WandaVision (1.8): The Depths of Grief

“What is grief, if not love persevering?”

With such an acute observation in this week’s WandaVision, Vision cuts to the heart of the show. In what initially appeared to be a connecting piece between different parts of the MCU signaling a segue from movies to television, we ended up with the richest text of all the series’ products. Rather than immediately launching into the long-awaited showdown between hero and villain commonplace for comic book movies, WandaVision has gone to extraordinary lengths to blur those lines totally. This week’s episode was no exception. The ragtag team of Monica, Darcy, and Jimmy have been the only characters who have insisted that there were more complicated forces at play in the Westview anomaly than “Wanda Bad.” There have been inklings all along that this has been true, especially with Director Hayward’s reaction to, well, everything, but it was not until this week’s episode that we truly unpack those complications. Luckily, with the help of Agatha.

Agatha assumes the role of the ghost of Christmas past in this episode, taking Wanda (and us) on a trip to examine the origins of the anomaly and Wanda’s pain. Agatha transforms from the villain behind all the mischief to the key to cracking open the mysteries of Wanda’s trauma. The range of emotionality that Elizabeth Olsen brings to this episode is absolutely magnificent and stirring. The connection to sitcoms, particularly Dick Van Dyke, is also moving in this episode. Rather than mere nostalgia connecting the previous episodes of WandaVision, it is about an escape. On its face, this seems fairly obvious. Escapism in sitcoms that always have happy and neat endings is easy. The connection to Wanda’s grief-stricken Westview is apparent. But there is seemingly more to the connection than just that escapism. You can see it on young Wanda’s face as she watches The Dick Van Dyke show with a young Pietro. It is joy. Pure joy as she watches Van Dyke stumble over himself and get into hijinks with Mary Tyler Moore. It’s reminiscent (though on a much smaller scale) of the scene in Frasier when Niles asks Frasier if he is happy. In explaining his question, Niles mentions that he watched a television special where a young child in poverty was given a pair of shoes and he lit up with joy. Niles remarked that he had never felt what he saw on that boy’s face. Young Wanda’s awe of watching sitcoms mimics that feeling. Rather than just wanting to not think about every day life, it is a moment of unadulterated joy amidst oppression. WandaVision’s connection to sitcoms was always part spoof, but this week’s episode solidified just how much affection it is showing to the shows whose formats it adopts.

We are headed for a monster showdown in this series finale of WandaVision between Vision replica, Wanda, Monica, Agatha, and perhaps even Wanda’s Vision and Pietro. This upcoming episode can go in many different directions. The fact that it’s connected to the larger MCU means that it doesn’t have to “finish” its story in the way other miniseries normally wrap up. It is part of a larger story. At the same time though, this particular story is very much Wanda’s. WandaVision has done a terrific job thus far balancing the stakes of Wanda’s life and those of the larger world she inhabits, and it is time for this story’s ending. I find myself far less interested in WandaVision’s connections to the broader Marvel universe heading into this final episode and far more interested in Wanda’s reaction to cracking open the doors to her own psyche. That’s the power of good storytelling over say, something made for the purpose of content.