Agatha All Along 1×3, 1×4, 1×5 Review: “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials”, “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You”, and “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power”

The third and fourth episodes of Agatha All Along help the characters grow and bond with each other as they start down The Witches Road. And then episode five happens!

Warning: This review contains SPOILERS!

Episode 3, “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials”, shows the new coven begin their journey. Like all groups forced to work together, they do not get along – bickering and threatening each other as they venture down the road. They learn the lesson quickly to not go off the road, as Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp) does and gets sucked down into the ground as a result.

The others in the coven find out that the Teen (as IMDb calls Joe Locke’s character) has a sigil on him, which is why he can’t say his name or talk about his background. We find out that there will be a trial – one for each of their skills. A house appears in the distance, and they see there is a door with the phases of the moon: this one set with the full moon. This is apparently to let them know which person the trial is for.

When they enter, their look changes: they suddenly appear as upper-class suburbanites in a house to match. There is a riddle on the mantel top. After drinking some wine that mysteriously appears, they realize it’s poison: and it’s up to Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) to figure out the antidote. And because there’s not already enough pressure on them, a 30-minute timer starts up.

The episode continues the overall plot of the series well, and it does a great job of keeping the stakes personal yet still high. (See, certain other ‘supernatural’ shows? You don’t need to have the world to be ending for something to be dramatic!)

We see the witches bond while they argue, and start to mesh into a group. It manages to weave more background for the characters: primarily Agatha, but all of them get some character building (outside of Mrs. Hart).

There are traces of the meta elements that were in the first episode (when they get into the house, one of them asks another if they’d ever seen Huge Tiny Lies, an obvious reference to Tiny Little Secrets).

The third episode shows snippets of what darkness each character is hiding from, and it ends on a good cliffhanger.

In episode 4, “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You”, we start right off from where episode 3 ended.

The death of Mrs. Hart means they need to replace the green witch, and while that’s discussed, we get some more background on Alice. Her mom did die on the road, and later we find out that her fans were her coven.

They summon Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), who is not just a green witch, but THE green witch. Throughout the rest of the episode, we definitely get some definite ‘they were ex’s’ vibes off of her and Agatha’s relationship.

They see another house in the distance, but because of what happened to Mrs. Hart, they try to avoid it: only for the house to realign in front of them. The door on this house is the waxing moon, which indicates the fire phase: Alice’s area of magic. As with the previous house, when they enter, they all change to match. This time, the set and clothes are all from a glam 1970s recording studio. (On a personal note: Hahn’s outfit is sexy AF.)

The Teen starts up a record – and it sounds like a demon screeching. We discover it’s the version of the Ballad of the Witches’ Road – but not the one we heard back in episode 2. It’s the version Alice’s mom Lorna sang when she was on the road.

They find out that they’ve been cursed – and that “the only way to end the curse is to face it”. They have to play Lorna’s version. (You can hear this version below.) Alice ends up battling the curse in physical form, as it was a protection spell against her, and defeats her.

The coven goes back to the road, trading ‘battle scar’ stories and starting to like each other. There’s a near kiss between Rio and Agatha, but they stop.

In episode 5, “Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power”, we find out that the Salem Seven, which are the children of the coven Agatha killed, managed to slip through when they summoned Rio. When they are attacked, the group escapes by flying on broomsticks (but not before Lilia gives a little monologue about the tropes of them). But the road forces them down, and they find another house. This time, it’s an ’80s theme (with SWATCH WATCHES for them all!) and the blood moon.

To complete the trial, they have to use an Oujia board. They find out that death wants to punish Agatha. She gets possessed by some force. There’s a ghost – Evanora Harkness (Kate Forbes), Agatha’s mom, telling them that the coven must complete the Witches’ Road without her.

The entire sequence is quite intense with Alice fighting the entity, getting her powers drained, and dying at the end. The major revelation comes in the form of Teen’s (apparent) true identity as he confronts Agatha.

Overall, the story continues to grab me, each episode getting us a little bit more background information on the characters. I’m loving that 90% of the cast is female. As a musical fan, I loved the musical interlude. It stayed in theme and felt like something you’d hear in that era. The sexual tension between Plaza and Hahn is ratcheted up (again, especially for a Marvel / Disney property). The show is all about the bonds of sisterhood, and how dangerous situations can even pull the worst enemies together.

It’s also about mothers and daughters, and the reveal that the Teen is one of Wanda’s twin boys from WandaVision (when the show had been deliberately leading the audience down the path that he was Agatha’s son) is a great twist. (Also? Locke looks pretty tasty in that crown.)

Now that we’re officially in ‘spooky season’, this is the perfect Marvel project to be watching in my opinion. The writers do a good job of weaving character-building and plot advancement, and I am eager for more. While I was upset that they killed off Wanda at the beginning, I am now totally invested in Locke’s character. 

Agatha All Along has a total of nine episodes and is available – as mentioned – on Disney+. More information about the show can be found both on the Marvel website and on Disney+’s website.

Author: Angie Fiedler Sutton

Angie Fiedler Sutton is a writer, podcaster, and all-round fangirl geek. She has been published in Den of Geek, Stage Directions, LA Weekly, The Mary Sue, and others.

She also produces her own podcast, Contents May Vary, where she interviews geeky people about geeky things. You can see all her work (and social media channels) at angiefsutton.com.

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