WandaVision, I just can’t quit you. It should come as no surprise that I am still low-key obsessed with the limited series on Disney+, even with the new addition of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is one hundred percent my latest obsession (more on that later). I recently rewatched all of WandaVision with my husband, who hadn’t seen it yet, and I think it’s even better the second (some episodes third or fourth) time around. So of course when I saw the new special Assembled: The Making of WandaVision, I was all over it.
Welp, I don’t know about you, but at around 12:30 am last Friday, I had my emotions completely destroyed. Honestly, I probably should have watched the finale again before writing this post because I don’t feel like I fully absorbed it, but my emotions are not ready for another beating just yet.
Not going to lie, I think there are quite a few plot points that I didn’t fully grasp from the finale, but my major takeaways are these: White Vision has been granted access to all of regular Vision’s memories, which I’m assuming means he has some sort of feelings for Wanda, or at the very least, will not be used as a weapon against her in the future; regular Vision is completely gone, but the kids seem to be still around (perhaps in another multiverse); Wanda has a lot of work to do, both to figure out her powers and who she really is, and to atone for the harm she did to the people of Westview; Agatha is out of the picture, but still very much alive and able to come back at any time (which given how popular she was, will probably happen); most of Monica’s questions were left unanswered so I can only assume we are going to be getting a lot of her story in Captain Marvel 2.
I had a lot of feelings about how everything went down in the finale, but overall, I felt it was a fitting ending to a limited series run. We still got closure on this chapter, but I can definitely see how everything is going to lead into the upcoming MCU movies. What I really liked about the series is how we got to spend time with Wanda and learn not just about her time as an Avenger, but what her childhood was like and how it shaped her. For me, the show took a character I was kind of meh about and made me love her. And yeah, I realize she did some shitty things in this show that she hasn’t atoned for at all, but I think we are going to see more of her reckoning in upcoming projects.
And honestly, the show truly captured grief and trauma unlike anything else I have seen lately, and so many of the themes of loss and how we process it are so incredibly relevant right now that everything just hit me in a really powerful way. And when Wanda told the boys thank you for choosing me to be your mom, I just completely lost it (legit tearing up even as I type that line). Like Wanda has already been through so much, and at this point she knows she is going to go through losing Vision again, and now she is also going to lose her kids as well. It’s just a lot. And while I don’t think her actions can be without consequences, I also think Wanda has suffered more than maybe any other MCU character (and let’s be real, they all do shit they shouldn’t do to the detriment of others).
I’m excited to go back and watch it again, and then watch the series all at once. I think I’m only going to like it more the second and third and fourth times around. Overall, I think the whole thing was beautifully written and performed and I’m excited to see what comes next!
Wow. Just wow. Honestly guys, my mouth has basically just been hanging open ever since watching the two latest installments of WandaVision. And because I’m an idiot, I totally thought episode 8 was the finale but it appears it’s not! Which is cool because it means more WandaVision but also not because I am impatient and want all the answers now, thank you very much.
Okay, so in episode 7, we really start to see things just straight up fall apart. Vision is gone. Wanda wakes up alone, the boys off playing video games, and things start glitching. When she is pouring her cereal, the almond milk carton transforms, going back in time until it is a glass milk bottle. The boys’ video game controllers also revert back in time. Basically, things aren’t going well. Luckily, Agnes comes over and volunteers to watch the boys so Wanda can have some alone time. Meanwhile, Vision wakes up and finds Darcy and the two head from the outskirts of town to try to get back to Wanda, but the Westview universe is working against them. Monica and Jimmy, still on the outside of the Hex, are preparing a space rover to try to get Monica safely into the Hex without messing with her DNA any further. And then everything comes to a head. The rover doesn’t make it through the barrier, so Monica “walks” in, only she doesn’t actually walk. More like pushes through and undergoes a serious transformation. And then at the end of the episode, the big reveal (which I actually didn’t know about because I have never read any of the comic books). It was Agatha all along! Do-do-do-do-do-do-do!
