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Chris Gore and Alan Ng review episodes 1-4 of “Agatha All Along,” now playing on Disney+.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:03
hey let's talk about Agatha and go
0:06
through some of the
0:09
highlights starting with EP episode
0:13
one there are some I'll give you sort of
0:16
the broad Strokes we're not going to go
0:18
Point by point story-wise but it starts
0:21
off as a we find a dead body in the
0:24
forest and
0:26
Agatha it shows up as a police detective
0:30
in a small town has to solve the murder
0:34
of this person who has been killed we
0:38
don't know how she is a police detective
0:41
hardened has trouble with of course her
0:44
her main
0:46
Superior uh idiot white guy to be
0:50
clear and it is soon revealed she's been
0:54
under a spell she's not really a police
0:58
detective and Aubrey
1:00
AA as this character the uh Rio Vidal
1:06
mysterious uh antagonist
1:09
adversary rival we don't know Agatha has
1:12
lost her power in a short battle with
1:15
with Rio played by
1:19
Aubrey um it ends with her Awakening
1:22
comp well she awakens completely
1:25
naked and talks to one of her neighbors
1:28
from Wanda vision
1:30
is full
1:31
nude a but it's a butt it's a butt flash
1:36
we see her her bare
1:39
bottom and she
1:43
awakens uh and and realizes she must go
1:46
on a journey Allan continue yeah well
1:50
okay so here's what you're you're
1:51
missing um I missed a couple things yeah
1:53
well the big thing is this this takes
1:55
place right after the events of w
1:57
division uh she's she doesn't wake up as
2:00
a detective she's in a detective
2:02
procedural show that's right she's in
2:05
the show okay and and uh Rio is the one
2:07
who breaks her out of the show and
2:09
brings her back to reality to to this to
2:12
West View where Wanda Vision took place
2:15
and to the neighbor she had um okay so
2:19
episode one uh in any television series
2:22
episode one is the episode that lays
2:24
everything out and tells you why you
2:27
need to see this show uh and at the end
2:29
of episode one the conclusion is clear
2:31
you don't need to see the rest of the
2:33
show um you know it this whole this
2:37
whole episode serves as um as the homage
2:41
to Wanda Vision you know this is just
2:43
another chapter of w division the
2:46
problem was is in W division why we
2:47
liked W division was it was it because
2:51
each episode was a take on a classic
2:54
television show that we all loved and
2:56
watched uh this one uh is a take on like
3:01
a True Detective show um and the the
3:05
problem is is that in W division because
3:08
it was based on a sitcom it was funny it
3:10
was light you could have lame jokes and
3:12
things like that and if you're gonna do
3:15
a if you're gonna do the same thing with
3:17
a True Detective show the the episode
3:20
needs to be deadly serious you know but
3:23
this thing the show especially in this
3:25
first episode doesn't know what it wants
3:27
to be you know does this episode want to
3:30
be a True Detective show or does it want
3:32
to be one of the yuck yuck comedies from
3:34
W Division and it it can't make a
3:37
decision and so therefore uh whether
3:40
whatever path it decides to go is going
3:41
to be Bland uh and is going to be uh
3:45
uninteresting and that's what happens
3:46
here and I'll give you the reason why
3:48
this this episode does not work and and
3:51
I'll blame the director because the
3:53
director is the one who has to manage
3:55
the tone of the show um because kathern
3:58
Han as this detective uh there are
4:01
moments where she is dramatic and acts
4:04
like a detective from a True Detective
4:06
show uh but then at certain times she
4:08
acts kind of uh she overacts like you
4:12
know uh slams a paper down uh to in the
4:15
investigation room she's really
4:17
unlikable
4:19
too she's over the toop cop she's an
4:22
a-hole to everybody and it's like after
4:25
a while you're like so this is the lead
4:27
character I'm supposed to like yeah and
4:29
then and then half the characters half
4:31
the supporting characters in the episode
4:33
are serious actors who are who would
4:36
appear in A True Detective show the
4:38
other half are goofballs who would
4:41
appear in a parody of of a True
4:43
Detective show for example her boss uh
4:46
the the the the chief uh a total dimwit
4:50
right he played as a total dimwit and so
4:53
right off the bat you're you're just
4:54
wondering what what is this show about
4:57
am I supposed to take this show
4:58
seriously it's doing you know for those
5:01
who are going to seal clap and say oh
5:03
but they're doing a parody of a of a
5:04
True Detective show no they're just
5:06
