SPOILER Agatha All Along, D+, premier 9/18/24

[MisterPenguin]

I'm a little upset the road wasn't real and it means that Sharon kind of died for nothing. I'd say Lilia and Alice weren't really Billy's fault, but Sharon was totally his fault. Also I have to wonder, could Billy control the road? Like when they were flying was he subconsciously bringing them down? Did he create the road and then did it just operate with its own will or was he in control the whole time?

The Road is a lot like Wanda's Hex (which is what I think Agatha was referring to when she said he had his mother's "tell" -- Agatha knew the Road was a myth and it had to be another fantasy pocket dimension).

Wanda was often perplexed by what her Hex was doing. She wanted to get lost in the fantasy but at times was aware exactly what it was when the fantasy was threatened.

Billy/William didn't know the Road was his creation because Agatha, over the centuries, set up "The Road" as being real. So, Billy completely bought into what his subconscious created. Just about everything about his experience of the The Road was prompted by his experimentation with witchcraft as can be seen in his room.

Sharon was dragged into the Road by Agatha because they thought they needed a Green Witch. At that time, Agatha presumed she was just going to steal her coven's power, which would have left Sharon alone, since Sharon didn't have the ability to attack Agatha with witch beams. But then when The Road was manifested, Sharon got dragged along. Neither Billy nor Agatha thought Sharon would be hurt/killed.

Collateral damage of powers is a cautionary theme of any 'powers' story, whether super, or mutant, or magic. Billy is horrified by it, and should be a warning for the use of his powers in the future.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I'm a little upset the road wasn't real and it means that Sharon kind of died for nothing. I'd say Lilia and Alice weren't really Billy's fault, but Sharon was totally his fault. Also I have to wonder, could Billy control the road? Like when they were flying was he subconsciously bringing them down? Did he create the road and then did it just operate with its own will or was he in control the whole time?

I'm not happy with the twist that Billy created the road for all these reasons and more. Undermines a lot of what happened and makes you question why and how certain things did, or certain character reactions.

Agatha thinking the road is fake, only to find out it's not would have been enough.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The only way to survive the Witches Road is to sign a multi series/movie contract with Marvel

 

[flynnibus]

loved the reveal and the final episodes... all the way up to the last 30 seconds or so. Didn't like that part

 

[Disney Analyst]

I thought it was brilliant. A surprising and unexpected twist.

Also just wild that it was really Agatha All Along… a witch pyramid scheme

 

[Starship824]

Loved that even in death Agatha was still throwing shade to Wanda.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Not a fan of the last couple episodes, maybe you have to know the comics for it to make sense. The whole series just to discover the road doesn’t exist, it was just a fake reality Billy created (similar to what Wanda did), for Agatha to become a ghost, and to get a short backstory of Nicky… I still don’t get why Agatha can’t face him, she bought him some time by making a deal with death, she didn’t do anything wrong to him. I’m left with more questions than answers from the last episodes.

Maybe with future shows/movies it’ll make more sense but it feels pretty pointless right now, at least to someone like me who doesn’t know the comics.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I still don’t get why Agatha can’t face him

Where Nicky is, he now knows what his mother did was wrong. She can't bear that judgment and possible rejection from him.

 

[Disney Irish]

Not a fan of the last couple episodes, maybe you have to know the comics for it to make sense. The whole series just to discover the road doesn’t exist, it was just a fake reality Billy created (similar to what Wanda did), for Agatha to become a ghost, and to get a short backstory of Nicky… I still don’t get why Agatha can’t face him, she bought him some time by making a deal with death, she didn’t do anything wrong to him. I’m left with more questions than answers from the last episodes.

Maybe with future shows/movies it’ll make more sense but it feels pretty pointless right now, at least to someone like me who doesn’t know the comics.

She dragged Nicky into her trickery, something that got worse as time went on, a scar she has held for hundred of years. Its not really a wonder why she doesn't want to face him yet.

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

Once again they fail to stick the landing

 

[MisterPenguin]

It was a great series. Nicely stuck the landing.

 

[Disney Irish]

Once again they fail to stick the landing

Disagree, and I think a majority of most reviews I've seen show they've stuck the landing on this one.

 

[BrianLo]

Ya, the consensus online seems to be that they did stick it.

I'm not sure I get why people didn't like the road reveal? I mean, it was always a lie, but then was also made real, so it was real. More because it cannot be a recurring location?

Narratively all the consequences and character developments born out of it still stand. Unlike say Lost, whose final seasons pocket alt purgatory reality irks me. Because it undid all the character development of 6 seasons before and also largely was kind of meaningless outside of the twist at the end.

I feel like Agatha is completely re-watchable, because the journey is still ultimately the point, not the twist(s).

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I was thinking about this last night and even though I wasn’t a fan of the ending I’d still place it in the top 1/3 of the D+ shows. I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

Unlike say Lost, whose final seasons pocket alt purgatory reality irks me. Because it undid all the character development of 6 seasons before and also largely was kind of meaningless outside of the twist at the end.

