Hydra Soak
Episode 3 of WandaVision sees us cut forward through time to the swinging 60’s for the wonderful world of colour sitcoms. Wanda is 4 months pregnant but everything seems to be moving along very quickly. She feels kicks from the baby while Vision reads about nesting. And just like that, Wanda experiences Braxton Hicks. This seems to trigger a blackout across the neighbourhood which Vision senses. As he sits with Wanda, he tells her something is very wrong. Just like in previous episodes though, we suddenly cut back in time and repeat this conversation, this time with both players staying in-character. Wanda’s water suddenly breaks prompting Scarlett Witch to conjure up rainclouds inside, soaking everything. Jolene heads over in the middle of all this – but she’s actually going by the name of Foxy. Wanda struggles to hide her pregnancy, made worse by various contractions that manifest into bits of magic bursting into life across the apartment. Paintings spin, the vacuum cleaner turns on by itself while a stork just randomly wanders around the room. Wanda is ready to have her baby though and pushes twice…and produces a baby boy. If only childbirth was that quick and painless, eh! Well, it turns out there’s actually a second baby too. This seems like a nod toward Scarlett Witch’s past, given she is herself a twin. As she begins singing to the babies, Geraldine suddenly breaks character and mentions how her brother was killed by Ultron. Wanda notices a necklace round her neck and asks outright exactly who she is. Something is clearly not right here and somehow Scarlett Witch throws the woman out the sitcom and into a massive field surrounded by electrified fences and a few bunkers. Alas, the plot thickens!
The Episode Review
So it seems likely now that all these advertisements for Hydra is a hint that this is who’s behind Scarlett Witch being captured and thrown into this digitized world of sitcoms. This episode tackles the wholesome nature of 60’s sitcoms too, specifically surrounding the birth of Wanda’s twins. Now we’re starting to see Wanda and Vision a lot more aware of their surroundings and starting to break the rules inside the sitcom itself. This show is definitely a slow burn, which makes the decision to drop one episode a week a little odd, but it’ll be interesting to see how this develops over the weeks. 3 episodes seems like nowhere near enough to critically judge this one with a definitive score, something we’re holding off with until after the finale. This intriguing new direction for the MCU certainly won’t be for everyone but it’s a nice change of pace and certainly interesting enough to stick with for now. Whether it will hold the attention of eager fans desperate for more Marvel content however, is another matter.