doing a lame version of a True Detective
5:09
show a and for people people who are
5:11
gonna like this episode are the ones who
5:13
who are conditioned to like anything
5:15
Marvel does or anything kathern Han does
5:17
but this is a badly directed and a badly
5:19
written episode uh with an ending that
5:22
we we all knew was coming because it's
5:24
in the it's in the trailer uh and um and
5:28
it just it's just a waste time and again
5:30
this episode episode one its sole goal
5:33
is to make you want to go to episode two
5:35
and it fails right off the
5:37
bat let's move on to episode two the
5:42
character of teen is brought in who is
5:45
kind of a this sounds weird team played
5:48
by jool loock is like an Agatha Super
5:53
Fan does that seem accurate yeah which
5:57
begs a lot of questions he's kind of
5:59
like like an and he we don't know his
6:02
name so jool comes in and you see him
6:05
it's kind of a cool effect he asks his
6:08
name he goes to say it he cannot say his
6:11
name he's under a spell a Sigil a Sigil
6:15
sigil right so he can't say his name so
6:18
she just calls him teen and and sort of
6:21
orders him around like a a jenzy kid
6:24
like do this for me come over here and
6:27
episode two she's on a journey like a
6:30
Seven Samurai style to collect other
6:33
witches to form a coven to go on the
6:36
witches road yeah so for for Agatha to
6:39
get her powers back she has to go on the
6:41
witch's Road a journey and at the end of
6:44
The Journey she'll get her powers back
6:46
but she can't go on that Journey unless
6:48
she has a coven and the episode is her
6:51
CA Gathering it um we we talk about
6:54
queer baiting uh about just uh you know
6:58
needing to establish that that teen is
7:01
gay uh so there him and uh him and
7:04
Agatha are in a car uh his cell phone
7:07
rings he looks at the cell phone it says
7:09
boyfriend she says who is that he says
7:11
no one there we go he's gay right that's
7:15
it that's how they show that he's gay
7:17
it's kind of and in fact nothing else in
7:20
the rest of this episode and and I would
7:23
say uh even through episode
7:25
four need we the knowledge that he's gay
7:28
it means nothing nothing right nothing I
7:31
mean but by the way the way the
7:33
character talks and acts he's gay I
7:36
don't want to say that there is
7:38
necessarily a gay accent but he sounds
7:41
like someone who's a feminite gay so
7:45
would I be wrong in saying it that way
7:47
no no and there's a documentary about
7:50
the the gay
7:51
accent that's very interesting to watch
7:55
um yeah let's see so she okay so uh
7:59
witchcraft you have to have a Coven but
8:02
a very specific coven uh what I have
8:04
here is you have
8:07
a okay yeah you need a divination witch
8:11
you need a potion witch you need a
8:13
protection witch and you need a green
8:16
witch and and this is where this is to
8:19
me where things start falling apart
8:21
because you know the general audience
8:23
doesn't know anything about Witchcraft
8:26
and I don't think Jack Schaefer
8:28
includ seems like these rules they're so
8:32
they have to explain every rule it's not
8:34
organic it's a lot of sitting around a
8:38
kitchen talking sitting in a living room
8:41
talking yeah there's a lot of talking
8:43
but but these rules are set to to
8:45
establish the narrative to where we're
8:48
going next it's not like we built a
8:50
world and the world these are the rules
8:53
the the the rules are needed as
8:55
necessary for example the reason why you
8:57
need a divination witch potion
8:59
protection and green witch because you
9:00
need a diverse
9:02
cast there's they literally have you've
9:05
got Katherine Han um and then you've got
9:09
like uh Patty Leone Patty Leone I mean
9:12
they have uh White Witch black witch
9:15
Asian witch played by alian yeah uh
9:19
Alice uh no it's alian is the is the
9:23
she's the Asian Witch she's the a she
9:25
plays Alice woo guliver then there's
9:28
title says plays Lilia caldero and then
9:32
Mrs Hart Deborah Jo rup is like a
9:35
gardener like she's the she's the next
9:37
her neighbor yeah yeah and she's not
9:39
even a witch they just kind of bring her
9:41
along for Comic effect yeah and you know
9:44
and then when Aubrey pla if she
9:46
eventually shows up she would be the
9:48
Latino witch well she she we'll we'll
9:51
talk about that later so then the
9:53
episode two ends with guess what it's
9:56
the it's the episode three of the ACT is
10:00
episode 2 they have to sing a song to to
10:04
open the road it's not an actual road so
10:08
they sing like down down down down the
10:12
witch's Road and it's it's film it's a
10:15
filled with all this sort of whatever
10:19
it's it's as insufferable as the power
