WandaVision: What’s hidden in plain sight in Episode 6
By Mike McNulty
There’s more to Wanda’s brother than meets the eye, along with some other nefarious hints that not all is well in the latest episode of WandaVision.
From the very first episode, WandaVision hid a darkness underneath its deceptively happy sitcom veneer. After this episode, though, that darkness is seeping out. The saccharine, cheesy jokes and laugh tracks are now replaced with irreverence, shaky cams, flashbacks, and fourth wall breaks a la Malcolm in the Middle. Tension is simmering in Wanda and Vision’s marriage. Wanda’s brother Pietro, seemingly back from the dead and acting as the “cool uncle,” encourages Billy and Tommy’s worst impulses. And Wanda has a potential House of M moment that expands the borders of the Hex.
It also wouldn’t be an episode of WandaVision without some potential clues for us amateur sleuths to stew over. Especially when it comes to Quicksilver (if it’s really him), Agnes (is she actually another victim like everyone else in Westview?), Vision (how does he not remember being an Avenger?), and even pop-culture references (is the movie theatre showing The Incredibles a nod to the Fantastic Four coming soon to the MCU?). Based on what we did get in the latest episode of the Disney Plus series, and some potential SPOILERS, we may have to revise a few theories, while others seem to have been validated.
WandaVision’s comic-accurate Halloween costumes
In what is clearly a nod to Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 and it’s story “Trick or Treat,” this episode takes place on Halloween. Or rather, it’s Halloween inside the Hex. In any case, it allows for all the main characters of the show within a show to play dress up. And in a neat twist, the costumes they wear reflect who they really are.
We already know, thanks to WandaVision’s trailers, that Wanda’s “Sokovian fortune teller” and Vision’s “Mexican wrestler” outfits are virtually identical to the costumes they wear in the comics. The same goes for Pietro, wearing the more familiar light blue version of his comic book costume instead of his original green one.
Billy’s costume resembles the one he will wear as Wiccan in the Young Avengers comics. It’s also the first indication that he has powers just like his mom’s. Likewise, Tommy’s choice to wear an identical costume to “Uncle Pietro’s” also hints he has super speed powers of his own, and emulates him besides.
But then you have the costumes worn by Agnes and Herb, the two residents of Westview who seem more attuned to what’s really happening than everybody else. Herb’s dressed as Frankenstein’s Monster, who we know from Mary Shelly’s classic story is a corpse reanimated by the “spark of life” – just like what Wanda did to Vision, interestingly enough. This could also suggest that Herb, a.k.a. “John Collins” might be presumed dead in the real world. Just like, say, people put into the Witness Protection Program? After all, we do know Jimmy’s missing witness is a “he.”
As for Agnes, her being dressed as witch is perhaps the biggest tip off for her being Agatha Harkness yet. And yes, it does seem like everything she told Vision after he “woke her up” seems intended to make him turn against Wanda. However, note also her “all is lost” comment before she starts laughing like crazy. What if Agnes was genuinely trying to escape Westview because things have gotten beyond her control? And what if Wanda isn’t the person she’s trying to get away from?