This is probably the most surprising of all the Disney + Marvel shows. If you would have told me that one of my all-time favorite Marvel shows would feature Agatha Harkness, I would not have believed you. Yet, here we are at #26.
Agatha All Along is a spin-off of WandaVision, featuring the character of Agatha Harkness, a witch who had been stranded in Westview because of a spell from Wanda Maximoff. When she is able to pull herself out of the spell, Agatha goes about trying to regain her stolen power by collecting a coven and traveling the Witches’ Road.
Anchored by the brilliant performance by Kathryn Hahn as Agatha, Agatha All Along was an exceptional show with a storyline that carried through the entire series, with comedy, drama and music.
Yes, the variety of ways that the show played “Done the Witches’ Road” was one of the highlights of the show. In episode two when the coven sang the song in Agatha’s basement (with Mrs. Hart’s perfectly deadpanned line, “Am I supposed to know this song?”) to the rock ballad version during the trials of the Road in episode four, the music was such an engaging part of the show.
The show introduces Billy/William, the resurrected son of Wanda and Vision. Of course, in the comics, Billy is known as Wiccan. We had met a younger version of Billy in WandaVision and seemingly lost him there too. This brought him back to the MCU in the form of actor Joe Locke.
The other members of the coven included Debra Jo Rupp (who returned to her Wandavision role of Sharon Davis, aka Mrs. Hart), Aubrie Plaza, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, and Patti LuPone.
The mystery of the Witches’ Road is extremely compelling and led to some of the best episodes of Marvel TV you will find. I would argue that episode 7, “Death’s Hand in Mine,” is one of the best single episodes of TV Marvel has produced. It featured the backstory of coven witch Lilia Calderu, played by the grand dame of Broadway, Patti LuPone.
Agatha All Along was tremendously entertaining and was one of the best written Marvel Studios Disney + shows around. It was a surprise favorite and it deserves this high spot in the top 100.
I may have still been slightly uncertain about this show after the first three episodes, but after the fourth episode, I am all in. I thought this was easily the best episode of this show that I have seen yet, and it was also the one that crushed me.
This episode featured Billy Pace, with a look at his background, and it was tremendously engaging. He had a dark past and the episode played with the uncertainty that he was the reason the president was killed. As it moved on, it became clear that Billy Pace was a bad guy who had found his friend and family with Xavier and his kids. By the end of the episode, I was in love with this character.
And then the show killed him off.
Man, that scene where he is poisoned by Jane on the orders of Sinatra. Then there was a scene with Sinatra and Billy that was just tense and anxious, which is what led to his death. I know I was nervous about Billy the rest of the film at that point and I thought he had made it when he got home. Then, the rugged gets pulled out from under me.
The death of Billy Pace was a kick in the gut. I would not have guessed that his death would have meant anything to me, but it has been awhile since I have felt this upset over a character death.
By the way, the mystery of the surface world is another cool thing and having Billy kill the people doing the investigation was a rough truth that caught me off guard. I am looking forward to seeing how everything ties together.
The music was by Poison this episode… Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Was the band’s name a hint?
I am fully in on this show now, at I guess, the halfway mark. You can watch Paradise on Hulu or Disney +.
Anna Devane was one of my favorite characters on General Hospital mainly because she was an agent for the WSB and she could kick the butt of anyone messing with her. I loved that and so, in honor of the awesome Anna Devane, this is the kick ass female award.
We have ten females who kicked plenty of ass in their individual places. Some are comic characters, some are TV/movie characters and we even have a professional wrestler.
The Anna Devane Kick Ass Female Award
Previous winners: Rey (Star Wars), Mockingbird (Marvel Comics), Wonder Woman (DCEU), The Shirewolves, Captain Marvel, Kamala Harris, Wanda Maximoff, Pearl, Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Fargo season five)
Top 10 Kick Ass Females of 2024
#10. Liz Danvers (True Detective: Night Country). Jodie Foster brought a bad ass female to the snowy world of Alaska. She had all kinds of troubles, but you just knew she would find her way thorugh.
#9. Anora (Anora). Mikey Madison was a force of nature as the titular character in this movie from 2024. She was a tornado dealing with the Russians and she was more than a handful.
