WandaVision season 1, episode 5 review: On a Very Special Episode…

WandaVision’s fifth episode was the show’s most game-changing yet.

This week’s episode of WandaVision took a leap into the 1980s. The clothes. The hair. The décor. All the musical cues and visuals fit the theme perfectly. It honestly felt like watching an episode of Full House or Family Matters.

And in the same way Urkel exerted his mystical powers to control the Winslow family, Wanda continues to manipulate Westview. Or so it seems. Episode 5 of the Disney Plus raised some serious questions about what is happening in the city, and if Wanda is truly the one running the show.

The episode appropriated its title from the ’80s TV trope of having “very special episodes” that took on serious issues. That was particularly apt in this case as there were a lot of big changes to the status quo for the entire series.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5: Outside the Hex

Monica Rambeau, Jimmy Woo and Dr. Darcy Lewis finally joined forces on the outside, forming the core trio of people who will help solve this problem. Together, they discovered that Wanda is altering reality itself, seemingly in permanent ways.

The other interesting discovery is that being in the Hex has caused permanent changes to Rambeau’s physiology. This could be the first steps on the journey that will turn Rambeau into a powered superhero.

FYI, Darcy also coined the term the Hex to describe the reality Wanda is living in. This actually falls nicely in line with the comics as the spells Wanda casts are referred to as Hexes. Leave it to Darcy to bring in some continuity with the comics.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the current leadership of SWORD is incapable of addressing this problem. Wanda and Vision need allies on the outside, not enemies. This trio will be invaluable to everyone in the Hex as the finale draws nearer.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5: Vision wakes up, Wanda steps out

In Episode 3, Vision started noticing that people and events around Westview did not make sense. But in Episode 5, those suspicions became full blown accusations as Vision confronted Wanda about what is going on.

After strange interactions with Agnes, Norm and the new office computers, Vision now fully realizes that he is in a fabricated reality and that his wife has something to do with it. He’s even coming to terms with the fact that he has no memories from before Westview.

Wanda, on the other hand, took the fight to SWORD. When Monica Rambeau flew a drone into the Hex for recon, Acting SWORD Director Tyler Hayward took over the mission and attempted to kill Wanda. She didn’t take that well.

For the first time in the series, Wanda stepped out of the Hex and confronted SWORD. She demonstrated the depth of her powers, taking control of the soldiers. Once outside of the Hex, her Sokovian accent returned. But that wasn’t the only thing that came back.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5: Quicksilver

As fans have been speculating since the announcement of the show and the plot, Quicksilver made his return in Episode 5. But there was a big twist as it wasn’t the MCU version of Quicksilver that showed up on her doorstep. It was the Fox X-Men franchise version.

Evan Peters, who played Quicksilver in X-Men films like Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, made his MCU debut. This is a big deal as his appearance is could be the beginning of mutants making their way into the MCU.

But more than that, it will be interesting to see what happens to both Quicksilver and Vision after the show. Technically, both characters are dead in the MCU. Wanda’s reality adjustments appear to be somewhat permanent, so it seems likely that they will both be alive after the end of the series.

Another big question are their twins, Billy and Tommy. They aged ten years in one day during the episode, which is in line with what’s been happening throughout WandaVision. But what wasn’t relatively normal was how they made such a huge age jump.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5: Who is in charge?

The crazy part about the twins sudden age jumps was that they weren’t caused by Wanda. They caused themselves to age. When Wanda told them they needed to be 10 to have a dog, they quite literally made themselves grow up at will.

That led into Wanda and Vision’s confrontation at the end of the show. He called her out on the kidnapping of the city’s residents, the rotating sitcom premises and everything else. Wanda’s response to all of this was incredibly telling.

Wanda admitted that she had no idea how any of this started and that she might not be in control of everything that was happening. She did not make the twins suddenly age several years nor did she resurrect Quicksilver. This seems to indicate other forces are in play.

It may not be a coincidence that Quicksilver suddenly reappeared at the right moment to disrupt the conversation between Wanda and Vision just as they started to unravel the mystery. His sudden arrival stopped that conversation dead in its tracks.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5: Someone lurks in the shadows

There are a lot of things going on in the Hex that do not appear to be under Wanda’s control. Her brother, Vision and the twins are big ones. A lot of developments related to her family seem to happen at the right moment to distract Wanda from noticing problems in the fake reality.

Fan theories have speculated that everyone from Mephisto to Doctor Doom is behind what’s happening to Wanda. What is becoming increasingly apparent is that someone else is running the show, and editing Wanda’s reality as they go.

It’s entirely possible that the being who left the Hex to confront SWORD wasn’t even Wanda. That could have been someone taking Wanda’s form. At the very least, it’s likely that whoever is pulling the strings sent her out there to have the confrontation.

The key to everything may be Agnes, who may still turn out to be Agatha Harkness. She appears to be fully aware of the fake reality and her place in it. Whether she is the cause of the problem or the solution to it, Agnes will play a big role as the story wraps up.

What did you think of WandaVision Episode 5? Let us know in the comments below!