REVIEW: WANDAVISION: Episode 3 finally lets Olsen act

So last week I swooned about pretty much every part of WANDAVISION. The fifties sitcom feel of both those episodes made me happy and afraid that I won’t love it as much when the novelty wears off. Then this week’s episode came and do you know what? It knocked my gosh dang sucks off!

This week, we went to the land of Sherwood Schwartz. Technicolor palettes, seventies clothes and music, another delightful theme song, and a 24-hour pregnancy that culminates in the birth of Twins, this one had a little bit of everything you’d expect from a late night summer viewing of Nick at Nite in 2008.

However, while this show kept up the sitcom facade, we started seeing more cracks in the system, whether it is Wanda’s mind or something more sinister. For this, we got to see Elizabeth Olsen shine.

I praised her for summoning the fifties sitcom wife last week, but this week we really got to see her range. From the flowery acting of a sitcom wife to her moments of fear and despair, Olsen finally got to show off her range after largely being wasted in the MCU until now. While I could say this about last week, too, this week had more mental rollercoasters that allowed her to switch between a smiling wife and a grieving widow in the drop of the hat. I’m not going to be brash and say that Olsen should get an Emmy, but she absolutely should.

Bettany and Hahn were largely in the background or the service of Wanda, although Bettany did get a brief chance to revert to the Vision we know at the rend. However, aside from Wanda, the star of this week was Geraldine. Thanks to Wikipedia apparently being ahead of the game, the role is already spoiled for me. However, Teyonah Paris got to show that Geraldine isn’t just another neighbor. Like Agnes, it was clear that something wasn’t right, but what it is we still do not know. We got to see the best of both Paris and Olsen during the genuinely wholesome and charming stork bit, which I unabashedly loved and laughed aloud at.

I was particularly enthralled with the final scene this week, where Geraldine gets knocked out of whatever world the show exists it and back into what seems to be the MCU reality. We don’t know much past that, but I loved the clever transition from a standard frame sitcom to a widescreen Marvel shot without any cuts in between. I don’t know if this is the end of the television homages or not, but I look forward to other ways these tropes can be expanded if they do.

I also have to point out the great commercial. Keeping up the bizarre theme, I’m debating on going back in another lie r and watching all three together to search for clues.

Which brings me to my next point. Fan theories. With basketball running less of my laugh as of late, I’ve gotta recklessly predict something to stay sane. This week, I’m not sure I have too many new theories except one. While I am 70-percent sure this is some sort of interdimensional psychic vision, another part of me wonders if Wanda is truly on some strange “set” as part of a TRUMAN SHOW experiment into her mind. This could already be the case if it’s all taking place mentally, but even before the end confirmed, or at least heavily implied that Wanda’s not the only one inside, I started to suspect some other “actors” were involved.

I have a feeling this is going to be a different series from here on out, but if it is, this episode made it clear that I have no reason to worry. I love where this is headed and this series officially has my entire interest going forward.

Grade: A (3/3 on A’s!)