By: Jocelyn Olmos
WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS OF WANDAVISION AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
“WandaVision” has all episodes released on Disney+ and if you’re thinking about watching it here’s a review to get you started on the basics of the show and what to look forward to. “WandaVision” stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maxioff and Paul Bettany as The Vision. Other famous actors you will encounter are Kathryn Hahn, Kat Dennings, Tryonah Parris, Randall Park, and Josh Stamberg. The setting of the show takes place in a small town in New Jersey named Westview (it is a fictional town). The time when this show takes place gets tricky and a bit confusing. Each episode enters a new decade starting from the 1950s to 2010s, but the show’s time is in 2023. The type of show that “WandaVision” is a sitcom with action.
The plot of the show is Wanda Maximoff and The Vision being married and wanting to live the stereotypical American, suburban lifestyle. We start off with seeing the newly-wedded couple being in a setup of a famous 1960s show “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. However, the first episode is set in the 1950s. We see that the couple has just moved to a new town and home.
There is where we get the first twist of the show when a heart is written on a calendar and there is a mix-up between Wanda and Vision what the heart means. A nice silly concept for the first episode that is supposed to resemble “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. Vision then goes to his office job and we are introduced to Agnes played by Kathryn Hahn who is Wanda and Vision’s nosy neighbor. The first two episodes follow the same theme of them being a new decade each episode, the second episode being set in the 1960s and being in black and white. At the end of the second episode, we get to see that the show fades into color now that during the 70s t.v. in color was a thing. Starting in episode four we get segments of what is happening outside the show. This may sound confusing but to break it down a bit Wanda, Vision, and other civilians are stuck in the alternate reality type field called “the Hex”. They have no idea how or why they are there but they do know that they are stuck. However, they aren’t allowed to say anything about them being stuck in it. In the scenes where people from outside of the hex are trying to figure out why people are stuck in the hex, we meet Tryonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, and Josh Stamberg as Director Hayward. For the rest of the show, we find out why Wanda, Vision, and other civilians are stuck in this weird Westview town at different decades along with the interesting happenings within the town.
One aspect that I found to be very interesting and funny about the show is that the first episode was filmed before a live studio audience. This means that there were actual people laughing and reacting to scenes in the show and it wasn’t a laugh track being edited in later on. The creator of “WandaVision”, Jac Schaeffer wanted to do this since shows that they were recreating essentially did the same thing when they aired. Jac Schaeffer had contemplated having all nine episodes of the show being filmed before a live studio audience, but he knew it wouldn’t happen. I adore this aspect of the show because it shows how Marvel will really pay attention to detail in such a little thing that we the viewers wouldn’t think about doing.
A second aspect of the show that stood out to me was the editing of this show. There is so much editing when it comes to how the hex looks, superpowers of any sort, and the finale of the show. I won’t give too much away about how the show ends but when we get to the final episode I felt as if I was inside the hex with Wanda. The editors of the show have the hex look so real and intense that I felt as if I was alongside Wanda. You feel almost being trapped in this intense moment and it feels so real. You can really experience what I’m talking about when you watch it and understand what’s going on.
My reaction throughout the entire show was that it is a show that keeps you tied to it. I watched as each episode was coming out; one each week so I waited for the new episode each Friday. You don’t forget what happened from the last episode because you are constantly thinking about what happened and probably like me theorizing who someone is and what will happen next. The quality of the show is truly amazing. You will not be disappointed. This is Disney+ and the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we are talking about. They do not disappoint. The show in total cost $225 million to make. It has amazing acting by all the actors and actresses, genius attention to detail, and astonishing editing. One of the best shows that I have ever watched.
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