#8. Black Canary (Black Canary: The Best of the Best). The new DC series featured the writing of Tom King and Black Canary in a tournament with Lady Shiva to discover the best hand-to-hand fighter in the universe.
#7. Zatanna (Zatanna: Bring Down the House). A flashback series showed us how Zatanna came into her own as a member of the Justice League.
#6. Laura (Deadpool & Wolverine, Laura Kinney: Wolverine, NYX). Laura, X-23, returned in the Void during the awesome cameo reveals, but she played a major part with Logan in the movie. It was a real feel good moment… and she sliced Juggernaut’s feet off. Ooooooh. We could extend this one to the comics too as X-23 is known as Wolverine and has her own series, plus a role in NYX.
#5. Storm (X-Men ’97, Storm). It was a big year for Storm. She was a major character in X-Men ’97, she joined the Avengers in Marvel Comics, and she got her own series. Marvel has big plans for Ororo Munroe.
#4. Rhea Ripley (WWE). Rhea “Bloody” Ripley! The Eradicator. One of the biggest stars in the WWE, Rhea took a huge step in her character development when she became a face when her boyfriend Dominic Mysterio turned on her and left her. Rhea is a superstar.
#3. Abigail (Abigail). Alishia Weir brought a serious kick ass girl, a ballerina vampire who has been feeding for centuries. Abigail dominated the film and was incredibly fun.
#2. Elphaba (Wicked). She almost won this award this year and she may be a leading candidate for next year. Elphaba became more and more powerful as the film progressed and the whole “Defying Gravity” sequence at the end of the film was amazing!
And the winner of the Anna Devane Kick Ass Female of the Year Award is…
#1. Agatha Harkness (Agatha All Along, What If…?, Marvel Comics)
It was Agatha all along. Played by the wondrous Kathryn Hahn, Agatha Harkness has risen from a lesser Marvel Comics character to a superstar. After her star turn in WandaVision in 2020, Agatha returned in this year’s surprise hit Agatha All Along on Disney +. Meanwhile, in the comics, Marvel returned Agatha to the young status, making her much closer to Kathryn Hahn. She was in the best episode of What If…? so far co-starring with Kingo. Agatha is one witch whose world is at her fingertips. Down, Down, Down the road… Down the Witches Road…
While I liked the previous What If…? episode of season three, I did not love it. Season two I ADORED just about everything about this one.
Agatha Harkness and Kingo? Who knew that I needed that in my life?
Golden Age of Hollywood with Agatha making a gigantic, cosmic blockbuster with Howard Stark (and the ever quippy Jarvis) is amazing, but to tie that into Agatha’s latest plot to grab power for herself by way of stealing the power of the growing Celestial inside the earth, Tiamut, is on another level.
There is a dance battle, literally, between Agatha and Kingo. All the while Howard Stark is shouting out some of the funniest dialogue you are ever going to hear.
“I want Busby Berkeley to see this and contemplate being a realtor“
“Will they dance? They will!“
“That chemistry was hotter than the Hindenburg.“
“Is that some kind of euphonism? Are you two a thing now?”
Howard Stark and Jarvis made the perfect Old Hollywood director behind the scenes for this What If…? episode. The quips delivered wonderfully by both Dominic Cooper and James D’Arcy. Jarvis’s initial dry wit fit beautifully in the insanity that was going on around him in this episode.
The fact is this… Kathryn Hahn is a master. She ahs taken this secondary (maybe even tertiary) character of Agatha Harkness and made her something special. Kathryn Hahn’s aura is all over this episode and she just dominated every minute, and she had amazing chemistry with Kumail Nanjiani. These two characters worked so well with one another and who saw that coming?
The dance routine was brilliant. I loved it. The design of Celestial Agatha was beautifully perfect. Her battle with Arishem the Judge was a great call back to WandaVision. The end speech from Kingo targeted what was missing inside Agatha all along.
This episode is very meta with several behind the scenes comments and a reference to Cecil B. DeMille. For me, this all worked so well that I just sat on my couch with a big smile on my face the entire time.
I would put this episode of What If…? right at the top of the series along with the season one Dr. Strange episode, the season two Christmas and 1602 episodes. Certainly the best of season three so far and potentially one of the best of the entire run.
