This week, Agatha All Along finally caught the attention of her audience, confirming that the character formerly known as “Teen” has a magical connection with Scarlet Witch – and also gave us her longest episode yet, with 43 minutes of action before the credits roll.
The film “Familiar by Thy Side” begins with a milestone (!) party hosted by the magic body Billy, titled for the host William Kaplan. Here we discover that Lilia has been hired to entertain at the party as a palm reader. William is told that “his life line is broken in two” before receiving another vision titled Tarot Card. She said, “The tower, inverted,” before encouraging her last guest to “enjoy the present” while he still can. Praising her fortune telling booth for possessing feelings of “early Argenuto” (a profound Rosso signal, perhaps?), William rushes off in horror, leaving his coat behind. For reasons kept to herself (and the audience), we find out Lilia is the one who disturbed the teenager with the silent sign, which she slipped into his coat pocket before asking one of the partygoers to ensure it was recovered.
On his way home from the party, William is killed in a car accident outside the Enchanted Scarlet Dome, then finds refuge in Billy’s comfortable abode (in another stroke of luck, the officer present at the scene is none other than Alice Wu-Galif). After the accident, Billy discovers that he can now read minds, but he does not remember any of his past life. He is a tabula rasa, unrecognizable to his parents or the family dog, Greg. Stepping into his room adorned with posters of Black Cauldron and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Billy – reflected in two mirrors – reminds himself repeatedly that he, despite his better judgment, is William Kaplan.
Three years later, Billy has become a nice but endlessly supportive friend (much like Devin from Chucky) named Eddie who encouraged him on his quasi-afterlife journey to discover his true identity. As the two review Billy’s “mad wall” about deviation and Wesfview (on his Ground website in reality, we see the previous posters have been replaced with posters for teen-oriented movies like Craft and Saw), Billy reveals that the man he met on Reddit agreed to meet him in a dimly lit garage to discuss magic. Naturally, the two head to meet him and we discover that this enigmatic stranger is actually Ralph Bohner, Evan Peters’ character from WandaVision. In a scene that lasts way too long, Bohner recounts the events of the Prequel series, revealing his severe trauma and his poisoning of Wanda’s dog Sparky (RIP), after which SWORD dismantled Vision’s remains into parts.
Billy continues his search at home, suspecting that Agatha is indeed an immortal witch responsible for a balloon explosion, and may have been an inspiration for “Julien” to Dolly Parton. Most importantly, he learns that Agatha is the “only known survivor” of the witch’s path and believes he can retrieve his lost brother, Tommy, if he is able to complete the journey himself. When he finds Agatha, we revisit the events of the pilot episode from his point of view, Rashomon-style, confirming Agnes from Wesfview was a much more troubled case than previously portrayed. Billy’s portrayal as an angry goth thief was greatly exaggerated, with the boy’s traits shown seriously – at least until he finally proclaims himself to the world as Maximoff.
As the show returns to the present, Agatha easily disposes of the shifting sand swamp she was thrown into at the end of the previous episode before revealing that she has known Teen’s secret identity all along. According to Agatha, both Wanda and Billy share the same “report,” but they don’t reveal its nature to the audience (I think they’re saving it for a later episode to emphasize the noble sacrifice that he volunteered for – but we’ll see). Agatha encourages him not to feel sorry for killing Jennifer and Lilia seemingly (I think we’ll see that as well …) because she has killed countless people before and is likely to do so again – that’s what good witches do. Although Billy still has his concerns about Agatha and the violence that necessarily prevents her, he agrees to continue with her on the witch’s journey to retrieve his lost brother. “The last person there’s a nice person,” Agatha jokes, before the credits start rolling.
This week’s episode is full of explanation, over-explanation, and re-explanation for those in the back. Anyone with a modicum of interest in this story already knew who the teenager was from the start, so regardless of quality, spending a full hour of TV rehashing this reveal was a waste of time. It’s like a little Predator 2 – a fun movie with the quality of the original film in every part of it, but it makes a mistake in structuring itself when the answer to who’s been slaughtering the drug gangs in Los Angeles lies in its title. If you’re watching this show, you likely watched WandaVision, and if you enjoyed it enough to follow its companion series, you likely (at the very least) read Scarlet Witch’s Wikipedia page or similar websites you’re currently browsing.
It is also worth noting that Rio’s absence since the super pajama party held last week is still being ignored, as if they forgot to shoot an important scene or something. Of course, she’ll be back – perhaps in her true form, if you believe those leaked Funko Pop statues – but honestly, what gives? During the flashback scenes in the pilot episode, it was confirmed that Billy was unable to see Rio at the same moments that Agatha did as well, which likely means something will happen in the future. Is she simply flickering in and out of existence and people’s imagination, similar to the memory wipe that was imposed on Billy?
Anyway, with the table finally set, we can expect another special experience next week, where Agatha and Billy must set aside their differences to complete another challenge in the game show – and perhaps grow a little along the way. What brings up interesting questions: What is the most magical friend movie? Thelma and Louise? Let’s discuss in the comments.
Want more io9 news? Find out the expected release dates of the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for DC Universe in movies and television, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
