For the last three weeks, the internet has been buzzing with speculation and fan theory of what is happening in WandaVision.Marvel fans have been scratching their heads and hunting for Easter Eggs as to what exactly is happening in this series. This weeks episode has answered our questions but left us with so much more. The following article contains spoilers.
Episode 4:
The episode opens with “Geraldine” (Teyonah Parris) waking up, coming back from what we know is “the blip”, caused by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. In a panic, she runs down the hallway as other people are reforming. As she looks around her, she spots Dr. Highland (Lana Young) who calls her Monica, confirming her real name is Monica Rambeau. She asks the doctor where her mother is and calls a nurse to check for Maria Rambeau, who we know is the best friend of Captain Marvel. Dr. Highland informs her that her mother died three years ago which was two years after Monica fell victim to “the blip”.
The next day, Monica is seen walking into S.W.O.R.D headquarters but her ID badge will not work. Monica begins to inform the security guard she has a meeting, when Director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) appears and addresses her as “Captain Monica Rambeau”. As they walk down the hall, they begin to discuss the goings on at S.W.O.R.D because of “the blip”. When they reach Director Hayward’s office, he says “your mom built this place from the ground up”, informing the audience Maria was the founder of S.W.O.R.D. He informs Monica that she is “grounded” and that she can only deal with missions related to earth. Director Hayward informs Monica she is taking on a missing persons case in New Jersey with the FBI. Monica is driving and takes the exit for Westview, where Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) and two local police officers are awaiting her arrival.
Agent Jimmy Woo, who we previously saw in Ant Man and The Wasp greets Monica at entrance to Westview. He informs Monica that he had a witness set up in Westview, claims he is missing but his family and friends had never heard of him. The Sheriff (Brian Brightman) tells Monica that the town of Westview does not exist. After he leaves, Jimmy and Monica discuss the missing town and its population of 3,892 people. Monica asks why he hasn’t entered Westview to investigate however he says because “it” doesn’t want him too. Monica retrieves a remote control helicopter from her car and flies it into Westview but it disappears. She walks closer to the entrance of Westview describing what she is seeing as “some sort of energy field”. Monica begins to touch the “energy field” and gets sucked into the town of Westview.
The next day, we see a S.W.O.R.D van on its way to the Response Base outside Westview. Inside we see four scientists, the main focus of the scene being Darcy (Kat Dennings) who we previously encountered in Thor and Thor: The Dark World. After she gets out of the van, Darcy is escorted to unit she will be working in. Darcy begins to set up her equipment and begins to pick up “a colossal amount of CMBR” which stands for Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. Darcy begins to grow suspicious of the wave lengths superimposed over the noise on her device and pulls out a physio-scope to get a clear answer. She then informs the S.W.O.R.D agent she needs an old television.
In an attempt to locate Monica, Director Hayward sends in an agent in a hazmat suit, through the sewers into Westview. Jimmy and Director Hayward discuss the perimeter on their way back inside the base unit. Director Hayward hears the noise of canned laughter. Everyone surrounds Darcy looking at the television screen. Darcy brings up the fact that in reality Vision is dead. Director Hayward asks Darcy where this footage is coming from and she replies with “out there”. Jimmy then poses the question that “the universe created a sitcom starring two Avengers?”.
S.W.O.R.D and the FBI are now working together to locate any missing person who may be playing a part in this sitcom universe. Jimmy writes on the whiteboard “why hexagonal shape?”, suggesting the town of Westview exists in a hexagon. There are two characters who cannot be identified by the agents. Dottie’s picture does not appear on the board at all and Agnes’ photo is on the board but there is no ID for her. Darcy sees Monica on her TV screen playing her part as “Geraldine”. In the next scene, Darcy sets up a transmitter to get Jimmy to contact Wanda via the radio. Jimmy receives a picture of a S.W.O.R.D drone from Episode Two, which we now know was sent in by Monica. He begins to use the transmitter to contact Wanda through the radio. Darcy watches the episode and notices the scene suddenly changes as if Wanda never heard Jimmy’s voice on the radio.