I spend a lot of time watching YouTube. It is probably the app I watch the most on my Roku TV. There are so many channels and programs on this site that I watch regularly. So every year I have to find the list of my favorite YouTube shows and personalities.
I am counting down the Top 15 YouTube series/channels of 2024. Many of these are repeats from last year and several have moved up or down.
#15. Songs from a Suitcase. Vocal coach watching cool stuff. She watched Agatha All Along.
#14. Alex Hefner’s TV and Movies. A reaction channel that has slipped a bit this year for me. As in most reaction channels, it depends on what the reactor is watching. I do enjoy Alex even if I do not watch him as often as I used to.
#13. Dodgers Nation. A big year for my Los Angeles Dodgers meant I spent more time watching this Dodger discussion show.
#12. Jeremy Jahns. Jeremy Jahns has been one of my favorite online reviewers for years. I always thought our opinions matched up. It seems as if some of my thought differed more this year than in the past, but I still think Jeremy is a good time, no alcohol required.
#11. Dan Murrell. Another of my favorite online critics, Dan is also very well spoken and intelligent. His Charts with Dan show featuring box office reports is always informative and compelling.
10. Fatman Beyond. Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin together are always a good time. I will admit that I do not watch this as regularly as I have in the past, but anytime I have the time to watch FB, I have a laugh and enjoy myself.
#9. Ashleigh Burton. Another reactor, but I seem to enjoy seeing her react more than some others. I just watched her react to Spider-Man: No Way Home and it was wonderful. She does the MCU and is currently doing Buffy season two. All of that interests me.
#8. New Rockstars. When a great new Marvel trailer comes out, there is no better place to go than to New Rockstars for the break down with Eric Voss. There are a lot of other shows on the New Rockstar lineup, but the breakdowns are still the bread and butter here.
#7. The Geek Buddies. John Rocha, Michael Vogel and Shannon McClung have excellent chemistry, being close friends. Their opinions on geek culture is not always the same, which makes it all the better. I love their long reviews of certain projects, including the great review of Agatha All Along this year.
#6. Ups and Downs. Simon Miller from WhatCulture Wrestling uses that finger of power to give the good bits and up and the bad bits a down. I watch him do these reviews for WWE wrestling and Simon is such a Positive Pete that he brings such an energy that makes the show even better than it was.
#5. Settle the Score. I enjoy this game show very much as Matt Knost hosts and Andy Merryweather plays the music. A combination of movie trivia and name that tune, Settle the Score is a hoot each week. I will say that when I know the contestants, I enjoy the show more, but there are still some winner from people I do not recognize.
#4. FYC. An Oscar discussion show featuring Scott Mantz, Perri Nemiroff and Jeff Sneider. The hosts are the strength of this show. They can disagree with one another and yet hold a civil and intelligent conversation. They clearly respect one another and it shines through the show.
#3. The Reel Rejects. Another reactor channel, but this year the team has exploded. They are doing a ton of movies, TV shows and trailer reactions and they are thoroughly entertaining, whether it be Greg and John, the original rejects, Roxy, Coy, Andrew, Tara, Aaron or any other, The Reel Rejects have had some awesome live streams that are extremely fun, such as the one this year where they were following news from ComicCon and found out Robert Downey Jr was going to play Dr. Doom in the MCU. It is great.
#2. pReview’d. It’s Jay and Adam… it’s pReview’d! Hey Peaches! The highest of the movie/TV reactors again this year is the pReview’d boys. Jay and Adam just feel so authentic and they are downright funny. So whether it is them watching Agatha All Along, Deadpool and Wolverine, Shogun, Cobra Kai, The Princess Bride, Daredevil, The Penguin, or doing a trailerpalooza in order to GAME THE SYSTEM, BA-BEEE!, Jay and Adam are awesome.
#1. Bonus Action Vol. 2. Jay Schmidt and Adam Lash from pReview’d are back with their D&D roleplaying group, creating one of the most thrilling and engaging story around. DM David Armstrong creates the story for Adam, Jay, Amanda Nichols, Ja-Ron Young, Josh Hurley and Jason Spina. These players are as creative and outstanding as improvisers which brings the gaming session to such an entertaining result. This was the #1 YouTube show on the list last year and the second season/volume has returned to the top spot. I’m not a fan of their time slot (Mondays, meaning I have to watch it the next night), but that is my only complaint. These players are so in touch with their characters that it is a joy to watch them play them and to interact with each other. So much chemistry among the group! And David is one of the best DMs I have ever seen.
