Breaking the Fourth Wall Review: The Full Spectrum of ‘WandaVision’ is Coming Together

All good things come in fours on the latest episode of WandaVision. Breaking The Fourth Wall features outstanding performances from the four main female cast members.

Wanda, Monica Rambeau, Agnes and Dr. Darcy Lewis all have barrier-breaking moments in the episode. Outside of the rough Eastern European accent, Elizabeth Olsen is nearly flawless in this series and Breaking the Fourth Wall is no exception. Olsen nails her impersonation of Julie Bowen from Modern Family throughout this episode. However, her ability to dial up the emotion in scenes opposite Teyonah Parris and Kathryn Hahn cements Olsen as one of the best actresses working today.

Showrunner Jac Schaeffer, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and most importantly Parris have done a phenomenal job in building Monica’s superhero arc. Every aspect of her journey throughout this series let alone this episode has been met with the perfect amount of conflict.

Hahn continues to deliver as Agnes. There’s a switch that comes late in the episode and Hahn chews all of the scenery in the best way possible. Kat Dennings‘s sardonic brand of humor is put to great use in this episode opposite Vision. Paul Bettany does a wonderful Ty Burrell impression, which is paid off wonderfully every time Vision scratches his nonexistent, metallic ears.

Breaking the Fourth Wall also succeeds in bring the main character together. By the time the episode concludes, Wanda, Monica, Agnes, Darcy and Vision are all in Westview.

There is one minor story element that’s a little off in this episode. The aerospace engineer reveals that had been built up over two episodes fell flat. It’s probable that there is a big reveal coming over the course of the next two episodes. However, the build-up heavily suggested the reveal in this episode would be meaningful and it wasn’t. The series would have been better off not mentioning the aerospace engineer at all. Despite the nitpick, the lack of a big reveal is actually to the episode’s benefit as it allows ample room for Monica’s superhero origin to standout.

With the non-spoiler details out of the way, lets dive into the 4 major storylines in Breaking The Fourth Wall. WandaVision is currently streaming on Disney Plus.

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Wanda’s Day Off

I can’t overstate how good Olsen is throughout this episode.

Wanda’s approach to breaking the fourth wall is more conducive to sitcom-related hijinks. She wakes up in bed a day after All-New Halloween Spooktacular. In the mockumentary interview, Wanda comes clean about expanding the barrier to the false world she created and announces she’s taking a one-day staycation.

Billy and Tommy try to help their mom to no avail. Wanda claims that Pietro is not their uncle. After the twins press for an explanation, Wanda simply says she has no answers and that life is meaningless, but that’s just where she’s at. The twins are understandably rattled, but this response from Wanda is perfect.

So maybe I went a little too dark there, but they’ll be fine. Vision is made of vibranium. They literally inherited tough skin.

Wanda’s plan for a relaxing day-in doesn’t go as planned. After Wanda’s startling existential confession, Agnes shows up and offers to babysit the boys.

The world seems to be slowly falling apart. There are multiple instances in Breaking the Fourth Wall where items in the world will revert to a previous era. For example, the tv changes from a flat screen to a black-and-white box.

Luckily, Wanda easily fixed the problems, but one anomaly she can’t fix is Monica Rambeau.

Heroically Breaking The Fourth Wall

Despite failing from time-to-time, Monica’s resilience is the cornerstone that every great superhero origin story is built on. Monica pushes past a huge obstacle to return to Westview.

Monica and Jimmy Woo start the episode traveling to meet the aerospace engineer that was teased over the course of the last two episodes. The rendevous is underwhelming to say the least. However, there may be more to come, so this may work out at the series end.

Based on the specs outlined in a previous episode, a rover is specially designed to allow Monica to safely enter Westview. However, as the rover comes into contact with the barrier, the rover begins to transform. Luckily, Monica escapes the rover and begins to proceed through the barrier despite ample resistance.

In a scene reminiscent of Rey’s vision after touching Obi-Wan’s lightsaber for the first time in Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, Monica begins to receive memories from her past. When she emerges inside the barrier, her eyes have changed to an effervescent blue color and she can see the color spectrum of WandaVision. Hence, her superhero name Spectrum. The whole scene is a great device for Monica’s hero journey.

Once inside Westview, Monica heads to Wanda’s house. Wanda tries to throw Monica out, but Monica is able to defend herself and lands on the ground in a heroic fashion. Monica explains to Wanda that she’s recently lost someone that means the most to her too (Monica’s Mom). Monica can’t control the pain that she feels and doesn’t want to since it’s her truth. Before Monica can go much further, Agnes intervenes. She whisks Wanda away while telling Monica to leave.

The exchange between Monica and Wanda is just tremendous television. Olsen and Parris have fantastic chemistry in this scene. Monica’s unbeatable determination vs Wanda’s unbearable reality is just great storytelling.

Darcy: The Escape Artist

Not even Wanda’s brainwashing can break Kat Dennings‘s comedic timing as Dr. Darcy Lewis. After getting sucked into Westview, Darcy is now an escape artist for the circus and is bound in chains. She has this beautifully self-deprecating line about wanting the bearded lady role:

I put in for the bearded lady, but this alabaster complexion wasn’t fooling anyone.

Initially, Darcy misconstrues Vision’s intentions as she believes the sentient being is hitting on her. Eventually, Vision reverts Darcy to her real self. Then Darcy breaks Vision and the audience’s fourth wall. She quickly explains Vision’s story to Vision. He was created by Tony Stark, his consciousness comes from Ultron and he was killed by Thanos twice, which Wanda had to watch.

It Was Agatha All Along

Agnes has a few comedic bits early in the episode, but it’s the final moments of breaking the fourth wall that propels Kathryn Hahn‘s dramatic chops to new heights. Agnes has this gem of a line before taking Billy and Tommy to her house:

I actually did bite a kid once.

The awkward pause after the line is just wonderful.

Agnes reveals her true identity at the end of the episode. In search of her children, Wanda heads down to Agnes’s basement. It’s clear that the basement is old, probably centuries older than the original town of Westview. Agnes introduces herself, Agatha Harkness.

Agatha explains her shenanigan in a wonderful song fittingly titled “Agatha All Along.” The music and lyrics were written by the Frozen series songwriting tandem, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Hahn providing the vocals. In short, Agatha is responsible for everything that has happened inside of the Westview. She brainwashed Pietro, her weird reaction to Vision in the last episode was an act and finally, she killed Sparky the dog. The song was the perfect way to end the episode.

Final Thoughts on Breaking the Fourth Wall

The ending of the episode sets up what should be a great penultimate episode. I assume the next episode will delve into Agatha’s backstory and will probably revisit key moments in Wanda’s life as well.

The series has captured a variety of sitcom formats, but the one element that hasn’t been used is a flashback episode. I expect WandaVision to go out with a bang in the season finale, which means next week’s penultimate episode is the perfect time to slow down and reflect on important events.