We see Agent Franklin (Zac Henry) crawling through the sewers passing, through the energy field into Westview. He crawls out of the sewers onto Wanda’s street, surrounded by bees, which was the same image we saw in Episode Two. Back at the base unit, Darcy and Jimmy are watching the third episode and question why the time period keeps changing. Whilst watching the moment where “Geraldine” mentions Ultron, Darcy picks up on the fact that “someone is censoring the broadcast”.
In the next scene, we are then taken back into the sitcom world and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is confronting “Geraldine”. Wanda asks her how she knew about Ultron but she cannot answer the question. She calls her a “stranger and an outsider” and tells her she is trespassing. Wanda uses her powers to throw Monica from her home and out of Westview. She uses her magic to repair her home and returns back to the crib where the twins are lying down. Vision (Paul Bettany) bursts through the door and asks where Geraldine is. As she turns around, Wanda sees what Vision’s dead body looked like in Avengers: Infinity War. She lifts her head and Vision appears alive in his synthezoid form. Vision tells Wanda they don’t need to stay in Westview and can go wherever they want. She tells him they cannot leave as Westview is their home and she has “everything under control”. We then see Monica lying on the ground where she was thrown out of Westview in Episode Three. As she is lying there she utters the words “It’s Wanda, it’s all Wanda”.
We Interrupt This Program…Or Do We?
Up until this point, Marvel fans have had so many questions and they have been answered however more questions have been posed. This episode was an adventure from the first scene as it is revealed that “Geraldine” is really Monica Rambeau and she was a victim of “the blip”. This chaotic scene is portrayed in such an emotional way and it truly showed how “the blip” affected the world. We have scene the aftermath of “the blip” depicted in Spider-Man: Far From Home but this was a far less comedic approach. Teyonah Parris is giving her all in this performance and she is set to become a key player in the MCU in Captain Marvel 2.
We also learn that Westview is not real and that the characters of this sitcom world are actual missing people. The slogan of the town as seen on the Westview sign is ,”Home it’s where you make it” eluding to Wanda making a home for herself and Vison. Although we see less of our two leads in this episode, we are reunited with Jimmy and Darcy being played by Randall Park and Kat Dennings who are fan favourites in this cinematic universe. It is revealed that Jimmy Woo was the voice on the radio in Episode Two, asking the question “Who is doing this to you Wanda?”. It is also revealed that the beekeeper in Episode Two was a S.W.O.R.D agent, it has been suggested that this may lead to the introduction to the villain of Swarm. This may not be the case and could just be passed off as a transformative moment as we have seen with Monica’s ID badge becoming a necklace.
We learn that Darcy was the person watching the television at the end of Episode One and the agents are all working to figure out what is happening in this alternate reality. Dottie and Agnes were not identified as missing people. Agnes’ face appears on the board but is not named. It has been theorised that Agnes is really Agatha Hartness, who is an immortal witch. She may play a bigger part in the creation of this world however Dottie’s motives are not clear as of yet. The question of why this universe is in the shape of a hexagon is posed. In the comics, Wanda’s powers are referred to as Hex Two and this could be a play on words in relation to a magical hex.
It is also revealed that the drone Wanda found was in fact sent in by Monica but the colour of the drone changes. This could suggest that Wanda does not have complete control of everything in this reality. On the broadcast that Darcy and Jimmy are watching, the scene where Monica is removed from Wanda’s home is cut, similar to how we as viewers saw it. We see that Wanda used her powers to throw Monica from her home as she is “trespassing”. We then learn Wanda has somehow created this false reality and believes she has everything “under control”. Wanda may have created this reality in order to keep Vision alive however the question remains of whether he is actually alive.
Although our questions have been answered we are left with more questions in relation to the time and space that this is happening in and why is this universe, comprised of classic sitcoms? Is Vison alive? This episode delivered in terms of story and may be one of Marvel’s strongest entries into their cinematic universe. The shows seems to be leading its viewers on a path however with this being a Marvel property, the pay off may be greater than we expect.
WandaVision is now streaming on Disney+. Episode Five is out 5th February.
