Every week on WandaVisionWe watched the residents of a small New Jersey town banned by the powers of Wanda Maximoff and helplessly recreated an ever-changing sitcom reality. In episode 7, that spell extended to me and probably to you in the form of an incredibly catchy song that I can’t get out of my fucking head. You might consider it a spoiler, so here’s your warning on that: turn away now. In fact, don’t even watch WandaVision If you don’t want your mind to be haunted by cheesy organs, happy baritones, and a chorus, repeat this in your head forever every day.
WandaVision was always the most playful when it comes to his music – which has made sense since the show marks the work the award-winning songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the duo behind them Frozen
“It Was ____________ All Along” (the actual published title of the song) is the first real catchy tune among the show’s songs: short, sticky and extremely memorable. But it’s also fun what it does in the context of the series. It is the moment where WandaVision finally stop keeping the audience at arm’s length. It is a collective invitation to one of the final remaining major revelations, and it will be celebrated for a minute to mark the occasion. Sure, there are still questions and plenty of time for another landmark twist, but at this point the time has come feels
More importantly, the way the song works is for those who suspected that Agnes really was the comic book villain Agatha Harkness a long time ago. “Agatha All Along” (the version of the song’s title preferred by fans) winks straight at the audience through an actress who plays exceptionally well in front of the camera: Kathryn Hahn. Every vignette that reveals Agatha’s manipulations behind the scenes is accompanied by a moment in which Hahn is making cheese with devious joy in front of the camera. When the cock crows “It was Agatha AAAlll a-loooong” (yup, that’s her on the soundtrack!) it doesn’t read like someone is pulling you over. It just comes across as if your most dramatic theatrical friend is having fun with a strangely involved play, like Kristen Wiig’s impression of Liza Minnelli tries to turn off a lamp.
There are only two episodes of WandaVision Incidentally, I’m a little concerned that this return to the playful side of the show could also be the last breath of that humor. There are a ton of things to explain and solve: who Agatha Harkness is in her MCU incarnation, SWORD’s true motivations, the nature of Monica’s new powers, the fate of the Vision and the twins, how Wanda was drawn to Westview, and how more tragic you are Arc will dissolve – least of all the effects it could have on the world. All of this seems like serious stuff and it’s hard to top it off with any other bouncy musical number.
But maybe not! Kathryn Hahn, as others have observed, is reason enough to believe that whether she sings or not, we will be looking at something funny and memorable. And even if Agnes’ evil alter ego isn’t as important to the finale as we’d like, it doesn’t matter: she’s already stolen the show and taken us away.
