Episode seven of WandaVision series from Marvel is here, streaming now on Disney Plus, how does it move the story forward, here’s our review.

After last week’s extraordinary episode, it would have been going some for WandaVision Episode 7 to top it. This week’s episode felt more like a breather before we build to an epic finale. There was still plenty of intrigue, excitement and surprise to get our heads around though.

SPOILERS: If you’re reading this then you’ve probably seen the show, but if not there are spoilers ahead.

Into the naughties

In the early episodes, the sitcom homages were central to the plot development. Now, the plot has overtaken the homage so much so that the sitcom element feels slightly redundant. But, there were still some lovely nods to Modern Family and The (US) Office.

Elizabeth Olsen inhabited the role of Clare Dunphy brilliantly. I’m safe in the knowledge that if we ever misplaced Julie Bowen in the event of a reunion, we have a ready-made replacement. Equally, Kat Dennings did a brilliant take off of Alex Dunphy as she tried to help Vision learn about what had happened to him prior to Wanda stealing his body from S.W.O.R.D. HQ.

The re-imagined Office-style titles also threw up a couple of interesting points, as the title card told us that it was “CREATED BY WANDA MAXIMOFF”. We’ve now dispensed with any pretence that WestView is anything other than a creation of Wanda’s fevered imagination. Also, within the titles there was a brief shot of what looked like a ransom note that said “I KNOW WHAT U ARE DOING WANDA”. Although there may have been initial mystery about who may have written that note, by the end of the episode I think we knew ALL ALONG who wrote it.

Falling apart

Wanda’s ‘reality’ is visibly coming apart around her, as TV’s, game controllers, furniture and more all regress to older items in front of her eyes. The stork from Episode Three even makes a very brief reappearance. She is attempting to regain control of it by escaping from everyone for a day to try and regroup. Agnes takes Billy and Tommy under her wing to give Wanda a break. The boys seem to revel in this opportunity, telling her that it’s quieter there, especially inside her head. A clear reference to everything that Wanda is trying to do inside her mind.

One thing she is trying to do is to stop Vision leaving The Hex in the van Darcy stole from the circus. In a scene almost identical to Jim Carrey trying to escape Seahaven in The Truman Show, the closer they get to escaping, the more artificial obstacles are put in their way.

While Vision and Darcy are trying to get out of The Hex, Monica Rambeau is trying to get back in. The attempted entry with a space vehicle fails miserably, so she forces her way in on her own. As Darcy had warned her, her cells had already been affected by Wanda kicking her out of The Hex, so trying to get back in has mutated them even more. We saw her eyes turn blue as her powers manifested themselves. Then, she even made the classic Marvel Superhero kneel pose as she landed outside Wanda’s house for a showdown. We know this is a setup for Captain Marvel 2 but I hope we’ll get a real glimpse into her powers over the last couple of episodes.

Spectrum powers

But the big moment came after their confrontation in which Monica pleads with Wanda to destroy The Hex, to no avail. Agnes then takes her into her house to calm her down. Wanda realises Tommy and Billy are nowhere to be seen and goes into the basement, at Agnes’ urging. She then discovers a sprawling medieval crypt in the basement, and finally discovers what we’ve known all along – Agnes is Agatha Harkness. Agatha then uses her powers on Wanda, but we won’t see the effect of them till Episode Eight.

Introducing Agatha

Thanks to a lovely Munsters-esque title sequence, we know it’s been Agatha all along. She has been manipulating everything in WestView behind the scenes, most notably the surprise appearance of the ‘other’ Pietro. But, Evan Peters reappeared to shock Monica as she discovered Agatha’s lair in the first post-credit sequence of the series.

In Episode Six, the idea of the Marvel Multiverse being opened seemed to have been kyboshed, despite his star guest turn. But with the mid-show advert for ‘Nexus’ anti-depressants, has that idea gained new energy? If so, Nexus has done its job and made me happier.

One thing continues to puzzle me though – the postman. He’s turned up in several episodes but why? He utters a cryptic line or just watches the action closely and then disappears. He’s clearly got a key part to play in the final act of this series but who knows what it is? Answers on a postcard please…

CULTURE CROSSING SCORE 7/10

Thank you for reading our review of WandaVision episode seven. Do you agree or disagree with our points or have anything to add? If so, leave us a comment below.

Read our WandaVision episode six review HERE.

Read IMDB information about WandaVision HERE.