10:22
of one the power of two The Power of
10:26
many so I can't believe that not only is
10:28
it two in two Disney things you hear
10:32
like the lesbian witches but it's also
10:34
they have songs to sing yeah so we get a
10:37
song in episode two yeah but and here's
10:41
the thing at d23 they sing the song uh
10:45
we may have seen the clips uh they sing
10:47
it in this episode and maybe they sing
10:50
it again I don't know but but the the
10:52
thing is is they're pushing real hard to
10:54
make this song a thing to to make to
10:57
make this the next Disney and them uh
11:00
and it's not uh a except for the chorus
11:03
the Down The Witches road which is the
11:06
title I don't remember a single thing
11:08
about this
11:10
song let me be clear when I since since
11:14
we're we're talking lesbian witches when
11:17
they say going down the witches
11:20
Road what do you think that might be
11:23
code for if you're going down the
11:26
witches Road what do you go to do do you
11:31
hear me it seems so like it's not coded
11:36
it's obvious going down the witches Road
11:41
what is being said Here Am I Wrong Allan
11:45
let me just say this let me tell you let
11:47
me tell you why I'm a good person
11:49
because I had never thought of that
11:52
until you brought it
11:54
up how am I a bad disgusting man okay so
12:00
they they sing the song at the end of
12:02
the episode they go down the road which
12:04
is basically not a road a a little door
12:06
opens up and they go down a flight of
12:08
stairs into an evil forest in episode
12:12
three and then EP both episode three and
12:15
four yeah effectively what they're doing
12:17
is going to escape rooms so in episode
12:20
three they go to a house where
12:22
everything is soft muted beige colors
12:26
yeah let let me let me address that
12:28
because because this is parallel to W
12:31
Vision because each house has a theme
12:34
that transform so this is kind of like
12:37
uh 60s uh Deco no
12:40
no what that's four yeah that's right
12:43
episode three so what they're doing
12:46
going down the rich witches Road they
12:48
have to uh confront trials the first
12:52
house is a like basic house with cream
12:55
colors beige colors so so their wardrobe
12:59
changes when they go to each house which
13:01
is such
13:03
a I mean they're they're all enamored
13:05
with it look at my new wardrobe we're
13:07
all in these beige colors we have
13:10
different haird it's very um very look
13:14
very like Frank Lloyd right um yeah you
13:16
know it's you know the big bon hair and
13:20
the the beige and the you know the the
13:23
very stylistic uh house the Styles so
13:26
they go in and what do they find a
13:28
bottle of wine when you're wearing muted
13:30
cream colors is's always a danger right
13:34
if you're wearing white and you're
13:36
you're drinking wine you might spill
13:38
some red wine so they drink wine and are
13:41
poisoned and must somehow you know break
13:45
the spell of the poison uh yeah they
13:48
figure it out yeah it's it's it's an
13:50
escape room an escape room and then we
13:53
get to episode four and they go into
13:56
this old the like you said Frank Lloyd
13:58
Wright House 1960s they're all redressed
14:01
as like rock and rollers it's
14:04
a what like Austin Powers like a 60s
14:08
Yeah Austin Powers rock and roll they
14:10
have to play a song at the end it's
14:13
another escape room these trials are a
14:16
series of Escape rooms and episode four
14:20
ends with we're giving broad Strokes
14:22
folks um so to speak don't yes because
14:26
you're about to get really specific with
14:28
this one
14:29
so uh so then we get to an episode four
14:34
Aubrey Plaza's character Rio and Agatha
14:36
have a
14:38
moment they get right up to they're
14:41
about to kiss there is hot hot lesbian
14:45
attraction energy
14:48
here which gets interrupted whatever but
14:52
by the task at hand yes by the task at
14:55
hand um but that's is this what the show
14:59
is going to be in episodes five through
15:02
I don't know how many episodes are there
15:04
nine episodes nine so are we gonna get
15:07
now Escape rooms for the following
15:09
episodes the episodes are by the way 40
15:12
minutes about 30 minutes when you cut
15:14
the you know the ending previously on
15:18
and the credits credits are long
15:22
um uh so that's what episode four is
15:26
another trial involving each have to
15:29
play rock songs and they don't just play
15:32
the they don't just play a tune it's
15:35
they play the whole
15:37
song you can see how proud they are of
15:40
the Wardrobe of the design of the House
15:44
of the music it's very Rock
15:47
interpretation of the song it's very
15:49
leaning into the intended
