Welcome back to the blog readers. There are serious shows going on right now such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-) and The Penguin (2024). Don't get me wrong. They are both great shows but none of them have the fun factor about them like Agatha All Along has right now. The performances, especially of Kathryn Hahn and Joe Locke, are fun as hell and I love the approach that they are taking with each episode being a trial on the road. Would we continue the same success with this fourth episode, titled "If I Can't Reach You / Let My Song Teach You," written by Giovanna Sarquis, and directed by Rachel Goldberg? Stick around and find out.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
I love the format that the show is giving us with each trial on the Witches' Road being one episode, and it has provided us with some great hijinks and a death I was not ready for (#JusticeForSharon). And I was also hoping we would dive more into the backstories of these witches and what makes them tick. And not only did we get that in this episode, we got the best episode of the show so far that made wicked good use of Aubrey Plaza and laughs a plenty (and a new killer song).
Aubrey Plaza makes her long-awaited return (at least to me) to the series after sitting out the last two episodes, and I am so fucking glad she is back because she is killing it in her two appearances. This character of Rio Vidal is so intriguing because she is cool, she is confident, and she is comfortable being herself. These are all traits that Plaza defiantly and brilliantly brings to the table when it comes to our new favorite Green Witch. Plus, I just think she is so naturally funny (between this and My Old Ass (2024), she is killing it) as Vidal, and the chemistry she has with Kathryn Hahn is impeccable. I cannot wait to see more of her in this role in the final five episodes.
I also want to make a note of the performance of Ali Ahn as Alice Wu-Gulliver. Her character is the focal point of this episode and we finally get to see one of the lesser coven members get their time to shine. I think Ahn was given a monumental task in this episode to be the focal point, and I believe that she delivered in spades. I will further talk about the themes of this episode later, but Ahn definitely brought the emotions in what I believe is to be her coming out party. One minute she is playing the character like she is completely reserved, and she is unpacking a whole bunch of grief and emotions like a pro. I really hope we get to see the other witches do this throughout the series.
The story of each episode is pretty much the same but with some added wrinkles each week: the coven gets to the next trial, shenanigans happen, they pass the trial and they escape. This week we get some interesting nuggets along with the usual (but effective) structural formula. We begin on the coven burying Sharon after the events of last week's episode and realizing they cannot continue along the road without a Green Witch, which they conjure. Much to Agatha's disdain, however, the witch is Rio Vidal (who I correctly predicted would be joining the coven). Once the group reaches the second trial, Alice refuses since this one reminds her of her mother's suicide. They eventually get in the "house" that manifested and realize that not only is Rio planning to convince Agatha to kill the other witches and take the power for themselves, but they are all up against the curse that has been in Alice's family for generations. This curse winds up injuring "Teen" and the group realizes they must play Alice's mother's version of the Ballad of the Road to defeat this demon. Turns out, Lorna's version of the Ballad was the protection spell her mother placed on her and not the tattoo she told "Teen" about last week. The witches are able to escape from the burning "house" and prevent "Teen" from being killed. They get to know each other a bit better and Agatha and Rio appear to rekindle their relationship as Rio tells Agatha "Teen" is not her son to end the episode. In this episode, we get so much intrigue about our characters and where they might or might not be heading, and I cannot wait to see how this story winds up unfolding itself.
Well, that will be it for my review of Agatha All Along's fourth episode, so you know what time it is now.
Now we get to the section of the review we have all been waiting for, and that is Theory Time. In case you have not been following along, Theory Time is our special little segment where we talk about the burning questions we have about certain distinct series and where we inevitably think the series is going to take us. We have some juicy shit to talk about this week, and I cannot wait to delve into this delicatessen of the deranged.
You know the main thing we need to talk about is the identity of "Teen." This has been the focal mystery of the series up to this point and I believe it will continue until the end of the season. I had previously mentioned my theory that "Teen" was a manifestation of Mephisto trying to gain the power of the Witches' Road for himself, and Jennifer Kale's mentioning of our favorite demon (and "Teen's" reaction to hearing that name) blew that theory wide open for me. There is the talk of "Teen" being either Wanda's son Billy or Agatha's son Nicholas Scratch, but there are some new tidbits that we got this week that continue to make me headfast about my theory. After "Teen" is injured by Alice's curse, we see Agatha show visible emotion, shedding a tear as if she is either reminded of her son or actually sees her son in this young kid. Like I mentioned in the story breakdown, Rio tells Agatha "Teen" is not her son which kind of rules out Nicholas Scratch to me. Billy really does not work because canon tells us that "Teen" is sixteen and he could not have aged six years in three. Also Billy is not real in this universe. So my theory is really starting to pan out, and the fact that Mephisto has already been mentioned is really making me happy right about now. I cannot wait to here "It's been Mephisto all along." It may not sound as aesthetically pleasing, but I won't be able to hear it because I'll be cackling loud as hell the entire time.
The next thing I want to speculate on is the history between Rio and Agatha. I, though not here, was speculating that Rio and Agatha were former lovers but something happened between the two of them that made Agatha hate Rio. Another point that illustrated this was Agatha's downright refusal to recruit Vidal to the coven back in the second episode, instead choosing to eventually (and wrongly: #JusticeForSharon) sacrifice the life of a non-witch to avoid her. I do believe at some point in the series we will get an explanation as to why Agatha and Rio dislike each other now, but this episode hints at this romantic past between the two of them. Rio tells the other witches that she loved someone and that person was her scar and we see the two of them almost reconcile and kiss. I think we will get it at some point this season but we will see the reunion of this relationship.
That will be it for Theory Time this week, so I will see you next week for whatever craziness gets thrown our way.
Agatha All Along brings the drama to the fourth episode with great performances and a great story. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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