Wow, what a finale. Two long episodes of Agatha All Along that brought some serious emotion and dropped all the answers.
Let’s start with episode 8. Holy crap… what a powerful episode. We discover so much and we get a massive showdown between Agatha and Rio. Billy flying in in his Wiccan outfit was so epic.
This entire time, I was never sure about what was going to happen, and that is a great thing. That confrontation ending with Agatha’s death, sacrificing herself for Billy (though she would later deny it).
Billy returned to William’s room and figured out that the Witches’ Road was created from his mind. This was a theory that I had heard, and it really was clear going back into William’s room.
Then, episode nine, Kathryn Hahn was just astounding. Her performance as a witch who would lose her child to death was heartbreaking. Seeing the origin of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” was fun. We also meet Nicholas, Agatha’s son, and we learn that she did not trade him for the Darkholde, as the rumors indicated. It seemed as if Nicholas had something wrong with him and was going to die in childbirth, bit Rio gave her some time because of their relationship.
I’m not sure how I feel about Agatha the ghost at the very end, but I did like Billy and ghost Agatha heading off to search for Tommy.
It was great to see Jenn pull herself out of the ground just outside of Westview with her powers back. Agatha being the witch who bind her made sense. It was nice one of the coven survived.
This was one of my absolutely favorite Marvel series on Disney +. I do not think it reaches WandaVision or Loki levels but it very well may be #3. What an entertaining and well written and acted show.
After last week’s big reveal at the episode’s end, I figured this week would be the back story of Billy Maximoff. And I was right.
I loved this episode. We went back and discovered how Wanda’s mind reading son wound up in a teenager’s body.
I had heard this speculation before. How the car accident that was reported earlier in the series, and was the back drop to the credits when Joe Locke’s name was up, would be tied to Billy’s resurrection (or rebirth?).
That car crash they shot was spectacular.
The crash came because Billy Kaplan’s parents, from Eastview, were distracted by the Anomaly created by Wanda was disappearing. I felt bad for the Kaplans but their son was gone. When he died in that car crash, Bill Maximoff took over the body. This is a decent origin for the Teen in the MCU considering how messy Wiccan’s Marvel Comics origin is.
We also get a special guest star… everyone’s favorite… Ralph Boner! Ralph Boner was the albatross around the neck of WandaVision. When he turned out to NOT be Pietro Maximoff from the X-Men universe, that was universally hated. However, we all still love Evan Peters and having him back is always welcomed. Ralph’s appearance was a little inconsistent here. I wish they had chosen a tone and stuck with it instead of trying to do both the fearful/intense tone and the funny/silly tone. Still, it was great to see him.
The discussion between Agatha and Billy at the end was really some great writing. Interestingly, no Aubrey Plaza. Where was she? I also hope the others in the coven are not gone for good. I know they are involved in other aspects, but I hope it is not just in flashbacks.
Three more episodes. One next week and then two on Halloween eve.
Aubrey Plaza has returned, summoned to the Witches’ Road to replace the recently deceased Mrs. Hart (aka Sharon Davis).
Rio and Agatha certainly has a complicated history.
Agatha continues to show signs that she has feelings for Teen. Agatha thinks Teen is her son, you can tell. That is why Rio’s line at the end of the show about Teen not being her son hit Agatha so hard. I don’t know if that was true or just Rio’s vicious attempt to hurt Agatha.
When Teen looked like he was dying, Agatha was truly scared. Kathryn Hahn is such a great actress.
The new version of The Ballad of the Witches’ Road rocked hard. Lorna’s Ballad.
“We’re an album cover waiting to happen.”- Teen. The outfits for this trial were awesome.
The curse in demon form was very frightening too.
I am so curious about Patti LuPone’s character and the strange moments she has. It makes little sense so far, but I really love her so far.
This has been so enjoyable. The cast is tremendous and have so much chemistry with each other. There are so many questions to this story and I am into all of them.
