Cthulhudrew

I haven't seen it (but maybe I just missed it), but has anyone else wondered if the "commercials" might be Wanda's subconscious cry for help to the "viewer"? She starts out with some commercials that are subtle hints about who she really is and that she may be aware of what is going on (in contrast to her tv personality), and the most recent one is about Lagos and her lingering guilt.

I would crack up if that's what happens to "Peter." 🤣

Plus it just plays into the already meta-nature of this show, being a show within a show, playing with television tropes and recasting and self-referential commentary.

She could probably transmute it into a gemstone that resembled an Infinity Stone, but not endow it with the powers of an IS. All she is really doing with the kevlar vest is changing its appearance from one thing into another: it still retains its fundamental properties (ie, it is still a penetration resistant fiber; just pants now and not a vest). At least, that appears to be what is happening.

Even an android can cry.

Best episode so far. So much cool stuff happening. The "shall we take it from the top" sequence with Agnes at the beginning was creepy af. I thought Wanda had already been named the Scarlet Witch in the MCU, but I guess I was wrong. And how dare she recast her brother? lol

Sorry- didn't mean to imply that your ideas are invalid. You may well turn out to be right: the tv intros and commercials, in particular, seem odd additions to the broadcasts even if Wanda is otherwise manipulating events within Westview, for instance. It could be that there is some Mojo-like character on the wings picking up what is going on inside of Westview and doing some professional editing, whether or not that is the party responsible for her current status or just capitalizing on it. We'll find out soon, hopefully. On another note, it is my understanding from interviews that at least portions of these episodes were actually filmed in front of live studio audiences. I wonder if we'll ever get to see those live takes in some form: either as outtakes or as re-edited full or partial episodes of the live scenes. Some of it wouldn't work too well (the special effects for instance), but I think it would be kind of neat to see the live action sequences outside of the overall narrative of the tv show.

The broadcasts are radiowaves along the EM spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation that Darcy detected. The assumption is that it is a byproduct of Wanda's powers; either the radiation is produced when she uses her powers, or she actually utilizes CMB for her "hex" effects. Perhaps it has never been noted before because she hasn't used her powers on such a scale or in such a localized manner before. It is possible that it is an outside agency responsible for all of this, but my read on it- at least for now- is that this is just some funky side-effect of what she's doing, and completely unintentional (indeed, likely would never have been noticed if SWORD hadn't brought in different experts to investigate). Why it is being broadcast in B&W rather than full color? It's not; the audience is seeing exactly what Wanda is seeing; as we see, Wanda and the Vision and everyone in Westview is actually black and white (hence Wanda's surprise when seeing the color drone, and both of their surprises when they suddenly switched to Technicolor at the end of episode 2.) Wanda is manipulating the light waves within Westview; this is probably also the explanation for Vision's holographic "human" disguise (and his real horrific appearance being hidden underneath a similar hologram). The reason Darcy needed an old tube tv was just to be able to pick up the analog signal; she frankly could probably have just as easily gotten a DTV analog converter box and external antenna to attach to a flatscreen tv.

A tend to agree with this view. I kind of assumed that Maria worked towards building SWORD at some point after her reunification with Carol in Captain Marvel, as a direct result of learning about this wider world of extraterrestrials out there. So somewhere post-1995. That said, we don't know precisely how large SWORD was (or currently is); SHIELD was (presumably) a division within the Department of Homeland Security by the time we first see them (having doubtless bounced around from the War Department to other areas over the years). My guess is that SWORD would be a division of the Air Force, though it's unclear. In any event, back to the OPs question about what they were doing during the Thanos invasion: I'm not sure they would necessarily have done anything at all. Monica seems genuinely surprised that they are apparently in the process of building weapons when she returns, suggesting their mandate was really only as a research and exploration operation (and I believe the MCU acronym is something like "observation and research division"). It also appears that their original objective has changed a bit from extraterrestrial research to any sort of hostile sentients.

