WandaVision Episode 5 - Review

Wow.. WandaVision did something totally unexpected, so before we dive any further in, a Massive, yes with the capital M, Spoiler Warning.

Spoiler Warning – I mean it!

With how the events of episode 4 ended, you could have been forgiven for expecting episode 5 to go back to the cheesy sitcom experience and for some of the episode there are those moments, however the game has changed and the effects of the change are starting to ripple out. We pick up everything inside with Wanda and Vision attempting to put their newly born bouncing baby boys to sleep, a feat that most new parents have also struggled with, and even though Wanda attempts to use her powers to manipulate them into sleeping, it seems superpowers are not impressive to babies. A timely dad joke from Vision, helps cut that moment and as the pair discuss what to do next, Agnes appears as if scripted to do so. Though before she can help, new dad Vision freaks out, causing Agnes to break script and that gives Vision more information that something isn't right.

Rather than being self-contained within the Westview anomaly, the show now inter-splices the real world with that of the small TV screen and this helps keep the pacing moving, because the more we see of the outside world, the more evidence we have about what might be going on, on the inside. There are still questions to be raised about just what is going on, because even though episode 4 ends with Monica admitting that Wanda is to blame and there are some elements that hinted at the start here, there's still enough loose threads to point out that we might not be seeing the entire picture. Of course with Vision having his moment of clarity that something is definitely not right, a timely piece of evidence is provided from the outside, which causes him to modify the world inside, I say world but I should just say Norm. Discovering what he does, removes the blinders and with that proof he confronts Wanda but admitting that he knows she's manipulating things, the pair start to unravel and start asking some hard questions. Of course, as this is a TV show, all of this is thrown into doubt when the doorbell rings, something Wanda admits that she did not cause but Vision does not believe and then we see that it is Pietro her brother, but this isn't the Pietro from Age of Ultron, no this is the one from X-Men Days of Future Past.

This moment is massive and the reason why is twofold, first of all there is the television aspect of recasting a character happens all the time, and that's just another nod to the TV aspect of WandaVision. The second reason why it is more massive, is simply down to the fact that this is not the MCU Pietro, this is the mutant Pietro and this is the first time since the first Iron Man movie in 2008 and all the X-Men films over the past 20 years, that these two separate universes have come together. Now they could do a fake out and say this is not that Pietro is just played by the same actor, but that same logic would have applied if they had of cast any other actor in the role, no they picked this actor for a reason and because WandaVision ties into the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, things start clicking into place more.

Stepping back from theories of multiverse and time travel and all that sort of stuff, in sitcom land the show pushed forward into the ages and took us into the 80s and was paying homage to Family Ties, from the opening theme song and credits to the set and even how Vision was dressed in the opening minutes of the show. From a production point of view the crew behind WandaVision are killing it with how everything looks and plays out in the TV world, be it the sets, to the costumes and even Wanda’s very 80s hair, everything provides a sense of familiarity to anyone that understands the shows there referencing. Even seen Kathryn Hahn's Agnes sitting on the bench dressed like she's ready to go do some aerobics throws that 80s nostalgia right at the screen.

Now the juxtaposition of that being the modern world with their holographic tables and bulletproof fish pants, that helps immensely as well, because we now have a clear delineation between what is reality and what is TV reality. I do want to point out to that the coffee cups that everyone in reality keeps drinking from all seem to have the same red, green and blue pattern that plays out through the end credits, which begs the question where are they getting their coffee from.

The impact that this episode he's going to have on the MCU as a whole cannot be understated, there will be countless editorials, opinions, discussion videos and every other format you can think of, about how this is going to shape everything going forward. The fact that this came at the tail end of the episode where Vision now knows something is wrong and has proof of this, that the agents of S.W.O.R.D. seem to have another agenda, highlighted by the fact they were so keen on blowing up Wanda and even how she herself looked confused for portion of the episode speaks to there being something more happening. While the series may have started off a little slow it's picking up pace now and I can't wait to see what turn it takes next and just how it is going to shape the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Score

9.0

The Pros

+There is more evidence of a greater plot going on revealed

+That last minute reveal changes the entire MCU, just as much as the Hydra reveal

The Cons

-The SWORD elements, the greater danger, feels too familiar

-They are not using the setting as much as they started out, which is a shame