Episode 8 is the reckoning. Agatha has the boys trapped and she forces Wanda to relive her past so that Agatha can find out her secret, how she got to be so powerful. Wanda is starting to figure things out, about the same speed I am starting to figure things out (so super slowly). We see that Wanda didn’t actually steal Vision’s body like what’s his face said she did. And we see that Westview wasn’t some arbitrary creation. Vision bought them a plot of land before he died, and when Wanda goes to visit the plot, her grief basically triggers her power explosion and creates the town as we’ve been seeing it. Oh and there’s a credits scene that blew my mind.
So obviously we still have a lot of unanswered questions. We don’t know what really happened to Monica. I imagine the comic book readers have some idea, but that’s not me so I’m clueless. We don’t know what’s going on with Vision and Darcy. We do know Agatha and Wanda are going to come to blows and I expect it is going to be massive.
Originally I was on team this is Wanda there’s no big bad, but in reality, it looks like it was both Wanda and a big bad. Wanda’s grief compelled her to create this second world, this escape so she doesn’t have to deal with losing Vision. But Agatha is clearly a big bad and some shit is going to go down. All this to say, these were some of the best episodes of the show and I was surprised with every new twist. Also, episode 8 in particular made me super emotional. I honestly have no idea how this is going to end, but I can’t wait to tune in and see!
Y’all. I cannot even with this show anymore. How are we getting a thirty minute, MCU top notch quality movie every single week? What a time to be alive. On top of WandaVision being amazing in its own right, it has left me super stoked for the other upcoming MCU shows because if they are half as good as this one, they’ll be amazing.
Normally this is the time in a review when I would sum up the events of the show. But I don’t know that I can do that here. One, because I don’t want to spoil anything if you haven’t watched. Two, because I don’t know how to possibly sum up the events of the last two episodes. But I think the main thing to take away plot wise from these two episodes is that Vision is catching on and Wanda is about to lose it.
In episode five, Vision is starting to figure out that something is amiss. Wanda is doing something to the townspeople and the more he uncovers about it, the more disturbed he is by Wanda’s actions. It becomes clear that this is not just affecting the two of them and the kids in this fantasy bubble she’s created. There are real people suffering real consequences. And then of course, at the end of episode five is a major twist. A twist I didn’t fully have context for because I haven’t seen the latest X-Men movies. But when there is a knock at the door and Wanda opens it to find her brother, it is not the Pietro we know from Ultron, it is Peter from X-Men (Evan Peters). Since I am only studied in the MCU and have little knowledge of anything outside of it, I definitely wasn’t in on the joke (luckily Twitter explained it to me), but I am interested to see what they do with this new opportunity to bring in characters from all walks of Marvel.
In episode six, a couple of things became clear. Wanda knows exactly what she is doing. Wanda is way more powerful than we have even begun to fathom. Vision is not going to sit by while she hurts innocent people. Several of the townspeople are more aware than we think. The white dude running SWORD is going to fuck things up. Darcy, Monica, and Jimmy are going to be the ones who figure all of this out.
Honestly, I feel like each episode just gets better and better. And I know I have said this every time, but I really can’t wait to go back and watch all of the episodes in one big chunk once they are all released. But for now, I count down the days until Friday because I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next!
Oooh boy! Things are really starting to get interesting over in Westview. So, as you might recall from my thoughts on the first two episodes, I was very much here for this kind of happy go lucky sitcom feel we got with the first editions of WandaVision. I loved the quirkiness and cuteness, and already started to develop some theories about what the bigger picture was.
As a devoted MCU fan who has been completely starved for new content over the past year (really, we got so spoiled getting three new movies a year there for a while), I have been anxiously counting down to the premiere of WandaVision. Neither Wanda nor Vision make my list of favorite MCU characters, and not going to lie, the trailers for the show mostly left me scratching my head, but I went into it with an open mind, willing to take whatever scraps I could get.
