Agatha All Along Circle Sewn With Fate Unlock Thy Hidden Gate review S1 E2

After the initial episode felt like a leftover idea from WandaVision, Agatha All Along’s second installment Circle Sewn With Fate Unlock Thy Hidden Gate sharply pivoted to zany comedy. One that wasn’t particularly funny. At least not yet.

There is still time for AAA to get better and become a show worthy of waiting a week for the next installment. So far, Agatha just feels like some quirky side pocket of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that’s really not all that important. On one hand maybe it’s better for the show to not be so intrinsically linked to the goings on with Doctor Doom and Secret Wars, but that also makes it hard to get invested.

With the Salem Seven coming for her, Agatha spends most of Circle Sewn With Fate trying to recruit some fellow witches to travel to The Witches Road. Her first recruit/tagalong is already in hand with Teen.

There’s this incredibly frustrating gimmick that plays out whenever Agatha asks Teen about his backstory. When he says his name, a spell covers his mouth and he seems unaware of it. Agatha inquires about where he’s from and his voice is suddenly muted. Presumably the reveal of his name, mother and hometown would make Teen far more interesting than just Agatha’s wacky goofy sidekick who happens to be gay.

Locke leans hard into the usual tropes of gay characters on comedies where his sexual preference is played for “laughs.” Contrast Teen with the portrayal of America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She was a lesbian, but that was an aspect of her as a character not the entirety of her being in the film.

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Agatha and Teen make their wacky recruitment pitch to join the quest to The Witches Road to Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn)) and Mrs. Davis to play the role of an Earth witch for Agatha’s coven. These scenes come off too hokey. As if they’re designed to be these fantastic, crowd-pleasing introductions to some soon to become beloved members of the MCU. 

But they’re not. Phase 4 and the early section of Phase 5 has been heavy on an endless stream of cameos and nonsensical plot developments and Lilia, Jennifer and Alice seem destined to be here today and forgotten by November. Much in the same way as a Scarlet Scarab from Moon Knight, Swordsman from Hawkeye, Red Dagger in Ms. Marvel, etc.

Did Agatha really need to go the assembling a team route? Pairing her with Teen seems sufficient for Agatha and Kathryn Hahn is enough of a force on screen as Agatha that she really didn’t need to divvy up her screen time with an ensemble cast. During Circle Sewn, Agatha spots a rat at the mall and a wolf in the distance, which seems like a clue for something of significance later on.

Oh cool. A witches’ singing number. That always bodes well for Disney+ shows in 2024. At least the lyrics eventually provide the episode title Circle Sewn With Fate Unlock Thy Hidden Gate. And how else could that naturally work itself up in conversation?

Maybe the best part of the episode was when Herb asks Teen if he’s seeing the Salem Seven in the street. When he notices them creepily advancing, Herb proves the most realistic character here for immediately dropping his groceries to head home. I’m not mad at you, Herb. The costuming was strong this year as all of the outfits and various attires were on point. Director Jac Schaeffer isn’t being frivolous with special effects making those moments with

Despite questionable harmonies the Circle Sewn With Fate number does prove enough to open a portal to The Witches Road. Agatha’s team got the job done, but I still wouldn’t be upset if the majority of this season focused on Agatha instead of Agatha & her witchy friends.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

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