‘WandaVision’: A Villain is Revealed in a Momentous Fourth-Wall Breaking Episode (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for WandaVision Season 1, Episode 7, “Breaking the Fourth Wall.”]
Fans have been speculating for weeks about who the main villain of WandaVision might be. In “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” which draws inspiration from contemporary mockumentary sitcoms like Modern Family, one is revealed at last — and with a delightfully sadistic musical montage, no less!
Plus, Vision (Paul Bettany) finally learns about his life outside the Hex, and another major character gains superpowers. Here’s how it all happens.
A Case of the Mondays
As the episode opens, Westview’s glitching, and in a major way; the twins’ game consoles, for one, changes from high-tech to Uno cards, and Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) breakfast morphs through the eras as she’s eating it. “Not sure what that’s about,” she says to the camera. “Probably just a case of the Mondays.”
Vision’s truly having a case of the Mondays. He wakes up at the carnival (aka, the SWORD base that got turned into a carnival when Wanda expanded the Hex). He runs into Darcy (Kat Dennings), but she doesn’t remember him from when he tried to escape.
Back at Wanda’s place, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) stops by and offers to take the kids for the day, and Wanda gratefully accepts. Her neighbor ushers the twins out the door and Wanda keeps eating her cereal, while various items in the room like the TV, tree, and photos change through the eras: Wanda has to fix them. “I’m fine!” she laughs to the camera, but it’s clear she’s far from it.
Disney+ / Marvel
The Past Is Complicated
At the carnival, Vision uses his powers to get Darcy to remember who she is, and they steal a food truck so they can talk in peace. Meanwhile, Wanda’s breakdown continues; her house literally falls apart around her, and she can’t do much beyond watching it happen.
“Do you think this is what you deserve?” the cameraman asks in one of the fourth-wall breaking scenes. “You’re not supposed to talk,” Wanda snaps, avoiding the question.
Darcy explains everything to Vision; how his personality is that of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) virtual assistant JARVIS, but his body came to be during the conflict with Ultron (James Spader); how he died twice, first by Wanda’s hands (to stop Thanos, played by Josh Brolin) and by Thanos himself (after the mad titan rewound time and killed him again). He’s understandably confused, and Darcy can’t offer him any answers. But she does tell him that after watching WandaVision for the past week, she wholeheartedly believes he and Wanda love each other, and they belong together. Awww! Moved after learning about everything Wanda has endured, Vision flies away to find his wife.
Disney+ / Marvel
Into the Hex, Again
Outside the Hex, the broadcast has stopped, and Hayward (Josh Stamberg) is through with stalling: “We launch today,” he tells one of his assistants, referencing a mysterious plan (it’s confirmed later in the episode that he’s planning to make Vision into a weapon).
Monica (Teyonah Parris) and Jimmy (Randall Park) connect with the SWORD contacts she referenced last episode, and Monica gets a cool new space rover, which she tries to use to go through the border… but the Hex rejects it. Against Jimmy’s urging, she goes through the Hex on her own, which results in an amazing sequence where we see her split into all the versions of herself that might’ve existed across the decades in the Hex, along with soundbites of her talking to her mom and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).
When she arrives in Westview, her eyes are bright blue and she can see the energy emitted from objects — remember when Darcy said going through the Hex rewrote her cells on a molecular level? — but she closes her eyes and shakes her head, and the effect fades. Looks like Wanda and Vision are no longer the only super-powered people in Westview!
Things get even more complicated when Monica shows up at Wanda’s place. Wanda, remembering her, throws her out of the house using her powers, but now that Monica has abilities of her own, she can stand up to it. She tries to reason with Wanda, telling her that she understands her pain. It looks like she’s about to break through to her, but Agnes, ever the nosy (and maybe evil?) neighbor butts in, and ushers Wanda away. Monica yells after her, but Wanda snaps, “Don’t make me hurt you,” and the conversation is over.
Agatha All Along
Agnes takes Wanda to her place and offers to make her tea, but the tone shifts when Wanda notices two sets of plates with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and the TV playing kids’ shows. Clearly, the kids were there, but now, they’re nowhere to be found. Agnes says they’re playing in the basement, so Wanda goes to find them.
Well, the kids aren’t in the basement. What is in the basement is a collection of magical artifacts, including a glowing book of spells. The door shuts, and Wanda’s stuck with her neighbor, who, having followed her down there, reintroduces herself as Agatha Harkness.
What follows is a musical montage of Agatha’s many, many misdeeds; pretty much everything that went wrong with the town was of her creation, including Pietro’s (Evan Peters) existence. “And I killed Sparky, too!” she cackles as the episode ends. But don’t skip the credits! In the final scene, Monica heads over to Agnes’ house, where she throws open the storm cellar to reveal glowing purple bricks…and is caught by Pietro.
WandaVision, Fridays, Disney+
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