What the hex is happening? WandaVision Episode 6 rundown

After last week’s bombshell; episode 6 returns WandaVision back to the mysterious tone that made the earlier episodes so unique. The 90s Malcolm in The Middle style sitcom balances comedy and intrigue almost to perfection on the Halloween special edition of the show, which included nods to classic comic costumes of all the heroes involved. Also, the episode deepened the story with S.W.O.R.D. taking place outside Westview. Back inside the reality, Vision (Paul Bettany) playing detective throughout the episode, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is allowed to talk with her ‘recast’ brother Pietro (Evan Peters), which acts as a dive into the mind of Wanda as she explains how she has truly been feeling. In doing this more questions were raised as many theories, including mine, seem to have been disproven. This has only meant fans have more questions about what is happening, questions that couldn’t be answered because of the dramatic finale.

Sibling Reunion:

With Halloween coming to Westview the neighbourhood watch is on duty and Vision is happy to help out. Well that’s what he says to Wanda in order to continue his detective work in Westview. As Vision separates from Wanda, we get to watch Wanda and Pietro interact for the first time since Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s still not clear on how Pietro ended up in Westview or even if Evan Peters’ version is the same as Aaron Tayler-Johnson’s.

On numerous occasions Wanda questions Pietro’s memory and even asks him how he got to Westview, even the change in ‘look’ is acknowledge, but the shrugged off by Pietro. This raises questions for fans as everyone still wants to know if the Pietro we are seeing in WandaVision is the same as the Quicksilver from the X-Men movies. Despite this, it does seem that Pietro knows what is going on or at least has an understanding that Wanda is controlling everything, something that the episode doubled down.

Pietro seemingly breaks the reality, simular to how Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) had done in episode 5, when he says that he has only been playing his part which Wanda wanted and again he does this when he asks Wanda where she has been hiding the children. Even though Wanda seems concerned about Pietro knowing this she still opens up to him, something she hasn’t done with her husband Vision.

Both siblings explain what they remember in how they arrived in Westview. Pietro explains the details are fuzzy but he remembers getting shot in the street, which indicates it could be the same Pietro that appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron. But, no explanation has been give about the appearance which still has fans questioning who this Pietro really is. Wanda then explains that she doesn’t remember how she got to Westview but all she does remember was “endless nothingness”. As Wanda begins to think about her pain we then get the horror fitting the Halloween episode of seeing Pietro’s corpse. Once again we are reminded that Pietro is actually dead and everything we are seeing is not what it seems.

As we learn more about ‘zombie’ Pietro, things do not seem to add up. It doesn’t seem like Wanda has fully embraced her bother either, especially when she attacked him in the episodes finale. Something just isn’t right with Pietro and although he hasn’t done anything to concern us yet, the show has accustomed us to be suspicious of everyone.

Suspicions of SWORD increase:

Moving outside of the Westview reality, we get a development with what is happening at S.W.O.R.D. It’s safe to say that nobody has trusted Director Haywood (Josh Stamberg) and if you did before; you don’t now. Haywood shows some of his true colours when he kicks Monica (Teyonah Paris), Darcy (Kat Dennings) and beloved agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) off the S.W.O.R.D. base. He also takes a dark turn by bringing Monica’s mother into the debate which makes Haywood easily the most hated man in the series.

Despite being escorted off base, badass Monica and charming Agent Woo break free along with Darcy. The group then start to unlock some hidden secrets S.W.O.R.D. has been hiding while also avoiding detection on the base. We know from episode 5 that there has been some information that hadn’t been shared. Footage of Wanda stealing the corpse of Vision was only shared with everyone 9 days after it happened, which does seem a long time to withhold information of such importance to the case. It also suggests Haywood and S.W.O.R.D. have been hiding more.

When Darcy hacks into S.W.O.R.D.’s and Haywood’s restricted files, she discovers that there is a tracker on Vision, which proves that work has been taking place on his corpse, something Haywood brought up as an act that went against the wishes of Vision. Darcy also unlocks a file named “Cataract” which she emails to Jimmy Woo. The file obviously has importance to the intentions of S.W.O.R.D. but what is in the file remains unknown. No doubt everyone will theorize what is in the file but all we know now is that a cataract is part of the eye. One point does remain clear and that is Haywood cannot be trusted and he has been up to something villainous.