Maybe Darcy caught a rerun? 😄

I was thinking because Wanda was looking at him when the refrain began, and the Scarlet Witch (at least in the comics) was raised by gypsies. Plus the lyrics, "well I realize, that I've been hypnotized; I love your gypsy eyes" (and the Vision's doubts and concerns literally faded away when she looked at him.) Edit: And frankly, the Voodoo Child lyrics really have no relevance beyond the titular title. I love that song as much as anyone, but if Marvel would have solicited my advice... which they never do for some reason. 😆

Among so many other things- such as were raised by this episode, with people reappearing in the same places they disappeared from. We didn't see anyone reappearing in the same place as existing people (and merging a la some crazy Cronenbergian body-horror movie), although we did see Monica pass through several people in-transit. What happened to the people who reappear in places that no longer exist, such as a building that was destroyed (and perhaps even rebuilt) in the five year interim? Then there are the more existential issues you raise. To me, the idea of Endgame and the restoration of all the "snapped" people was just one of the most short-sighted and selfish moves that the Avengers could have possibly made. Sure, there were probably many successful and heartfelt reunions that came out of it, but so many tragedies and reopened traumas as well.

While "Voodoo Child" is doubtless more recognizable to the average viewer, I feel that "Gypsy Eyes" would have been a more suitable selection.

Re: the Twin discussion; does any of this really apply to Wanda and the Vision in any case? I don't know that, as an android (or synthezoid) he is actually adding any DNA to the mix, and anything biological going on is probably not natural in the first place.

I've been wondering the same, but based on next week's preview, I'm thinking that MCU SWORD is actually more like an X-Files sort of agency within SHIELD- investigating paranormal/extraterrestrial activity in/around the Earth, and not necessarily monitoring other planets, per se.

With all these hexagons and the trippy storyline, how cool would it be if Legion showed up? "Sorry- I must have stepped onto the wrong set." I haven't seen it mentioned here (unless I missed it) but it looked to me like the "set" WandaVision takes place on is some kind of prison or otherwise man-made enclosure. I saw what appeared to be inward facing stadium-style lighting. Could Wanda be being held captive (maybe for the good of humanity) by SWORD (or some other military/government agency) rather than a nefarious villain?

I had a feeling from the first scene with him that that is what they were going to do, and from the preview, it looks like they are. I agree with you- I wish they wouldn't do it, but I guess they figure there is a whole lot of heartsinging to mine with Maggie feeling conflicted about moving on, and Zoey getting mad that she's moving on, etc. I seem to be in the minority, but I felt like Max was being pretty selfish several times in this episode; first with his obvious jealousy about Simon, then later when he was feeling down because he couldn't help Zoey. It's great to care enough to want to be able to help your partner, but when your first reaction when they say "It's hard to explain why I am feeling the way I do" is "Is it because of me?" that really feels very self-involved. (It wouldn't be entirely uncharacteristic of Max to be selfish; he went through a tizzy last season when he felt rejected, too.) At the same time, I thought Zoey was being kind of selfish in taking so long to communicate with Max about her feelings. I haven't ever been in that kind of situation, so probably can't appreciate just how hard it can be- and frankly, should be more sympathetic since I'm not exactly the most open person myself in spite of not having a parent die- but I felt like they were both being kind of crappy to one another.

What would be interesting is if we get to Episode 9 and realize that is actually the start of the story of Wanda's descent into madness, and episode 1 is where she ended up, having had to "reboot" her and Vision's story all the way back to the golden era of tv sitcoms in order to find happiness.

I really am not sure what to make of some of the things we saw this episode: 1) Where is this massive space inside of Discovery where the turbolifts fly magically about from place to place? Was this always here, or only since the post-time travel upgrades? What is the purpose? Don't they need this space for interior decks and living space? 2) What is the function of the weird pillar of nanites that Burnham was shoved into? 3) I might have missed something, but why were the nacelles suddenly attached to the ship again (conveniently so that Owo could stick a bomb in one)? (And don't even get me started with magically material holo-Grey).

Okay, maybe it is just the facial scruff. Plus a realllly subdued performance in his first scene. He seems to be the genuine Skylar in his second scene.