Unless you have been living in some kind of cave over the past couple of weeks, chances are, you’ve heard of a little show on Netflix called Bridgerton. After surpassing 63 million views in it’s first week streaming, the show is well on its way to becoming one of Netflix’s best performers-ever. And the main thing I have to say about that is perhaps it’s time to option more romance adaptations, yeah? Bridgerton released on Netflix on Christmas day and has been one of the most talked about pop culture moments since. And for good reason. The show has everything we love: sex, hot guys, and controversy. There are a lot of great articles and Twitter threads out there about the more problematic elements of Bridgerton, and I will touch on some of them as I expound my thoughts, but for the most part this is a post to dish about something I love. I recognize it has problems, but they didn’t keep me from thoroughly enjoying the show. So much so that I’ve already watched it twice. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Let’s just get the obvious out of the way, yeah? Simon (Rege-Jean Page) is an absolute snack. The man can do unholy things with his eyebrow alone. Then add in the forearms. And don’t forget the booty. He has shot to the top of my celebrity crush list, which I imagine can be said for most people who’ve watched.
Honestly, I will continue to watch this show on repeat for Simon alone. But I also fell head over heels in love with Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). Eloise in particular is dry and sarcastic, which is basically all I want from my British characters. She is witty AF, and she and Penelope together are friendship goals. I’m hoping the show gets renewed for enough seasons so we get their main storylines because they are by far my favorite characters. I am Eloise in this gif.
In general, I liked the older set of women on this show. Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), the mother of the Bridgerton brood, and Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) Simon’s aunt/mom’s BFF, were my two favorites, but I also really enjoyed Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel). Their storylines are definitely not the center of the show, but they add some fun moments when they are onscreen.
The first season of Bridgerton centers on Simon and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), who start out not liking each other very much, but see how they can benefit from one another. Daphne needs to seem desirable and Simon wants to keep the matchmakers at bay, so the two team up for a round of fake dating (fake courting) and of course end up falling for one another. This is one of the classic tropes of the romance genre and it is one of my all time faves. I think it was done well in the show mostly because Rege and Phoebe have great chemistry together. And there are a couple of truly fantastic moments of revealing *feelings* that gave me all the heart eyes.
The main problematic bit comes in once Simon and Daphne are married (this is not a spoiler as this show is based on a series of romance novels and therefore our couples will always end up happily ever after). Simon has made it clear from the beginning that he can not have kids. He tells Daphne this before they are married, and it is in fact the main reason why he resists marrying her-because he knows how badly she wants to be a mother. Daphne assumes Simon is physically unable to bear children, but when she notices he pulls out every time they have sex (and holy balls they have so much sex), she starts to question if it’s a can’t or a won’t. And she decides to test her theory by straddling Simon and not allowing him to pull out they next time they have sex. In the book, the scene is even more disturbing as Simon is drunk and passed out when this happens, but the show doesn’t go far enough to fix the problem. Whatever you want to say about things Simon could have done to stop her, the simple fact of the matter is Daphne knew he didn’t want to do it, and when he told her to wait, she ignored him. There’s no sugarcoating this-she rapes him. Just because it isn’t as bad as the book doesn’t make it less of an assault. And the real problem is that her actions are never addressed. We’re supposed to sympathize with Daphne because Simon misled her, apparently pushing to the side that she deliberately trapped him into something he didn’t want. I really, really would have liked to have seen her actions dealt with in any kind of manner, but that did not happen. It’s most definitely a dark spot in what otherwise could have been a wholly delightful show.
Overall, the show is really what I was hoping for when I heard it was coming to Netflix. The costumes are fun and bright and colorful, the cast is very very pretty to look at, and the show is full of both swoony and sexy moments any romance fan is going to love.
My greatest wish is that the success of the series spawns a million more romance adaptations. Give the people what they want! Oh, and if you still haven’t watched the show…
