Agatha All Along – Seekest Thou the Road review S1 E1

Seekest Thou the Road was certainly a way to kick off Agatha All Along. But unless viewers were already invested in Kathryn Hahn’s WandaVision show-stealing character it seems doubtful this would win over new fans.

The season premiere continued the TV-focused theme WandaVision with Agnes of Westview, a crime procedural “based on WandaVision.” Agatha is Agnes, the tough-as-nails detective who’s smarter than everyone who can’t get along with anyone. She’s been called back from a suspension after a body mysteriously arrives in a forest.

Hahn is a tremendously versatile performer who can pull off this cop drama cliche, but this is a very questionable way to start off the series from the liveliest character in WandaVision. It’s a little too serious and deliberate without much fun. Like the litany of shows on NBC and CBS, Agnes is an abrasive personality that bucks authority and is hard-edged to the point of being obnoxious.

She does seem to bristle at the sight of Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), even if she can’t quite remember why a fed coming to assist on the case has her so rattled. While antagonistic to Rio initially, Agnes does accept the offer of pizza when Rio drops by. It’s clear Rio knows Agnes’ true identity as she attempts to gently probe to get her to recall what’s going on.

That prodding gets interrupted as a thief breaks into Agnes’ house in search of something. The teen (Joe Locke) nearly gets away before getting bumped by Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp). It feels like the worst kept secret that Teen is Wiccan, one of Wanda’s sons from WandaVision, who is somehow still magically alive and aged to a teenager. It’s not until Agnes starts interrogating Teen that things start to get interesting.

Seekest Thou the Road, directed by showrunner Jac Schaeffer, leaned a little too hard into the network cop drama, which within the genre already feels too played out and dull. By sticking so faithfully to that formula Seekest Thou the Road really felt like a slow burn waste of time.

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Marvel’s Disney+ shows frequently get accused of stretching out a legit four-chapter series into an eight-episode slog. Seekest Thou the Road didn’t actually go anywhere until the last 10 minutes, which felt like it would have made for a more interesting opening act of the mini-series.

Agnes has a tough time trying to make sense of the identity of the body until she says out loud that the victim’s hair was scarlet. That prompts a “W. Maximoff” to appear on the toe tag, done in the style of a library check out slip. Rio suddenly appears and helps Agnes cycle through all of Agatha’s various identities through WandaVision.

Now free from Wanda’s spell, Agatha awakens in Westview in a seriously foul mood to all of her “co-stars”/neighbors. Herb at least is patient with Agatha’s antics.  Agatha blames Wanda for stealing all her power, which presumably sets up Agatha’s season-long quest is to get back on top.

Of course she’ll need some help. Enter Teen who is bound in her closet. Wonder if that was supposed to be a big wink at the audience who knows Wiccan’s backstory?

Rio crashes through the house and has somewhat of a hokey fight with Agatha. It doesn’t seem like Rio is into killing Agatha as much as she claims. One definite challenge for the series will be to make Agatha, who’s hardly a friendly witch, a likable and sympathetic hero. The MCU did have major success on Disney+ with Loki, but Loki and Agatha are operating under much different scenarios.

Before abandoning her efforts to kill Agatha, Rio warns her that the Salem Seven is coming. Seems like Agatha is going to need a bit more help than the Teen tied in her closet.

Seekest Thou the Road was a weird opening act for this mini-series. It didn’t give Hahn much of a spotlight to have real fun beyond her take on a crime procedural. Hopefully the next episode can pick up some much needed momentum.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

Catch up on Agatha’s original appearances in WandaVision, now available on Amazon.

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