After all of these years, it has finally OFFICIALLY happened…
Mephisto confirmed.
Jennifer Kale confirmed Mephisto with a name drop during the second week of Agatha All Along and the mere mention of his name freaked me out. After so many weeks in WandaVision with the belief that Marvel’s head demon/devil was behind everything, this was just a slight mention by one of Agatha’s coven. And it was everything.
Then, sadly, my expectation came to fruition as poor Sharon Davis, aka Mrs. Hart, died during the first trial on the Witches’ Road. If this is truly the last we’ll see of Mrs. Hart, then I, for one, will miss her tremendously. Debra Jo Rupp got limited scenes in this show, but every one she got was amazing. She stole every moment and she brought such a wonderful humor. She will truly be missed. Here’s hopin’ that once the trip down the road ends, she will be back in Westview tending those flowers.
Boy, this show is absolutely showing Agatha to be a selfish and uncaring witch. She is our protagonist, but it feels clear that she had not reformed her wicked ways. The show also hinted at the rumor that Agatha gave up her child for the Darkhold. Then, we all thought at first that Teen would turn out to be Billy, Wanda’s child who would become Wiccan, but is he Nicholas Scratch, Agatha’s son instead? Again, the show certainly teased at that too.
I am thoroughly engaged with the rest of the coven too, especially Patti LuPone’s Lilia Calderu. The delusions she faced while poisoned were fascinating and mysterious. She is my favorite character outside of Agatha and Teen. I look forward to learning more about her as we continue down the Witches’ Road.
No sign of Aubrey Plaza this episode, but I expect her to arrive soon with the untimely death of Sharon (How cold was Agatha’s ‘Who’s Sharon?’ comment at the end?).
This has been completely entertaining so far. Can’t wait for next week.
The last live-action Marvel Television show was Secret Invasion. It was such a letdown that one has to wonder what was going on. The animated X-Men ’97 was brilliant, and that led us to the beginning of the spin-off of WandaVision, called Agatha All Along.
Agatha Harkness was the big bad in WandaVision and Wanda left her trapped in her Agnus character. That was three years ago and it seems that Agnus has found herself inside a police procedural.
The Agnus of Westview section of the first show was awesome, clearly a take on the Mare of Easttown series from HBO. However, the arrival of Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke helped break Agatha out of the trance cast upon her by the now deceased (?) Wanda.
Agatha still has no power, but Joe Locke, who seems to be unable to say his name or any specifics about him, wants Agatha to lead him down the Witches’ Road.
The mystery of “Teen,” which is what Agatha begins calling Joe is one of the biggest of the early part of the show. We comic fans believe that we know who he is… Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan. In the comics, Wiccan was one of Wanda Maximoff’s children (or so I think… this is a really convoluted piece of Marvel history). Could this be Billy from WandaVision? Who or what is preventing Agatha from hearing his name?
The second episode had Agatha and Teen recruiting other witches to put together a coven so they could open the door to the Witches’ Road. Patti LuPone, Ali Ahn, Sasheer Zamata are three of the witches that they recruited. Agatha also brought in Debra Jo Rupp, reprising her role from WandaVision in a brilliant piece of casting. Debra Jo played Mrs. Hart in WandaVision, but is actually named Sharon Davis and not a witch. Her part in the show was absolutely hilarious.
The group of them wound up singing “The Ballad of the Witches Road” in Agatha’s basement. This was an amazing song and it sounded awesome. Sharon’s line “Am I supposed to know this song” was just tremendous.
The cast is fantastic. I loved how this started off. Some may claim that it was too slow of a build, but I disagree. I was fully engaged from the first, as Agnus was investigating the death of a mysterious woman (sure being hinted as it being Wanda Maximoff).
The show had a very scary tone as the coven started to head down the road. In particular, the arrival of the Salem Seven was some of the creepiest moments of the first two episodes. I expect these are the witches we see Agatha betray and kill in WandaVision.
Agatha All Along has a vibe of The Wizard of Oz as well as plenty of Easter eggs from WandaVision. Several supporting cast members from that show appeared here.
I can’t wait to see where the Witches’ Road will lead us. Agatha All Along seemed to be a lot of fun and the perfect show to watch during the spooky season.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 