Agatha All Along 1.05

[selenak]

In which it turns out the Teen has things in common with Catherine and Frederick the Great.



Sorry, but I had to. Explanation: when we created a playlist for Frederick the Great, "You should see me in a Crown" was the song commenting on Frederick and power, and young Frederick, hitherto taken for a woobie and cinnnamon roll, celebrating his first year of kingship by invading another country. I also used the song title for my story about Catherine the Great.

Anyway: this has to be one of the shortest episodes yet, and did feel like part 1 of a two parter, but it certainly packed a punch. RIP Alice. (Unless Teen/Billy's newfound abilities include necromancy?) That was devastating, and I'm going to and thro as to whether or not Agatha was lying when she said "I couldn't control it". Certainly when she started the Road her intended endgame was to absorb the powers of all the other witches, but I think she wanted to do it at the end, not being stiupid and very aware of the possibility the others would gang up on her if she started to openly pick them off one by one. Also, right then I think she wanted someone between her and her mother's spirit. So on the one hand, I believe her, on the other hand, she's a practised liar, so I just don't know.

(Of course, if Agatha has uncertain control over her powers, that gets her out of strict supervillain and more into Rogue territory, but then she might simply have had no control as a) a young woman and b) jiust then in the situation with Alice after being possessed by her vengeful mother's spirit.)

Btw, one of Lilia's prophetic utterings is now deciphered, from two episodes back. Remember this exchane:

Lilia: Alice, don't!
Alice: Don't what?
Lilia Save Agatha!

Only both Alice and the audience took the two utterings as two separate commands.

Jen being the first to suggest going along with the "punish Agatha" demand before Agatha turns against anyone (in this particular episode) contributes to Teen getting disillusioned not just with Agatha but everyone else (save poor Alice) and their readiness to turn against each other; he's clearly fond of the found family trope and doesn't realise we're not quite there yet. But the immediate trigger for his ouburst (of power) at the end is Agatha telling him "how like your mother you are". Presumably this is when Agatha definitely gives up on him being Nicholas and concludes he then must be Billy. What is now the big, big question is that once she resurfaces (presumably all of them will next week), will she try to take Teen's powers? Because that's why he needs to have really a lot, and why he needs to be NOT her son (at least not literally or dominatingly). (And why Alice's power won't work for her (yet) despite her having absorbed it.) If Agatha changes somewhat in this series, her big trial clearly isn't meeting Mom's ghost, it's whether or not she's able to control herself when faced with precisely the type of power she wanted to take from Wanda. And if Teen were literally her son, that would load the dice in his favour. If he's someone she came to care for despite being not her son but the son of her enemy, on the other hand...

Comments

[profiterole_reads]

I'm excited that we're getting the Billy reveal mid-way through. I thought they would keep it for the end. (Even though it was pretty much established in everybody's minds that Joe Locke had been cast as Billy.)

[musesfool]

It was definitely way too short but I get why they wanted to end where they did! What a fantastic way to reveal something everyone suspected and still make it have an impact. And then the perfect needle drop!

[kore]

That was a really good example of the difference between suspense and surprise. Most of the audience suspected he was Billy and then it got spoiled by freaking merch, but the moment still really landed. I think the poor writer learned a lot from the wanking about Pietro and Mephisto re WandaVision. (She said in a recent interview that the Mephisto memtions basically come down from Feige and she's stuck with it.)

[musesfool]

but the moment still really landed.

it did!

She said in a recent interview that the Mephisto memtions basically come down from Feige and she's stuck with it.

Yeah, I also read that she didn't know who Mephisto was before the discourse started, so it was never even an option in WV, though I wouldn't be too surprised if he ends up more pertinent here beyond the mention. I guess we'll see!

[cahn]

Lol, you totally made me look even though this is not my fandom! :D

It does make me want that Fritz AU with magic powers, not just alchemy, where Fredersdorf is the master of all kinds of magic... :D

[mildred_of_midgard]

Lol, same! Not my thing, but I clicked. :D

[selenak]

Ah, but since Fredersdorf dies early into the 7 Years War, who takes over as magician for Fritz then? Or maybe magic in this universe works for everything BUT war, i.e. it can cause prosperity/great status for the kingdom or something like that, in which case Fredersdorf is Fritz' magician and FS is MT's, and maybe this only works with the magician and the ruler are able to enter a union (doesn't have to romantic, though it can be, but does have to be a partnership), which is why it rarely works out. France's problems are accelerated by the fact that the Kings are far too isolated to find their proper magical counterparts. (Louis XIV was the last one who managed it; his magical counterpart wasn't either of his wives or any of his mistresses, but the playwright Moliere.) Catherine the Great does manage it with Potemkin as her magical counterpart. Of all the smaller scale 18th century European rulers, August the Strong finds the right person (the guy who invents the Dresden porcellain, of course!), but by locking him up instead of treating him as a partner, no true union is achieved, so Saxony gets splendour but also lots and lots of debts and other political trouble and failure. ETc.

