This review includes spoilers for Season 1, Episode 7 of Agatha All Along.
To start, IGN’s regular reviewer Joshua Yehl is away this week, so I’m stepping in for the review. I hope my take aligns with his previous insights as he returns for next week’s finale.
Now, are we being trolled? Just a week after Evan Peters made his return as Ralph Bohner, this episode ended with “Time in a Bottle,” a song that inevitably connects to Peters’ memorable scene as Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past. This is the very character we believed Peters was reprising in WandaVision before we got the surprise reveal of Bohner. It’s a bit frustrating.
Nonetheless, the song provided a beautiful farewell for Lilia, allowing Patti LuPone to truly shine. Lilia’s journey can indeed be described as a “Days of Future Past,” as we got a glimpse into her experiences and how she navigated through various moments in her life over hundreds of years. The theme of time-skipping within one’s life is both engaging and often poignant, evoking feelings of excitement and anticipation or dread, waiting for significant moments.
This episode succeeded far better than the fourth episode did with Alice’s trial in developing Lilia’s character. It felt like a standalone episode focusing solely on her while propelling the larger narrative forward with a significant reveal about another character. Viewers who had previously noted Lilia’s attempts to warn Alice against saving Agatha were rewarded with deeper insights into those moments, starting from when Agatha and Billy first brought her into the fold. Seeing Lilia as a girl, realizing her fate, was deeply touching. It was quite evident that Lilia would not survive the episode, adding gravity to her journey.
Aubrey Plaza was a perfect choice to portray a sarcastic, alluring version of Death. Though the Salem Seven turned out to be less of a threat than expected, it was thrilling to witness Lilia’s demise as she took them down, reversing the tower and sending them onto the swords below.
The major reveal of the episode, which was spoiled for some by a toy announcement, added another layer. For those who missed the Funko announcement of Agatha All Along Pop! toys identifying a character as “Death,” you might have experienced a different reaction to this twist. Knowing of this spoiler beforehand might have affected how viewers interpreted the show’s clues. Still, this character’s introduction adds an intriguing dimension.
While the MCU may not delve into the comics’ Infinity Stone/War saga and Thanos’ connection to Death at this point, the portrayal is nevertheless significant. It opens the possibility for Plaza to reprise this role in various future projects, especially those exploring more supernatural or cosmic themes. Who more fitting than Aubrey Plaza to take on a sarcastic, sexy representation of Death?