Spoilers WandaVision discussion thread

[Sci]

I just finished the first episode, and it is the biggest pile of shit. It wasn't even remotely funny, it was literally just a bad 50s sitcom outside of maybe the last 15 seconds. since I'm not 70 years-old, the last thing I want to watch is a sitcom from the 50s not called I Love Lucy. If they were trying to make the worst possible sitcom episode that they could in modern times, they succeeded. It is a completely worthless 20 minutes of television, and the worst 20 minutes of anything in an official MCU production. It is completely without any value, and apparently only exists because the people in charge are ancient and so actually have Nostalgia for this crap. I was born in 1990, I couldn't give less of a shit about this kind of sitcom.

maybe if they've actually had a twist to it, tried to subvert things, it could have been funny or entertaining. As it is, episode one is literally completely skippable and you lose nothing from it. Now on to episode, which based off of non-spoiler reviews is probably going to be just as shity. it's looking like we have to wait until episode 4-5 for the actual plot to start, which is infuriating. Hopefully the people behind this show don't get to make anything more in the MCU, and hopefully Kevin feige oesn't OK somedthing like this again. this is the first MCU production that is strictly for Boomers, based off the first episode.

Legion was the worst technically comic book based show ever created. It was even more worthless than this show, at least with this show I can tell you what happened in an episode even if it was boring and badly written. Legion was written by people seemingly high on hardcore illegal substances, and incoherent to anyone who wasn't taking them. It's like if Grant Morrison was given a TV show and no oversight, and got to film it in a country where really dangerous drugs were legal.

This show is a poorly written, poorly thought-out pile of shit, but at least I can understand what is going on, and it's actors are actually good.

That said, I'm sure more people hate 50s sitcoms nowadays than like them, and this makes me wish Marvel wasn't too big to fail so that this shity show would actually hurt them, but it won't. Thankfully the other upcoming shows seem like they're made by competent people, at least until we get to the pile of crap that will be She-Hulk, Miss Marvel, and moon night

Do, uh. Do you think your reaction is actually proportional to the severity of the show's alleged low quality? Do you think that maybe you'll be happier turning the show off, saying, "Well, it's not for me," and then not ranting about it and its creators in the harshest and most vindictive possible terms?

 

[Beckerjr]

First two were fun for the most part. Thankfully they are both short with both together equaling about a single normal TV episode. Given the budget I assume some pretty big scale action should be happening soon.

 

[theenglish]

Olsen definitely studied Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore for these first few episodes. Her accent and intonation in each episode were damn brilliant. I loved how the sitcom facade showed the tiniest of cracks in episode 1 and then a few more in the second installment. There were some truly creepy moments. I also like the touch of colorizing the show at the end in the era when shows like Bewitched started in black and white and finished in color.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Paul Bettany is so amazing in this. It's a lot funnier than I expected it to be and probably a better sitcom than anything on right now. I liked the almost David Lynch like tone. It's interesting the camera style will change from the standard three camera sitcom style to single camera when reality starts to bleed though into it.

Another thing I noticed is that the first credit sequence focuses entirely on Wanda and VIsion while the second includes the rest of the town. Reflecting how as sitcoms age they go from focusing entirely on the main characters to beginning to include outside characters to keep things entertaining, like how the Simpsons went from stories about the family to stories about the other people in Springfield. I hope as it goes on the other townspeople become exaggerated version of themselves like a lot of sitcoms characters become in the later seasons of a show.

It was nice to Emma Caulfield show up too.

 

[Jayson1]

One of things I did like about these episodes is the fact that you can read a lot of what is going on by the characters confusion over like not being married or having a backstory. Vision and his co worker work at a job in which they don't even know what the job is. Just some stock "business" place. Wanda and Vision are basically improvising ever situation they encounter and making the inconsistences fit.

Same with all the other people. It isn't just Wanda and Vision but all of the people involved can sort of feel like they are being controlled but don't know why because they have altered memories. I think we are going to see a increase in paranoia among the characters start to build while the mind controlling fights harder and harder to keep it down. Especially as the real outside world starts to intrude on their lives.

Jason

 

[theenglish]

Something else about this show. Upthread there was a discussion questioning whether younger people could relate to the old sitcoms. I am 51 so the era portrayed in the first two episodes were before my time, but Dick Van Dyke and Bewitched were in regular syndication throughout the seventies and early eighties. At some point I caught I Love Lucy on Nick at Night or something similar.

After Wandavision, which I watched with my 13 year old son I told him about those sitcoms and played some episodes and clips on Youtube. He immediately caught the similarities in plot, set design, and humor and spent the rest of the evening watching those programs on his iPad. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

[JoeZhang]

I see weird being used to describe it but what is actually weird about it?

The central concept is easy to grasp and there is nothing in here I would consider weird - it's a stock sci-fi idea.

 

[theenglish]

I see weird being used to describe it but what is actually weird about it?

