Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate
Recognizing the Salem Seven are on their way and needing to regain her powers to fight them or to fight her former friend, and possibly lover, Agatha Harkness gathers a new coven to walk the Witches’ Road. Along the way, she learns some unusual information about the Teen.
The Teen
After realizing the teen she had arrested in her true crime procedural delusion is a real person trapped in her pantry, Agatha is ready to let him go. However, he makes it clear he wants to travel the Witches’ Road with her. When he tries to reveal who he is and elements of his past, Agatha is prevented from learning anything about him. Either stitches appear over his mouth, in the shape of an M, or his voice loses all volume.
While it’s unclear what’s causing this, it has made me wonder about his identity. While my first thought was that he was an older version of Wanda’s son Billy who becomes Wiccan, I’m starting to wonder if he is Nicholas Scratch who is Agatha’s son in the comics. It’s believed that Agatha sacrificed her son to Mephisto in order to get a hold of the Darkhold. The "M" is the sign of Mephisto and could signal his appearance at some point in this series.
Assembling the Coven
Agatha heads out with the Teen to begin assembling her coven for the Witches’ Road. This includes a stop by Wanda’s house in Westview with graffiti that says “evil witch” and “M.” This serves as a reminder that while Wanda was going through her psychotic break and created the Hex, so she could have her suburban dream life, she also enslaved an entire town. They hate her, and rightfully so. Meanwhile, the “M” could have multiple meanings. Those can include the aforementioned Mephisto, Magneto who is Wanda’s father in the comics, or the House of M, an important comics storyline. Which one is it? We’ll have to keep watching to find out.
Along the way, Agatha and the Teen are able to acquire three of the four witches necessary for the coven. Lilia Calderu, played by Patti Lupone, serves as the Divination witch. Jennifer Kale, played by Sasheer Zamata, serves as the Potions witch. Alice Wu-Gulliver, played by Ali Ahn, serves as the Blood witch. There’s a hint of a necessary Green witch, but Agatha throws the list away when it has no name but a symbol. While it’s not quite explained, it appears this may be a reference to Aubrey Plaza’s Rio. Instead, Agatha recruits Sharon Davis who is a Westview citizen with a pretty garden. She was a victim of the Hex, known as Mrs. Hart in WandaVision, and not really a witch, but the Salem Seven’s arrival led to her going on the Witches’ Road with the rest of them.
The Ballad of the Witches’ Road
As the Salem Seven make their way toward Westview to catch up to Agatha, the coven gathers together sing The Ballad of the Witches’ Road to open the gate that takes them there. It’s a beautiful song, written by Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The songwriters who scored this series and wrote the songs, much like they did for Frozen, delivered a song that perfectly fits the vibe of the coven.
It’s the reactions after the song that led to some of the best moments of this episode. Sasheer Zamata called out Patti Lupone’s singing during the song. Yes, it’s their characters, but it’s genuinely hysterical to see a Saturday Night Live alum tell a Broadway legend she’s singing off key. If there’s one person not off key in that song, it’s Patti Lupone. Meanwhile, Sharon Davis is the one who notices the gate has appeared below them.
Salem Seven
While they are unlikely to be the true villains of the series, the Salem Seven appeared as formidable opponents for the coven. Their familiars made Agatha concerned for her future while she was gathering the coven before one hooded figure appeared in the streets of Westview. That figure then split into seven. The teen tried to barricade the home while the coven sang the ballad, but the Salem Seven found their way through.
This set up the journey down the Witches’ Road, as the Teen was the first through the gate because he didn’t want to have to deal with the Salem Seven. The three recruited witches happily went on the road, while Sharon had to be given the choice of walking the road or staying to meet the Seven. It ends with all of the witches taking off their shoes as they must be barefoot to walk the road.
Rating
This episode was a stronger entry than the first, which is not something I thought I would say about an episode where Aubrey Plaza doesn’t appear. Building the coven starts the bond that will allow them to walk the Witches’ Road and possibly prepare themselves for a battle with a much bigger bad than either the Salem Seven or Rio Vidal. My money is on Mephisto, and I hope they find a way to connect him to both WandaVision and other properties (Remember when Madisynn made a deal with a devil while stuck in an alternate dimension that dropped her off with Wongers?) Marvel has had plenty of hits and misses on television, but I’m invested in this one.
Check out Agatha All Along exclusively on Disney+.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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