I feel like Agatha is completely re-watchable, because the journey is still ultimately the point, not the twist(s).

Lost was probably the most disappointing ending ever. Agathas ending was a bit of a mess for me but Losts ending was just a complete failure.

Agatha may be one of those shows that’s fun to watch a second time now that you know the ending, like Usual Suspects or Shutter Island. Once you know the twist it changes how everything else is perceived.

 

[BrianLo]

Agatha may be one of those shows that’s fun to watch a second time now that you know the ending, like Usual Suspects or Shutter Island. Once you know the twist it changes how everything else is perceived.

Ya, I pretty much never re-watch content. If I do, I like to let it rest for years and years until I forget it - that would tend to be movies more so.

That said, I'd totally re-watch Wandavision -> Agatha next fall. Rewatching the final season of Lost feels pointless when nothing actually matters narratively from the flash sideways plotting and the prior seasons quest (which I really enjoyed) essentially didn't actually work and just killed all those characters.

Lost is my OG peak-TV pre-cursor that I was obsessed with. Which I have no desire to re-watch, despite probably watching the first few seasons several times as the show aired.

While so many (not all, I do understand Lost) characters kind of achieved nothing by sacrificing themselves or dying, I think the characters all did something in Agatha. Alice was about establishing Agatha's motives and ongoing self-serving villainy. Mrs. Davidson is actually about Billy having murdered a bystander without her informed consent (like his mother); as well as the spooky comedic element/putting actual stakes on the rest of the series. Lila achieves a lot of narrative momentum, herself also growing as a character. Then it was important that Jennifer lives and actually got her desire from the road. Which Agatha basically debriefs with Billy, which I think is helpful for the viewer that it wasn't just pointless or pretend. It mattered and was real, because he made it real.

Everyone technically got what the wanted from the road. Which makes hero-quest based series endings feel more satisfying. There was a goal, there were stakes. Why the likes of Potter and Lord of the Rings work so well, when Lost and Game of Thrones miss the mark. Make the journey fun, but don't completely pull the rug out from us, just because.

 

[Stupido]

Where Nicky is, he now knows what his mother did was wrong. She can't bear that judgment and possible rejection from him.

She dragged Nicky into her trickery, something that got worse as time went on, a scar she has held for hundred of years. Its not really a wonder why she doesn't want to face him yet.

Adding to this: Agatha took the sweet song that her and Nicky wrote together, and used that as a trap to do what he was already pushing back about not wanting to do: kill witches, for centuries. How many witches were drained because of a song Nicky thought of? Using such an intimate memory from the two of them to continue doing something she knew he wasn't on board for is disgracing his memory, and would absolutely cause shame and fear of rejection from Nicky. Especially when Agatha hear's Nicky cry out "Momma, stop!" in episode 5, which contextually by the end of the series most likely means stop killing witches.

 

[flynnibus]

Not only that.. but she used Nicky as part of the scam (the scene in the tavern)..

Wish they revealed more about the conception and why Death was there at the birth... surely it was more than simply 'complications' of birthing..

 

[Disney Irish]

Not only that.. but she used Nicky as part of the scam (the scene in the tavern)..

Wish they revealed more about the conception and why Death was there at the birth... surely it was more than simply 'complications' of birthing..

I'm thinking we get more in future series, as they've made it clear that Agatha is not going anywhere anytime soon. She is here in the MCU for awhile. So we'll hopefully get more on how Nicholas Sparks was conceived and what role Death (Rio) played in that.

And if its anything like the comics, Nicholas has his own part to play in the MCU beyond just the Agatha origin story.

 

[Ghost93]

Ya, the consensus online seems to be that they did stick it.

I'm not sure I get why people didn't like the road reveal? I mean, it was always a lie, but then was also made real, so it was real. More because it cannot be a recurring location?

Narratively all the consequences and character developments born out of it still stand. Unlike say Lost, whose final seasons pocket alt purgatory reality irks me. Because it undid all the character development of 6 seasons before and also largely was kind of meaningless outside of the twist at the end.

I feel like Agatha is completely re-watchable, because the journey is still ultimately the point, not the twist(s).

I thought the road reveal was a great twist, but it does have a cruel bent to it that will likely rub people the wrong way. It recontextualized Agatha's actions to make her a her more villainous and evil than initially suspected and it means that Lilia, Alice and Sharon Davis were all duped and that they died for nothing other than to protect those responsible for their deaths (Agatha and Billy).

I think the twist is SUPPOSED to be unsettling, as evidenced by Billy's horrified reaction. But I can see why people don't like it. It does sorta ruin the song now that we know it's not an ancient incantation, but rather a scam Agatha used to trick and kill witches for centuries.

 

[MisterPenguin]

If it wasn't for the creation of The Road, all the witches of the coven would be dead, drained by Agatha, and probably Sharon killed off (no witnesses).

But Jen survived. This is why ghost-Agatha said that The Road had a net one life saved... from a certain point of view.