeps smiling and doing it. It was funny, but it was also eerie. Later on, Vision and Wanda are talking and we see Vision break out of his sitcom personality for the first time. He tells Wanda in this very shaken voice that something is wrong, and then the TV glitches. I hope that that was part of the episode, because then my TV glitched and something is wrong with my TV. If your TV glitched, too, let me know, because I want to make sure that my TV isn't broken. Either way, they go back to their sitcom-y selves, and you are left very uneasy.
There was also a line that could be caught as a throwaway line, but I was very disturbed by it. Vision is walking the doctor out of the door, and then Vision asks if the doctor is still going on vacation. The doctor says no, claiming "Small towns. They're hard to leave.". It was insanely creepy and builds up for the final shot of the episode.
Then the big thing is those final couple of minutes. Wanda mentions Quicksilver, the first time that we've heard about him since Age of Ultron, and Geraldine remembers that he was killed by Ultron. As soon as this happened, I was in shock. First of all, Teyonah Paris' line delivery on that was absolutely fabulous. Second of all, I want to know how that happened. Then Wanda continues to berate her, asking "Who are you?", and Geraldine can't answer. The whole scene is intercut with Agnes and Herb quietly talking with Vision. They hint that something is going on, but it definitely is not clear what. They don't actually say, because they go back into sitcom mode before they reveal what is happening. This whole thing was done very well. It was shot in a creepy manner, the dialogue was foreboding, and the performances are amazing. To go from unsettling, vague, and sometimes horrifying to old-timey goofiness is hard to do as an actor, but the entire cast manages to do it.
Then we get the final shot of Geraldine being thrown out of the barrier and into the real world. The first big thing is that there is a barrier. Wanda and Vision are clearly being held under surveillance by the second big thing: there is a massive base right outside Westview. I assume that it's S.W.O.R.D., whose logo constantly appears throughout the show, but I don't know. It was a great cliffhanger, and I am highly anticipating next week's return to WandaVision.