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WandaVision's very special Halloween episode reveals just how much pain the Hex is causing
Welcome back to WandaVision (WandaVision!) where the stakes keep going up, the danger is growing larger, and everyone is miserable. Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) will keep her Westview fantasy going no matter what and her pain will become your pain. That may be confusing, but don't worry. You're allowed to cry.
Wanda is hurting the most, and even she has no idea how all of this started. All she remembers is feeling completely empty, and the MCU doesn't have a psychiatric plan. Keeping the magic running isn’t doing her any favors, and it’s not solving anything. It's doing the exact opposite. There’s too much confusion, and she can’t get no relief... not even in a fun-tastic '90s Halloween episode.
***WARNING: From this point forward, there will be spoilers for Episode 6 of WandaVision, "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" as well as spoilers for previous episodes. If you haven’t watched yet and have managed to avoid spoilers, well, first off please receive this medal of achievement. Second, get OUTTA here, Dewey!***
Episode 6, titled “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!” transitions Wanda’s illusion into a '90s sitcom, with Billy and Tommy now narrating directly to the camera. Their wacky Uncle Pietro (Evan Peters) is now in the main credits following his unexpected arrival last week, and he’s just as much in the dark about his new look as we are. He doesn’t know why he’s not Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
When he talks with Wanda, revealing that he knows it's all an illusion, he explains what he remembers. (No, it's not anything from Dark Phoenix, which was the last time that we saw Evan Peters in a Marvel-centric movie.) He remembers getting gunned down in the street in Sokovia, which was the last time we saw the MCU Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron. (Sophie Turner wasn't in that one.)
When Pietro speeds around, he doesn’t look like Peters did in the X-films; he has the moves of the MCU Pietro. He’s there because Wanda wanted a distraction, and he’s somewhat impressed at how powerful she has become. She wonders where his accent went, and he wonders the same thing about her. It should be noted that the accent interchange happens in front of a movie theater that is playing The Incredibles and The Parent Trap. (We’re guessing that the latter is the remake, which starred the late, great Natasha Richardson. Sign us up for that double bill! Thanks so much.)
Wanda is wearing a costume because it’s Halloween, and they're taking Billy and Tommy out trick-or-treating. Technically the costume is a "Sokovian Fortune Teller" but it just so happens to look exactly like Wanda’s classic costume from the comics. This is the first time that Elizabeth Olsen has worn anything similar.
Pietro has a version of his classic look too, with Tommy wearing a junior version. This episode also reveals that Tommy has his uncle’s speed powers, while Billy (dressed up a bit like Doctor Strange) shows that he has some kind of magical ability. By this episode's end, Tommy and Billy have definitely begun turning into Speed and Wiccan, their comic counterparts.
Vision (Paul Bettany) and Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) are in on the holiday fun too — Vision’s dressed like a "Mexican wrestler" (which looks just like Vision’s classic costume, we might add), and Agnes is a witch. If she actually turns out to be comic character Agatha Harkness, she’s hiding it well. Vision is supposed to be on neighborhood watch, but he’s really on a little mission of his own. Things are chilly between him and Wanda following last week (which their kids notice), so Vision explores Westview to see more of what is really happening. When he gets close to the borders of the Hex, he sees something that encapsulates what everyone is going through.
One woman outside of her house is stuck in a behavioral loop. She can’t break out of it, and when Vision looks closer, there’s a tear running down her face. That tear is likely what everyone is feeling. Even those in the know (somewhat) just want to make sure Wanda is happy and doesn’t need anything changed. This is where Vision comes across Agnes. When Vision frees her mind for a moment, all she reveals is that she knows he’s an Avenger and that he’s supposed to be dead.
Vision doesn't know what an Avenger is, revealing just how little of his life before Westview he remembers.
No one is happy out in the S.W.O.R.D. base either as Hayward uses his blip survivor pain as an excuse to be a d**k. He throws that (and the name of Carol Danvers) in Monica’s face before she gets the boot along with Jimmy and Darcy, but Monica is determined to help Wanda at all costs. Not because she’s a threat. No, not at all. It's because Wanda is in pain, and Monica wants to face down that pain with empathy.
Even though Darcy tells her that it is highly dangerous for her to go back into the Hex, Monica prepares to do so. She goes off with Jimmy while Darcy keeps digging, and because of this, Darcy is right there when Vision (finally in his real MCU costume) tries to break out through the barrier. It doesn’t go well — he tears himself apart breaking free, and when Darcy tries to assist, she gets restrained.
Billy, in his proto-Wiccan costume, magically senses what is happening. Fun fact: This kid can see outside the wall! He tells Wanda and she lights up. Things inside the Hex stall, and then the Hex begins to expand to pull Vision back into its grasp.
Good for Vision's continued existence. Not good for Westview, not good for the world, not good for Darcy.
Vision presumably cannot exist outside of the Hex, so thankfully he gets swept up in it once more and survives. He’s safe, so Wanda can stop the expansion, right?
Nah.
The Hex keeps getting bigger, sweeping up the handcuffed Darcy and most of the S.W.O.R.D. base. Agents turn into clowns and the base into a circus as everything becomes a part of the Westview illusion. Hayward manages to stay out of it, with Monica and Jimmy also still on the outside.
This development proves that the Wanda issue (aka We Need to Talk About Wanda) is not just a matter of saving an Avenger gone cuckoo. How far can the Hex expand? Can she envelop the world in it? It’s now become a serious threat, and stopping it is gonna come down to the dueling tactics of Monica (compassion) and Hayward (being a d**k).
Whether in or out of the Hex, everyone is hurting. Events in the MCU have taken their toll, and people who managed to escape those traumas are now getting to share in them anyway. They’re all going to need the perfect snack for survivors, so here’s hoping that everyone is stocked up on “Yo-Magic" (featured in this week's particularly disturbing commercial).
Next week: Mephisto reveals themselves just as Phoenix and Justin Hammer come tumbling down the chimney! We made that up, but you never know. WandaVision!
WandaVision speeds up new episodes every Friday on Disney+, bro-hams.
