TV Review: ‘Agatha All Along’ Episode 6 Shows Its Range
by Frank Martin
If Agatha All Along gave fans a taste of Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) last episode, then this week’s installment was a complete meal. Rather than string along his backstory until the end of the series, the show dived right in and explained how he could exist as a real boy on Earth-616. It was certainly a leap in logic, but the plausibility of it all was overshadowed by how fun it was watching Billy play detective to piece his life back together. And, in typical Agatha fashion, just when the episode was starting to lull, Kathryn Hahn returned to the screen to prove why she deserved her own show.
During the climatic events of WandaVision, a boy named William Kaplan (also Locke) was in a nearby car accident with his parents. He effectively died at the same moment Billy Maximoff (Julian Hilliard in WandaVision) faded away. But Billy’s consciousness searched out a new vessel and found Billy’s body, inhabiting it as his own. Unfortunately, Billy suffered amnesia due to the event. He knew he wasn’t William Kaplan and began to investigate what happened in Westview. This leads him to Agatha and brings the audience back to the start of the current series. Agatha and Billy then truly talk for the first time, negotiating a truce to continue on the road.
WandaVision did something similar with its narrative structure. It begins by leaving viewers in the dark before flashing back and telling the real story from the beginning. Agatha did the same with Billy, and it was delivered fairly well. The episode worked on its own, but once Agatha entered the picture, Hahn stole the show. She has such a range here that it’s extremely surprising. In addition to playing the villainous Agatha, she also portrays detective Agnes and delusional Agnes, two very different characters that fill the show with suspense and humor.
Agatha All Along streams Wednesdays on Disney+.
