Disney+ Summary:
The infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road …
FYA Summary:
Although Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a The Scarlet Witch, was behind most of the troubles in the town of Westview, New Jersey, another witch had something to do with Wanda’s delusions: Agatha Harkness, an infamous witch who’s been around since before the Salem Witch Trials. When Wanda left Westview, she took with her Agatha’s power—and left her in a delusional spell in which she thinks she’s a town police detective. A mysterious teen boy shows up at her house and breaks her out of it, then asks her to take him along the Witches’ Road. But they need a coven to get there, and Agatha’s persona-non-grata among most of witch kind.
Together they cobble together a coven of misfit witches, all of whom have their own personal demons and reasons for wanting to walk The Road. But no one but Agatha’s ever made it all the way through the trials, and she’s not known for being a team player.
Familiar Faces:
Joe Locke as Teen, Aubrey Plaza as Rio, and Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness
Although Locke’s known for being a total sweetheart on Heartstopper, Teen is darker and more mysterious. Locke does a great job at both, and it makes me happy to see him getting acclaim. And his acting only gets better as more is revealed of Teen’s identity and the actual reason for his wish to walk The Road comes to light.
Plaza is at her finest when playing a complicated, sociopathic, unhinged character, and Rio is certainly all of the above. She and Agatha have history, but what that is doesn’t come to light until late in the series, much like everything else about the show.
Hahn is a brilliant, tragically underrated actor who’s often been relegated to a sidekick kind of role. With Agatha, she takes center stage, and we’re all the better for it. Agatha is complicated and brutal, but has a lot of trauma in her past; Hahn lets that inform her extremely nuanced role to great effect.
Patti Lupone as Lilia and Debra Jo Rupp as Mrs. Hart
I am woefully under-educated when it comes to Lupone’s career, but even I know that she’s a legend. Lilia seems like a somewhat dotty older woman, but the truth of her character is revealed in a spectacular episode that is very likely one of the best things the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has ever done. (And this is coming from someone who loves pretty much everything about the MCU.)
And Rupp is hilarious as Mrs. Hart, the one person in the coven who’s not a witch at all. I feel for her; she was obviously quite unhappy stuck in Westview when it was controlled by Wanda, but she’s made the best of things. And then Agatha shows up to trample all over her garden, both literally and figuratively.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Gather Sisters Fire, Water, Earth and Air
Call your favorite witches—of any gender—and gather together under the full moon in the living room. Although Agatha All Along was released weekly, now that the entire series is available, it’s the perfect time to watch the whole thing, or rewatch it to catch all of the twists and turns that you missed the first time around. Because there are a lot.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Burn and Brew With Coven True
Agatha All Along is the perfect show to throw a themed event, even if it’s no longer October or spooky season. You could go super stereotypical with a cauldron full of a “witches brew” (here are recipes for a cocktail and a non-alcoholic version, both of which sound delicious) or keep it classy (and also thematic, at least for one episode) with glasses of red wine.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: All That’s Bad is Good
Full disclosure: I have yet to watch the final two episodes of Agatha All Along, but I can assure you that the entire season is a fantastic adventure and a great reason to keep your Disney+ subscription going—or start one for the first time. Just when you think the MCU is losing its footing, they pull something like this show out of their pocket and suck you right back in. I don’t know if there will be additional seasons of the show, but I, for one, would love to be able to go on additional adventures with this coven, any time of year.
