If her punishment was her sacrifice, having that extra time with Vision and her kids was also a reward. Schaeffer and her writing team did an admirable job coming up with stand-ins for her to battle, and Hahn made for a flat-out marvelous opposing force, but the show struggled to resolve Wanda’s actions. She was to blame for everything, and she was the one who saved the day. But therein lies the unsettling paradox in “WandaVision.” Wanda was both the hero and the villain. Director Hayward (Josh Stamberg) was arguably an even worse dude, though some suit with a gun could never be a formidable villain for Wanda. Now, clearly, Agatha had to be stopped, since she couldn’t be trusted. Agatha may have done some bad things once she stole Wanda’s powers, but setting aside her wicked ensemble and evil laugh (which, my God, Hahn does so well), all she’d really done was kidnap Wanda’s imaginary children and killed her dog. Someone had to stop her, and for the longest time, no one else could get inside the hex. Should a witch in Agatha’s position really have done anything different? Wanda was torturing these people. Soon after, Agatha tells Wanda, “Heroes don’t torture people,” to which Wanda counters, “The difference between you and me is that you did this on purpose.” Except… what did Agatha do, exactly? In the flashback to 1693, it was implied she used her dark magic for illicit means, but here in the present, she was merely hiding in Westview, trying to understand Wanda’s powers, and then attempting to steal them. Taking away a person’s autonomy, their free will, their identity - that is a rough act to wrestle with, even as an accident. This scene marks the other -possibly more lasting - moment from the finale. Earlier, when Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) “cut the strings” so these citizens could speak freely, Dottie (Emma Caulfield Ford), whose real name is Sarah, pleads with the superhero to “let out of her room.” Another resident says, “Your grief is poisoning us.” Vision’s former colleague Norm (Asif Ali) tells Wanda, “When you let us sleep, we have your nightmares.” Should it? Wanda has inflicted severe trauma on these people. “It won’t change how they see me,” she replies. “They’ll never know what you sacrificed for them,” Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) says to Wanda. Their stares don’t echo admiration, appreciation, or even relief. There, she again sees the Westview residents who she’s held hostage for days and weeks on end. But as Wanda’s face falls, she accepts what she’s lost and walks back through town. The shot of Wanda standing in a lot of empty land serves as the necessary bookend to the last time she was living in reality, to the breakdown that started all this. ‘Carol and the End of the World’ Is a Poignant, Creative Plea to Rebuild Society - Before It’s Too LateĪs Vision disappears along with the rest of Wanda’s magically manufactured home, the look on Olsen’s face isn’t one of anguish but love.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |