Marvel’s Agatha All Along has been wildly fun over its first third. With an incredibly entertaining cast, some creepy horror elements and name drops that surely had Marvel fans jumping with excitement, it has been a great start. Now, with the coven down a member after just their first trial, things should start to get very interesting.
The episode opens with the coven holding a makeshift funeral for Mrs. Hart. The group talks and Alice reveals she knows her mother died in a hotel fire while on tour with her band. They question what she’s doing on the road if she’s not looking for her mother. She tells them her mother said the road would save her, but she doesn’t say from what.
Agatha callously urges the team to continue down the road before they object and explain they still need a green witch. Agatha argues they don’t need a full coven and when Alice asks how many witches left the road with her last time, she says just one. Still, Kale argues they still need a new member. The coven argues before they decide to summon a new green witch. They cast the spell and a body emerges from the dirt. After a horrifying moment, the new green witch is revealed to be Vidal. Agatha is not happy to see her and she storms off. Vidal introduces herself to the coven as Rio and calls herself “the green witch” before the coven continues down the road.
The coven questions whether or not they can trust Rio before they arrive at the next house. Alice refuses to approach it and heads off in the other direction. The coven follows her but they look up to see the house in front of them again. Reluctantly, Alice agrees to follow the coven to the house.
They arrive at the door to find a waxing moon, or the “fire phase.” They enter the house and find they now match a ‘70s vibe. Alice urges the coven to not touch anything. They begin to search for the next test. Rio approaches Agatha but the coven leader simply says “no” before walking away.
Alice and Lilia look at a photo before Lilia has one of her outbursts. She looks at Alice and says “don’t” but when Alice questions her, she snaps out of it. Rio and Agatha meet in a sound booth and Rio tells her she wants to cause some damage. Agatha tells her she’s “too early.” Something is clearly going on between them that they are not sharing with the group. Rio asks about Teen and Agatha simply plays it off as though she needed more help. Agatha tricks Rio into saying her plan is to watch Agatha kill the coven so “she gets her bodies.” Agatha broadcasts the conversation out for everyone to hear and they rush in to argue.
Their argument is disrupted by loud horrifying music and they find that Teen put on a record that is now playing backwards. Agatha shatters the record before Lilia explains they’ve been cursed. A timer starts and they realize the next trial has begun. Lilia begins to scream in pain and Alice draws a protection circle around her. They realize they need to face the curse as Kale begins to scream in pain next. Alice draws another circle but they realize Kale and Lilia have both been burned on the shoulder by the curse. They hear the curse literally flying around them and realize it’s Alice’s curse that is after them. She reveals she has the same burns on her shoulder that we saw on Kale and Lilia.
Teen is attacked by the curse and is launched through the glass of the sound booth. The coven regroups and Agatha realizes they need to play Lorna’s version of the ballad. They put together that Lorna’s song was actually a protection spell and the fact that it was so popular meant it was always being played, protecting Alice from the curse. Agatha converts the coven into a band to play the ballad.
As they begin to play, Agatha is burned by the curse but she urges them to keep playing. As they continue, Teen notices a shard of glass in his stomach but he keeps playing. Eventually, Alice is able to see the embodiment of the curse, a horrifying demon-like creature that is certainly surprising to see on Disney+. The curse attacks Alice but she keeps playing in order to finally kill the creature.
With the curse now gone, the piano opens to reveal the exit. As they begin to celebrate their success, Teen faints and they see he is bleeding. They rush him out of the house and try to save him. Agatha is particularly rocked by his injury and she urges Kale to save him. Lilia calls out the “three of swords” which is another tarot card, this one representing heartbreak or emotional pain. Kale is able to save Teen though, to the relief of the whole coven.
Sitting around the fire, the coven discusses their lives. Kale reveals that she was a midwife and that she was bound by being lured into a trap by a mystery man, whom she doesn’t name. Alice explains that when her mom died she stopped believing in witchcraft but Lilia helps her realize everything her mother did was for her.
Teen wakes up with Agatha by his side and asks her if she put the sigil on him. She says no but also that she wouldn’t know because sigils also work on the witches who cast them. She explains that a sigil is destroyed when it is no longer needed. She also says to him “you don’t have to know a person’s name to know who they are.” This might just be a nice sentiment, but Agatha also might be hinting that she knows his true identity. Teen asks what happened to her son and her mood shifts. She tells him to heal fast so they can keep moving.
Agatha rejoins the group and they ask her to show them her battle scars. She shows one and asks if they’ve ever heard of the Daughters of Liberty, hinting that she killed them all. In the comics, the Daughters of Liberty is the name of a team of female heroes that has included Spider-Woman, Black Widow and yes, Agatha Harkness, among many others.
Rio starts to tell the coven about her scar, ignoring Agatha’s objection to the topic. She says she loved someone and she had to hurt them because it was her job. She refers to this woman as her scar. Agatha Walks off and as Rio goes to follow, Lilia grabs her and tells her they haven’t forgotten what she said in the sound booth.
Rio finds Agatha and they hug. Agatha appears to go in for a kiss before Rio interrupts her and tells her “that boy isn't yours.” Agatha shows a look of grief, before putting on a fake smile and walking away as the episode comes to a close. Does Agatha think Teen is actually her son, Nicholas Scratch?! Is Agatha the one Rio loved but had to hurt?! We’re going to need some answers next week!
Agatha All Along is really heating up, and not just because of all the fire in this episode. There are a lot of mysteries forming here and it seems every character has a couple of secrets they’re holding on to. This is shaping up to be a wild ride.
The first four episodes of Marvel’s Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney+.
