Agatha All Along Bravely Asks, ‘What If the Partridge Family Fought Demons?’

Having escaped last week’s deadly formation house, our episode—the 4th introduction successful Agatha All Along, titled “If I Can’t Teach You/Let My Song Reach You”—begins with Agatha and institution pausing along the Witches’ Road and studying the blue-tinged corpse of Sharon/Mrs. Hart.

Naturally, this prompts our heroes to sermon death—both Sharon’s (confirming she is so truly, astir sincerely dormant pursuing the poisoned vino debacle of occurrence three) and Alice’s parent Lorna’s, antecedently said to person “died connected the road.” Not the Witches’ Road, we learn, but “on tour” successful a edifice fire. Though this accusation comes arsenic a daze to the members of the coven, it was antecedently stated Lorna authored the greatest-selling stone azygous of each clip chronicling the precise life-or-death escapade they’ve  embarked on, truthful however this factoid fell into taste obscurity makes nary sense. According to Alice, her parent told her “the Road would save” her, prompting Jennifer to ask, “from what?” As you whitethorn person guessed, today’s occurrence volition beryllium an Alice-centric one.

As this moment, Agatha blithely waves her overgarment around, attempting to get the remainder of her coven’s minds disconnected the doom and gloom of their fallen comrade portion displaying the aforesaid consciousness of misunderstood sociopathy arsenic Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor. “What’s the occupation now?” she asks the group. “A pistillate is dead,” answers Calderu. Exasperated, Agatha replies, “Yes, and Alice and Teen are kindly digging a sedate for her,” earlier suggesting they “catch up” to existent events. Dismissing the precocious Mrs. Hart arsenic a “bad draught pick,” the coven protestation they request a caller Green Witch to regenerate her, prompting an statement implicit the lyrics of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” and whether they request a afloat roster to proceed forward. As we’re reminded Alice’s parent wrote “the astir fashionable mentation of the ballad” (ie, 40 cardinal copies sold worldwide, the equivalent of the Eagles’ top hits collection), her expertise is deferred to: “We shouldn’t spell forward. Not without a replacement Green Witch.”

Enraged, Teen interjects “people can’t beryllium replaced,” suggesting Sharon’s decease was “everybody’s fault. We were expected to look retired for each other, but we didn’t. That was our fatal mistake.” “Fatal for Ms. Hart,” Agatha corrects, and I person to hold with her. The radical attempted to prevention her beingness without immoderate benignant of skullduggery oregon subterfuge (after the fact, anyway) truthful his outrage seems misplaced. Agatha suggests summoning a backmost up Green Witch, starring to a ritual successful which each subordinate of the coven makes a  personal petition for their perfect replacement, akin to the “Perfect Nanny” fig successful Mary Poppins. Jennifer hopes she’s hot, Alice wants her to bring Advil, and Agatha simply asks she’s “not annoying” oregon “super political.” Thus, the caller Green Witch is calved from the Earth itself, and by gum, it’s Aubrey Plaza’s character, Rio Vidal!

© Marvel

Though Agatha is displeased by the reveal, the remainder of the radical continually hem and haw implicit however sexy and frightening and chill she is arsenic the roadworthy leads them backmost to the exact aforesaid house from the erstwhile occurrence (Disney+ keeps raising its subscription interest for what, again?).

Upon entering, the coven is welcomed to the redecorated set—now a ’70s-inspired signaling studio—each successful their ain bespoke outfits. Agatha enjoys her ain plunging neckline gown, Calderu gets Liza Minnelli’s haircut, Jennifer takes a leafage from disco diva Amii Stewart’s wardrobe, Teen looks similar Marc Bolan from T. Rex, Alice wears the aforesaid outfit arsenic her stone prima mother, and Rio looks similar a subordinate of Marc and the Mambas, oregon something. Returning to the scavenger hunt escapades of the erstwhile episode, the pack divided up and hunt for clues. Calderu is spooked by stained solid windows depicting assorted humanities witch-killings and Jennifer is unnerved by a partition of Japanese masks. Amid the search, Alice reveals her parent fell connected specified hard times, she had to merchantability her catalog of songs successful bid to support her house. However, this infinitesimal is undercut erstwhile Teen spots a grounds with the attached note, “play me,” which imprints a curse connected our unit by spinning backwards. As it happens, Alice’s generational trauma has dispersed to the different witches arsenic a scorching pain people connected their shoulders. The lone corrective, it’s reasoned, is to signifier a stone set and execute “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road.” I mean, wherefore not, right?

© Marvel Studios

Teen takes up the guitar, Jennifer’s connected bass, Rio plays drums, Calderu finds immoderate zils (which someway crook into a brace of maracas betwixt shots), and Agatha sings portion Alice carries them connected piano. The show invokes the ire of the “curse” manifest, revealed successful carnal signifier to beryllium a harpy-like ghoul. By simply playing the song, the demon is dispelled arsenic we observe Alice’s parent wrote the opus arsenic a extortion spell for her daughter, who I accidental was truthful Gen X she renounced her earthy talents arsenic a performer owed to the stigma of being a “nepo-baby,” oregon something. Honestly, it each feels a spot undercooked—a connection that springs instantly to caput since this is the “fire” trial, other past week’s “water” ordeal. Presumably, we tin expect “earth” and “air” traps utilizing the aforesaid acceptable successful the coming weeks.

While Mrs. Hart was the casualty of the archetypal trial, it appears Teen rocked excessively hard and present lies comatose. Waiting for him to recover, Jennifer reveals she was formerly a midwife who became stripped of her magic pursuing an invitation to the Obstetrics Association of Greater Boston, but does not elaborate further. Calderu opines that though they hated each different astatine first, the coven has since go large friends done the people of the episode—between scenes, presumably. Teen awakens from his spell erstwhile the exposition is finished.

Immediately upon awakening and apropos of thing successful particular, helium asks Agatha if she was the 1 who formed the sigil upon him, but owed to the quality of the spell, she’d beryllium incapable to retrieve whether she did oregon not. Returning to the group, Agatha and Rio stock scars successful an homage to Jaws (since sharks are a benignant of witch, too, erstwhile you deliberation astir it… ever moving from 1 happening to the next… ). Much similar Matt Hooper stating his bosom was breached by Mary Ellen Moffat, Rio suggests her top scar accrued erstwhile she “had to bash something” she “didn’t privation to” to idiosyncratic she loved, heavy implying her mysterious betrayal to Agatha. In an unusual last scene, the brace caput disconnected into the woods to reconcile, but Rio spoils the infinitesimal by telling Agatha “that lad isn’t yours.”

So, that was occurrence four. I accidental we tin expect different vaguely witch-inspired proceedings adjacent week, too? I’m inactive not definite however to consciousness astir Agatha All Along. While the formed is perfectly entertaining and astir of the wit lands, the communicative itself feels truthful unrealized it’s hard to get peculiarly invested. I was really disappointed the occurrence didn’t extremity with different casualty, which would person astatine slightest raised the stakes. Since Jennifer and Alice person already had their showcase episodes, I anticipation the bid finds much absorbing things to with them too being 2 abstracted shades of snarky. Honestly, Alice biting it instantly aft yet coming to presumption with her mother’s decease successful a edifice occurrence 40 years agone would’ve astatine slightest had that “oh, shit!” prime that made Lost truthful breathtaking earlier we realized it wasn’t heading anyplace particular. We’ll conscionable person to hold and spot wherever this nine-episode constricted bid ends up. Four down, 5 to go. 

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