TV Review: WandaVision Episode 3

WandaVision Episode 3: “Now in Color”

Director: Matt Shakman

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Emma Caulfield Ford, David Payton, David Lengel, Randy Oglesby, Rose Bianco

Rating: TV-PG

Runtime: 30 minutes

Spoilers follow:

Elizabeth Olsen’s first major film role was in a movie called Martha Marcy May Marlene.  In it, she plays the titular character, Martha, who escapes a cult.  After doing so, she lives with her sister and brother-in-law at their lake house but the trauma and brainwashing she experienced is hard to shake off, and as her behavior grows increasingly erratic, tensions arise.  It’s a brutal, disturbing film, completely unlike anything in the MCU, even the relatively unique WandaVision, but while watching the third episode of the latter I was reminded of it because Olsen is drawing on similar acting skills now to the ones she used back then when her breakthrough performance earned her many well-deserved awards and nominations.  As both Martha and Wanda, she is extremely sympathetic, in tragic ways, but can also shift quickly and seamlessly to being supremely frightening, and often even achieves both effects simultaneously. This skill was on display in the premiere as well but is more prominent in the third episode, which emphasizes that, while other forces, be they Mephisto, Hydra, or someone or something else, may also be at work, Wanda herself is responsible for a lot of what’s going on in Westview, while also hinting at her motivations.

The appropriately-titled “Now in Color” is about Wanda and Vision dealing with the former’s unconventional pregnancy, which progresses to delivery in little more than a day.  Wanda’s condition leads to (seemingly) uncontrollable bursts of her abilities, causing a neighborhood blackout when she has pains and indoor rain when her water breaks. This, and a visit from Geraldine (Teyonah Parris), the friendly but confused neighbor Wanda met at the talent show planning meeting, lead to several increasingly close calls in which both Wanda and Vision’s powers and whatever else is going on, are nearly discovered.

Despite the 70’s vibe, which includes a Brady Bunch-esque title sequence, and continuing hijinks this is overall the most serious episode so far, because the growth of Wanda and Vision’s family imbues it with a strong emotional core.  As weird as the process of the births was, moments like Wanda telling Vision to greet the first of their twin sons with his real face are genuinely sweet.  It also feature the most time questioning what’s really going on, with longer, sustained sequences of the eerie surrealism that was only featured briefly in the premiere episodes.

Geraldine’s visit does the most to interrupt Wanda’s idyllic existence.  She first arrives still very much in her sitcom character, giving a long-winded explanation of her promotion, while Wanda tries to keep her from noticing a stork she accidentally conjured and is unable to make vanish or her very obvious baby bump.  But it’s after the twins are born (Wanda goes into labor when Geraldine is still there and the other woman helps with delivery) that things get really ugly.  Geraldine remarks on the beautiful twins, which leads Wanda to muse about how she was a twin, mentioning her brother Pietro as a tear rolls down her face.  Geraldine then makes the mistake of asking “He was killed by Ultron, right?” and Wanda realizes her new friend is not what she seems.  Again, Olsen’s work here is stunning as she moves from confused heartache when talking about Pietro to icy anger when Wanda begins interrogating Geraldine.  The Sokovian accent that Wanda’s been gradually losing since Age of Ultron and has been totally absent throughout the show also comes back strongly, which was an especially nice touch.  Wanda becomes especially angry and suspicious when she notices the necklace Geraldine is wearing, which has a sword design in the middle.

While Wanda is confronting Geraldine, Vision has his own strange encounter with Agnes and fellow neighbor Herb (David Peyton), who has been acting strangely all day.  Agnes and Herb are gossiping about Geraldine and tell Vision how she is new to town and doesn’t have a family, as if these are deadly sins.  When Vision asks why they find this unusual, Herb notes how Geraldine is different from the other people in town and is about to tell Vision what “We all are,” before Agnes stops him.  When Vision comes back inside he asks where Geraldine is, and Wanda tells him she had to leave.  The final scene sees Geraldine flying through the air and crashing through some kind of force field before landing in a field and being surrounded by military forces, from a massive nearby encampment and a run-down sign for the town of Westview is shown.  Presumably, this is the real world of the MCU, outside of Wanda’s TV dreamland.

Stylistically this episode is a step down from the premiere but the visuals are still vibrant and feature some nice flourishes.  The title sequence is once again a cheesy delight and Geraldine landing in the real world is accompanied by an effective changing of aspect ratio in which the small, square format that signifies the sitcom world is replaced by a widescreen one that is more cinematic.  And while the lack of black-and-white and some of the other tricks from the first two episodes makes it less distinct, the story and character progression in “Now in Color” ensures that it reaches a similar level of quality.  Because while the first two episodes proved that the show has style in spades, the third assures the viewer that there is a lot of substance beneath it, even if we’re not allowed to know what exactly that substance is yet.

Notes:

• It would be impractical to list all the small, comically weird bits in every episode, but the weirdest in this one has to be herb sawing the brick wall between his and Vision’s property.
• This week’s commercial is for a Hydra body soak.  Some fans have interpreted this as a discreet reference to an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode in which, while living in virtual reality, Phil Coulson made his own soap to avoid Hydra brainwashing.  Whether it is or not, it does seem significant that Hydra’s been featured in two of the commercials when it was only a small part of Wanda’s MCU story so far.
• Given how often she references him, I feel like Agnes’ husband Ralph will wind up really being someone significant.
• The twins are named Billy and Tommy, just as they are in the comics. That’s all I’ll say about them for now.