All-New Halloween Spooktacular Review: And Then There was ‘WandaVision’

I couldn’t resist paying homage to one of the greatest Halloween episodes of all-time and the best “Boy Meets World” episode And Then There Was Shawn. All-New Halloween Spooktacular skips the “Home Improvement” and “Roseanne” 90’s sitcom era to focus on the format breaking 00’s with a “Malcolm in the Middle”-style episode.

With the exception of the last five minutes, All-New Halloween Spooktacular is a setup for the final three(?) episode of the series. The scenes outside Westview don’t provide any answers that we didn’t know at the end of On a Very Special Episode…

However, there were plenty of exciting developments inside of Westview to make up for the lack of progress in the other storyline. The twins, Billy and Tommy are front-and-center throughout the episode and do an excellent job. Evan Peters is great as crazy Uncle Pietro, but even better as a character that knows far more than he should.

The tension between Vision and Wanda continues. Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen continue to astonish in these roles. Vision is still looking for answers, while Wanda continues to try to maintain her control over this facade. Based on the events in the All-New Halloween Spooktacular, Wanda seems to have some measure of control over everyone in Westview that isn’t part of her family. She has no control over Pietro, Billy and Tommy, while her hold on Vision continues to weaken as the series goes along.

The ending of the episode sets up an exciting final few episodes, but with so few remaining will all of the tantalizing questions be answered?

With the non-spoiler details out of the way, lets dive into the 3 major storylines in the All-New Halloween Spooktacular. “WandaVision” is currently streaming on Disney Plus.

If you like the content on The Intersection and have the means, a donation is much appreciated. The Intersection will never have ads on the website. In order to expand coverage to golden-era tv shows and add new features, we need your help. You can provide a one-time donation via PayPal or Stripe below.

---

Following the awesome Malcolm in the Middle opening credits, Billy and Tommy catch the audience up on what’s going on in WandaVision. The opening sequence gives us a great understanding of the boys’ personalities and sets us up for the Halloween festivities.

Tommy has super speed and is the cool brother. Billy has powers similar to his mom and is the geekier, but may actually be more powerful.

They chat about their costumes. Billy looks like Dr. Strange and Tommy’s dressed in everyday clothes. Wanda, Vision and Pietro each don costumes that call back to early Marvel comic book runs. Tommy eventually copies his uncle’s costume with the Wolverine hairstyle to match.

Quicksilver Kicks Ass

Evan Peter’s versatility really stands out in All-New Halloween Spooktacular. His ability to seamlessly shift from comedy to drama sometimes within the same scene is great.

Pietro is crashing on the couch. He gets along great with the boys. Wanda and Vision are still not on the same page. In fact, there’s even this exchange that every disconnected couple has probably encountered:

Wanda: You didn’t tell me you had plans

Vision: Well, I’m telling you now.

Vision won’t be joining the boys for trick or treating. Pietro volunteers as the father figure for the evening.

There are little exchanges throughout the episode that reveals Pietro knows exactly what is going on and it’s not entirely clear who Pietro really is. Early on in the episode, he points out that Wanda repressed a memory from their childhood due to her grief. Later, Wanda tries to test Pietro and he evades the question. He even points out that he’s just doing his part in playing the cool uncle. Like Vision, he eventually does try asking Wanda how she is controlling everything and she essentially provides the same answer she gave to Vision in the last episode.

Every scene between Wanda and Pietro is full of intrigue. Unfortunately, the scenes outside of WandaVision are simply lacking.

Outside of the All-New Halloween Spooktacular

The events outside of Westview begin moments after Wanda’s confrontation with S.W.O.R.D. outside of the barrier. Monica Rambeau, Dr. Darcy Lewis and FBI Agent Jimmy Woo are berating Director Hayward for his decision to take out Wanda with the missile. He kicks the trio off the base.

Woo and Rambeau take care of their armed escorts. The trio works to find a way to send Rambeau back into “The Hex.” They discover Rambeau’s cells are mutating, but Rambeau is still going to push through. The trio also finds out that Hayward has been tracking Vision inside Westview all along. Given that we just saw S.W.O.R.D. performing experiments on Vision in the last episode, it’s hardly a stretch that Hayward would implant a tracker on Vision. The fact that Jimmy, Monica and Darcy are shocked is a little much given that any agency has a chain of command.

The major events outside of Westview ends with Monica heading out to meet with his Aerospace Engineer contact. Nothing of consequence happened in these scenes. The same questions we have still remain:

• Who is Monica’s contact?
• Does Monica have powers?
• Why does Hayward have such a vendetta against super-powered individuals?

The Final Moments

The ending of the episode gives All-New Halloween Spooktacular weight that “WandaVision” needed.

Throughout the episode, Vision is trying to gather more information. First, he comes across a creepy scene with a woman essentially frozen while trying to hang clothes on a clothesline. The only movement is a single tear on her cheek. While Wonda does have control over the residents, it seems like her control gets weaker the closer the residents are to the barrier. Wanda essentially just paralyzes these residents on the outskirts.

Justifiably startled, Vision takes to the sky and finds Agnes close to the barrier. He zaps Agnes out of the spell. Agnes recognizes Vision as one of the Avengers, but he doesn’t know what the Avengers are. After Agnes begins cackling like the wicked witch of the west, Vision resets her and she slowly drives away. Kathryn Hahn is fantastic in this scene.

Vision approaches the barrier and begins pushing through it in a similar manner to Wanda. The barrier isn’t letting go and as Vision attempts to ask the S.W.O.R.D. agents to help the residents, pieces of Vision are stripped away.

Billy telepathically senses his father’s pain. He psychically stops the speeding Tommy dead in his tracks. They tell Wanda what’s going on. She tells Billy to concentrate so he can locate Vision, which he does. Pietro makes a harsh remark that Vision can’t die twice and is blasted over the oh so appropriate Halloween headstones.

Wanda freezes the entire town and expands the barrier far beyond the Westview city limits. She engulfs almost all of the S.W.O.R.D. agents. They immediately transform into circus performers and become part of WandaVision. Darcy is one of the people captured. The only characters outside of WandaVision are Director Hayward, Rambeau and Woo.

Final Thoughts on All-New Halloween Spooktacular

The scenes inside of Westview were so much stronger than those outside of the barrier. Like other episodes, there were easter eggs all over the place, but this was the first time that many of them seemed to be just winks and nods towards the audience. For example, the Kick-Ass line was great for those that have watched that film. However, the beat lasts too long and would just leave uninformed viewers confused.

All of the questions I had at the end of the last episode still apply:

• Wanda is clearly in control of everything inside of the barrier, but someone else is also responsible, but who could it be?
• Who is Pietro? Is it her brother with a different face, the Quicksilver from the X-Men universe or Mephisto in disguise?
• Why can’t Wanda control her sons, brother or Vision
• Who is Monca’s contact?
• What is Hayward up to?
• What happened to dang Bee Keeper?