Let’s Talk About Hex, Baby.
Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be. Let’s talk about Hex.
***SPOILERS!***
The final episode of WandaVision was amazing. I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed it immensely.
A friend text me Friday morning to ask if I thought his 5 year-old would be okay watching the finale. I had watched at midnight, amongst the others who were frustrated by week three of Disney+ not working for the episode premiere, and he knew that. I was able to tell him, without spoiling that if she had seen the rest of the episodes, she would be fine with it.
After texting, I realized how lucky that 5 year-old girl is to be able to witness this show and grow up in a world where female super heroes can be epic and powerful unapologetically. It made me think about the characters of Wanda, Agatha, and Monica, and how they have been portrayed and existed within the world of this show and within the “Hex.”
Like many of you, I was anxious about where we were headed. How dead was Vision? I was holding onto my sofa blanket for dear life when things got to be Vision v. Vision, and was really satisfied with where we were left. It was still sad to see Wanda’s creation and “home life” disappear, but was less of a world-rocker. I could go to work the next day and not crumble.
Monica was given the chance to showcase her powers, and she had a great rapport with Billy and Tommy. She stood up to Hayward and was a total bad-ass. I am very excited to see what happens with her in the MCU.
Just within this show, she has been the smartest and savviest, not to mention bravest person when the odds were so clearly not in her favor. She was served microaggression after microaggression — whether by the doctor in Episode 3 or Hayward trying to demean her and Darcy. As an aside — I really loved that the show allowed the women in this world to acknowledge these moments of sexism and stabs. “You could be a nurse!” the doctor tells Geraldine/Monica after she’s done his job successfully and delivered Wanda’s twins. She and Wanda look at each other like “This again… Oof!” It’s something that people of color and women (or both) have to deal with on the regular, and it’s nice to see the show call out the tropes of sitcoms, even if they’re considered beloved (like the Brady Bunch). Maybe a nod to Norman Lear? I would have loved a little Archie Bunker in this.
Monica is a complex character who’s so clearly headed towards superhero. Whether through her mutation or character, she’s standing up for what’s right, but also with her own issues and flaws. Her relationship to Wanda and Wanda’s grief only further ground her, and allow for us to hope for their friendship, or at least an understanding.
Wanda and Agatha are also brilliantly powerful women. Everyone has a chip on her shoulder, and rightfully so. Whether for a good reason, a grudge, or power lust, they all have a past that they’re engaging with in the present and that will further determine their future. Agatha has knowledge, which is really interesting in this episode, both to continue what we learned in Episode 8, about the ruins and the history of her witchcraft, but also it totally mislead me. I was thinking certain things (that I will not spoil here) would happen based on the comic books… And now I’m extremely interested to see how the MCU handles Agatha beyond her Westview entrapment.
The stakes are high for both of them. Agatha makes Wanda confront what she’s done to the town, what she can and can’t have with the family she’s created, and also what type of powers she possesses. She’s like her behavioral therapy, forcing Wanda to confront her grief, trauma, and anxiety to then make something of herself, or take herself out of the game. The showdown between Wanda’s family and Agatha, White Vision, and “the Military” is epic. The Maximoff/Vision family take their “Incredibles” fighting stance and holds their own. Releasing the townspeople, fighting for what’s right agains Hayward, and Wanda fighting for what she knows is her truth, are all played out in a fun and Marvel-worthy way.
I think for a 5 year-old who can handle this, it’s pretty epic to be able to look at these storylines and know superheroes are for everyone.
I too have found this, I am so happy to have had WandaVision as my new bookclub. Talking and engaging with friends between episodes. Learning more about the MCU and looking back at my favorite shows. What a great way to stay connected during covid quarantine! “It’s Bewitched on steroids,” I told my parents today on the phone. They know about my obsession with the 1960s sitcom, so they’re not surprised. Why not have this thing that has made Fridays something to look forward to?
I loved this episode, but I do have one note. Though I thought the fighting between Wanda and Agatha was fantastic, and the effects were as good as a Marvel film, I was missing the sitcom world in this episode. I am very aware that we’re bridging into the movies now, which is fantastic. This character development and storyline have hooked me into having new favorite superheroes and caring about Marvel movies. Thank you. But I would have loved to have seen the sitcoms integrated into the fight.
Think about it, what if Wanda and Agatha fought through the sets of sitcoms, similar to the signage of Westfield changing during their battle, but what if it was more dynamic than that? “Pow, to the moon!” like in the Honeymooners — fighting through Ralph and Alice’s crappy kitchen. Zapping through Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeanie, and Get Smart. Blinking like I Dream of Jeanie, fighting through Mary Richard’s apartment or the WJM Newsroom from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Dueling it out through All In The Family, M.A.S.H, Three’s Company, Full House (that would have been meta AF), or Married With Children and Martin’s living room… What about Seinfeld and Friends? So many ways to have them then end up in the red-Hex sky, where then Wanda’s powers come through.
I know we’re not in the sitcom world anymore, but it would have been nice to see a final brushstroke for the theme. Modern Family was a good therapy and catalyst for getting us into the modern-day timeline in which Wanda has to become more “in the moment” with her feelings, but the last episode had room for it and didn’t go there.
Now, with that said, I loved the last episode. I thought it was more well done than a lot of final episodes of sitcoms, so that’s a major plus. The credit scenes were amazing, and I mean, could Wanda have been more epic in her new superhero getup? I thought the Halloween costume version of her comic book attire was dope, this was way more bad-ass!
It will be great to see where the stories take these characters. I will need to go watch Captain Marvel to know more about Monica, though I’ve heard about where she’s headed… And Wanda studying up, well she’s about to be unstoppable.
There is a part of me that is concerned, much like watching the film, *Adam’s Rib, that Hollywood will not let her be complicated and try to shut her down. The anxiety comes from years of characters *cough * most recently Wonder Woman 1984 *cough* becoming weak based on the universe needing to regain the order of the status quo. Barf. But much like Adam’s Rib, I think if it’s left in the right hands, it can be a movie that re-writes the simplicity of a genre and continues to bend the norms. Let her be the “big bad,” as my friend Alex says. But I think, like the comics, there has to be a chance for redemption. Marvel has done it before, I can’t wait to see how they handle this strength.
*Adam’s Rib is the 1949 George Cukor film starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Synopsis: A courtroom rivalry that finds its way into the household when prosecuting lawyer Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy) faces off against his wife, Amanda (Katharine Hepburn), who happens to be a defense attorney. Working on opposite sides of a lawsuit where a woman (Judy Holliday) has shot her cheating husband (Tom Ewell), Adam and Amanda are both determined to win the case, and their home becomes the setting for comical showdowns, with neither spouse willing to relent.
The film fights gender norms, and unlike a lot of Hays Code-era films, allows the woman to not only have power, but win.
