'Agatha All Along' Features Solid Acting, Lacks Writing of Predecessor

by Tyler Glover

Photo: Disney

“Agatha All Along” premiered on Disney+ on September 18th and concluded its run on October 30th. The show continues where Disney+’s critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated 2021 series  “WandaVision” left off. For three years, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) has been trapped under a magical spell in Westview, N.J.. It begins with Agatha trying to solve the murder of an unidentified woman in the woods. She starts investigating the town until she stumbles across a goth teen named Teen (“Heartstopper” heartthrob Joe Locke). He helps her to realize who she is. Realizing she has lost her magical powers; she immediately becomes obsessed with regaining them. The way for her to do this is to travel down the Witches’ Road. At the end of the road, awaits whatever your heart desires. To do this, though, she must assemble one of every kind of witch since the road will have an obstacle for every kind of witchcraft. Agatha assembles a potions expert, Jen (Sasheer Zamata), a witch of divination, Lilia (Patti LuPone), a protector witch, Alice (Ali Ahn), and a green witch, Sharon (Debra Jo Rupp). They join forces to each gain their heart’s desire that lies at the end of the Witches Road. 
 
“Agatha All Along” has so many things going for it. It has such a cast that delivers truly outstanding performances. Hahn, the show's star, shows us why the Emmy she lost to Julianne Nicholson for “Mare of Easttown” years ago should have her name engraved. We get to see so much more of her comedic villain. She provides so many laughs with her sarcastic wit and unwillingness to hold back anything she thinks. As a fan of the Netflix series, “Heartstopper,” I was so thrilled to see Locke here as Teen. Locke is someone who is going to have a long career in the business. He finds a way to make Teen charming, mysterious, sweet and potentially dangerous simultaneously. LuPone, as Lilia, is the central standout from the other witches in the cast. Anytime LuPone is on the screen, she finds a way to draw you in. She leaves you intrigued with what is to come next for her character even when she is not the main or central focus in the episode.
 
One thing that makes “Agatha All Along” intriguing is how it continues to find ways to continue the trend “WandaVision” set of telling stories in different time periods with varying production designs. We get to visit a house by the beach that looks like a house that almost made the cut to be in HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” we get a castle where Hahn becomes the iconic Wicked Witch of the West and Teen becomes Maleficent. We get a ‘70s recording studio and the writers make it all fit into the obstacles that the witches must face as they travel down the road.  
 
While the acting and production are top-notch, I find some issues in the writing. It is difficult not to compare it to “WandaVision” since it’s a spin-off of that series. While “WandaVision” was very accessible to all viewers, “Agatha All Along” appears to require fans to be somewhat immersed in the Marvel universe to fully follow everything going on. Nothing is wrong with that because this is a show set up in that universe. The problem is that the writers try to bridge that gap, but sometimes, they answer the questions much later than they should have, leaving viewers with questions and potentially taking them out of what is happening.  

The show also has so many mysteries that the writers set up. It definitely makes for a very dramatic and thought-provoking show. However, the show seems to focus on so many mysteries so close together, leaving the viewer feeling they might have missed something. At one point, I looked to see if I had missed an episode. It would have benefitted the show for some of these plot points to be given more attention when it was closer to their payoff. You can provide some breadcrumbs without giving half of the piece of toast. The show lacks the sophisticated storytelling of its predecessor, “WandaVision.” The show also leaves you questioning the relationship between Agatha and a witch who occasionally shows up named Rio (Aubrey Plaza). The show just revealed it will be submitted as a Comedy Series at the Emmys, signaling more seasons to come. Now that the writers know they have more time to tell the story, I hope they find ways to flesh things out more rather than pack what felt like too much into nine episodes. 

“Agatha All Along” was an entertaining show full of terrific performances and lavish production design, but it failed to be a true success due to some unfortunate writing issues.