[mildred_of_midgard]

Ah, but since Fredersdorf dies early into the 7 Years War, who takes over as magician for Fritz then?

Heinrich?

[selenak]

It would have to be, wouldn’t it? And clearly this is why Prussia post Fritz downslided, because FW2 of course wouldn’t let Heinrich continue but also kept choosing the wrong magicians as replacements, i.e. all those charlatans he did in rl favor, and FW3 insisted his wife Luise was his magician, but unfortunately for him and the country while she was an impressive person, it really should have been E.T.A. Hoffmann, and thus Prussia got defeated by Napoleon. Whose magician, naturally, was Josephine. Which explains all the post divorce wrong judgement calls starting with Russia…

[mildred_of_midgard]

Clearly!

[cahn]

The history books in this universe would be AWESOME, that's all I'm saying. (Not that I'm trying to convince anyone to write it for Yuletide or anything... :D )

[cahn]

Selena: Ah, but since Fredersdorf dies early into the 7 Years War, who takes over as magician for Fritz then?

Me: Heinrich, obviously :P

Salon hive mind strikes again! :D

[mildred_of_midgard]

He takes over in the Seven Years War right as Fredersdorf is dying, and then gets Fritz West Prussia. Who else?

[msilverstar]

Did she have to take all of Alice's power? It felt like she could have stopped.

[selenak]

One of the things I truly want to know is whether Agatha has stopped at any time before, for any other witch. I'm a bit reminded of how the drinking of blood for vampires is handled in the tv version of "Interview with the Vampire" (and partially in the novels), i.e. the older vampires have the self discipline to drink from living human beings without killing them, BUT whether or not they do depends on them.) If Agatha is capable of stopping herself but didn't, it's a whole different issue than if she can't. Mind you, like I said, I think her original intention when starting this whole thing was definitely to drain everyone in order to get herself powered up, but I'm also assuming she intended to do this at the end and in one fell swoop so none of the others could gang up on her. With Alice, I think she reacted on instinct - this is what she's done for centuries - , BUT I have no idea whether or not she could have stopped herself once it was clear what was happening. Could be either way, as of now. (I'll probably change my mind depending on how the show continues.)

[msilverstar]

I agree: it really matters if she has stopped before, thinks she can stop, or thinks she can't stop herself. Far more interesting when it's a conscious decision.

[kore]

I did think it was way too short, and kind of odd. Either the writers went pretty OOC or they're setting something up. Jen going "PUNISH Agatha" seemed weird, as did Lilia's "Death comes for us all, oh well." Hahn's evil smile and "Are - you - sure" felt straight out of a horror movie. I expect we're going to have a flashback ep or see some of the events from Billy's POV.

I'm honestly really upset about Alice. I hated that she got her big triumph and was drained by Agatha right after that, and the coven is majority white to begin with. I didn't think a Disney show would have a high body count for its leads but who knows. I hope the show doesn't go the route of killing off the other witches and at the end Agatha has a Choice, because that's such a cliche. Idk. I was loving the show a whole lot and now I feel pretty wary.

[kore]

Also, just mechanically, the shorter runtime suggests they cut and moved a sequence somewhere else -- I think that happened with Loki.

[greenwoodside]

I enjoyed the episode (a lot; I was frustrated tonight trying to find something to watch before bed, when all I really wanted was the next Agatha episode which had the temerity not to be there), though did feel it was a bit too jammed with happenings once they were inside the house. Three more minutes here and there could have made it less hectic, or limited the hectic to key points.

I feel as if we'll see Alice (and Mrs Hart?) again. The show spent a lot of time on them, on Alice especially, and it knows we need more pay-off than what we got. But the reappearance of the full coven may not be till the last episode, perhaps after the 'deaths' of Lilia and Jennifer.

Loving Agatha as (anti-?)protagonist. She brings a special kind of ambivalent energy to everything. Because this is a Disney show, I half-expect it to run with a mild "murders largely accidental/prickly pear" characterisation choice. If it doesn't, I'll be amused.

[selenak]

I feel as if we'll see Alice (and Mrs Hart?) again. The show spent a lot of time on them, on Alice especially, and it knows we need more pay-off than what we got.

I hope so. Mind you, given that the Witches' Road is its own extra little universe, we might find out the deaths there aren't permanent, though I suspect if that were the case in general, it wouldn't have the formidable reputation it does.