Agatha All Along

Starring: Kathryn Hahn (9 episodes), Joe Locke (9 episodes), Sasheer Zamata (8 episodes), Ali Ahn (8 episodes), Patti LuPone (7 episodes), Debra Jo Rupp (6 episodes), Aubrey Plaza (6 episodes), Paul Adelstein (2 episodes), Evan Peters (1 episode)
Directed by: Rachel Goldberg (3 episodes), Gandja Monteiro (3 episodes), Jac Schaeffer (3 episodes)
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror, Comedy
2024

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) summons a new coven of witches to travel the mysterious an deadly Witches' Road.

Review:
Tim: I feel such mixed emotions about Agatha All Along. It's such a shame at how far Marvel has fallen. Now, to be fair, this is never bad television- everything needs to viewed in the proper context. The issue is that this feels like "content"- not a series that was necessary to exist, not a series that drives the broader MCU narrative forward. It's something to watch. I don't mean to suggest there's not amazing elements of this series (because there are). But, as a whole, it feels a bit like a lukewarm effort.

I do want to start this in earnest with some positives. I absolutely loved the idea of the Witches' Road. This was pulled from the comics, but it's a stunningly cool concept. The idea that a coven of witches travel The Road and the mysteriousness of the entire journey is extraordinarily cool. That means this whole series is really about this journey- we haven't quite seen anything like this in the MCU before. It immediately makes this series feel unique. We want to see what Agatha and the others will find at the end of The Road. Building around this concept was brilliant and it sets the whole series up with a strong foundation.

The cast is solid. Kathryn Hahn seems to have a lot of fun playing Agatha Harkness. I thought she brought great energy to the role and her comedic sensibilities. From reading comics, I'm only familiar with Agatha as an elderly woman, nurse to young Franklin Richards. So, for me, it was fun exploring a totally different side to the character. Hahn is fun and enjoyable in the lead role. I thought Joe Locke was a bit uneven as (SPOILER for non-comics people, but come on...) Wiccan. He had great moments and there were moments when I just cringed at his performance. I mostly enjoyed his interactions with the rest of the cast, but he doesn't consistently deliver. Sasheer Zamata was up-and-down, too. A few moments of hers I loved, and then others felt unnecessarily forced and animated. Ali Ahn was more consistently fine- she never does anything spectacular, but she also avoids any big missteps. Patti LuPone was quite strong- her performance is routinely so good that you almost wonder why she took this role- until you realize what the opportunity afforded her. For an actress like her, she gets to shine in this role, which feels perfectly suited for her. I was quite excited for Aubrey Plaza to be here. She scenes were consistently among the most interesting, but she never quite makes the impact on the series that I hoped for- I wish her role was bigger. Debra Jo Rupp was fine, but I didn't find her as funny as the series expected me to.

So, we have a terrific concept and a solid cast. Sounds good, right? There's even a hauntingly memorable and well-written "Ballad of the Witches Road", a song that plays a critical role in the series. I smiled every time I heard it. We should be in good shape. However, the episodes themselves are a bit all over the place. There's some great episodes, where I felt compelled by the material and I was interested and engaged in how these witches would get out of whatever situation they were in. My attention was held and I appreciated the moments of character development. Stepping back, though, as a whole, the miniseries feels too long. Did we really need 9 episodes to tell this story? What was the point of it all? We spend so much time pretending that anyone familiar with comics didn't know who Joe Locke was playing. That felt like wasted time. The overall journey drags in too many places. There's not enough of a sense of momentum. It feels like the witches amble along, wasting their time and our own. There's a few decent twists thrown in, but the whole effort feels minimally important. Like, you could skip this miniseries and if we ever see Agatha again, you'd be fine. Now, to be fair, there's a solid amount of character development- this series isn't terrible, like Secret Invasion. It feels like a journey worth going on, but too many scenes weren't effective enough. I loved the concept and I struggled at times with the execution.

The sad reality is that this series is definitely among the better ones Marvel has put out in recent years. It's not as good as WandaVision or Hawkeye, but it felt much stronger than Moon Knight and more necessary than Echo. The tie to the first series I mentioned helps- we know Agatha from Wanda's series and it feels worth exploring her character more. I might have liked this more if there were any clear plans on what Agatha would do in the future MCU. If she pops up in a future Fantastic Four film, then I'd be more thankful to get these nine episodes understanding her character better. But, right now, it seems like there's no plan. That's how the overall MCU feels. So, Agatha All Along is a decent series, slightly better than several of Marvel's misfires. However, it's not good enough to hit the upper echelon of MCU television. I suppose that's the reality of where we are these days.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, Echo