Agatha All Along episode 4 parents guide: The darkest episode yet

Marvel Television's Agatha All Along has proven to be a delightful mix of campy horror and fantasy comedy. The perfect release for spooky season, the Disney Plus series is a WandaVision spinoff that focuses on infamous witch Agatha Harkness and her attempts to return to her former glory.

A witch known for stealing other witches' magic, she had her own powers taken away by the Scarlet Witch in the aforementioned series, as Wanda Maximoff took her magic back - and all of Agatha's too. Now, she must walk the Witches' Road in a bid to get the one thing she wants the most. Her life literally depends on it, too, as the Salem Seven are on her trail and looking to kill her now that she's without any form of magic.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe show has thus far been family-friendly, with only occasionally scary moments that were pretty light on the horror (the Salem Seven themselves, for example). With the exception of its ending, the third episode was extremely light-hearted, leaning on the campy humor more than anything else. But the fourth episode is much darker than its predecessors, so in case you're not sure this one should be watched by your kids, here's what you need to know.

Agatha All Along's fourth episode gets bloody and scary

Agatha All Along has mostly maintained a balance between the horror and comedy aspects of the show. Though it got a little bloody at times or a little more mature, it has rarely ventured from its family-friendly viewing approach. The fourth episode, however, is considerably darker than its predecessors.

Now, it's important to remember that the series is still rated TV-14 like the three episodes before it, so that does give it a little leeway when it comes to leaning into the darker elements of the show (leeway that it hasn't been using that much up to this point). If you'd like to know more about what to expect from the series overall, you can check out our series parents guide here. But if you're unusre about watching episode 4 with your kids, here's what you need to know.

Scariness: This week's episode of Agatha All Along features the large red, winged bat-demon that appeared in the show's first trailer. Though it isn't on-screen for long, it is pretty scary to look at given its large bat-wings, and the convincing special effects used to bring it to life. It also attacks the coven with its claws, leaving searing marks on the skin of one witch.

There is a pretty big jump-scare when one character begins clawing their way out of the ground, as if they were rising from the grave. Once they do, their body is contorted and thus they have to bend themselves back into shape. It's a bit of light body horror that feels like the moment in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when the Scarlet Witch crawls her way out the mirror she is trapped in.

Violence and Blood: Given that witches often have mystical battles instead of physical ones, there isn't usually much violence in Agatha All Along, but things get a bit more graphic this week. One character is stabbed with a shard, and even though it doesn't go too far, quite a bit of blood is visible.

The bat demon does attack a number of the witches. Though it remains invisible for most of the trial, the witches it attacks are in clear pain, suffering from being burned, and when it does make itself visible, it clearly attacks another one of the witches.

Rio, meanwhile, once again points her knife in a threatening fashion.

Death: While all of the witches are in mortal danger during this trial, the thing that makes this episode a bit more mature is the fact that there is actually a dead body in it. You probably knew that going into this episode based on how episode 3 concluded, but it's worth bearing that in mind anyway.