Agatha All Along 1.06
Oct. 17th, 2024 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which we get the backstory of *redacted*
I remember part of comicverse fandom being very vocally upset that MCU Wanda (and by default Pietro) were vaguely Eastern European of a fictional nation instead of Romani and Jewish (as Magneto’s kids), so I wonder whether making MCU Billy nabbing the body of explicitly Jewish William Kaplan when the later dies in a car crash is meant to compensate for this? Though for all I know, Original Kaplan was Jewish in the comics as well, I wouldn’t know, I haven’t read any of the Young Avengers stories. Anyway: I appreciate Original William Kaplan was made a real person in his introduction, with his life and family being vividly presented in the Bar Mitzwah seqence instead of starting the story with the car crash, and that post car crash we get to see something of what Billy-as-William’s life is like to make it clear why he would seek out Agatha and break her out of the spell. (And incidentally make his boyfriend a real character as well instead of a face on the phone.) The reveal that Lilia was the witch to cast the sigil on Billy was interesting and unexpected but does make sense given the nature of her gift.
Something else this extended look at William and Billy does is making it clear that in addition to whatever magical gifts he has from Wanda, he is a telepath. (Which she was not.) As in, by mutation, not magic. I suspect the fact Marvel has reaquired the film rights to the X-Men characters might have something to do with that, but I find it another intriguing choice, especially in the context of his relationship with Agatha. Speaking of whom, the whole part where we see their first encounters from Billy’s pov and she’s still acting out the whole Detective Scenario from the season opener was hilarious, and their later scene from the end of the episode is fascinating, more about this in a moment, but let me say that Billy being able to break Wanda’s spell on Agatha works even better if he’s a telepath, not least because that means it’s not a question of strength of magic as such, it’s that combination.
Post Reveal Agatha at the end telling Billy he shouldn’t feel guilty: part manipulation (attempting to put them on a similiar footing by implying they both did things to survive other people would feel guilty for), part sincerity, I’d say. As her answer to his question as to when she figured out who he is. I don’t think she’s lying when she replies with when she suspected and when she was certain, but she’s also leaving out that her other suspicion (hope?) was that he wasn’t Billy, he was Nicholas. And her demonstration of how she figured out what he really hopes to gain from the Road was another great mixture of her being awful (Toby!) and her being clever (and correct in assuming she gets him). Let me add that Billy hoping to find not his mother or father but his twin is an excellent storytelling choice. It works on a Doylist (no need to bring Wanda back in a tv show because if and when they bring her back, it surely will be in a movie) and Watsonian level (of course he’d hope against hope that if he survived/was able to find a dying body to slip into, so did his twin!).
Lastly: Evan Peters or the Return of Ralph Bohner: I still think it’s a shame Peters was only allowed to be a Fake Pietro on WandaVision, but Bohner, like the late Sharon/Mrs Hart is another character here who is both used as comic relief and given a chance to show real emotion that drives home how truly horrible life under Wanda’s spell was for the people of Westview. (Which might be another Watsonian reason as to why Billy doesn’t look for his mother right now.)
I remember part of comicverse fandom being very vocally upset that MCU Wanda (and by default Pietro) were vaguely Eastern European of a fictional nation instead of Romani and Jewish (as Magneto’s kids), so I wonder whether making MCU Billy nabbing the body of explicitly Jewish William Kaplan when the later dies in a car crash is meant to compensate for this? Though for all I know, Original Kaplan was Jewish in the comics as well, I wouldn’t know, I haven’t read any of the Young Avengers stories. Anyway: I appreciate Original William Kaplan was made a real person in his introduction, with his life and family being vividly presented in the Bar Mitzwah seqence instead of starting the story with the car crash, and that post car crash we get to see something of what Billy-as-William’s life is like to make it clear why he would seek out Agatha and break her out of the spell. (And incidentally make his boyfriend a real character as well instead of a face on the phone.) The reveal that Lilia was the witch to cast the sigil on Billy was interesting and unexpected but does make sense given the nature of her gift.
Something else this extended look at William and Billy does is making it clear that in addition to whatever magical gifts he has from Wanda, he is a telepath. (Which she was not.) As in, by mutation, not magic. I suspect the fact Marvel has reaquired the film rights to the X-Men characters might have something to do with that, but I find it another intriguing choice, especially in the context of his relationship with Agatha. Speaking of whom, the whole part where we see their first encounters from Billy’s pov and she’s still acting out the whole Detective Scenario from the season opener was hilarious, and their later scene from the end of the episode is fascinating, more about this in a moment, but let me say that Billy being able to break Wanda’s spell on Agatha works even better if he’s a telepath, not least because that means it’s not a question of strength of magic as such, it’s that combination.
Post Reveal Agatha at the end telling Billy he shouldn’t feel guilty: part manipulation (attempting to put them on a similiar footing by implying they both did things to survive other people would feel guilty for), part sincerity, I’d say. As her answer to his question as to when she figured out who he is. I don’t think she’s lying when she replies with when she suspected and when she was certain, but she’s also leaving out that her other suspicion (hope?) was that he wasn’t Billy, he was Nicholas. And her demonstration of how she figured out what he really hopes to gain from the Road was another great mixture of her being awful (Toby!) and her being clever (and correct in assuming she gets him). Let me add that Billy hoping to find not his mother or father but his twin is an excellent storytelling choice. It works on a Doylist (no need to bring Wanda back in a tv show because if and when they bring her back, it surely will be in a movie) and Watsonian level (of course he’d hope against hope that if he survived/was able to find a dying body to slip into, so did his twin!).
Lastly: Evan Peters or the Return of Ralph Bohner: I still think it’s a shame Peters was only allowed to be a Fake Pietro on WandaVision, but Bohner, like the late Sharon/Mrs Hart is another character here who is both used as comic relief and given a chance to show real emotion that drives home how truly horrible life under Wanda’s spell was for the people of Westview. (Which might be another Watsonian reason as to why Billy doesn’t look for his mother right now.)
no subject
Date: 2024-10-17 09:37 am (UTC)This episode was fantastic, and I loved the reveal of how he survived and how he figured out more, and yes, why he hopes to find Tommy.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-17 12:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-17 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-17 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-17 11:58 pm (UTC)...other than that I was kind of v disappointed. I missed the coven and Rio.
Ppl were saying this also reminded them of the backdoor backstory Monica got on WandaVision. MCU shows do seem better than the movies at introducing future characters, maybe bc they have more time?
no subject
Date: 2024-10-19 08:46 pm (UTC)Really glad for the simplification of William Kaplan/Billy Maximoff's backstory and origin!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-25 11:36 pm (UTC)My husband paused and rewound when he realized Agatha is wearing a shirt that says "Bohner family reunion come and pitch a tent"