I don't know what it is, but something seems different about Skylar Astin. It looks like they got someone who looks almost exactly like him to replace him- appearance is almost precise, voice is almost exact- but everytime he speaks and expresses himself (only at the first scene with Max and Zoey), something just seems off. Like CGI Skylar or something. It's not just the facial scruff. Am I completely whacky here?

Agreed. Also, while I think many of the younger actors have grown into their roles, I feel like you can really see the most development with XM's line deliveries and emoting than the others. On another note, Ali first mentions to Johnny that she and her husband are separated, but later in the same conversation says her parents are mad at her about "the whole divorce thing." Even later (following episode) she mentions to Daniel that it's just Mills now, no Schwarber. Almost all the pictures we see on her FB page are also of her alone, or occasionally with her kids (no hubby). My takeaway is that she is actually divorced now, and not just separated. It's possible that the writers just used those terms interchangeably in her dialogue with Johnny, without regard to the fact that they have very different meanings/implications (as any child of separated or divorced parents would know). I hope that they were actually doing this intentionally, though; maybe Ali was initially nervous about being forthcoming about the extent of her marriage situation, but later became more comfortable with Johnny. He didn't seem to have much reaction at the different terminology, though. It's possible that the writers may also be hedging their bets here, setting up a storyline for a possible love triangle with Johnny-Carmen-and-Ali if they can get Elisabeth Shue back for a few more episodes in S4.

I definitely agree that they should have tightened things up a bit; they introduced a lot of story threads while they still had threads that needed tying up from prior seasons, and it took a little too long to address some of them. As a result, I feel some things went nowhere (Kreese's backstory only ended up reinforcing his two-dimensional villainy; Tory's backstory didn't help her own character's arc [at least yet]; and while they dropped hints at Hawk's redemption, it felt a little too rushed and cursory). I actually think this was one of the strongest seasons in a lot of ways, but yes- I think their reach exceeded their grasp in some ways, and maybe some of this season's plots should have been paced out into next season.

There was just an impression of overly friendliness I got from them in the first ep, but once they brought back Yaz, it was pretty clear that was going to be the pairing and I was just flat-out wrong. On another note, am I wrong, or did they just age Terry Silver about 20 years? I'd have sworn Kreese's CO referred to his army buddy as "Silver" at one point, but Thomas Ian Griffith is younger than Ralph Macchio by a year or so, and for him to have been an active soldier in Vietnam in '68 would add two decades to him. Maybe Terry Silver is the son of Kreese's army buddy? EDIT: NM. It looks like Vietnam was always part of Silver's back story, even though TIG was never old enough to have been a part of the war (in RL). I've only seen KK3 once or twice, so it completely escaped my memory.

1 3/4 episodes in right now. Initial thoughts: 1) I understand they had to dial back a little bit from the over-the-top season 2 finale, but I'm glad to see that they did make an attempt to try and deal realistically with the consequences of that episode. Sam's PTSD; Johnny's depression; Daniel's personal and professional problems. 2) Glad that Daniel and Amanda didn't give up on Robbie like they suddenly and out of character did in the finale of S2. 3) Enjoying the Daniel and Johnny team-up, even if it is (currently) short-lived. 4) Pleasantly surprised by the Kreese character building. They seemed to give him a little bit of humanity in S2, only to suddenly have him revert to two-dimensional mustache twirling villainy. I hope this isn't just a Lucy football-jerking moment, and that we see some growth for his character in S3 to match that of Johnny, Daniel, and others. 5) Gut instinct- Samantha is going to hook up with Demetri this season. 6) I wanted Daniel to apologize to Johnny for his personal attack towards the end of ep 2, but honest to god if his "You better return that car to the dealership" remark didn't crack me up for a few minutes. Some really good writing and performances in S2 so far (aside from what I felt was kind of superficial moments at the rehab center). Hope this keeps up, although I have to say I fear a final episode character-ignoring turnaround to set up S4 like we had in the prior two seasons. Fingers crossed against it. It shouldn't be a bad thing to have a season fit organically into the next. Also, so far no "Stingray" character. I think it's inevitable that they have to find some kind of coda to that misstep (IMO) from S2, but I definitely don't miss his "comedic" contributions.