Agatha All at Once

I got caught up on Agatha All Along and watched the newest episode last night. It's not a bad show and there are several moments I really enjoyed. It has a song, "The Ballad of the Witches' Road", written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who also wrote the song entitled "Agatha All Along" for WandaVision and are best known for writing the music for Frozen. And it's a good song.

The show's ratings have been low from the beginning and have declined further and further. Agatha All Along was created by Jac Schaeffer, who also created the successful WandaVision, which goes to show how much that show's success owed to it being tied to a still vibrant MCU. A lot of talk has been about who these new movies and shows are for. Agatha All Along seems very clearly aimed at wealthy, middle aged women. With the characters jumping from realities that include one that parodies (but really cosplays) Big Little Lies, one that adopts the aesthetic of late psychedelic rock, and one that resembles a slumber party from an '80s horror film, it's no stretch of the imagination to say the show's target is very clear. And it's not a target classically associated with Marvel fandom. At least they kept the budget down this time.

I would even say the character of William (Joe Locke), whose identity was revealed in last night's episode, is not there to attract a young, gay, male audience but to please older women who like young gay men. His story was kind of interesting. I liked the idea of him being a spirit that takes control of a young man whose consciousness dies in a car accident. That it occurs after his bar mitzvah has a nice symbolism to it.

I preferred the previous episode, though, in which Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) was able to act as a real (if conflicted) villain. I liked the ambiguity over how much control she has over draining the powers of other witches. It kind of takes her into Rogue territory, I suppose.

Agatha All Along is available on Disney+.

X Sonnet #1890

The common break was cruel as glacial Coke.
Replacement soda crushed the child's heart.
Reclining bears alone observe the joke.
Commercials sold the shop around the cart.
A sandwich love would launch a hoagie house.
Resemblance haunts the darling angel cop.
Collected dolls surround the frightened mouse.
To rise, the geese have sold a feather crop.
A pretzel dog beheld the river harps.
A king was sleeping over swords and dames.v A million questions stirred the summer carps.
These pictures melt beyond their paper frames.
The changing road was lit with cash and wine.
A billion dollars burst the human dime.