The central concept is easy to grasp and there is nothing in here I would consider weird - it's a stock sci-fi idea.

I agree, especially if you know the characters and where they are in the story the concept is pretty easy to get.

 

[Tosk]

I see weird being used to describe it but what is actually weird about it?

adjective
adjective: weird; comparative adjective: weirder; superlative adjective: weirdest
1.
suggesting something supernatural; unearthly.

Sounds about right.

 

[John Clark]

I liked it. I'm not sure it's a show (yet) that I'd rush out and get on home media, but I am interested enough to watch more episodes.

 

[Skipper]

He did contribute to the thread though. Rather than just mocking the opinion of another poster.

I wasn't mocking. I was serious. One should watch entertainment to be, well, entertained. At the end of the day this is what we are all talking about in this forum: what particular piece of fiction helped us to spend some pleasant time. And one can choose what to watch. We are not talking about homework or job assignments here. Instead for @kirk55555 virtually every thing s/he watch is a horrible dreadful experience which leaves him/her worse than before. Really, if I had a hobby that makes me miserable for the 90% of the time I well, would choose a different one.

I loved the first two episodes. It was well done pastiche of the 50's sitcoms (and it helped that the person I watched it with is a fan of Bewitched - she literally giggled when the animated opening title appeared).

 

[Relayer1]

Do you think that at some point in past of the MCU, Wanda already said "No More Mutants !" ?

 

[Reverend]

The only criticism I have so far is that the build up is a little slow for my taste. I know Wanda is creating this whole thing from her head because she can't cope with reality ("home: it's where you make it"), that she's co-opting these people (probably mostly SWORD agents) as part of her fantasy and that on some level, it's intentional and someone on the outside (SWORD, presumably) is under the impression this is something being done too her, not by her. I get all that. I just kind of wish they moved things on a little.

I mean I don't mind the pastiche in theory, but not being much of a fan of sitcoms in general--much less old mid-century US sitcoms--the nostalgia alone doesn't really have a hold on me. Though I suppose growing up on 80's movies that were replete with 50's nostalgia means it's not totally lost on me, but still.

That said, Olsen and Bettany are clearly having a blast and it's hard not to enjoy the mugging.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Pleasantville with superheroes. Neat.

 

[Seven of Five]

That was a lot of fun!

The sitcom homages are an absolute blast. The spoof of the Bewitched credits sequence was hilarious.

The commercials were fun as well with mentions of Stark Industries and Hydra.

I loving the little hints of everything not quite being right. I'm looking forward to seeing where it's going, and also what they'll be sending up next.

 

[kirk55555]

Do, uh. Do you think your reaction is actually proportional to the severity of the show's alleged low quality? Do you think that maybe you'll be happier turning the show off, saying, "Well, it's not for me," and then not ranting about it and its creators in the harshest and most vindictive possible terms?

Nope. Its supposed to be made for MCU fans and be important to the MCU going forward. They can't make a shitty niche product while also making it essential viewing at the same time without criticism. If the show was just another Loeb produced pile of shit airing on FX or Hulu that didn't mean anything, I'd ignore it like I ignored stuff like Helstrom, Legion, Cloak & Dagger, etc.

The second the actual MCU produces a pile of shit then its back in my attention, and it will be getting criticized, regardless of what its increasingly defensive fans want.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I didn’t really connect with this, it seemed to mimic old shows as if that was enough in and of itself. If Scarlet Witch and Vision were dropped out of this I wouldn't give this the time of day, and yet, the MCU connection didn't really add anything to it either.

Further, it seemed to miss the comic beats and charm of the better shows and was more like Hazel or Donna Reed than say Dick Van Dyke or Bewitched. So with just a surface-level take on old sitcoms, it seemed clever but not really entertaining. I found the second episode to be a real slog after sitting through the first.

EDIT: I get the elements not completely working could be intentionally there to get the audience to feel uneasy but it might be ladled on a little too heavy and slowly for me. Maybe in the context of the bigger picture it might hold up but it's not quite what I was expecting.

 

[Turtletrekker]

And someone's making the thread all about himself again.

 

[Jax]

It's weird, quirky and bafflingly good but I do think it would of benefited from being a drop all 9 episodes at once sort of show. It was great to see Emma Caulfield after many years of not seeing her in anything I watch.

I found the first two episodes a tad so so, and, being forthright, I suspect that's in part because I have zero investment in these characters (having largely given up superhero stuff a while back because most of it just doesn't resonate with me)

Genuine question: If you don't like the Superhero genre, why watch a show in that genre?

As for Kirk - he hates everything and just wants to pass his misery onto other people (never seen him say a positive word about anything or anyone). I suggest just placing him on ignore because his daily posts are clones of each other.

 

[Reverend]

Genuine question: If you don't like the Superhero genre, why watch a show in that genre?

So one can complain about it on the internet. Duh!