Wandavision Presents a Flawed, but Authentic Journey Into Grief and Acceptance

I’ve been waiting for the entire season to come to an end before throwing my two cents in when it comes to Wandavision as I found the half-hour sized installments too serialized and short to truly comment on.

To be sure, this is a series that rejected norms and expectations to become one of the most experiential and non-formulaic entries into the MCU. The series was unapologetically goofy, strangely disturbing, and radiating waves of emotion from all five stages of grief.

Without question, this series represents the character of Wanda Maximoff at her greatest and provides Elizabeth Olsen with countless ways to exercise her comedic and dramatic chops, which of course she does magnificently. Watching Wanda cope with her crushing sadness by reinventing the world around her into classic television shows might have seemed gimmicky, but seeing the television tropes and scripts become more real and sophisticated as the years go by was a clever way to document Wanda’s journey from denial to acceptance.

It was wonderful to see Evan Peters again as Quicksilver, though I must admit, the revelation about the true identity of his character made his entire appearance seem like unessessary stunt casting.

I absolutely loved Monica Rambeau, played by Teyonah Parris, providing Wanda with a frienemy who understands her pain. I can’t wait to see more from her in the future.

Of course, Paul Bettany’s Vision is always a win.

I do have to admit that I believe that the final episode, though exciting and clever, represents the one glaring flaw of Wandavision in that it reverted to being a big CGI set piece in which Wanda’s issues are resolved by energy beams and a new costume. To me, this was jarring… Something else… Something smaller and more intimate seemed appropriate. This series did not need a villain and, by that, I mean no disrespect to Elizabeth Shepard who was so much fun to watch as Agatha, but grief was the villain of the story and it should have been left that way.

Still, Wandavision was a lot of fun. Strengthenrd by a departure from the Marvel formula and hobbled by a need to stick to it. Nevertheless, I never found myself bored… confused a few times, but never bored.

I can’t wait for more TV adventures from this universe.