WandaVision Episode 1×03 Review: “Now in Color”

WandaVision Episode 3, ‘Now in Color, births new complications into the reality of Wanda’s world!

I think it’s safe to say I’m going to end up sounding like a broken record as each week brings us a new episode of WandaVision. Last week, I said that the second episode of the series’ double premiere was my personal favorite. However, this week’s addition has totally kicked episode 2 off its throne. WandaVision episode 3 dropped on Disney Plus, instantly becoming my newest obsession and my newest favorite episode of the show. In fact, it’s something I think I’ll watch another handful of times throughout the week as I wait for more episodes. 

WandaVision Episode 3, ‘Now in Color’, revolves around Wanda being pregnant, something that was revealed to us at the end of the second episode. However, much like everything else that happens in the odd world of WandaVision, there’s something very mysterious happening. Things just aren’t adding up. Wanda’s pregnancy timeline is accelerated and condensed into a mere handful of hours compared to the expected nine-month timeframe. And while Wanda’s pregnancy is strange, it pulls the audience closer to the bigger mystery of the series.

‘Now in Color’ adheres to the trend established in the previous two episodes, leaping forward into yet another era in the sitcom Hall of Fame. This time, we’re pulled out from the black-and-white world of television and dropped straight into the extremely colorful and heavily-patterned 1970s, which draws obvious inspiration from The Brady Bunch. After all, The Brady Bunch was all about family and this episode of WandaVision is literally about Wanda’s family and the lengths she will go to protect what she loves. 

Just like the other episodes, ‘Now in Color’ incorporates the innocent and playful humor that is expected from this kind of sitcom structure. Wanda and Vision do what is expected of a usual “pregnancy episode”, such as poking fun at Wanda’s size and bantering over baby names.

However, most of the episode’s humor is derived from the fact that as Wanda’s pregnancy accelerates closer to her going into labor, her magical powers accidentally fall outside of her control. The lights flicker, the room shakes, she accidentally conjures up a living stork, and when her water breaks, it literally starts raining inside of the house. 

Something that really caught my attention was that reality seemed to “break” even more frequently in this episode, compared to the instances we saw in the previous episodes. In episodes 1 and 2, we had strange moments like Mr. Hart choking on his food and Dottie accidentally cutting her hand on a piece of broken glass. But the splintering between reality and fantasy becomes immediately apparent not more than a couple of minutes after the first scene of ‘Now in Color’ plays out. 

One of the first reality breaks is when Vision goes out to his front yard and sparks up a conversation with his neighbor, Herb, who is cutting down some hedges with a power saw. But as Vision is talking to him, reality breaks, and Herb begins to cut right through the cinderblock wall that divides his property from Vision’s. And while Vision definitely notices that something is amiss, Herb doesn’t really seem to think so. He goes on about the rest of his business as Vision heads inside. 

Another break happens after Wanda’s rogue powers cause the lights to go out. Wanda interestingly asks: “Do you think [the neighbors] know it’s my fault?”, possibly poking fun at the idea that Wanda really is behind everything, considering she is the one with reality-warping abilities. Vision, however, breaks from the fake reality and begins to admit he believes something is seriously wrong. He mentions dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Hart from episode 1 and the wall-cutting scene with Herb. But then something happens. 

Wanda immediately gets a worried look on her face, almost as if she’s getting upset that Vision is fighting through the delusions, and then the episode cuts and seemingly overrides Vision’s epiphany. A new scene plays on. Vision goes on to talk about how both he and Wanda are in uncharted waters in terms of the current pregnancy and trying to live in a “normal” neighborhood while being two very abnormal people. This seems to be another huge hint that Wanda is the mastermind behind everything and is actively knowledgeable about what she’s doing. 

However, the most telling and startling part of the episode is at the end. Monica Rambeau, who is still using the name Geraldine, visits Wanda while Vision is out trying to fetch the doctor. Wanda goes into labor and Monica helps her deliver twin boys, Billy and Tommy! Suddenly, Wanda seems to flutter out of her false reality and mentions to Monica that she, too, is a twin and she had a brother named, Pietro—finally name dropping Quicksilver for the first time since 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

As Wanda begins to sing Billy and Tommy a lullaby, Monica gains self-awareness and acknowledges that Pietro was killed by Ultron. This doesn’t go over well with Wanda, and for the first time since the beginning of the series, Wanda basically snaps completely out of her make-believe world to interrogate Monica. It’s actually somewhat of a scary scene. The music is suspenseful and Wanda has rage in her eyes as she continuously questions what Monica just said and who she actually is. And while Monica doesn’t seem to have the answers, seemingly still tripped up by Wanda’s reality-warping, Wanda tosses Monica back to the real world. This confirms that Wanda’s false world exists inside of some kind of bubble located in the real world. 

Now, this was actually one of the two scenes from the new episode I had to rewind and rewatch multiple times. As if it wasn’t already made clear from the moment in Avengers: Endgame where Wanda took on Thanos all by herself, this particular scene between Wanda and Monica cemented how terrifying Wanda can present herself as (if need be).

It’s all in her eyes. She is not meant to be fooled with. And if her stare wasn’t terrifying enough, the fact this scene basically reveals that Wanda truly is the mastermind behind everything, keeping people held hostage inside of her reality, and using them to support her fantasy, is scary by itself. We’re getting closer and closer to the Wanda Maximoff of the comics and I can barely contain my excitement. 

And speaking of excitement, I can’t forget to talk about my other favorite scene from ‘Now in Color’. Of course, I’m talking about the official introduction of Billy and Tommy. This was long speculated about ever since Wanda and Vision started to express romantic feelings for one another (way back in Captain America: Civil War). And while both of the twins are only newborns and have a whole long way to go until they can be reincarnated as Billy Kaplan and Thomas Shephard, this episode is laying the groundwork for these two to become Wiccan and Speed and join up with the Young Avengers. 

In the comics, Wanda uses her powers to will the existence of her two children. The only problem is that it gets revealed that Wanda accidentally uses fragments of Mephisto’s soul to create her children, thus her twins do not get to remain. This whole storyline is heartbreaking and I don’t know if I’m emotionally prepared to witness it all play out in live-action if this is where WandaVision is officially heading.

It’s quite possible considering there are rumors that Mephisto might be the series’ villain and that Agnes is actually the witch, Agatha Harkness. However, there is some good news to be noted. In the comics, Wanda’s twins get reincarnated as Billy Kaplan and Thomas Shepherd, eventually finding out the truth to their existence and reuniting with Wanda. But nothing is guaranteed for the MCU’s re-telling of these stories.

Naturally, I’m also going to remain wary and hypercritical as to how Marvel decides to take on these characters for many reasons. The main one being that Marvel and Disney are huge companies and don’t necessarily have a good track record with providing us with good queer representation.

Billy and Tommy are both canonically queer characters, Billy is gay and Tommy is bisexual, so this is an important first step in doing the Young Avengers justice. And considering the fact that Billy is one of my favorites in the comics, I can’t wait to see what happens next. 

What did you guys think of ‘Now in Color’?

Let us know in the comments below!

Author: Rodney

Rodney has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. Aspiring to one day write television shows and novels, he’s an avid slash-shipper and enthusiast for all things gay. Rodney’s especially a lover of magic, mystery, and superheroes—holding Harry Potter, the X-Men, and Scooby-Doo close as his own personal favorites. But when he’s not fantasizing about how cool it would be to have magic, he’s busy writing fanfiction and re-watching old TV shows.

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