While the fifth episode of WandaVision, which is entitled "On a Very Special Episode...," returns us to the sitcom format, don't mistake this for a slower, uneventful episode. As the charade continues to crumble around Wanda, we get a major surprise at the end (In a post-credits scene! I'll explain later), and we start to see Vision become a bigger factor in Wanda's dilemma.
This was the first time we actually got a glimpse of Wanda outside of her bubble, which is now referred to as the "Hex." S.W.O.R.D. stand-in Director Tyler Hayward briefs Monica Rambeau, Darcy, Agent Woo and company on a plan to subvert Wanda's control over the Hex. During this briefing, he shows footage of Wanda storming into S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters nine days ago (prior to the "first episode" of Wanda's show) and stealing Vision's body (further confirming the post-Endgame timeline). Indeed it appears Wanda is treating Vision as a puppet to keep him alive in her memories. I mean, surely she doesn't think she can revive him, right? Hm...
During this briefing, Hayward also tries to paint Wanda as a terrorist, something befitting of a government director, even one from S.W.O.R.D. who probably should know better. But he does make a strong case as he contextualizes her MCU past. It was Hydra who used the mind stone to give Wanda her powers, after all. She initially attacked the Avengers in Age of Ultron before ultimately joining them. She's always seemed uneasy after that, especially after garnering so much negative attention after her accident in Lagos, Sokovia at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War. In fact, we see a reference to Lagos during Wanda's sitcom commercial break. Maybe this commercial in particular is a manifestation of regret. We've previously seen Wanda hang on to her guilt after the incident, so she clearly struggles to handle difficult, traumatic emotions. Any story involving characters learning how to process real emotions at this level is not only well-written, but also necessary (especially in the climate of today's crazy world).
The best example of this is an intimate little scene involving Wanda's twin boys (who skip up a few ages multiple times) and their new-found pet dog. The dog is found dead, and Wanda needs to explain to them the importance of processing death. The kids want her to use her powers to revive the dog (at this point, Wanda isn't even shy about using her powers in front of the "townsfolk"), but Wanda explains she can't reverse death, saying "Some things are forever," so it'll be interesting to see if she takes her own advice when it comes to letting go of Vision.
Back to the briefing: they try sending a 1980s-looking drone to match the technology of the time period Wanda creates for this week's episode. How inconspicuous of them! Wanda, of course, sees right through that - quite literally; she blasts the drone by shooting her powers out of her eyes. Then, she comes out of the hex! It's a tense moment as dozens of agents surround Wanda and point guns at her. She gives them a warning - their "only" warning - to stay out of her home (interesting word choice for her there). It was maybe my favorite scene of the show to this point. The gloves are coming off! It seems to me that either Wanda eventually will go through an emotionally driven turnover and free the town herself, or someone is going to need to do that by force (I'm sure no one needs a reminder at this point of how difficult that task will prove to be).
Monica suggests trying to break into Wanda's reality with more subtlety. This is when Vision begins to realize more than ever that strange things are going on. He reads an email from the outside suggesting that everyone is compromised. He then "breaks character" and momentarily frees his co-worker from Wanda's trance. The sudden realization that Wanda is controlling all these people begins to weigh on him. What ensues is the first of what likely will be several confrontations between the two as Visions pleads for Wanda to let them go.
While we seemingly know what is going on, I still have an inclination that something else is afoot here. Hayward alluded to the possibility of Hydra still having some sort of control over her mind, which we've seen Hydra do before with Bucky/Winter Soldier. Also, at one point, Wanda says she doesn't remember how this all started. Could someone be using Wanda? Someone else with telepathic powers? Maybe someone who has a "magnetic" connection to Wanda?
And that bring me to the final scene. Though the credits begin to roll on Wanda's sitcom, she and Vision have a mysterious visitor, thus giving us our first MCU-patented post-credit scene of the show! Love it. Our mystery guest is none other than Quicksilver! Wanda's brother Pietro Maximoff is played here by Evan Peters, who played Quicksilver in the X-Men movies. Aaron Taylor-Johnson played the MCU version of Quicksilver in Age of Ultron, marking another key recasting; Mark Ruffalo as Banner/Hulk, and Don Cheadle as Colonel Rhodes/War Machine are two other high-profile recastings.
The recasting choice suggests Marvel is fine with bringing over previously established X-Men (outside of the MCU) into the fold. But in the MCU, Quicksilver is dead, so it's not definitive if this character is really back, or if this is still all in Wanda's head. She claims she isn't doing this, though, so how else could he return? Could we be witnessing multiverse shenanigans? Is this a prelude to Spider-man 3's story? Does Doctor Strange have something to do with all this? Or is this simply a trick S.W.O.R.D. is using to get Wanda to let her guard down? Is he a Skrull sent by Nick Fury to help the situation? So many possibilities!
We've been promised that so much more is still to come for WandaVision. They'd better get moving, then! We've only got four episodes left.
Notes:
-Agent Woo and Monica have a tongue-in-cheek conversation about Scarlet Witch being able to take down Thanos all on her own. Monica thinks she's the only one who could do it, but Woo mentions how Captain Marvel came close. This has been the start of every nerdy conversation since "Endgame" came out about who is the most powerful Avenger. Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel are two of the most talked-about superheroes when these rankings are thoroughly discussed amongst us nerds. Monica has an interesting look of sorrow when Woo mentions Marvel's name, as if she feels burned by her for leaving her when she was a kid. Maybe she's upset that Captain Marvel came back to Earth to fight Thanos, then left without even stopping by to say hello.
-There were plenty of occurrences that suggested Wanda isn't in complete control. She tried using her powers to put the babies to sleep, but they didn't help. But at one point, Darcy and Monica suggested that the babies were really her children, so maybe her powers don't work on them for some reason.
-Agnus was perfect in this episode (again). Her attire alone was fantastic. She was every cliched 80s girls sporting the hot pink pants, pullover purple socks, and a colorfully striped top.
-As previously mentioned, Wanda is less and less subtle about concealing her powers from the residents of Westview. And it appears the characters are less subtle about acting surprised by her abilities. Even Agnus joins in on the fun with a "Let's take it from the top" quip.
-While Magneto's MCU debut appears looming right in front of us, it's important to note that we already have established Wanda's parents, so Wanda's connection to him will be different than the comic-book storyline.
-It seemed a little odd that Vision actually wrote out a will. First of all, why would he do that? Second of all, did he do that knowing what the future would be?
-Monica mentioned knowing an aerospace engineer who might help solve this situation. I'm curious if she was referring to anyone we will see in the MCU at some point.