During Darcy’s finding we also get more of the Monica Rambeau origin of her eventual powers. Teased in the last episode, we finally got to see Monica’s lab results. Darcy shows Monica that her cells have been rewritten in a molecular level, which she explains is changing Monica. As of yet no powers have been shown by Monica, but we are sure that the electromagnetic powers of Monica will be eventually come to the surface, potentially allowing her to take down Haywood and save everyone in Westview.

Detective Vision and the Eerie Agnes:

Episode 5 introduced us to a new side of Vision in Westview; we were introduced to detective Vision. This continued into episode 6, with the synthezoid exploring the outer areas of Westview which he discovered were not as expected. On his venture through Westview, Vision discovers people are locked in trances of some kind. The creepiest of these trances was a woman repeating the same movement while a tear slowly creeped down her eye. We knew this was the Halloween episode but I’m not sure we expected Vision’s adventure to be as harrowing as it turned out to be.

Whilst on his walk, Vision is confused at why people are frozen. This causes Vision to fly and scout Westview from above. While scouting he sees Agnes in a car on the edge of Westview. Firstly we have to acknowledge that Agnes is one of the most suspicious characters in Westview and there are still so many questions we have about her. When Vision gets to Agnes, she says she is lost while looking like she is in a trance. Previously many of us had suggested that Agnes had some sort of control in Westview, but this theory seems to be disproved as Vision finding her in a trance like everyone else in the surrounding area which wouldn’t happen if she was the one in control.

However, something is still wrong with Agnes. Like Vision did in episode 5 to Norm (Asif Ali), he unlocks the suppressed personality of Agnes. Her initial reaction is shock as she recognises Vision as one of the Avengers. This then develops into insanity not the fear that Norm expressed. Agnes explains that Wanda won’t let anyone leave before she suddenly bursts into extreme laughter which reminded me of Mrs. Hart in episode 1 saying “stop it”. Interestingly, when Agnes bursts into laughter this was her natural state of mind. Extreme laughing like this from someone is not normal. Once again the character of Agnes is showered in mystery. If she is not in control then who is she?

Vision does put Agnes back to normal and she then drives off back in the personality of the nosy neighbour we have loved watching. After the chat with Agnes where she also informs Vision that he is actually dead, Vision looks ahead to the outside of Westview.

The stakes are raised:

Casual marvel fans that may not be enjoying the mystery of WandaVision will have been brought back in with the shocking conclusion of the episode. With Vision looking outside of Westview he begins to try and break the barrier. Due to the tracking device S.W.O.R.D. has on Vision they are ready for his attempted escape. As they watch Vision escape, we witness his body break down and die. Like us viewers, Darcy whom hadn’t left tries to help, but is stopped and handcuffed. The main question I have is why did S.W.O.R.D. not try and help Vision. They could see that he was dying and choose not to do anything. Once again the actions from S.W.O.R.D. and Haywood are suspicious, which could be part of the secrets they have been covering up.

Despite almost dying Vision was saved. It was Billy, using his powers from the comics that sensed his dad was in danger and needed saving. When Billy tells his mother, Wanda becomes focused and even attacks her brother in order to focus. When Wanda discovers what is happening we finally get to see her unleash her powers!

Wanda freezes time in Westview and suddenly a burst of energy comes from her, which leads to the expansion of the Westview barrier. As the barrier expands Vision is saved, while the S.W.O.R.D. base and its agents are engulfed into Westview along with the handcuffed Darcy. Haywood and a few agents manage to escape along with Monica and Jimmy Woo whom had left a while earlier. However the dramatic expansion of Westview has elevated the stakes in the series. No longer is the reality contained, now we have seen the true powers Wanda has and the lengths she is willing to go to keep her loved ones safe.

Verdict:

For the most part WandaVision has been a self-contained series, but with the ending of episode 6 this is no longer the case. Wanda has shown the level to her powers and now she is a real threat to everyone. As well as building the stakes of the series for the final third, the episode keeps to the routes of the series that surround the series in mystery. This has allowed for the series to draw back in the audience that may have been lost from the first 2 episodes. Not only that but for those who have stuck by the show and seemingly come up with the ending in their head, will have been positively surprised at the elevation of the plot. I am certainly one of those people and now I cannot wait for the final 3 episodes which look set to answer all our questions while resolving the threat of the Scarlet Witch.

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