15:51
audience which as I
15:54
said is not us you know not us uh what
15:58
do you think of episode we could you
16:00
could episode three and four are very
16:02
similar three and four are very similar
16:05
yeah
16:06
there again everything that happens uh
16:10
every little step every Next Step uh is
16:13
done for the sake of narrative you go
16:15
from A to B to C and again we're not
16:18
World building here we're not the we're
16:20
not World building we're just creating a
16:22
reason to go to the next step in the
16:25
story um like in the in episode three
16:28
comes the potions witch which is uh
16:30
played by sasher Zeda um you know she
16:33
has to create a
16:35
potion oh oh if there's ever you know
16:38
twice if there's ever a problem that
16:40
needed to be solved a potion uh and then
16:42
she has to go get ingredients well what
16:44
ingredients you get well again we'll
16:47
just make it up on the spot eye of n
16:49
literally she has to get eye of n um she
16:52
has to go get all these things and and
16:54
again the reason the reason I'm not I'm
16:57
not connected to this at all is because
16:59
I don't understand this world it's just
17:01
being presented to me and it makes no
17:02
sense yes they never did World building
17:06
with this to tell you what the rules are
17:09
they that's why it feels like it's all
17:10
being made up on the spot then they need
17:13
like a pluck of hair of each of their
17:15
hairs to throw in the potion it's so
17:18
it's just like you're not invested
17:21
because you don't know what the stakes
17:22
are yeah and then if we go back to the
17:25
interview with Jack Schaefer on the red
17:26
carpet about this being the gayest
17:28
series ever you know she talks about
17:30
Sisterhood she talks about love and all
17:32
that stuff that's that's the themes of
17:35
these Escape rooms and how they solve it
17:37
uh to if I'm G to spoil episode three
17:41
the issue was teamwork that everyone had
17:44
to drink the poison uh and if one person
17:47
didn't then there was uh then there was
17:50
consequences for everyone else uh that's
17:54
that's that's the moral of that episode
17:56
and and then um also when they drink the
17:58
wi in episode three their faces get like
18:02
someone who's had too much plastic
18:04
surgery yeah that's that's the comedy
18:06
that's the comedy part of this that's
18:08
the comedy
18:10
part so um look I I don't know that
18:15
we'll review the whole series we'll
18:17
probably you know when we get to episode
18:20
five if if it hits accolite bad we'll
18:23
we'll keep talking about it
18:26
well I know I don't know it's not here's
18:29
the thing it is not going to be as bad
18:33
as the acolyte here's why this series is
18:37
siloed it's its own little Adventure in
18:40
its own little world it has no
18:42
repercussions on Legacy
18:45
characters like you know ones we care
18:48
about so I don't think this show is
18:51
going to matter in the end I matter the
18:55
the reason the show isn't lore breaking
18:57
is because there's no lore to break
19:00
right it's all made up [ __ ] it so
19:02
siloed from Marvel this isn't Marvel
19:04
it's it's Hocus Pocus 3 so um so it's
19:08
gonna be like boring and probably the
19:10
reaction will be who cares not as bad as
19:14
the damage of the acolyte to Star Wars
19:17
as a brand yeah I feel like I I don't
19:19
know why they didn't drop all the
19:21
episodes in one day because they wanted
19:23
to uh they wanted to end in on
19:26
Halloween right so yeah here it is I
19:30
expect episode five will be another
19:33
clever escape room just like episode
19:36
three and four so there you go here's
19:40
the thing the reason the show and I
19:43
mentioned before doesn't work is because
19:45
there's nothing new about it uh this
19:49
this seems to be a step back in terms of
19:51
quality writing um look look you can go
19:54
back to Star Trek the Original Series
19:56
you know that's that's show in in the
19:59
sense of you know there's a mission they
20:02
go to a planet and they and and they
20:04
bring up an issue about humanity and
20:06
they use this planet to kind of explore
20:08
that issue as it relates to us as people
20:11
and we're engaged with the idea and the
20:13
philosophy or the idea and the moral
20:15
question that it asks and so us as an
20:17
audience we engaged in that and we you
20:19
know we that that's why Star Trek
20:22
endured as long as it was this show
20:24
attempts to do something like that but
20:26
the writer just doesn't know how to pull
20:28
that off and and we have a show like
20:31
this you know it tries to say something
20:34
and says nothing in the process
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