WandaVision is Brilliantly Confusing

Disney Plus has finally debuted the long awaited WandaVision. The series was set to debut last year, but due to the fact that it is so tightly tied to the Marvel Universe that is being delayed because of Covid, Disney had to delay it’s release. Was it worth the wait? I confidently say, there is a high possibility of yes, maybe.

There are two things that you must factor into this review before moving on. One, there are only two episodes so far and as of now I am not sure what type of show it is yet. Two, I don’t know the comic history of these two Avengers. Basically I came in fresh, not worrying about canon from the comics and with no expectations.

The show is designed to spoof other classic TV show formats, and to start off with they’ve chosen the early 60s sitcom style. Specifically it feels like Bewitched/I Dream of Jeannie with a little Dick Van Dyke tossed in. In the future it looks like they will choose other formats to spoof as well, and if they are as good as these were then we are in for a real treat.

They got every nuance of those shows down perfectly.  Even choosing the same street those shows were shot on to capture the same houses that were around at that time. I know this because I am extremely familiar with the WB Backlot. It was a wonderful touch.

Here’s the thing though. It was so good, so well executed, that I am not sure what kind of show this is. They keep on dabbing you with little moments of true plot in the overarching storyline of the MCU, but then giving you full on sitcom. Clearly something is going down but as someone who is not too familiar with the comics, I was lost. It made me focus so hard on those small moments, that I was not able to enjoy the true sitcom they were putting on. I kept on asking myself, “Is this a clue? Is this something I need to research? Who are these people?”

For example in the opening episode (don’t worry these are not spoilers) Vision has a job while Scarlet Witch is the housewife and Vision’s boss comes over for dinner. It was a very over the top fun story line that was winking at the audience the whole time as if to let you know that they also know this is a joke. They did it flawlessly, yet I couldn’t truly enjoy it because I was over analyzing every frame of the show to see if there are any symbols or references that I was missing. 

Will I still be watching? I absolutely will. It is a top notch show. This is either going to end brilliantly and be worth every bit of my money, or be such a let down that I have to somehow convince myself this was free with my paid subscription.

In any case, they got me hooked and I look forward to the use of all these brilliant actors.

What did you think? What clues did you notice that we should all probably know prior to coming into the show?