WandaVision Episode 6 Pulls Plenty of Tricks and is an Absolute Treat

WandaVision Episode 6 “All-New Halloween” Review

We may be over eight months away until superhero costumes and candy in the streets becomes the norm for one singular day, but until then WandaVision’s latest Halloween centric episode is an absolute treat. The latest episode of Disney+’s first major series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to one-up its predecessors as its sheer insanity and long-term mystery only further expand to new heights. “All-New Halloween” may have had a lot of pressure on its shoulders after last week when the show blew expectations out of the water, yet it excellently manages to leap off where its prior chapter ended off on. Episode six of WandaVision is an absolute blast that will leave you famished for more of its delicious storytelling. Once again the series only looks forward to its peak as it pulls out plenty of surprises for its audience to gawk at all while developing a cast of intriguing neighborhood misfits.

Picking up presumably the night after Pietro crashed the party, WandaVision jumps to the late 90s as the series closes in on finally making its way to the present day. As Wanda spunkily embraces her children’s first Halloween with some cheesy comic book inspired getup (and there a lot that fans will absolutely adore), the titular lead finds herself in a complex situation with the growing family. When Vision wishes to depart for the night and explore the neighborhood he wants to protect, Wanda is left behind with her visiting brother to give Billy and Tommy an exciting holiday. Meanwhile, S.W.O.R.D. continues to solve the anomaly of Westview as Agent Woo and Captain Rambeau make some big discoveries with the help of Darcy Lewis. The result of course is plenty of lovable slapstick, grinning humor, and of course mystery as the show dives headfirst into not only the relationship between the reunited Maximoff twins but the power of Wanda’s super-charged children.

WandaVision remains tightly focused on exploring the cognitive breakdown of Wanda Maximoff as her friends and foes tear down the ethereal utopia she has forged out of grief. As Wanda explores one not-so physically but a perhaps mentally horrifying night in New Jersey, the character finally allows the audience to come just a little bit closer to solving the show’s spotlighted anomaly: what exactly is up with the existence of Westview? As her two children begin the show with one big fourth-wall-breaking foreshadowing opening dialogue about tonight’s anticipated holiday, the show takes no time to waste in introducing the newborns’ curious speedster uncle. WandaVision elegantly brings new characters to light as it fascinatingly utilizes all of its surroundings so well to craft more upon its key cast. Going back to what the last episode did so efficiently, WandaVision has once again made some rather impressive moves to tie together its three main narrative points.

It may still be introducing- or better stated as reintroducing in some cases- more characters like Pietro and taking steps to unravel its elusive reality, but everything is still tied so nicely together that its pacing and setup feels abnormally efficient. Despite each character heading in their own directions, every event Wanda, Vision, the government, and the rest of the cast partake in all have a direct effect on one another. No characters’ efforts are forever left wasted and episode six demonstrates this to its maximum potential. The show constantly sticks to a comprehensive and arguably intuitive chain of events as it builds upon all of its establishments whether you are focusing on individual character narratives or storytelling structure. Perhaps it sometimes plays into the impracticalities of pure comic book fiction- even this show has ridiculous quick hacking and government obliviousness to pass time- but it aims to always tell something that is both consciously moving and thought-provoking.

Typically each week Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are receiving the praise for their performances, but Evan Peters as Pietro this episode is nothing short of phenomenal. The highlight of FOX’s X-Men movies finally makes his grand jump to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His placement in this universe is sealed faster than the maximum speed of his powers. Quicksilver has not just been shoehorned into the series in a dire excuse for fan-service. WandaVision is clearly building up to something spectacular involving this character as he remains the only individual in Wanda’s distorted reality to know the truth of its existence. Not only is Peters’ vigorous performance flaunting the hilarious side of his character audiences previously loved in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse, but he provides a needed vent for Wanda that viewers have been patiently awaiting. How did Westview come to be? Did Wanda pull all these people into her reality? Pietro was able to fish out some answer’s from the grieving Avenger, but our answers remain thin- which is great considering that a mystery audiences thought was closed is only expanding further.

Why is Pietro the only character to know the truth about Westview? We have no clues yet, but on the subject of the aforementioned Paul Bettany, while the show has been shoving his Avenger’s true fate down the throats of viewers for a while now Vision’s interactions with S.W.O.R.D. spread more implications that a difficult nightmare for both the man-made of machine and his psychokinetic wife is well on the way. The Vision is nearly at the cusps of discovering the fact that he was slaughtered by the mad titan in Wakanda- maybe he even did this time in his desperate attempt for help. The aftermath of his findings will surely cause a shock between viewers and Wanda, but of course, how exactly Scarlet Witch will accept the truth has become more concerning. The man steps closer to his ultimate fate with each credit role that passes by. Wanda’s difficulty to succumb to reality even after accepting that everything around her is a lie will only enlargen as she expands her feelings for her family. The drama may have been established since the opening episode, but now WandaVision is fully on its way to having that marvelous payoff after its latest batch of events.

As WandaVision closes in on its endgame it continues to rally up the excitement of knowing just what the heck is going on with its impressive overarching mystery. As each episode progresses the story of the Maximoff family and Tony Stark’s creation, the tension and madness exponentially unfasten in a beautiful manner only Marvel Studios could pull off with their original comic book adaptations. “All-New Halloween” is indeed a brand new point for WandaVision as the series takes its characters and world in fascinating directions. Between the consequences of the latest entry and the ongoing slew of constant surprises that seemingly jump out of nowhere- yet are built up to, the show has clearly kept its best announcements under its sleeves. Who knows where this story will unfold next week, but no matter where it does nothing seems to be stopping WandaVision from making its way to a graceful and spectacular ending. The tale of Wanda and the Vision keeps getting better.