The original post: /r/television by /u/Wheres_MyMoney on 2024-10-10 20:17:28.
DISCLAIMER: If you are enjoying it, liking it, loving it, GREAT! I am too. It’s good. It’s fine. It’s mid.
SPOILERS THROUGH EPISODE 5
Obviously this is just my opinion. But if it weren’t for Hahn, Plaza, and the rest of the admittedly great cast, this show would be a stinker.
First of all, it seems like it wants nothing to do with the established MCU. The magic that it is introducing to the universe is pretty far and away from what Wanda, Strange, Loki, etc. have used in the past. The witchcraft is unimaginative and feels like Hocus Pocus.
The Witch’s Road is boring AF. This is an all-powerful, wildly dangerous, life or death quest (that Agatha convinced four people who hate her guts to join her on in 20 minutes) that has now had three trials in…some house. The answer to the first trial was making a potion in a sink, to the second was singing a song, and the third finally had some oomph to it but is, as of now, unclear.
Second, the plot is really lame. Agatha needs her power back and luckily there is an exact plot device to make that happen and there are the exact multiple witches she needs in a 20-mile radius. It’s not awful, but I expected more after three years of development.
Third, although the actors are great, the characters are not. These witches are on a life and death journey at the end of which is untold power and glory. They have lost multiple people already. But you know what Marvel was really evidently short on? Super sarcastic characters that crack jokes in dire situations. Agatha does it. Rio does it. Jen does it. Teen kind of does it.
Finally, the marketing department really fucked up on this one and I am surprised it hasn’t been talked about more. Two of the main mysteries this season included who Teen really is and Plaza’s role in the coven/trials, both of which were spoiled by the official marketing material through trailers and subtitles. This is a multibillion dollar property.